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8/31/11

Keys Please Chauffeur Service now being offered by The Night Move




“Keys Please” Chauffeur Service Delivers Safety and
Convenience to Metro Detroit Streets


Night Move owner’s new designated-driver-for-hire service launches

Night Move Transportation, provider of Metro Detroit’s award-winning eco-conscious transportation for events and private rental, today announced the launch of Keys Please, a new chauffeur and car pick-up service. For $18 per hour (with a three-hour minimum for bookings), Keys Please’s licensed, insured and trained drivers transport clients in their own cars -- anywhere they need to go, 24 hours a day.


The service can be reserved up to three hours in advance of the appointment time.


Keys Please can additionally provide teams of drivers for planned events, parties and weddings, to ensure guests and their cars arrive home safely. The company has already seen demand from Night Move customers to use Keys Please for holiday events. Fees for group events are based on the number of guests and average distance to be driven. Keys Please also offers transportation services for area businesses on a contractual basis.


“Metro Detroit has always faced limited options for getting home after a night out,” said Chris Ramos, founder of Keys Please and Night Move Transportation. “We’re providing an affordable safety proposition to confront this issue.”


After founding The Night Move shuttle service, Ramos believes Keys Please is the logical next step in his pursuit of reforming the underserved transportation model of the region. Keys Please is now open for booking. The company is also looking for drivers. Experienced drivers with chauffeur’s licenses, clean driving records and excellent customer service skills are welcome to apply.




ABOUT KEYS PLEASE

Keys Please is Metro Detroit’s chauffeur and car pick-up service, providing a safe, convenient alternative to driving under the influence. Call 855-KEYS-PLEASE or visit www.keysplease.co to reserve a personal driver for an evening out, holiday party, private event, medical transportation or airport travel.


Follow @KeysPleaseDet on Twitter.






Verve Pipe Summer Concert for Kids - Detroit Zoo Wild Summer Nights - TONIGHT!





Childrens Summer Concert


Wednesday August 31st 2011


The Detroit Zoo gets even wilder on Wednesday nights during July and August with its annual Wild Summer Nights concert series. Concerts take place in the Zoo’s Main Picnic Grove from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. July 6 through August 31. Wild Summer Nights features a variety of live music from local bands, including children’s, jazz, pop, folk and blues. Concert-goers are invited to bring a blanket and pack a picnic. Food, snacks, beer, wine and soft drinks are available for purchase from Zoo concessions. The concerts are free with the purchase of Zoo admission. The Zoo remains open until 8 p.m. on Wednesdays during the concert series. Admission prices are reduced to $5 for all guests after 5 p.m. on these Wednesdays.



8/29/11

Wild At Heart - fan costumes @ Fan Expo 2011

Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog

Wild At Heart


I love the variety of costumes at the Toronto Fan Expo and here were some of my favorites. They run the gambit from Star Wars

Star Wars crew

me & Boba Fett

Catwoman and the Joker

Catwoman & Nazi Joker

the X-man's Storm (a very nice homemade costume)

Storm

Marvel's Deadpool

Deadpool

Kick-Ass

Kick Ass

Pokemon

Pokemon

Dr Who characters

Dr Who dress up

Dr Who villain

the Scarlet Witch

me and Scarlet Witch

Watchmen's Rorshach w/ a web based superheroine

Rorscharh & new heroine

a mixture of Green Lantern and Star Trek with a Klingon Green Lantern

Klingon Green Lantern

and some hot babes in outfits I didn't recognize but enjoyed

colorful costumes

nice purple outfit

purple anime babe

Steam punk girl

Other favorites included an awesome looking Spock, the Marvel characters Firestar and Nova, a female samurai as well as too many others too mention. Hope you enjoyed these pics and make sure to keep an eye out for Fan Expo 2012.

UPCOMING: Ferndale DIY Fair, 16-18 Sept

DIY Street Fair
Fri-Sat-Sun
Sept. 16-17-18
East of Woodward,
South of 9 Mile
Ferndale

4th Annual DIY Street Fair - celebrating do-it-yourself creative and entrepreneurial endeavors occurring throughout Detroit and surrounding communities. The two-day, three-night event features an outdoor DIY Marketplace with more than 100 artists and crafters offering hand-made wares, as well as more than 40 live musical performances by regional recording artists, local record shop, Michigan breweries, local restaurants, and a Kids Zone. Free admission.

Wild At Heart

Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog

Wild At Heart


It is always fun going to Toronto and this weekend was no exception. I decided to head up for Fan Expo 2011. I would have promoted this earlier but for the second time they denied me media access so I just decided to go for fun and write about it afterwards. The last time I went was in 2006 to see William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, the only 2 cast members of the original series I had yet to meet. I enjoyed meeting them but the time constraints didn’t really allow me see too much of the rest of the convention. I did hook up with The Pillow Fight League which I interviewed, and was a guest ref during their Super Bowl week appearance in Windsor, at a later date as well as having an interesting, though kind of wacky, conversation with Rowdy Roddy Piper upon leaving the convention.

After missing a few years, I made it back on the promise of three celebrities starting with Eliza Dushku (Faith on “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” as well as starring on “Dollhouse” and “Tru Calling”). I have been a huge fan of Buffy ever since the librarian (my old friend Becky) at the Toledo Library recommended it to me and got me caught up by providing me with tapes of the past seasons. This is also the only TV series that I own on DVD in its entirety. My goal is to see all the Buffy cast eventually though I would be content just for Alyson Hannigan so I can meet my top three babes off the show. I had met Amber Benson back in 2006 at another Toronto convention (of which she is one of my first celebrity interviews). Despite looking incredibly hot, Eliza is currently looking forward to working behind the scenes on a biopic of controversial American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.

Eliza Dushku

Eliza Dushku II


My number two reason for going to the Fan Expo was to meet acclaimed actor Martin Landau (“Space: 1999” and “Mission: Impossible” TV series as well as an Academy Award nomination for “Tucker: A Man And His Dream” and a win for “Ed Wood”). I personally am a huge fan of “Ed Wood” and esp enjoyed the scene where he wrestles with the artificial octopus, a scene martin remembers fondly also enjoying working with Burton on the picture. He just currently finished his scenes for the upcoming Burton remake of “Frankenweenie” and we can see him in the new Mitch Albom adapted movie “Have A Little Faith” (which he filmed with Laurence Fishburne) in which he plays the role of Rabbi Albert Lewis. Faith should be out later this year so keep an eye out for your local listings.

Martin Landau


My number three ended up sick and left the convention early so this is the third time I have missed out on meeting Elvira (the last time she canceled with Motorcity Comic Con) so I will keep my fingers crossed that the opportunity to meet her will happen. To make up for this, they did have a special walk in guest come in. Guillermo Del Toro (director of “Pan’s Labyrinth” and the Hellboy movies) is currently filming his newest movie (“Pacific Rim”) in Toronto and they got him to come in for an hour of signing. I didn’t get his autograph (the line was cut when I was 8 people away) but I did get to say hi and shake his hand so that was definitely cool.

Del Toro @ Rue Morgue


They had a bunch of other great guests that I wanted to meet including John Astin (original “Addams Family”), Lance Henrickson (“Aliens”, “Near Dark”),

Lance Henrickson

Robert Englund (Freddy Kruger),

Robert Englund


Malcolm McDowell (“A Clockwork Orange”), Katee Sackhoff (“Battlestar Galactica”) and others.


Malcolm McDowell

I got a picture of Trish Status (I was cut from her autograph line with no one else in front of me – wasn’t my day for lines) who was promoting her newest picture,

Trish Stratus


as well as shots of me with Anthony Daniels (C-3PO)


me & Anthony Daniels

and my man Lloyd Kaufman (who I interviewed at the Michigan premiere of “Poultrygeist” at the Burton Theatre), and this time I got to meet his wife who seems remarkably down to Earth. If Lloyd wasn’t making movies, I swear he would be a con man. Besides his movie line with Troma, he puts out a nice intro for would be a movie maker (the latest is “Sell Your Own Damn Movie”) which puts out a nice guide for getting your movies made and distributed. Great for all you beginner filmmakers in the Detroit area!


me & Lloyd Kaufman



Besides actors, they get some great comic talent. I hooked up briefly with comics legend Joe Kubert (most famous for his work Sgt Rock, Hawkman and Tarzan, IMHO, for DC) and started his legendary school of artists of which one of my buddies graduated from.


me & Joe Kubert


I also met the quirky Jill Thompson whose work really came to life after her work with Neil Gaiman on the legendary “Sandman” series. She is quite fun to talk to as a brief aside turned into a story of Jill and Neil on the Scottish countryside getting stoned on some mushrooms they found growing on a mountainside. She is a natural storyteller in her own right and has a beautiful artistic style.

me & Jill Thompson

The only thing about the autograph section of the convention, besides the cost of autographs of the big names (between $20 up to $80 for William Shatner which means those of us on limited budgets need to make hard decisions on who to get autographs by), is the way it is set up. They don’t like people stopping to gawk and I can understand that to keep isles clear, but I was trying to see how much they were charging so I could manage my $100. I was getting tired of being yelled at when I am trying to just get info. I know the staff is overworked with a lot of people stopping so here is a suggestion. The guests probably set their prices for autographs upon arriving, so the Expo needs to get someone to collect that info and make sure it gets posted on a wall near the area where people can go and get the information easily without getting yelled at. Some smaller names were giving free autographs as well as the comic book artists. I remember fondly the days when every guest at a convention didn’t charge (I Con ’91 for example) and don’t get Lloyd Kaufman started on that subject because it is a sore point for him that these stars that are set for life charge fans a fortune to get a signature or photo when they don’t need it. Of course, try to get away from his table without buying anything. I dare you.

Besides the guest stars, there are a lot of cool things going around to see. Warner Brothers brought in a Abin Sur life-size model from the recent Green lantern movie,

Abin Sur model

a picture booth to get your picture taken with your favorite movie cast (I picked Big Bang Theory) and various merch and video games. DC gave away a ton of free comics and promos. A lot of video games companies were there promoting new games as well as Penguin Books, horror magazine Rue Morgue, etc. That doesn’t even count the many artist with their displays or vendors with a mix of old and new comics and toys.

Marvel had a booth where you could get pictures with Thor’s Hammer or Cap’s shield

Captain America shield

while the movie “Reel Steel” (filmed in Michigan) had some of the robots from the movie on display.

Reel Steel robot

me & Reel Steel robot

Of course the best thing about a convention like this is seeing all the costumes, mostly handmade, and here is some of my favorite like Storm, the Green Lantern Klingon, Rorschach (from “Watchmen”) as well as many others (I will post those Tuesday).

So all in all, it is a great time and for those of you who always wanted to go to San Diego but can’t make it. The Fan Expo gets some great talent and has a lot of stuff going on for people with every taste. They have wonderful fan contests and some great floor space. They could use a bit of help with aspects of organizing, such as a price list for autographs, but overall they do a good job in creating a fun and safe convention experience. Hopefully next year they will approve my credentials so I can get some interviews of the guests.

With that done, here are some upcoming concerts for the week:

Tuesday (8/30) – Jack’s Mannequin opens for Guster @ Fillmore

Wednesday (8/31) РHot Club Of Detroit @ Dirty Dog Jazz Caf̩, Verve Pipe @ Detroit Zoo

Thursday (9/01) – Spyro Gyra opens for Fourplay @ Motorcity Casino

Friday (9/02) – Arts Beats and Eats (with Panic At The Disco!, Jessica Hernandez and Candy Band) @ Downtown Royal Oak

Saturday (9/03) - Arts Beats and Eats (with Brett Michaels, Saving Abel, Muggs, Laith Al-Saadi Lou Gramm, Howling Diablos and Stewart Francke) @ Downtown Royal Oak, Ted Nugent @ Pine Knob, Xtreme Music (with Gretchen Wilson) @ Pontiac Silverdome, Detroit Jazz Fest (with Kimmie Horne and David Holland Octet) @ Hart Plaza

Sunday (9/04) - Arts Beats and Eats (with Vince Gill, Starship, Amy Gore, Twistin Tarantulas, Orbitsons and Dutch Pink) @ Downtown Royal Oak, Detroit Jazz Fest (with Regina Carter’s Reverse Thread, Johnnie Bassett and Hot Club Of Detroit) @ Hart Plaza

Monday (9/05) - Arts Beats and Eats (with Psychedelic Furs, Tom Tom Club, Jill Jack, Duende, Misty Lyn) @ Downtown Royal Oak, Detroit Jazz Fest (with Oblivion Project) @ Hart Plaza

I hate to say it but I usually have seen more of the artists appearing at Jazzfest but I have not seen a lot of the but names this year but people like Kevin Eubanks, Jeff “Train” Watts and Sun Ra Arkestra make me wish I was back in Detroit for some wonderful Jazz Music.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the wonderful music that will be at the two big festivals in Detroit. If last year is any indication, please be careful of parking in Royal Oak. Last year they gave out a couple hundred thousand dollars in parking tickets and I hate to have anyone be charged outrageous fines for parking illegally. Also look out because some signs were pulled down last year and they are not forgiving if you park in on eof those areas. Go to the website and look for parking info.

UPCOMING: Ghoultide Gathering Art Show, Sept 30-Oct 1


Saturday, Oct 1 10a to 2p
at Mill Race Village, Northville, MI

Our fifth annual Halloween-only art show will take place on Friday, Sept 30 & Friday, Oct 1, in Mill Race Village, located at 215 Griswold, Northville, MI 48167.

Ghoultide Gathering is a favored show for satisfying the increasing demand for distinct Halloween-themed art. The allure of finding original and one-of-a-kind Halloween artwork from celebrated artists, attracts collectors and admirers nationwide. read more
Price: $20 Friday Early Buy, or $5 Saturday
Phone: (269) 553-1852
Age Suitability: All Ages

UPCOMING: Thunderdrome! IV: Freedom Supreme



Thunderdrome! IV: FREEDOM SUPREME
THE GRAND FINALE
September 11, 2011 12:00PM

 
Qualifying and Practice: September 10, 2011 at 9:00AM
Dorais Park Velodrome
Mound Road and Outer Drive
Detroit, MI.
 
Rain date: Rain or Shine. Bring your game face.
 
It’s called “Thunderdrome,” will two men enter and one man leave?
No, despite the name we want everyone to make it out of the ‘Drome in one, unbroken piece. We will have emergency staff on hand in case you find your way to one of the track’s gnarly ravines, but no fighting, no kicking, no wrist-mounted cross bows, no creepy midgets riding on your back controlling your motions.

FREE TICKETS & VINYL: Wild Beasts - Magic Bag Ferndale - Sept 30th

Win a pair of tickets and the new vinyl from Wild Beasts who play The Magic Bag in Ferndale on Friday Sept 30th - email to enter to win motorcityblog@earthlink.net






Wild Beasts
Friday September 30th 2011

The Magic Bag
22920 Woodward Ave
Ferndale MI USA
http://www.themagicbag.com/hot.htm










Wild Beasts - Albatross by DominoRecordCo

UPCOMING: DETROIT DESIGN FESTIVAL - Sept 21st -28th 2011



INAUGURAL DETROIT DESIGN FESTIVAL SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER 21st TO 28th
DETROIT, AUGUST 18, 2011




The Detroit Creative Corridor Center (DC3) is set to present the inaugural Detroit Design Festival (DDF) Wednesday, September 21 through Wednesday, September 28. The theme of the Detroit Design Festival is “Unfold the City.”



Detroit Design Festival is the first-known crowd-sourced design festival in Detroit, meaning all of the ‘design happenings’ that are scheduled to take place during the eight day festival were developed by, and will be executed by, designers and creative people from across the Metro Detroit area.
“The Detroit Design Festival offers a new vehicle for local creative people and designers to showcase their skills and abilities to the broader community,” said Matt Clayson, director, Detroit Creative Corridor Center. “By making this a crowd-sourced festival we opened the door of opportunity to anyone from the Detroit area that had a creative idea and wished to put it on display during the festival as one of our official design happenings.”



‘Design happenings’ as Clayson refers to them, are events and activities that will take place at various venues and public spaces during the Detroit Design Festival. Some happenings will be lectures, exhibitions, fashion shows, workshops, interactive installations, art battles, studio tours, and performances.



“Offering a variety of different types of ‘design happenings’ allows people to choose the type of happening that is right for them,” said Melinda Anderson, director, Detroit Design Festival. “For some it will be lectures. Others will find joy in viewing the work of the designers during a fashion show or exhibition. And the interactive installations and displays are sure to get the attention of just about anyone who is interested in design and creativity.”



Many of the ‘design happenings’ will take place within the boundaries of Detroit’s Creative Corridor—New Center to the Detroit River, between the I-75 and Lodge Freeways—however there will be some happenings that’ll exist outside its boundaries.



A complete listing of ‘design happenings’ will be made available beginning in September at http://www.detroitdesignfestival.com/ or by picking up the official DDF guide at the participating venues or various locations around the Metro Detroit area.

The submission period to propose a ‘design happening’ ended July 31.


From now until the first of September Detroit Creative Corridor Center team members will be helping those who submitted their ‘design happening’ prepare it for the venue partnership and production stage of the process. By early September a listing of happening will be made available at
www.DetroitDesignFestival.com and that is where all of the details for each ‘happening’ will be made available. There is no charge to attend most happenings, but some do have fees.




For more information please visit http://www.detroitdesignfestival.com/


“Like” Detroit Design Festival on Facebook


Follow Detroit Design Festival @DetDesignFest on Twitter


About Detroit Creative Corridor Center
The Detroit Creative Corridor Center ("DC3") is a business accelerator focused on helping creative sector businesses grow. Supported by Business Leaders for Michigan and the College for Creative Studies, the DC3’s vision is to establish Detroit as a global center of creative business, creative innovation and creative talent. For more details visit:
www.detroitcreativecorridorcenter.com .

CALL FOR TALENT: Abandoned in Detroit #25, 18 Sept 2011



Fashion designers/stylists, models, makeup, hair, photographers - we are holding another group shoot for the project.

Please visit http://AbandonedInDetroit.​blogspot.com/ to get information about the project.

This shoot is an opportunity for NEW talent to JOIN the ongoing project and for project members to reappear and continue growth with new talent involved.

ALL TALENT INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING
The REGISTRATION page on the website has critical links to fill out in advance - http://abandonedindetroit.​blogspot.com/p/project-reg​istration.html

Project Entrance Fee has payment options via Paypal or Credit Card. Please make payments in advance of the event.
Photo Release - http://goo.gl/YFZTz
Waiver of Liability - http://goo.gl/f3zOC
These links can also be found on the Facebook page for the project - http://facebook.com/abando​nedindetroit (please add that page so you'll get updates)

NEW Project Members interested in PARTNERS PROGRAM offering 10% finder reward on new talent. This is offered to newly entering paid members of the project. Fill out the form at the link below indicating who you are referring into the project - they should list YOUR name when they fill out their registration in the photoshoot.
http://abandonedindetroit.​blogspot.com/2011/02/proje​ct-partners-program.html

EXISTING Project Members interested in REFERRAL REWARDS offering 25% finder reward on new talent. Program offered to existing paid members of the project. This link is the announcement on the blog - http://abandonedindetroit.​blogspot.com/2011/01/refer​ral-rewards.html

About the project fee payment
This is a ONE TIME entrance fee which enables the project to continue providing publicity, arranging locations, and assembling the talent for shooting on a regular basis. The fee is lower than most course fees, photo session fees, and other forms of assembling your portfolio. We work together as a community.

The entrance fee is collected ONE TIME and subsequent sessions are NO CHARGE and there is NO EXPIRATION on that offer. It doesn't happen annually, or per session - ONE TIME.

FUTURE PLANS
Publication of materials in various formats. Cataloging of information. FASHION SHOWS (exclusively showing talent from project)

PROJECT CONTACT
Stephen Boyle - Fuzzytek Photography @ 248-632-6156
Email to stephen@fuzzytek.com

LOCATION
Our meeting location will be at Red Door Gallery, however within an hour of gathering and setting out the schedule for the day we will be traveling to destination. Please be ontime for the shoot. Bring a well-charged cell phone and call 248-632-6156 if you need assistance.

PERSONAL BAG
The following items need to be packed in a bag which can be carried: water bottle, comfortable protective shoes, flashlight, comfortable pants, basic athletic Tshirt. We will have some walking to be done and designers will need to bring a rack for their clothing.

We may leave excess personal belongings at the base and return to them for inclusion as needed. Base location is a secured location.

8/27/11

PHOTOS & REVIEW: Hoxeyville Music Festival by MCB's Andrew Bender

Last weekend, MCB’s Andrew Bender got out of Detroit for a few days to venture Up North for the 9th Annual Hoxeyville Music Festival – a 3 day celebration of some of Michigan’s best roots music also featuring regional and national headlining acts.






Read on for Drew’s review and photos of the event.

With attendance of roughly 3,000, Hoxeyville is just big enough to be one helluva party but small enough that it’s a friendly community where it seems like you’re always running into the same people. Being largely a labor of love rather than a profit-driven venture, the festival’s organizational problems were undeniable as construction of new fences around the property for crowd control and issues in communication between the festival and security continued throughout the weekend. But despite those issues due to its relatively small size, the production quality was generally excellent. Large, open stages featured top-notch lighting and sound that was both clear and just loud enough to be heard in the surrounding tent-filled fields and woods. Hoxeyville is also a very family-friendly event and unlike a lot of music festivals that after dark turn into drug-fueled raves going til dawn every night (not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with that) music at Hoxey ends before midnight and there’s a sound curfew for drum circles out of respect for the neighboring properties. But, if you just wander around in the darkened woods (flashlight or headlamp recommended), you’ll come upon campsite after campsite where musicians and fans mingle, sing, pass a bottle around, and party into the night. Or for those camping with kids, there’s a special family camping area.









Although no longer actually located in Hoxeyville, the festival is set in the Manistee National Forest, about 40 miles south of Traverse City. A truly beautiful spot to spend a weekend camping, the festival grounds also featured a custom disc golf course built especially for the occasion by Stephanai Myers of Disc Golf Michigan as well as numerous food and crafts vendors from around the mitten. Truly a homegrown event, Hoxeyville features a line up of Michigan artists in various independent and collaborative projects. Performers like the Macpodz, Greensky Bluegrass, Ella Riot, Seth Bernard and May Erlewine, Joshua Davis and Steppin In It, Rachel Davis, Breathe Owl Breathe, the Ragbirds, Ultraviolet Hippopotamus, Rootstand, Funktion, and the Crane Wives showcased musical talent from all over the mitten. And to say that the weekend could have also been called ‘Michigan Pride Fest,’ wouldn’t be an exaggeration as Great Lakes tattoos could be seen adorning numerous shoulders and performers and announcers alike extolled the beauty and wonder of our fair state.










The Ragbirds




Lately, I’ve become particularly enamored with northern Michigan indie-folksters Breathe Owl Breathe whose quirky, almost childlike aura seems so inconsistent with their impressive compositions that combine cello, drums, keys, guitar, banjo, and percussion with vocal harmonies and captivating lyrics. Breathe Owl Breathe is children’s music for adults – it’s the kind of music I’d like to listen to while using my safety scissors to cut construction paper to glue onto some insane art project while drinking chardonnay out of a sippy cup. Their morning timeslot was a bit early for some, whereas for others seemed a great, open-air alternative to Saturday morning Scooby-Doo re-runs.

Breathe Owl Breathe – Parrots in the Tropical Trees from Hoxeyville


The festival also featured a VIP area for partying right in front of the stage – and the party everywhere was in particularly high gear for the more danceable acts. Ann Arbor’s Ella Riot combines the vocal intensity of Lady Gaga with the musical innovation of acts like Of Montreal and commanded a sizeable audience going just a little crazy. Likewise, Saturday’s evening performance by Digital Tape Machine out of Chicago infused instrumental based-electronica with hard rock edges that ebbed and flowed out of more acid house loops and beats while fists pumped in the air. Friday night’s headliner was New Orleans-based Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk whose super-funky throwdown had the crowd shakin what their mommas gave ‘em.








Ella Riot




Kalamazoo-based international recording artists Greensky Bluegrass are practically house band at Hoxeyville, having now performed at the festival for the past nine years. Far from a standard bluegrass band, Greensky fuses original newgrass compositions with jamband-inspired improvisation. Greensky Bluegrass has become equally known for their innovative covers of rock and pop songs, and their two performances over the weekend included Prince’s Little Red Corvette, Talking Heads’ Road To Nowhere, Pink Floyd’s Time, Michael Jackson’s Beat It, and the Beatles’ Help! Although their spins on old bluegrass favorites like Jimmy Martin’s Hit Parade of Love were fun, their enthusiasm was particularly apparent on some of their more recent compositions like Jaywalking, Handguns, and Don’t Lie that are featured on their new EP (downloadable for free on their website) that emphasize the bands impressive songwriting and musical chops.










Greensky Bluegrass





Additional highlights on the indie-folk-roots-rock side of things included Airborne or Aquatic – a Michigan roots supergroup led by Seth Bernard centered around instrumental and spoken word storytelling and some amazing musical performances. Strange Arrangement from Illinois brought some serious jamming to the stage while fellow Chicagoans and headliners Umphrey’s McGee played an intense two-hour set that sandwiched one song within another, weaving in and out of arrangements, and culminating with a masterful two-song Pink Floyd cover of In the Flesh and Another Brick In The Wall (Part I). Reggae legends the Itals and former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart each made Sunday memorable – the former for bringing powerful rasta vibes to the late afternoon and the latter for coming on over an hour late, but still killing it nonetheless.




Umphrey’s McGee

Overall, Hoxeyville is an incredible weekend of amazing music in a beautiful setting that proves time and again why so many are proud to call Michigan home. Putting on a successful festival is no small feat – and Hoxeyville is organized by Michiganders whose passion is to showcase some of the incredible talent coming out of the Great Lakes State while throwing a weekend-long party. In the words of Greensky Bluegrass, “I'm tied down to Michigan, there ain't no home like this one.”

Hoxeyville Photos:




Wild At Heart - Shooter Jennings pics

Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog

Wild At Heart


Shooter Jennings put on a great show last weekend here in Rochester for fans of rocking country. I don't see any Detroit area dates coming up, but if you like you country dirty (a la David Allen Cole, Charlie Daniels, etc), check this guy out when he comes to town.


Shooter Jennings

Shooter shadows

Shooter Grrr

Shooter red flash

Shooter squint

Shooter duo

Shooter teeth

Shooter red duo

Shooter hair

Shooter soul

Shooter looking on

Shooter Jive

Shooter Jam

Shooter Strut

Shooter pain

Shooter line up

Shooter end

For more information about his current whereabouts, http://www.shooterjennings.com/ is the place to look.