CHILLIN WITH DETROIT ROCK BAND GRAND CIRCUS

Grand Circus is a hard rockin band from the Motor City. No gimmicks. No games. No distracting light shows. Just straight up, in your face rock and roll. The band includes in their influences Black Sabbath, The Cult, Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Motörhead.

The members of the band include:
Jason Cardasis - Guitar
Grov Tigue - Bass
Jimi Bowman - Drums
Joe Nora - Vocals

Wanna know more? Check out these links:

http://www.grandcircus.com

http://www.reverbnation.com/thegrandcircus

The latest from the band: "Well we have a new bass player, he is well-known in the Michigan bass world. Grov "Gt" Tigue aka Sir Slap Nasty. He brings a fresh sound to the low end. We just played our first headline show with him last weekend at Uli's Haus of Rock.

We are headlining a big show at Planet Rock on April 5th with three other Michigan based bands. June 26th we are headlining the 89x Homeboy show at the Bullfrog in Redford. We have Bloodline Riot in direct support with Ignoring the Echoes and Broken Day Machine.

We have an East Coast run in July as well as a run to Denver and back as direct support for the Denver based band A Memory Down. We are working with Matt Dalton to get on the Dirtfest and Rockapalooza festivals. I am also working on a Southern run through Texas for the fall.

As far as who have we played with? The list is long. We don't really like to say "we have shared the stage with so & so and so & so because every band can do that. Here are a few of the bands we were direct support for: Days of the New multiple times, Pop Evil, Sponge, Bullet Boys, Alien Ant Farm, Fozzy, Hed Pe, Soil, Prospect Hill, Mushroomhead, Eye Empire, Stardog Champion, Twice Broken, A Memory Down and the list goes on." Cheri Clair

*NEW MAGAZINE* MI.CRAFT BEER CULTURE LAUNCHING JULY 2014

 

MiCraftBeerCulture | Launching July 2014

Free monthly publication distributed to brewpubs, multi-taps, and other supporters of Michigan craft beer.

We at MiCraftBeerCulture magazine are dedicated to furthering the craft beer industry in Michigan and nurturing the culture that surrounds it. Our mission is to cultivate the connections between brewers and their communities and to raise awareness of the agricultural and food cultures that encompass craft breweries in our state.

Monthly columns will include a featured craft brewery and/or multi-tap, artisanal cooking, charcuterie and cheese, agriculture, art, recreation, humor, interviews, and of course, beer and brewing, all drawing from the culture and lifestyle that surrounds Michigan Craft Beer.

SUBSCRIPTIONS AND WEBSITE

MICRAFTBEERCULTURE/FACEBOOK

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THE MC5 AND SOCIAL CHANGE: PURE REBELLION AND TOTAL ENERGY

 

Former Professor Mat Bartkowiak designed a university course featuring Detroit band The MC5. He wrote THE MC5 AND SOCIAL CHANGE: A STUDY IN ROCK AND REVOLUTION for that class. It is Dennis Thompson's person favorite of all the MC5 books out there...Mat has graciously signed on as a contributor for our DetRMag...and here is his first entry.....more to come

Author Mat Bartkowiak:

I was in college in the late 90s when I first heard the MC5. I don't know if this if the same for everyone, but that time was a heady one for me. I was really coming into my own sense of politics and defining my own world-view. I was young, I was amped, and I was ready to change the world.

It was in that context, that the MC5 first assaulted my eardrums. I had the intro to "Ramblin' Rose" by JC Crawford played first by my then my co-worker, Matt Conger at the record shop I was working in, and then he cut right over to "Kick Out the Jams."

There weren't any customers in that night, so he turned it up to eleven. That speech by Crawford asking the crowd if they were ready to testify and be a part of the solution, then to have someone in a recording from 1968 none-the-less scream "Kick Out the Jams, Motherfuckers!" and launch into the cacophony of that song...well, let's just say I was ready to turn myself loose on the world that night. I was converted.

Photo courtesy of Leni Sinclair

It was that sense of pure rebellion and total energy that I carried with me for years. The White Panther stories that I vaguely attached to the band only pushed that further.

It wasn't until I started digging into the research that I found that the band became a sort of lighting rod for discussions of authenticity and rebellion during the band's life and since.

Their music was seen by some as a huge ruse; others thought the pulse of rebellion in rock and roll had not only been found but that it was pumping like it was on amphetamines. You could take it or leave it...it was usable. The same possibility for multiple readings and uses went for the stakeholders themselves, too.

 

About Author Mat Bartkowiak:

Before accepting a position in the private sector with Nelson-Jameson, Inc. in 2014, Mathew J. Bartkowiak was an associate professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County. Bartkowiak received his Ph.D. from the Department of American Studies at Michigan State University, his M.A. from Bowling Green State University, and his B.A. from UW-Green Bay. His fourth book, his second co-authored with Yuya Kiuchi of Michigan State University, examines music in counterculture film (due from McFarland in 2015).

FUZZ FEST @ WOODRUFF'S APRIL 10-11-12 RUINERS*THE MUGGS*AMINO ACIDS AND MORE!

ONLY $7 Each night! OR $15 dollar 3 day passes 
available @ Encore Records, 
Vault of Midnight and Underground Sounds
Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

SEE YOU ALL THERE!

80’S ROCKERS “CHINA SKY” RETURN TO THE STUDIO

80’S ROCKERS “CHINA SKY” 

RETURN TO THE STUDIO, 

RELEASE A DOCUMENTARY FILM, 

SHOOT A NEW VIDEO IN DETROIT!

80’s rockers CHINA SKY, best known for their 1988 hits “Some Kind Of Miracle” and “The Glory”, have released a new documentary short film detailing the band’s history, and are back in the studio for the first time in over 25 years.

The band, hailed as “megastars in the making” by Derek Oliver in Kerrang magazine, broke up just two months after the release of their self-titled debut album in September of 1988, after numerous bad breaks, and the defection of guitarist Bobby Ingram to southern rock band Molly Hatchet. In the years following, CHINA SKY has amassed something of a cult following among listeners of what is now called “Melodic Rock”, and the album has become a sought-after collectors item.

“A few years ago, I began to receive inquiries from all over the world about China Sky”, says lead vocalist Ron Perry. “I had no idea anyone even remembered China Sky, and I was floored by the renewed interest”. Sensing an opportunity to re-visit what he viewed as “unfinished business”, Perry called his old bandmate, bassist Richard Smith, and China Sky was re-born.

Perry, a Detroit native, wanted to showcase his Detroit roots in the video for their forthcoming single “One Life”. “A major portion of the video consists of me walking through various landmarks around the United States. It begins at my childhood home, winds through downtown Detroit, follows me across the country, and ends up in Hollywood. The Ren Cen, the giant fist, and several other landmarks are featured prominently”, says Perry.

Detroiters may remember Perry as the lead singer for 80’s glam/punk/metal outfit “The Nasties”. “Back in ’86, I wrote the song “Detroit Rocks” as a theme for WLLZ’s campaign to have the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame built in Detroit”, says Perry.

“It was kind of a “We Are The World” style thing that featured members of Brownsville Station, Weapons, The Almighty Strut, The Look, Halloween, The Hysteric Narcotics, Blackfoot, and Molly Hatchet, and an impromptu rap from the MC5’s Rob Tyner. To this day, the highlight of my career was working with Rob Tyner… it doesn’t get any better than that”.

Buoyed by the new wave of interest in China Sky, Perry and Smith have returned to the studio with a new group of veteran rockers in tow, including original Molly Hatchet drummer Bruce Crump, guitarist Steve Wheeler, and Scottish keyboardist Tim McGowan.

The band’s new documentary short film entitled “CHINA SKY – SO HERE’S THE STORY…” tells the behind-the-scenes story of China Sky, and gives a sneak peek at the video for their forthcoming single “One Life”.

The new album is expected some time in the summer of 2014.

 
China Sky Music
888-988-6334
facebook.com/chinaskymusic
chinaskymusic.com

♥ WELCOME TO THE DOLL HOUSE ♥ THE PORCELAIN DOLL COLLECTION

The Porcelain Doll Collection is a punk/garage revival mostly female band from Riverview, MI. The band consists of Alayna Brooke on Vocals, Lauren C Reyna and Cam Anderson on Guitar, Dylan Kissel on Bass, and Zoe Kissel on Drums. TPDC was founded on September 23, 2012. TPDC is heavily influenced by the RIOT GRRRL movement. TPDC's sound can be likened to Bikini Kill, L7, Hole, The Cramps, and The Runaways.

Punk/grunge - TPDC draws inspiration from garage rock of the past and present. We aim to perform and inform. We are not here to bring around an old movement; we exist to create a whole new generation of music built on the staples of groups before us. An "in your face" act of feminism and other f-words over an energetic angst fest of raw music.

The Porcelain Doll Collection on FACEBOOK

CHECK OUT THEIR MERCH STORE HERE

JIM HARPER REMEMBERS WKNR KEENER 13 NEWS DIRECTOR PHILIP NYE

Philip Nye March 1, 1927-March 20,2014
Photo: Detroit Memories

Jim Harper Remembers Legendary News Director Philip Nye...

Philip Nye (not the science-guy, the newsman) passed away this week. If you grew up listening to Keener 13 you probably heard him doing the news, back when radio stations actually had a full news dept.

If you grew up in Detroit in the 60's and 70's you probably watched Ch 7 Action News, (Bonds, Kelly, Ackerman, Turner) which he oversaw as News Director. His talent knew no bounds as he went on to even greater things in broadcasting and he positively impacted the way we viewed our TV news in America. He brought a level of class and respect to the industry.

I remember as a young man, taking the bus from Westland to Dearborn with my childhood friend, Jim Kerr to visit Keener 13 and investigate the rumors that Paul McCartney was dead. We were 13 and 14 yrs old...just a couple of teenagers terrified about a Beatle-rumour. We asked the receptionist if we could talk to someone about this terrible news and she asked us to wait. 5 Minutes later and dashing man appeared and said in a velvet voice "Can I help you boys?" It was Phil Nye, Keener's News Director.

He sat down in the lobby and discussed the "Paul is dead-story" with us and all it's mysterious music-clues us for about 15 minutes. At the particular time the story had not been denied or confirmed by anyone, including The Beatles. He asked us to continue investigating and report back to him if we discovered anything new. Nine years later I would sit in that same lobby (on the same couch) as the Program Director and Morning Host of 100.3 WNIC.

 WHO BURIED PAUL MCCARTNEY: THE STORY THAT SWEPT THE WORLD 1969

I spent 22 years at that station and a week wouldn't go by without me thinking back about how big a gesture Phil Nye afforded us. The news of Mr. Nye's passing has me thinking about how much that gesture made me want to become a part of the great fellowship of radio broadcasters. 

 WXYZ TV ANCHORS ERIC SMITH PHILIP NYE AND BILL BONDS

And in my "mature years" I sit in awe of how one life can impact another, and exponentially affect countless others. Rest in Peace, Phil Nye. And thank you for a very long and meaningful life lesson. Deepest sympathies to your family and friends. Jim Kerr went on to become one of the most successful morning radio hosts in America and just celebrated 40 years as New York's most beloved morning guy. So many great talents both on and off-air worked in the building Phil Nye called home.

Phil Mye with Jerry Hodak photo courtesy of WXYZ DETROIT

Philip Nye (HEAR PHILIP NYE HERE) was the news director at the legendary WKNR AM 1310 Contact News in Dearborn/Detroit in the mid-1960′s working with names like Bill Bonds and Eric Smith. Phil made it to several of the Detroit Radio Reunions.

 Phil Nye and Bill Bonds

Nye passed away peacefully on March 20, 2014 at the age of 87. Born in Newark, Ohio on March 1, 1927, he was a proud graduate of Ohio State University where he studied theater and journalism. He had a long and distinguished career that included both radio and television. Mr. Nye worked actively as a broadcast journalist until the age of 86.

Visitation for Philip Nye will take place Monday, March 24 from 11 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at McCabe Funeral Home in Farmington Hills. The memorial service will start at 1:00 p.m. on Monday

 Read More About PHIL NYE:

Former Channel 7 News Director Phil Nye passes away

Full Bio From Motor City Radio Flashbacks