Before I tell you all about the special guests we had performing live in-studio during this week’s MI Local, I have to tell you about Sounds Like Detroit! 

WDET’s annual Sounds Like Detroit Showcase will be on Thursday, Aug. 13, at Batch Brewing, featuring KTCHN (jazz), Aisha Ellis (jazz/neo-soul), Jubilee Jackson (hip-hop/R&B), and Michelle Held (folk).

These are artists that WDET listeners selected by vote, based on their video submissions to NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest. Tickets are available now. Join me at Batch Brewing to see all four artists perform: let’s celebrate local music together! 

NOW, back to this week’s show! We heard new tracks from local artists like The Sad Hour (goth-rock), just in time for “Summerween,” as well as a new track from jazz composer/bandleader Austin Di Pietro. 

My in-studio guests included Carmel Liburdi, Mark Jewett, and the sister duo known as Jackamo.

Mark Jewett is a Plymouth based singer-songwriter who blends everything from tender folk to driving power-pop, while Jackamo lean toward Americana-rock sweetened with dazzling harmonies. Jewett will lead the group, The Strategic Advisors, on Thursday, July 9, at The Ark in Ann Arbor, with Jackamo opening. Both of these artists also performed live on the show this week!

Carmel Liburdi is a Detroit-based indie-folk singer-songwriter with a wide range of influences, including some DIY punk energy, but leaning toward sweet melodies with charming turns of phrase. Carmel released a new song this week and WDET listeners got to hear it for the first time last night! After we chatted with Carmel about their upcoming shows, we were also treated to a live performance.

Thanks for listening! And see you on Aug. 13 at Batch Brewing! 

On this week’s show, I revealed the lineup for the 2026 Sounds Like Detroit Showcase, as voted on by WDET listeners!

This is WDET’s version of NPR’s annual Tiny Desk Contest, where we present 10 local artists who submitted to the national program and let YOU decide which ones you’d like to see perform live at our showcase happening at Batch Brewing on Aug. 13. Tickets are available NOW. 

On the show, I sampled songs from each of the winning artists, including modern jazz from KTCHEN, a blend of jazz and neo-soul from Aisha Ellis, passionate and poetic hip-hop, R&B and soul from Jubilee Jackson, and then the special MI Local pick, the storytelling folk ballads from singer-songwriter Michelle Held! 

This is the fourth annual Sounds Like Detroit Showcase, and my third time serving as your official emcee, so take my word for it when I tell you: you don’t wanna miss this! It’s a special night with incredible vibes where YOU can discover your new favorite local artist! Or, if you cast a vote, then join us to cheer on your favorite! It’s a celebration of local music, brought to you by WDET! Stay tuned for more featurettes on MI Local in the weeks ahead, and make sure you get your tickets now! 

Meanwhile, we also had a ton of premieres this week on the show, including a new single from Hamtramck-based singer-songwriter John Salvage, who has a new album out in July, along with Ricochet The Kid, The Quitters, Ani Mari, and more!

My in-studio guests were organizers of a special film screening event happening at the Outer Limits Lounge this weekend, where they’ll be showing a rarely-seen music documentary that captures the scene around Detroit in 1979, titled Face The 80s. We talked about the legacy of bands from that era, including The Romantics and Destroy All Monsters, and sampled songs by bands featured in the film, like Algebra Mothers, Sonics Rendezvous Band, and more.

Listen to the full show above for up to two weeks after it airs.

This year’s Sounds Like Detroit Showcase is set for August 13, at Batch Brewing, and it will be my third year as your humble emcee. Now, we still need your help to lock in the line-up, so be sure to follow the link at the end of this article to vote for your favorite from our Top 10 Contenders, selected from recent submissions to the NPR Tiny Desk Contest. That being said, tonight was a fun episode, because I welcomed dynamo soul/R&B singer/performer Drey Skonie into the studio, who, with the Clouds Band, headlined my first year as the SLD host. 

Drey Skonie was already on the rise when he received the most votes during the 2024 Sounds Like Detroit, and he and the Clouds Band have only gotten busier and better over the time since–including selling out Cliff Belll’s multiple times, and famously improvising an entire song on the spot at a recent Arts Beats & Eats performance where they were briefly interrupted by a passing train (the stage was set up right next to the railroad crossing), and that track became “Ride Me Like a Train,” which we sampled tonight. 

While he hung out, Drey also shared his thoughts on the importance of supporting local music through programs like SLD, along with other programs like Motown’s Amplify series, which also honored Drey in the past; we also chatted about Drey’s memories and experience at the 2024 SLD concert, and what that meant to him and his band. We closed with “Rippin’ & Runnin'” the song that wound up getting Drey to the SLD stage in the first place. 

Also on tonight’s show, organizers from the annual PUG Fest joined us to talk about that upcoming mega-music festival happening this weekend, featuring lots of intense rock music, from heavy indie, to midwest emo, to metal-hybrids and pop-punk powerhouses. This is an all-ages independent DIY music festival organized in partnership between The Crofoot and The Pleasant Underground. The upcoming event splits its schedule across Ferndale and Pontiac, with multi-stage spaces, giving fans a stacked marathon weekend of music.

Organizers Ian Cruz and Kyle Minch joined me in studio to talk about the line-up which includes local artists like Former Critics, Riot Course, FrostIsRad, and many more, including high profile artists who are touring in from other scenes! We also heard an exclusive premiere from the band Feast FOUR The Crows, who have a new album coming out soon.
PUG Fest splits up the week with a lineup at the Pike Room (part of the Crofoot complex) in Pontiac on Thursday, followed by a Friday night lineup at the Orchid Theatre in Ferndale, then back to The Crofoot in Pontiac on Saturday. Find more info here.

We also heard premieres, this week, from 800cc, Spa Day, and The Telephone Poles! All that and so much more! Make sure, btw, that you vote for our Sounds Like Detroit Showcase, HERE.

This week, Detroit-based singer/songwriter Chloe Drallos joined me in the studio to discuss her new album “The Cave,” which comes out this Friday on LifeLike Records.

Drallos has been performing and releasing music for seven years now, primarily under the moniker Zilched.

While Chloe’s previous work, as Zilched, leaned into what she called “doom-pop,” or a beautifully brooding blend of distortion-laden post-punk, dark dreamy shoegaze, and a bit of post-grunge grit. But as it started to grow, more of her long held influences came to the surface, drawing on iconic storytelling songwriters with strong voices; you started to hear even more poise coming to the fore with the way she paired her potent voice with powerful guitar chords. And that’s true, again, on “The Cave.”

Two years ago, after releasing a full-length with as Zilched titled “Earthly Delights,” Chloe started moving toward a proper solo project under her own name. “The Cave” is her formal debut as a solo artist, following a recent EP (“Three Seasons”).

You can catch the release show for The Cave this Saturday at The Field Office, with openers The Hand.

Stream the show above to hear our interview about the songwriting process and recording of “The Cave,” and hear some songs from it as well—including a live performance by Chloe in-studio.

A look back at Sounds Like Detroit 2025

My other guest for this week’s show is Tariq Gardner, a stellar and accomplished jazz composer, drummer, and bandleader who notably won the most votes last year in 2025’s Sounds Like Detroit (SLD) Showcase.

Over 150 Michigan performers entered NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert this year. Only 10 of them will be eligible to appear in Sounds Like Detroit. It’s a local musical showcase that’ll take place at Batch Brewing Company on August 13.

Before the concert starts, Detroiters have the chance to select the top five musicians who go on to headline the show based on their entry videos. 

The top 10 are below:

– IIAJIDE
– Michelle Held
– Aisha Ellis
– KTCHN
– Jubilee Jackson
– Checker
– Vaughn Black
– Rose St. Germaine
– Mild Pulp
– Laurie Love

Jeff Milo is the host of MI Local on WDET. He also is the coordinator and main host of Sounds Like Detroit. He joined The Metro to talk more about the chosen finalists and how they are shaping the local sound.

For more information, go to WDET.org/TinyDesk and cast a ballot before June 19.

– Hayley Gavigan contributed to this piece.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

More stories from The Metro

This week, I had Quality Cinema Band in-studio to talk about their new album, “Roseland,” and their upcoming show this Friday at the Gambrel Saloon. This is a charming and versatile indie-rock band that loves melody, harmony, and a little bit of twang, with some toe-tapping rhythms and time signatures that can regulate your nervous system. Plus, they can legit jam when called upon.

After their interview, they revealed that their live performance of two new songs from “Roseland” was their first go at an acoustic set. During the interview, they revealed that their show coming up on Friday night in Eastern Market is apparently their farewell show. Extra incentive to not miss it, then!

Stream the show to hear our interview, about 40 minutes in, and then hop over to Bandcamp to stream their new (and final?) album.

Now, we also heard a ton of new music from local artists, like Chloe Drallos, who will be on the show in three weeks, along with other singer-songwriters like John Salvage, who has an album out in July, and George Montrelle, who has a new single with Ross Herner.

Detroit’s Tiny Desk

But a highlight of this week’s show was the announcement of our  Top 10 contenders for this year’s Sounds Like Detroit Showcase, set for August 13 at Batch Brewing. Sounds Like Detroit is WDET’s version of the NPR’s national Tiny Desk Contest!

We combed through more than 150 submissions to that contest sent in from Michigan-based artists, and we’ve selected 10 stand-out artists that YOU, dear listener, can vote on, starting June 3. The top 3 vote-getters will go on to play a concert at Batch Brewing, and we’d love to see you there.

Check out the Top 10 below, and visit our Sounds Like Detroit page for more information! Also, stay tuned to MI Local and WDET for more details!

Sounds Like Detroit finalists – Voting opens June 3