It's like the difference between listening to AM on a tube radio or a solid state. While the latter has all the bells and whistles that are supposedly there to enhance one's listening experience, tubes just make radio sound better. And maybe it's an old-school guilty pleasure in a high-tech-crazed world, but when a band like Steppin' in It comes around, it's time to take a load off, breathe it in and let the fuzz fade away.
If you're a fan of Michigan-bred bluegrass, folk music, or even the summer music festival circuit, you've no doubt heard of Steppin' in It. Heck, when you're a band as ubiquitous and, well, as dead nuts as these guys, it's easy to be big fish in an acoustic music pond. Theirs is an ethos carved out of the local music scene's negative space, the group's charming youthfulness and enthusiasm belies their life-hardened troubadour sound.
The Lansing foursome somehow manages to play bluegrass as if they were there at its inception. They play year-round and carve out a living doing what most musicians dream of. They are out of town a lot, so we thought we'd fill you in on a handful of upcoming Michigan show dates.
• Thursday, March 15, at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, 230 N. Rose St., Kalamazoo; 269-373-7990.
• Saturday, March 17, at the TC Opera House, 106 S. Union St., Traverse City 231-941-8082.; • Monday, March 19, at the Green Door, 2005 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing; 517-482-6376. • Thursday, April 5, at the Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 248-544-3030.
Eve Doster is the listings editor of Metro Times. Send comments to [email protected]
