It's the crown of Ann Arbor's downtown. Who would have guessed that a mere 30 years ago it had a date with a wrecking ball? Restored to its early 20th Century glory, The Michigan Theater is now home to the most exciting cinematic and live music events in the city
The little student-bred start-up that could, MyBandStock.com, is switching up its game.The year-old start-up based around selling stock in local band projects is tweaking its business plan and relaunching its website this week. The new business model focuses on connecting underground artists and fans via digital access and will feature bands based on user demand. Also, instead of just purchasing straight shares in a band, users can create their own investment through purchasing the band's material or interacting on its website. That can range from buying band merchandise to gaining access to a live stream of a video Q & A with the artist.MyBandStock.com is run by a collective of about a dozen young people and a few more behind-the-scenes investors. Think of it as a Wu-Tang Clan style of conglomeration with students and new alumni from the likes of the University of Michigan, University of Michigan-Dearborn and Michigan State University. They all work from their own virtual offices (i.e. laptop), laboring away on their passion – music. Source: Taylor Hulyk, spokeswoman for MyBandStock.comWriter: Jon Zemke
We may not have the mountains but we've definitely got the snow. For two days this week the Michigan Theater becomes a venue for the Sundance Film Festival. It's just one of the half dozen events we spotlight in FilterD.
Andrew W.K.'s last name might be only two letters, but there is a lot more to the locally raised rock star.Excerpt:Andrew W.K. is a rock star, but he's so much more. The Ann Arbor-raised Andrew Wilkes-Krier is a TV personality, a favorite on the college lecture circuit, and the living embodiment of his mantra, "Party Hard." We recently talked to W.K., 30, about his life, career and his hosting gig on "Destroy Build Destroy" (8 p.m. Wednesdays, Cartoon Network).How often do you visit Michigan?I always come back throughout the year. It's of course one of my favorite places to visit, and my family's still there. It's a frequent place I frequent.Read the rest of the story here.
More creative studio space is coming to Ypsilanti in the form of Spur Studios. The project is transforming vacant office space attached to an old manufacturing facility near Eastern Michigan University, 800 Lowell St., into studio spaces for artists and small businesses. Think Russell Industrial Center in Detroit but on a smaller scale.James Marks, founder and creative director of Ypsilanti-based VGKids, is spearheading the project. Spur Studios will turn 10,000 square feet of vacant office space into 30 studios. Those studios can be used by everyone from artists to musicians. The idea is to turn the long-vacant space into a cultural asset that attracts talent and innovative ideas."The demand has been really strong," Marks says. "We think it will be a model we can replicate."This idea is flourishing in Detroit at the Russell Industrial Center. The Boydell Development Group is turning a sprawling circa-1920s rustbelt factory into studio spaces for hundreds of artists and businesses. There are two rules at the Russell Industrial Center, respect the building and it occupants. Everything else is in bounds as long as its legal. That philosophy and dirt cheap prices have made the Russell Industrial Center a runaway success and arguably the state's best small business incubator. Spur Studios is taking the same idea and running with it. Marks points out that Spur Studios occupants "can be loud without disrupting the neighborhood, and artists can get a little paint on the floor without losing the security deposit on an apartment."A 1-year lease gets a tenant 24-hour access to a studio that is about 12 feet by 15 feet. About 75 percent of the studios have natural light.Anyone interested in renting space can come by the Corner Brewery at 2 p.m. Sunday. A tour of the facility will follow the presentation. For information, contact Marks at marks@vgkids.com or (734) 732-6084.Source: James Marks, founder of Spur StudiosWriter: Jon Zemke
Where does a record store fit in in a downloadable society? In Ann Arbor.Excerpt:Walking into Encore Records is like stumbling into a corn maze, a disheveled college bedroom and a natural history museum all at once — just 20 times more overwhelming than any of those places. The walls are practically crawling with musical artifacts from the past century, teeming with an otherworldly sort of life that’s completely missing when you’re browsing for obscure records on allmusic.com.But as daunting as walking into a "mom-and-pop" record store can be, there’s also something incredibly warm and fuzzy about browsing records in a culture den surrounded by fellow music lovers. There's something magical about pulling a vinyl record from a shelf based purely on the merit of its cover art, handing it to the store clerk and having him play it for you.This might all sound hunky-dory, but if the financial wallop peer-to-peer music sharing delivers to these stores continues, this experience could be gone faster than you can say "Lady GaGa."It's disturbing to consider how much the market for these homespun businesses has collapsed over the years. "Ten to 15 years ago, there were actually about 12 record stores in (Ann Arbor). There was a way oversupply," says John Kerr, the owner of Wazoo Records. Read the rest of the story here.
The University of Michigan's football team isn't the only group of students practicing all week for Saturday.Excerpt:You see them every Football Saturday. The Big House erupts when they take the field. They perform as a flawless unit in which all individuals are constantly aware of where they are on the field, what their next move is and everything that's happening around them. They practice daily even in the harshest weather and undergo extensive training. They are some of the University’s most talented students. And no, they’re not on the football team.The Michigan Marching Band has been a crucial part of the University’s fabric since 1896, and for many football fans, the band is just as important to the Big House experience as the game. The band is collected, cohesive and professional when we see it on the field. But we all know that the complex halftime shows don't just happen with the wave of the drum major’s baton. What goes into producing a new show each week? And how is the band so damn good? It all rests on the effort and dedication of its members.Anyone who lives south of Hill Street has probably heard the Marching Band brazenly practicing every day. And anyone near Elbel Field at 4:45 p.m. on a weekday will hear the sound of drums pounding in unison while brassy scales grow louder and louder over thumping rhythms. Practice begins each day with a half hour of music rehearsal. The band members usually receive their show music several days before gameday so they have sufficient time to memorize their parts. Read the rest of the story here.
Ann Arbor-made music radio has an international appeal at the "Acoustic Cafe."Excerpt:Rob Reinhart has the kind of voice — rich and resonant — that's made for radio, which is where you'll find the producer/host of the weekly, made-in-Ann Arbor, nationally syndicated radio program "Acoustic Café."Reinhart's guests over the 15 years since the show launched have included top talent as well as up-and-comers from a variety of musical genres."Beck, Joan Baez, John Prine ... we consider Pat Metheny a singer-songwriter, even though he’s working in the jazz world. James Taylor; his brother, Livingston; his son Ben — all of those people are in that category. … Ani DiFranco was one of our earliest guests back in the '90s. John Mayer was on the program, Norah Jones was on the program early on ... It's been fun to watch their careers launch over time.”The show is heard on more than 75 stations, commercial and non-commercial, around the country. Voice of America carries the show worldwide to Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. Acoustic Café can also be heard on the web, or fans can “friend” them on Facebook, where video is also included.Read the rest of the story here.
People from coast to coast in the U.S. are starting to recognize Ann Arbor music-product Mayer Hawthorne these days. It's a classic case of suburban white boy making good by channeling Motown soul. Thank goodness Mayer does it it so well.Excerpt:The artist known as Mayer Hawthorne plays Fisher Green stage at Bumbershoot Saturday, September 5th. His style: Motown. His pedigree: hip-hop. His phone manner: Affable.The singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/DJ/producer is as yet mostly unknown to the public at large. I predict this will change.In his Matson on Music interview, Hawthorne (known to the government as Andrew Mayer Cohen) mentions a surprise upcoming album with Seattle hiphop producer Jake One (!), and touches on topics like listening to Motown with his dad, the joys of being signed to Stones Throw Records -- the only label that would let him release his single on red, heart-shaped vinyl without batting an eye at how expensive that is (his idea) -- and whether he's had more success with the ladies as a hiphop DJ or soul singer.Read the rest of the story here.
$5,000 means a lot of Drew Leahy and his co-workers at Mybandstock. The start-up made up almost entirely of college students and recent college graduates needs every dollar it can get to push its company forward.It's why the Ann Arbor-based firm is pretty excited about winning one of the "Dare to Dream" grants from the University of Michigan's Samuel Zell and Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. The money will help the firm develop its business plan, cover some travel expenses and even pay a few of its web programmers. But more importantly it will help the start-up's 15-member team keep its focus."It keeps us away from part-time jobs so we can focus on our business," says Leahy, the president of Mybandstock. "It definitely really, really helps us out."The Dare to Dream program offers $500-$10,000 grants to help student entrepreneurs jump start their businesses. About $50,000 in grants were awarded this fall to the likes of Mybandstock, which is a web-based fundraiser for local musicians. The business allows people to invest in the development of the bands they enjoy.Source: Drew Leahy, president of MybandstockWriter: Jon Zemke
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