By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org
March is Reading Month. March is Women’s History Month. And March 2022 is Battle of the Bands month at Wyoming’s The Stray.
Starting this Friday, March 4, and for the next two Fridays, Wyoming’s The Stray Cafe will be hosting its first-ever Battle of the Bands which will feature 15 Michigan bands, most from the Grand Rapids area with others coming from Detroit, Lansing, Kalamazoo and Allen Park.
“We wanted to give young and emerging artists a chance for exposure, networking, and some compensation within a high-quality listening environment,” said The Stray’s Music and Arts Manager Hunter VanKlompenberg. “We generally value collaboration over competition, but we hope in this case that the premise of friendly competition will help gather audience excitement and will bring out the best in the performers.”
When looking for performers, VanKlompenberg said there were a number of factors the venue considered, quality being the top one along with diversity in genre, gender, age and background.
“Finally, we looked at the effort put forth in their application/online presence,” he said. “Overall, there’s a balance between looking for quality and looking for artist that this would be a great opportunity for. We weren’t necessarily looking for huge touring acts because it wouldn’t be as much of a growth opportunity for them.”
Five bands will compete each Friday by performing a 20-minute set. The winner from each of those preliminary rounds will advance to the final round which will be March 25. In that round, each of the remaining three bands will before a 45-minute set. There will be a populous vote and judge’s vote that will be combined to determine the winners. The winner of the March 25 event will receive $300 and a free photoshoot and an opportunity to record at Dogtown Studio, a Grand Rapids-based studio that specializes in live sessions for bands and musicians. Second and third place will each receive $100. All three finalists will be featured on the WKTV Journal in the month of April.
This Friday’s line-up includes Tink and the Lost Boys, The Dead Lennies, Sebastian and the Mood, DaisyBox, and The Polyphonic Element. Guest judge will be Andrea “Dre” Wallace, a West Michigan native who is a music producer/DJ, entrepreneur and technologist.
On March 11, Bond Girl, Shnkool, Grace Thiesen, Josh Graveling and the Epitones will perform. Guest judge will be Elle Lively, who is the owner of Crooked Tree Creative, a Michigan-based management and consulting company geared towards empowering up-and-coming artists.
On Mach 18, the performers will be Ficus, Whorled, Painted Friends, Low Phase, and Dalmatian Stone. Guest judge will be Jake Rye, who is a producer, songwriter and mixer based in southeast Michigan, who over the past 14 years has mixed more than 1,000 songs including many billboard charting radio singles.
The final night, March 25, will be judged by John Sinkevics, who is a career journalist, musician and founder of Local Spins, the state’s fastest-growing music website that covers the West Michigan music scene.
“We hope to provide opportunities for growth to local artists, put on a handful of incredible shows, and introduce audience members to bands they may not have known of before,” VanKlopemberg said.
The event is free with The Stray offering a range of food items such as flatbread pizzas, salads, and nachos along with a selection of beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.
The Stray Cafe is located at 4253 S. Division Ave. For more information, visit The Stray’s website or Facebook page.
