“You can do the thing that you’re watching…” 

Critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Chris Bathgate provided some inspirational words on this week’s MI Local, as we got into a bit of a TED Talk-ish tear about the importance of participating in your community.

In this sense, we spun a ramble on watching YouTube clips instead of actually getting out there and actually doing the thing, yourself! But to a larger extent, we were talking about making sure that you’re showing up to support local music, and especially local music venues. 

Bathgate, who recently released his sixth full-length album (The Significance of Peaches), came to the studio to specifically talk about other musicians, particularly singer/songwriter Cash Harrison, whose new single, “Dog Year,” we premiered at the top of the show.

Bathgate and Harrison are both performing this weekend (Friday, Oct. 10) at The Ghost Light in Hamtramck, with The Go Rounds. 

Along with a brief interview, where we touched on the beauty of Harrison’s new song, as well as an update on Bathgate’s own new writing projects, we were treated to a live performance of the song “In The City,” from Bathgate’s 2011 album Salt Year. 

After that, Ann Arbor-based singer/songwriter and genre-defier Kat Steih, who leads the four-piece rock group known as The Ferals, sat in for an interview and a couple of live performances. Steih is a musician, singer, composer, and educator who has lived abroad for much of her life but always called Michigan home–she’s also continually experimented with her sound and describes, in compelling detail, what motivates her adventurous spirit as a creator. 

Kat Steih and the Ferals are releasing a new album on Nov. 5, Feral Geometry, and we spoke about that, as well as the details around the release party.

Along with a brief interview, we also heard two live performances and the lead single from their new album. You’ll hear guitarist Alex Anest contributing, while drummer Bob Zammit focused on photographic documentation. 

Also on tonight’s show, some premieres of new music from Detroit-based artists Moon Date (indie-pop/new-wave revivalism), Carley Lusk (alt-folk/indie-pop), and a new electronic project from the talented singer/songwriter Annie Bacon, known as Ma Reilly.

Bacon premiered a new single, “Give It Grace,” under the new Ma Reilly moniker, ahead of the Dec. 3 release of that project’s debut album, Exile to Neptune. 

It’s only the day after Dolly Parton’s passing, and we still don’t quite have the words, yet, to fully quantify the loss of such an artist, such a human: a songwriter, an actor, an activist, and a shining example of how to forge a career embued with intention, compassion and charming, down-to-earth wisdom. Not to mention, staggering talent. 

On this week’s MI Local, I started off the show with some of the latest releases by artists from around the region, including new singles from Michigander, Bonnie Hook, Mike Ward, and CHECKER, while also checking in on shows that you can catch over the Labor Day weekend. 

But I reached out to some local songwriters to see if they wanted to share their love for the legacy of Dolly and honor her with a cover of a song of hers, one that meant a lot to each of them, “Coat of Many Colors.” Stream the show, but keep your ear out for the last 10 minutes, when songwriters Emily Rose and Audra Kubat provide backing harmonies and vocals to Sodra Jane, who takes lead and plays guitar. It was late at night, after a rough day, with the feelings still so raw, so you won’t hear us able to conjure much as far as conversation or conventional interview back-and-forth, other than the audible brief gaps where you can be assured that tears are being subdued. 

I have always appreciated how sincere our local musicians are, how open and candid they are about the love they hold for the artists that have inspired them. Dolly inspired us all.