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

You’ll often get quiet a zesty sonic stew when you tune in to MI Local! Part of that is due to how creative and adventurous many of the artists in our local scene are, but it’s also due to just how much music is released across the state, week-in and week-out, that inevitably a noisy indie-rock song by Jasper Dean transitioning into an EDM-driven electronica ballad by Gwendolyn Dot.

But it also means that you’ll get guests like Pinkeye, aka The Pinkeye Orchestra. This is a free-jazz inspired ensemble of 12 local musicians that formed a little more than 18 years ago, around what was then a burgeoning post-garage-rock scene of the mid-late 00’s.

Several of them started out by covering John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme,” with distorted guitars, frenetic drums, saxophones and more. Initially known only as Pinkeye, the band started to add more members, circling unconventional venues like The Bohemian National Home and the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit.

At the center of the Pinkeye band were three musicians who also had a knack for organizing, event-planning, or call-it-what-you-will, that was Mike Ross, Jeff Howitt, and Ray Thompson. They joined me in-studio to talk about the band’s upcoming performance at the Annex Gallery, part of 333 Midland in Highland Park, this Friday at 7 p.m., their first performance in 16 years.

During our interview, the trio talk about forming the band, and eventually crossing paths with the late John Sinclair, former manager of the MC5 and celebrated poet, musician and jazz-enthusiast. He began performing with Pinkeye in 2009-2010, and rechristened them The Pinkeye Orchestra. Catch ’em live, this Friday, playing two sets at the Annex.

My second guest was Arriana Bardoni, the singer-songwriter and guitarist who started Tears of a Martian. This has been Bardoni’s songwriting project that has attracted a revolving cast of band members over the years, but she’s also just performed live under the moniker as well, blending elements of indie-rock, R&B, and soul.

During our interview, Bardoni revealed the origin of the name, and talked developing the project and aligning with fellow talented local artists and songwriters like Carmel Liburdi and Shannon Barnes. Bardoni also treated WDET listeners to an exclusive sneak preview of her new single, “Spotless Mind,” which is officially out this Friday.

Next, Bardoni performed a live acoustic version of another new single, “Real,” which, like “Spotless Mind,” are both featured on her new release, her first full length, “light II dark,” which is out on May 8.

You can see Tears Of A Martian live this Friday night at the Outer Limits Lounge, for a release party, where you can get copies of the album on CD.

A few other notable tracks this week: new hook-heavy instrumental noise-rock from Callie Simon, a hard-driving, hard-rocking ballad from The Hourlies, and slick surf rock from Ann Arbor’s The Vicissitones.

Listen to the full episode using the media player above for up to two weeks after it airs.

There’s so much energy in the local arts and music scene. There is always something to experience, from the next big thing hiding in a dive bar, to a stand-up comic about to break through, to a visual artist in a DIY gallery about to sell a piece to a buyer in Europe.

There also could be a huge all-local music festival, too, bringing together more than 160 bands into 11 venues over the course of three wild, music-filled nights, or there might also be a comedic musical, filled with terrific arrangements, catchy choruses, and gusto performances, inspired by the plot and characters of “Jurassic Park.”

The seventh Corktown Music Festival kicks off Thursday night, hosted entirely in the neighborhood of Corktown, with venues like The Lager House, The Gaelic League, Nancy Whiskey, and more, with dozens upon dozens of bands and artists, like Carmel Liburdi, Mild Pulp, Anthony Retka, and my in-studio guests, Go Tiger Go and, by extension, The Plultophonics!

Ameera Bandy is a singer-songwriter and lead vocalist of the Plutophonics, but she’s also the VP of the Corktown Music Festival. She’s spent the last few months helping to organize this vast multi-day event.

Bandy talked about her passion for the local music scene, the origins of this festival, and some of the things local music fans can anticipate. There are wristbands you can purchase online, and all proceeds go to benefit the Hamtramck-based nonprofit Passenger Recovery.

Ameera’s band, The Plutophonics, are playing the same night as another indie-rock group, Go Tiger Go! That quartet is led by singer-guitarist Paul Corsi, who formed the band in the early 2010s and went on to release a slew of sleek, well-produced, high-energy pop ballads threaded with a signature complex guitar style.

Go Tiger Go performs live on MI Local on April 21, 2026.Go Tiger Go are experiencing a bit of a comeback this year, after a period of time away from the stages. Corsi is joined by guitarist Adam Toolin, bassist Ethan Hunter Smith, and drummer Brian Moore.

The entire band was hanging out in-studio to talk about their latest single, “Tokyo Rain,” and then treated WDET listeners to an exclusive premiere of their next track, “Paint.” To wind out the night, the band performed an acoustic version of their first breakout single, “Inhale.”

Along with these interviews, we heard new tracks from the Americana indie-folk duo Payton & Annabelle, and an awesome cover of “I Am The Walrus” by Jemmi Hazeman.

We also heard a recording of the cast from “Jurassic Park: the Musical,” with the song “Never Together,” from the ongoing show that you can catch at Plant Ant, described as “An original comedy where dinosaurs, disaster, and show-stopping numbers collide.” And the song is an absolute gem! I love all of this creative energy surging through the metro Detroit area, week-in and week-out!

On this week’s show, we heard new tracks by Craig Benedict Valentine Badynee, formerly of Pas/Cal, along with a new Allman Bros. cover by Jill Jack and a groovy pop song by Pesky Kid!

We had some in-studio guests, including Deadbeat Beat, who brought some new music to spin. We also talked about Detroit X Detroit happening this weekend with Danny VanZandt.

Deadbeat Beat’s new album and upcoming release party

Deadbeat Beat sprouted from a teenage friendship between drummer-vocalist Maria Nuccilli and guitarist-vocalist-songwriter Alex Glendenning, leaning into an intersection of garage rock drive and indie-pop catchiness. The band was rounded out by bassist Zak Frieling, who came from the Flint scene to join these high energy east siders as a power trio, releasing an album and touring fairly extensively.

There’s been new energy, though, over the last couple years, with the addition of Pete Steffy on keyboards and synthesizers. Deadbeat Beat’s 2019 album “How Far” was recorded by Jeff Else in his North End home studio, where Steffy lived at the time, and during these sessions he gave valuable advice.

The band talked about the ideas and stories behind the album’s title, and it’s two new singles, one of which was exclusively premiered on the show tonight.

Deadbeat Beat also discussed moving away from the well-prepared-yet-quickly-executed style of basement recordings to the more deliberate process of working with celebrated engineer Chris Koltay at High Bias Studio.

Deadbeat Beat have their album release party at the Paris Bar on June 12, which will be followed up by some touring and some more high-profile gigs that they also detail during our interview.

Detroit X Detroit this Saturday

Also, the annual Detroit X Detroit Showcase is Saturday April 15, 2026 at the Loving Touch.

This is a super-fun concert with more than a dozen local bands doing short, high-energy cover sets of other notable Detroit and Michigan artists. These contemporary bands and songwriters can choose to do covers of icons like Stevie Wonder or Bob Seger, or they can select a set of later trailblazers like The White Stripes.

Singer-songwriter Danny VanZandt, who performs solo but also has a full band, will be doing a set of Seger covers, with his group, at the event.

On the show, I also spun a track by the artist, Annemarie Jo, who will be doing a set of Marvin Gaye covers.

In the middle of our interview, VanZandt treated us to a live cover of “Night Moves.”