Musicians made in Michigan too

My plan always was to get out of Michigan. I knew that when I headed off to college, I would leave the Mitten State for some other land.

It’s not that I didn’t appreciate the state in which I was raised. I mean, I like Michigan’s natural beauty. As a resident, I am able to enjoy our Great Lakes and forests. I appreciate each of Michigan’s four seasons — that I can sunbathe in the summer, make snowballs in the winter, jump into piles of leaves in the fall and marvel at the greenery in the spring.

It is a wonderful state in so many respects, but I just wanted to get out and explore. I wanted to go somewhere cultured — to a city were I could eat great food and observe great art. But most of all, I wanted to see great shows.

When I thought of my collegiate future in New York City or Chicago, I imagined spending weekend after weekend seeing the best of bands. Bands both known and unknown came to and lived in these big cities. This is where they performed.

But my dreams of a cultured existence soon were shattered. Because of the price of out-of-state tuition, I stayed in Michigan. I ended up moving here to East Lansing to attend MSU.

For many years, I didn’t believe in Michigan’s artistic achievements. I didn’t realize the creative potential of Michigan musicians. But after enrolling at MSU and finally coming to terms with the fact that I would be spending my college years in state, I began to take notice. There are musicians — great musicians — in Michigan.

It started with Frontier Ruckus. My friend took me to a show in December 2010 at Mac’s Bar, 2700 E. Michigan Ave., in Lansing, to see the band. That night, I heard music consisting of a banjo, singing saw, literary lyrics and nostalgia. It was lovely.

And then I discovered more. There’s the earthy and whimsical Breathe Owl Breathe. There’s Dog & Panther, whose music is electric, with layered sounds and a leading voice that’s often likened to that of Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard. There’s Jeff Pianki, whose acoustic guitar-driven sound is plucky, honest and optimistic.

The examples I just have shared mostly are of a folksy nature. Sorry, those are my kinds of jams. But I am open to more — to experience the other genres represented by other Michigan creators. Because as I’ve learned, they are here. There are all kinds of people performing in their native East Lansing, Grand Rapids, Detroit and Ann Arbor.

I’ve just got to find them.

Commentary

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Tim Zeko

(03/22/11 8:53am)
Report

Ms. Csomor-

Those of us involved with WKAR-TV’s “Michigan-made Music” series “BackStage Pass” agree completely.

We are about to go into the studio and record ten weeks of performances by Michigan artists and we’d love to see you and others in our audience.

Visit http://www.wkar.org/backstagepass/article/1820/BackStage_Pass_Artist_Line-up_and_Taping_Dates
to see our complete line-up coming this April, May & June.

I hope to see you at one or more of our taping nights.

Tim Zeko
BackStage Pass Executive Producer

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