When Maynard James Keenan, legendary frontman for the rock band TOOL, announced last year that he would celebrate his 60th birthday by launching a one-of-a-kind triple header tour featuring his projects A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, along with his longtime friends in Primus, it felt like a once in a lifetime lineup decades in the making.

• van andel arena
• Touring Music
• A Perfect Circle
• Primus
• Maynard James Keenan
• Tool
• Sessanta

The music industry can hit like a head rush, but it’s only a matter of time before reality kicks in.

• GLC Live at 20 Monroe
• Touring Music
• Hippo Campus

Right from the start, the skyrocketing success of indie-rock outfit Rainbow Kitten Surprise has come as a shock to drummer Jess Haney. While attending Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, Haney was only supposed to join the band for just one show way back at the beginning in 2014.

• GLC Live at 20 Monroe
• Touring Music
• Rainbow Kitten Surprise

When Blake Bickel moved to Kalamazoo after living in Seattle for over a decade, he had no idea his new basement band, Bronson Arm, would break out and tour across the country.

• local music
• bell's eccentric cafe
• Bronson Arm

Behind the astute songwriting of Iron & Wine is Sam Beam, a multi-disciplinary artist from South Carolina. As a five-time GRAMMY nominee, it’s no surprise that Beam’s imaginative demeanor first appeared in childhood. “I was the kid in the back of the class drawing, not paying attention in school,” Beam said.

• GLC Live at 20 Monroe
• Touring Music
• Iron & Wine

The personal and prolific project of Canadian singer-songwriter Tamara Lindeman, The Weather Station broke through in 2021 with the release of her sixth studio album, Ignorance. A critically-acclaimed masterwork confronting the grief and anguish of the climate crisis, the album landed on countless year-end lists, from The New Yorker to Pitchfork, Rolling Stone to The Guardian.

• bell's eccentric cafe
• Touring Music
• Web Exclusive
• The Weather Station

The sudden success of singer-songwriter Marc Scibilia might seem like an overnight sensation. But the Buffalo-bred, now Nashville-based musician worked for years, toiling away in the industry, before his song “More To This” became a viral hit late last year.

• The Intersection
• Touring Music
• Marc Scibilia

The story behind the name of local indie rock trio Ten Peso Version is absolutely priceless.

• local music
• The Pyramid Scheme
• Ten Peso Version

The biggest night of the year for West Michigan Music returns when the Jammies take over all three stages at The Intersection Feb. 28. The annual celebration of all things local music, and fundraiser for Grand Rapids community radio station WYCE 88.1 FM, the Jammies put the spotlight on rising stars and legendary talent right here in West Michigan with an evening packed full of performances.

• local music
• The Intersection
• the jammies

Over two years, thousands of miles, and countless Zoom calls in the making, Grand Rapids rock band Finding Amelia released their debut album, Onwards and Upwards, on New Year’s Eve.

• local music
• The Pyramid Scheme
• Finding Amelia