The Kielbasa Kings will be kicking off the Christmas party at The Crofoot in Pontiac with Stewart Franke and The Polish Muslims.  You might not think a night of polka would be the highlight of your Christmas weekend, particularly if you're one of those scensters who wouldn't be caught dead at Octoberfest.  But fear not the oompa, my image-conscious friends. Imagine such hip classics as The Violent Femme's "Blister In The Sun" played at a brisk 2/4!  Not only will you be appropriately 80's Retro while dancing to this daring subversion of pop culture, but I'd bet my polish sausage it's more likely to put a smile on your face than any band sporting hip-huggers, side-bangs and a casually dismissive demeanor.  MB welcomes The Kielbasa Kings to the Original Artists / Polka category in our band links section.  Now go forth and half-step until you spill all your bier!

As always, click "read more" below for the links.

If you'll be celebrating the new year by finally committing to that one-and-only love of your life, or even if you're celebrating your 2nd, 3rd, or 4th such occasion we've got just the band for you.   REMIX is a six-piece wedding band out of the Flint area that has decades of experience in entertaining drunken in-laws and the newlyweds who need them to dance-off some champagne.  They play a variety of tunes including such golden moldies as "You've Lost That Loving Feeling",  "Mustang Sally" and "My Girl" but also some you might not expect such as "Beer In Mexico" and "Folsom Prison Blues".  MB welcomes Remix to our Cover Bands / Varietey category and our Specialties / Wedding Bands category which you can find in our band links section.  Click "read more" below for the links.

When I first cued up the MySpace page of Día de los Dangerous (literally translated as Day Of The Dangerous), my teenage daughter quipped, "What's up with the screamo, dad?"   It occurred to me then that I had inadvertently stepped in a post-hardcore age when I wasn't looking.  Wikipedia lists no less than 19 sub-genres of hardcore & metal - and that doesn't even include the post-punk hardcore sub-genres like screamo.  It all gets very confusing and there's no way to keep up with it when every band wants to call themselves "original" .  So let it be sufficient to say that Dia del los Dangerous is a hyper-agressive metal band that screams the verses - but sings the chorus (listen to "Canadians Bleed Maple Syrup" on their MySpace page).   But for our purposes, they're our latest band link in newly renamed Original Artists / All Things Hardcore & Metal. 

Click "read more" below for links and the band's own description of who they are and what they do. 

Where else can you find some of Detroit’s best bands and new bands getting together to celebrate local music icon Stirlings’  Birthday Party. This year promises a night of rock n’ roll revelry you won’t forget!  This night will feature a stellar line up of bands. Performing will be The Skies Above-the new rock n’ roll project from guitarist Dan Kroha and member s of The Go, The Wrong Numbers-a new band made up of some of the finest players around town including Bobby Emmett formerly of The Sights and guitarist- Matt Thibideau and more.   The party is on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 8pm at Northern Lights Lounge located at 660 W. Baltimore (btwn 2nd & 3rd St.) in Detroit’s New Center area 313-873-1739. $6 cover charge and 21 and up are welcome.

Clickk "Read More" below for more details, show times and a line-up.
 

With the Holiday season upon us, children's thoughts turn to sugarplums, xbox 360s, and...the polka! Yes, it's that time of year again, and this season it's metro Detroit's favorite polka rock parodists, The Polish Muslims @ The Crofoot Ballroom, (1 S. Saginaw Street, Pontiac, Ph: 248-858-9333) on Saturday, December 20. As has been the tradition their last few Christmas season shows, their very special guests will be blue-eyed soulster Stewart Francke.  Opening the show will be the Kielbasa Kings, an anything but traditional polka band, whose polka version of the Violent Femmes "Blisters in the Sun" has made them local favorites.

Click "read more" below for more details.

 

The holiday season is now upon us and once again Static Presents, "Home for the Holidaze” the 6th annual singer-songwriter music showcase and charity drive for area homeless shelters. The event takes place on December 19th 2008 at the Corktown Tavern and brings together local singer-songwriters and former Detroit musicians who are home for the holiday season. It is a chance for them to perform for a good cause as the proceeds from the event will go towards food donations to area homeless shelters. The day after the show is spent at Costco buying cases of soup and various canned food with the proceeds. The food is then distribut ed to soup kitchens and food pantries in the downtown Detroit area. Pet food donations are also collected each year as well.

Click "read more" below for the line-up, the links and the location.

Sorry, this is a bit late but....

November 11, 2008 - After 12 years, the downtown rock n’ roll club 313.jac located upstairs at Jacoby’s is being shut down by the owners of the establishment. Promoters Stirling and Sue Static were asked to cease bookings there and the last weekend of shows is this coming weekend. According to what the owners told them they have no new plans for the upstairs but are moving away from the rock n’ roll community to a more gentrified  bar/restaurant atmosphere.
 
“We would like to thank the Detroit rock n’ roll music community, the bands and music fans that have supported us there for the past twelve years. Thank you for a most memorable run and we’ll see you soon, you can count on it.”
 
The team of Stirling and Sue Static will venture forward to a new location in the coming new year, so stay tuned. They vow to continue their support of the rock n’ roll scene in Detroit for years to come.

Charlene Kaye is a classically trained pianist turned pop songwriter who attends the University of Michigan and splits her time between Ann Arbor, Phoenix and Honolulu (ed: must be tough, eh?).  But even though she sometimes weilds an electric guitar instead of a Steinway, she was keen to incorporate classical instruments into her songwriting which often features violin, cello, double-bass and piano. But they're just as likely to include a dobro, a Wurlitzer organ, banjo or even castanets - making her style just as eclectic as her orchestration and difficult to categorize.  But she admits she sounds like "every one I've ever loved", including homeboy Sufjan Stevens, Joni Mitchell, Rufus Wainwright and even prog rock and chamber music. This past October Charlene Kaye released her debut recording, Things I Will Need In The Past. 

Click "read more" below for all the pertinent links and a video produced by her sister, Liann Kaye.