To call her new album, “Space,” a debut is a bit of a misnomer for Kendall Jane Meade.

The Grosse Pointe native, who’s been in Los Angeles the past seven or so years after a long tenure in New York, has been making music for most of her life — while growing up in the metro area, during her time at Boston University, in the band Juicy and under the moniker Mascott, whose three albums during the 2000s garnered critical acclaim.

Meade had “taken a pause” from active music-making after moving west, but the aftermath of a divorce led to “Space,” and to finally billing under her own name.

“I came back to it really out of necessity in a way,” Meade, 53, explains via Zoom from Culver City, where she also works in advertising brand management. “I didn’t realize it until (the divorce) that music was truly a tool for me to process my emotions. When something like that happens to you, you go through your toolbox of how you’re going to get through it — therapy, life coaches, psychics, walking … everything.

“I realized during that time I was feeling the best when I was making music. So music brought me back to me. It brought me back to the center of who I was. It was important for me to really reclaim myself, and (music) was the best and most honest way I had.”

That was something Meade got a sense of early on, actually. As the youngest of four — “The mascot of the family,” she notes — Meade “was kind of shy because my brother and older sisters were all boisterous and running around.” Her mother, noticing Meade “was kind of retreating a little bit,” enrolled her in a children’s theater program at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial around the time she was in second grade. “I had a comfort on stage from an early age,” Meade recalls, which led to school choirs and a cappella groups and an obsession with music that included publishing a fanzine, Buzz Magazine Boston, while she was in college.

It was there she also formed Juicy, which subsequently moved to New York. “I just always loved being around musicians, and it was also such an exciting time, ’cause there were so many female musicians,” says Meade, who also worked with Sparklehorse, Lloyd Cole, the Spinanes and others. “I had an amazing musical community. … Especially in New York, there was just an embarrassment of riches all around me. If I wasn’t promoting an album, I was collaborating, popping over to a club, jumping up and singing backup.

“I was continually fed by music. It was a really inspiring, really fun time in my life.”

Meade didn’t abandon music entirely when she and her then-husband moved to Los Angeles. “I was doing covers and things,” she notes, “but I had really taken a pause from writing and recording full bodies of work for almost 12, 13 years.” It was her longtime collaborator Charles Newman, who had also moved to Los Angeles, who encouraged her to get back to music by bringing her into the studio to sing backup on projects he was working on. That, in turn, prodded her back into her own creativity.

“(Newman) didn’t realize he was actually helping me heal,” Meade remembers. “I started using my voice memo and then I started writing notes down, melodies and things. My friend, Anders Parker, would be like: ‘Hey, I wrote this piano part. Write melody over it. I was sort of quietly making music.”

The track with Parker became “How to Do Nothing” on “Space,” while Kris Gruen, who co-wrote the album’s cathartic closing track “Heaven On a Car Ride,” took Meade on tour with him in Europe, which helped clear the creative pipes as well. “Getting back to that version of me felt amazing,” says Meade, who played a weekly residency at Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles in October. “When I got off the tour, I was inspired and kept writing. I made a promise to myself I would play as many shows as possible to get comfortable again.”

Also impactful was a holiday trip back to Detroit to visit her father. Meade reached out to local musician and longtime friend Matt Van, who lined up and accompanied Meade for a show at the Polka Dot in Hamtramck. Hearing her new songs, Van suggested doing some recording at Electric Six veteran Zack Shipps’ studio, where they recorded demos that laid the foundation for “Space’s” title track and “The Garden.” Van co-wrote the latter, as well as the song “Temporary.”

The result is an album different from anything Meade has done before. Its organic, often spacious arrangements informed by 90s indie rock and a confessed new “obsession” with classic singer-songwriter motifs. “I’d Like to Know Myself,” meanwhile, starts with a classic Rolling Stones-style riff played by another expatriate Detroiter, Eli Wulfmeier (aka Leroy From The North), who’s on five other tracks. “It’s sort of a theme for the album — friends helping,” Meade acknowledges. “Everything felt like a hug, total support and elevation for what I was trying to do with the album, which was to express myself and encourage others to do the same.”

Part of that expression, of course, dealt with her divorce, but “Space” — inspired by her ex’s declaration that he needed more of it — is significantly more gentle and affirming than more vitriolic breakup albums such as Bob Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks” or Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill.”

“I wasn’t doing this to trash my ex or have an anger release,” Meade explains. “To me it’s honoring the marriage, every part of it. I just didn’t want to close that chapter without having closure. It’s very much my personality to do it in this way.”

Now, Meade has opened, or re-opened and certainly re-embraced, her muse. She filmed a video for the Madonna-referencing “Stereo” in Detroit with director Mitch McCabe and another clip for “The Garden.” She’s looking forward to playing live in support of the album and especially to making more music in the near future.

“Mascott was my band, essentially, but I had that moniker because I wasn’t ready to fully step into putting my name out there,” Meade says. “But now’s the right time, and I’m just excited to keep writing and keep writing and living the life of a musician.”

“Parade” is not a musical that entertains. But it does engage, in an importantly profound and heartbreaking way.

The 1913 trial and conviction of Leo Frank, a Jewish pencil factory manager in Georgia, for raping and murdering a 13-year-old female employee hardly seems a likely subject for song and dance, even. The narrative is bracing; Frank’s death sentence was commuted to life in prison by Georgia Gov. John M. Salon after inconsistencies and outright lies were discovered in a review of the testimony. But Frank was kidnapped and executed by a lynch mob in 1915, during an ongoing appeal of the case. Frank was pardoned in 1986 but pointedly not exonerated.

At Detroit’s Fisher Theatre through March 9, “Parade” is complex, nuanced and emotionally heavy, laced with overtones of anti-Semitism, racism and the cultural politics of the still-new, post-Civil War reconstruction South. Not exactly the prevue of, say, dancing cats. And recent rises in anti-Semitism and other prejudices now only amplify “Parade’s” resonance; the show even ends with visual references to modern times and the words “It is ongoing…” on a video board.

The events depicted make it hard to know when, or whether, to applaud what’s happening on stage — but you will, because of performances and staging that hammer home the sobering message with a sincere and stoic resolve.

This version of the 1998 show — based on the 2023 edition that won a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical — has all the trappings of the big stage, including an inventive, tri-level stage set that covers the width of the Fisher proscenium and is lightly manipulated to convey courtrooms, offices, streets, prisons, the Frank home and the governor’s mansion. A raised platform in the center serves as the focal point for much of the show, but the carefully choreographed side action is important, too, thanks to a cast whose facial expressions and body language provide crucial dimensions.

One good example; during the investigation into the murder, while one suspect is being questioned on stage left, two officers use flashlights to cast suspicions on Frank as they stand on stage right. Those kinds of subtle touches surface throughout “Parade” — especially during the lengthy trial reenactment that ends Act I — and make the storytelling that much richer. And video screens showing photos of the actual people, events and newspaper headlines of the time provide forceful reminders that what we’re seeing really happened.

The songs by Jason Robert Brown, meanwhile — whether aping Aaron Copland in “The Old Red Hills of Home” and “The Dream of Atlanta” or touching on gospel blues in “Rumblin’ and a Rollin'” and poppy flirty in “The Picture Show” — manage to amplify “Parade’s” serious intent without letting it overburden their melodies.

All of those virtues are delivered by a cast that is uniformly exceptional in conveying the many layers that comprise “Parade’s” landscape. It’s led, of course by Max Chernin as the transported New Yorker Leo and Talia Suskauer as his Georgia native wife Lucille; in addition to their excellent singing performances they’re effective and moving in tracking “Parade’s” silver-lining sub-plot about how the trauma strengthens the couple’s relationship, particularly as Lucille steps up to exert her will in pursuing justice for her husband. Their joint performances of “This Is Not Over Yet” and “All the Wasted Time,” especially with our knowledge of what’s to come, are tragically triumphant.

Pinckney actress balances studies and touring with ‘Parade’ musical

Andrew Samonsky as Frankie Epps, the would-be teen paramour of the slain Mary Phagan (played by Pinckney native Olivia Goosman), is another standout, with a playfully robust voice and nimble footwork during "The Picture Show," "Parade's" lightest moment. Ramone Nelson, meanwhile, is powerful and soulful as Jim Conley, the pencil factory janitor who "Parade" intimates was Mary's true killer; his "Blues: Feel the Rain Fall," complete with open-shirted Sam Cooke-style wailing at the end, is a show-stopper.

"Parade" is, then, the kind of show that's appreciated more than enjoyed, and certainly leaves the audience thinking when the final bows are taken. (There's a message from the Michigan Anti-Defamation League included in the program with some resources for additional consideration.) Coming at a time when the issues it raises are, as the show notes, "ongoing," it puts a palpably human touch on issues that are too often merely rhetorical.

"Parade" runs through March 9 at the Fisher Theatre, 3011 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit. 313-872-100 or broadwayindetroit.com.

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Fans came to see a Guster concert on Wednesday night, Jan. 29, at Detroit’s Majestic Theatre.

Instead it was what percussionist Brian Rosenworcel called “our experimental high school play.”

The veteran indie rock troupe used the occasion of its 34th anniversary to review its history with the We Also Have Eras Tour, a high-concept, cheerfully low-tech theatrical piece that pokes fun at Taylor Swift but on Wednesday had a lot of fun with fans who may have picked up on the band at any point of its nine-album career. It came complete with a script, skits, props and a narrator — tech Dave Butler, who also played drums and keyboards and cautioned at the beginning of the night that “no one on stage tonight is a professional actor.”

That, of course, is what gave the nearly two-and-a-half hour show — including a 15-minute intermission that paid tribute to Guster crew, management, producers and more on the video screen — it’s winning charm.

Band founders Ryan Miller and Adam Gardner started things off in a recreation of their dorm room at Tufts University, the backdrop complete with a Kiss poster and school pennant. The two played a seated, acoustic rendition of “Parachute” before Rosenworcel and his bongos joined them for “Happy Frappy” before the trio moved to standing position for “X-Ray Eyes” — Rosenworcel still a marvel on a set full of hand percussion instruments.

From there Guster took a historical and mostly chronological roll through its career, 27 songs sampling from every album and including its cover of Talking Heads’ “(Nothing But) Flowers” from 2004’s “Guster on Ice” live album and DVD. “Keep It Together,” the group’s 2003 major label debut and home to hits such as “Amsterdam” and “Careful,” got the most weight, while Guster drew only two songs from last year’s “Ooh La La.”

The characteristically stellar musical performances were abetted by the “drama,” including an early career name change from Gus (Gardner sported an original T-shirt), the addition of a fourth member (Joe Pisapia, “played” by current multi-instrumentalist Luke Reynolds), the loss of the group’s recording contract and the troubled making of 2010’s “Easy Wonderful,” with its original producer represented by a Satan puppet. (Some flubbed lines also added to the merriment.) The first “act” finished with the band on shaky ground and Rosenworcel, aka The Thunder God, taking stock of the situation with the torchy “Thunder Song,” written especially for the show.

The second half was somewhat smoother sailing, with outfit changes (the onstage Costume Counter rolled up more than 30, though it was actually closer to a dozen), an OK Go-styled “Instagram moment” and a rap song paying tribute to Butler, placing him in a pantheon of other Daves (Grohl, Matthews, Lee Roth). Miller, suffering from a cold, donned a Covid face mask as he walked through the crowd during “Doin’ It By Myself,” while Gardner whipped out a trumpet during “Terrified.”

The moody “Long Night,” meanwhile, was a highlight among some of the night’s most sublime and sophisticated performances, and Guster introduced an “in-progress” version of “Ooh La La’s” “The Elevator” before finishing the main set with “Keep It Together’s” dynamic “Come Downstairs and Say Hello.” For an encore — termed the “Dumpster set” and performed in front of a faux dumpster on stage — Gardner (who composed music for last year’s stage adaptation of the film “Safety Not Guaranteed”), Rosenworcel and a sneezing Miller sat down again for “Happier” before being joined by Reynolds on banjo and Miller on harmonium for the show-closing “Amsterdam.”

It was goofy and gleefully nerdy — both Guster stock in trades — and sweetly sentimental. And it certainly made anyone in the packed Majestic proud to be a Guster fan, and ready to stay on board for the eras to come.

It’s cold outside, but the metro area theater scene is on fire with productions up and running in multiple locations. Check ’em out at …

• The Birmingham Village Players opens its production of Susan Sandler’s romantic comedy “Crossing Delancey” at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, with performances running through Feb. 2. 34660 Woodward Ave., Birmingham. 248-644-2075 or birminghamvillageplayers.com.

• “Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue” puts the famed sitcom on stage — with the twist of male actors playing the women — for five performances through Sunday, Jan. 19 at the Fisher Theatre, 3011 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit. Special photo experience packages also are available. 313-872-100 or broadwayindetroit.com.

• Hamtramck’s Planet Ant Theatre presents the world premiere of Robert P. Young’s socio-political musical “dramedy” “Nixon King” at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, in Ant Hall, 2320 Caniff St. Planet Ant hosts another world premiere, of the comedy “Welcome to Slurptopia,” at 8 p.m. in the Planet Ant Black Box, 2357 Caniff St. Both run through Jan. 25. 313-403-1814 or planetant.com for tickets and information on both.

• August Wilson’s acclaimed “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” continues its joyous run at the Detroit Repertory Theatre (through March 2) with performances at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18 and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19. 13103 Woodrow Wilson, Detroit. 313-868-1347 or detroitreptheatre.com.

• Meadow Brook Theatre continues to kick off its Sunday shoes with “Footloose” at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19 and 2 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19. Running through Feb. 2 in 207 Wilson Hall on the Oakland University Campus in Rochester. 248-377-3300 or mbtheatre.com.

‘Footloose’ the musical coming to Meadow Brook Theatre

• Stagecrafters' production of perennial favorite "The Color Purple" is on stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17 and Saturday, Jan. 18 and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19 at the Baldwin Theatre, 415 S. Lafayette, Royal Oak. 248-541-6430 or stagecrafters.org.

Stagecrafters presents award-winning musical ‘The Color Purple’