Goodbye 2021 and Hello 2022! If you're ready to get out of the house and slip off the soft pants and slip into something festive, here are some events to consider.
Online Spread the Music Festival raises $10,000-plus for Michigan musicians
John Sinkevics
Northern Michigan’s Caroline Barlow described it as “a dream come true.”
More than 200 Michigan artists – live-streaming their sets from stages, living rooms and studios from across the state – created virtual enchantment during the five-day Spread the Music Festival, which wrapped up March 28 with a home-grown set by The Verve Pipe’s Brian Vander Ark.
Hosted for the second year by the Michigan Music Alliance, the online festival drew thousands of viewers from across the globe and raised more than $10,200 in donations for the Michigan Artist Relief Fund, which assists musicians in need.
Brian Vander Ark, The Accidentals to headline virtual Spread the Music Festival
John Sinkevics
Brian Vander Ark, The Accidentals, Jackson Smith and Vinnie Dombroski of Sponge will headline the second annual, live-streamed Spread the Music Festival hosted by Michigan Music Alliance in late March.
The online, virtual festival will feature performances by more than 200 Michigan artists and bands March 24-28, with donations collected for the Michigan Artist Relief Fund that assists musicians coping with serious financial challenges.
The inaugural 2020 festival organized at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic raised more than $11,500 in donations, and organizers hope to raise significantly more than that this year.
West Michigan’s Nathan Walton taps ‘American Idol’ experience for new album
John Sinkevics, LocalSpins.com
Byron Center singer and musician Nathan Walton has come a long way since winging it to Hollywood as a wide-eyed “American Idol” contestant back in 2019.
Maneuvering the arduous and emotionally distressing obstacles of a global pandemic over the past year, Walton managed to record a new studio album with a group of West Michigan all-star musicians and already has enough material for a follow-up to “Nathan Walton & The Remedy,” being released Friday (March 5).
“The new album is huge – huge in every way for me,” Walton said of the 13-track album of soul-drenched rock ‘n’ roll recorded at Grand Haven’s Third Coast Recording.