Benjamin Riley - Lay Your Head Like a Liar from versechorusjvh on Vimeo.

Benjamin Riley CD Release
Founders Brewing Company, Grand Rapids
March 25, 9:15 p.m.
Free

Benjamin Riley has had a busy winter. He and band mates released their first record in November of last year, and have been playing shows and recording ever since. They will be releasing a new album March 25 at Founder's Brewing Company

The new album, I Can See Glory, is a collaboration between Riley and band mates Justin Van Haven (electric guitar), Justin Bardolph, Tim Lenger (basists). The sound on the record is filled in with various other "odds and ends," as Riley describes, who bring instruments that range from the cello to the slide guitar.

Van Haven co-produced, mixed and edited the album, which is being released more or less collectively on Caveman Records out of East Grand Rapids. Collectively, because the band seems to understand the value of the musical community it is a part of, drawing support from other local talent like Nathan Kalish and Julio Gomez. I Can See Glory, will be released digitally on iTunes, and as a CD sold at shows and retailers like cdbaby.com.

Riley describes his music as soul and roots, "the music you grew up on," and points to influences like Bob Dylan and Sam Cooke on the bands MySpace page.

Riley's voice is powerful, with a bluesy twang you would hardly expect from a shy-looking young man hiding behind an epic beard. His voice even veers toward a surprise growl now and again. Perhaps that is why it takes full musical arrangement to really stand up to such a raw instrument.

That arrangement is what really sets the difference in tone from the band's previous album to this one. The production is so much more complete. Riley describes the sound as "way more in-depth" than band's first effort, which was based in simpler acoustics. This album is piano driven and instrumentally more diverse.

"The music is dynamic-always changing. Everything changes," he said. "I'm really happy to be playing with these people, but they are always changing, too."

This is not your average rock band, however. The roster isn't changing because of drunken brawls and stolen girlfriends. Instead, Riley cites things like "getting a real job," or simply lacking the time. And it's no skin off his teeth. He seems happy to glean what he can from just about any given musician who wants to play with him.

That's what really gets to the root of it. Riley is serious about music, but he doesn't take it too seriously. That reflects in everything he does, says, and writes. There is a total lack of pretention in any of it, even though local reviews of his music might give him a lot to brag about.

"It's pretty cool. I get to play my music with people I like at places that serve good beer... I never know if I'm more of a musician or an alcoholic, but that's OK," Riley said.

The release of I Can See Glory is a free event for folks 21 and up. It will begin at 9:15 and will also feature the talents of Those Eighty Acres and Nathan Kalish and the Wildfire, as well as some solo work from Van Haven.

At one point, electronic music ruled the Midwest. Techno originated in Detroit in the mid ‘80s, as did house music in Chicago. Both genres blew up by the early ‘90s ... and then it blew a fuse.

Within the past year though, electronic music has amped up in a major way. Nationally, Shakira's worked with Canadian electronic band Crystal Castles for She Wolf. Cuban hip-hop artist Pitbull has worked with LMFAO, an American electro/hip-hop group, as well as collaborated with Canadian electro group MSTRKRFT.

After Rothbury brought in acts such as STS9, Pretty Lights and Girl Talk, the local scene started to get some serious buzz.

"I think we really started noticing it rising nationally around early ‘09 and it started to make an impact in Grand Rapids right around Rothbury," said Jordan Noordyke, marketing and promotions director at The Intersection in Grand Rapids. "I know when the names Lotus and Bassnectar started popping up in conversations, we had to take a deeper look at the scene. We tried both bands and had pretty good success, which then opened up lots of new bands for us."

West Michigan venue owners and bookers are realizing what DJs and producers have known for years: Electronic music is hot. Some of the sizzle factor is attributed to the mass appeal of the music, while many say the genre has recently started to lose its bad reputation of being associated with the drug-plagued rave scene.

"People get too involved in the drugs and how that makes them feel instead of the music," said DJ Jenny Disko. "We're trying to make people ... realize that's not what it's all about."

According to Andrea "SuperDre" Wallace, the local electronic music scene is a protective one. The reason for the safeguarded scene comes not only from the bad name that ravers gave the music, but also because the electronic scene is a small one.

"If you weren't into it, it would be one of those scenes you wouldn't notice," she said.

SuperDre noticed a shift in the genre when her after hours shows at the Eastown Hookah Lounge started getting a larger audience and people started to take electronic music more seriously.

"Most people don't view [electronic] as real music," said Todd Ernst, a Grand Rapids DJ who creates his own signature "soundscapes" for the J.W. Marriott's Mixology Lounge. "You say ‘DJ' and people think of going to a wedding and doing the Hokey Pokey."

Now that local DJs getting more opportunities to play live, WSNX 104.5 FM is catching onto the trend. Every Friday and Sunday from 12-2 a.m. local DJs are invited on-air to spin. SuperDre is one of those DJs, as well as Armando "DJ LA" Salazar.

"I don't get paid to be on the radio, I do it to expose [electronic] music," he said. "Everything right now is going in the right direction."

When talking to DJs and producers, most cringe at the mention of Top 40. Their preference is to create something new and fresh, and to be able to showcase their accomplishment live. That goal is close to being realized, as underground gigs, like the one at The Hookah Lounge, began to attract larger audiences. Soon, places like The B.O.B. had DJ Swift playing less Top 40 in Crush and created Eve, a lounge that plays electronic music.

"After electronic music got a bit more recognition, it started branching off to other clubs and bars in Grand Rapids such as The Bob, Intersection, Louie's Bar, and some more small local bars," said Adis "Duky" Hotis, a local DJ and producer. "Last year we actually had a Grand Rapids Electronic Music Festival at Rosa Parks Circle. GREMF was inspired by Detroit Electronic Music Festival. Even though it didn't turn out as good as DEMF it still was a good start for Grand Rapids."

It also helped Web sites like wegetphysical.com, which is a collective for DJs and producers to upload their events and music. In October 2009, the site had 260 MP3 downloads for the month. For February 2010, the site had 1,406 downloads.

"The site was built in response to what I and others felt was a serious lack of proper representation of the full spectrum of electronic music in Grand Rapids clubs and bars," said Adam Firer, who runs the site and is also a local DJ and producer who performs under the name Get Physical.

Firer's aim is to keep the site local, and he only adds events happening in West Michigan. However, the uploaded music brings the site frequent hits nationally, as well as from countries such as Russia, Great Britain, Canada, Ireland and Australia.

"I intended [for] the site to run itself," Firer said. "DJs, Producers and promoters can contact me to get set up to post their own stuff on the site. Many have already. I offer a free service that can expose local talent to an international audience ... I get sent promo tracks from artists all over the world and politely decline as I am not trying to showcase the rest of the world. I'm trying to showcase Grand Rapids and West Michigan."

Now that electronic music is coming to the forefront on a national and local level, it is piquing the interests of a variety of people. Part of the reason electronic music is exploding right now is because of the broad range of fans it has, Noordyke said.

"I believe that a lot of people here don't listen to electronic music because they have never exposed to it," Hotis said. "They never got a chance to listen to good electronic because it's hard to find [local] places that play that kind of music. So what we have to try is to get all the DJs and producers to come together and figure out a way we can bring out electronic music not only to the fans of that type of music but also to people that have never heard it before."

Above: DJ Jenny Disko, photo by Anthony Nowack

Battle of the Bands
April 23-24
summercelebration.com, (231) 722-6520

Only a true rock star can achieve the feat of performing in the limelight in front of thousands of fans. This spring, true rock stars will be unveiled as bands compete for a Summer Celebration main stage performance and a recording studio package.

The third annual Battle of the Bands -- hosted by new downtown Muskegon establishment, Club Envy (441 W. Western Avenue) - provides artists across a broad musical spectrum to open for national acts on the main stages during Summer Celebration.

Tanya Gonzalez, from Muskegon Events, says the new venue was an excellent choice.

"They contacted us and said, ‘We would like to work with downtown events.' It makes sense: they have all the sound equipment already."

There will be three judges: one musician, one radio personality, and a representative from River City Music. Each will have a sheet based on presentation and musicianship.

The majority of tickets sold are for the national acts; however, the point of hosting this competition is to promote local Michigan music where it's needed.

"[It's] the local bands bring that local flavor, which the festival needs," Gonzalez said. "People are looking for good music, so why not showcase local bands."

The bands will gather for competition in April; beginning on the 23rd with country bands at 6 p.m., and concluding on the 24th, from noon to midnight, with rock and open genres. Prizes are awarded for first through third bands in each category. The winners receive contracted performance as opener for a 2010 headliner and a four-hour recording studio package from River City Music Studios.

For bands interested, send an entry packet to the Muskegon Summer Celebration offices at 587 W. Western, Muskegon, MI 49440 by 5p.m. on March 26, 2010. Entry packets must include the following: A CD of the music the band plans to perform, a digital band photo delivered as a jpg file, a digital file of the band's bio and a completed application with the $25 fee.

Photo: J. VanBuhler

Greensky Bluegrass CD Release
Wealthy Theatre, Grand Rapids
March 6, 6:45 p.m.
$15 general public, $12 members

In the age of online shopping, Web conferencing, and Google anything, many of the traveling professions of yesteryear-meter readers, itinerant preachers, and door-to-door salesmen-have fallen by the wayside. Not so with modern-day minstrels, as the acoustic quintet Greensky Bluegrass so emphatically proves.

Based out of Kalamazoo, Greensky Bluegrass has been traveling constantly since 2005. Last year alone the jamgrass band tallied more than 170 live shows, lighting up stages all over the country, at venues large and small, indoors and out-of-doors, including numerous bluegrass festivals, most notably the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado, which attracts more than 10,000 attendants. After its first appearance there in 2006, Greensky Bluegrass left as the winners of Telluride's Band Contest.

"Our model for success is word-of-mouth, turning people on to our music one by one, and that's only by playing live around the country. And that model is working," said Anders Beck, dobro player for the band.

170 shows a year amounts to some 200 days on the road, a hectic schedule that Beck admits can be both draining and invigorating.

"We like to tell people, ‘We get paid to drive around the country; we play music for free.'"

Bluegrass is a genre that traditionally cherishes live performances, and Greensky Bluegrass honored that tradition by releasing a live album, All Access: Volume I. The album is a two-disc set featuring nearly 30 songs from a fall 2009 concert. Mixed and mastered for studio-sound quality, the songs are nearly all Greensky originals with a few unexpected covers of the classic rock favorites such as Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, and The Beatles.

"The reason we decided to release the live album is because it's different," Beck said. "There are 15 minutes songs on there. We get weird. We jam. So we wanted to create that feeling of a live show."

Beck says to expect the same level of activity from Greensky in 2010. They will be playing at Wealthy Theatre for the first time on March 6. Tickets are $15 for the general public; $12 for members. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Show starts at 7:30.

In addition to Beck, Greensky Bluegrass consists of Michael Arlen Bont (banjo), Dave Bruzza (guitar), Mike Devol (upright bass), and Paul Hoffman (mandolin).