Today we center the lens on Detroit-based vocalist, songwriter, producer, and label owner Miyan Bryant, a house and R&B force whose voice has been threaded through this show’s playlists for years.

Miyan’s story is classic Detroit: church-honed soul, club-tested stamina, and a refusal to stay in one lane. She first emerged in the early 1990s, stepping into the global underground with a collaboration with Key Statements, an alias of deep house artist Scott Grooves. From there, she moved through live band work, remakes of R&B standards, deep-house one-offs, and studio session work with heavyweights like Amp Fiddler, James Jamerson Jr., and the Detroit Beatdown camp.

At the same time, she was building a life outside the booth, earning a bachelor’s, a master’s, and PhD credits in deaf communications and developing sign language expression art that folds the deaf community directly into the experience of her music. For Miyan, house music isn’t just rhythm and vocals; it is access, language, and connection.

We’ll trace her journey in five cuts that show her range as a vocalist, a collaborator, and a builder of worlds on the dance floor.

Five Essential Tracks by Miyan Bryant

1: “Over You (Vocal Mix)” – Key Statements feat. Miyan Bryant

We start at the beginning. The record that introduced Miyan Bryant to the international house community and stamped her as a force from day one.

“Over You (Vocal Mix)” arrived in the early 1990s as a Key Statements production that rides a classic drum pattern, rubbery bass line, and minimal keys, leaving space for Miyan’s voice to carry the emotional payload.

There is a rawness to the performance that feels almost live: ad-libs curling around the beat, notes that crest just as the hi-hats start to hit. There’s a tension between vulnerability and power, a trait that would become one of her signature characteristics. 

A foundational anthem, the track helped introduce her to club crowds far beyond Detroit.

2: “Believe (Main Vocal Mix)” – Dwayne Jensen feat. Miyan Bryant

From here, we move to another underground favorite that cemented her status among music heads who pay attention to record labels, producers, and catalog numbers as closely as they follow artists.

Produced by Dwayne Jensen, this cut lives in that sacred space where soulful house, gospel, and late-night techno tension intersect.

You can hear the kinship with Chicago’s vocal house tradition and the influence of figures like CeCe Peniston and Steve “Silk” Hurley, both of whom Miyan cites as inspirations and peers. But the phrasing is pure Detroit: unpolished in the best way, conversational, and emotionally direct. 

The tune has lived several lives, including a later remaster that reintroduced it to a new wave of underground listeners and reaffirmed Miyan as a vocalist whose work rewards rediscovery. 

Track 3: “Love That I Want (BASSRemix)” – Miyan Bryant

From the collaborative lineage of early Detroit house, we turn now to a track that carries her name alone, spotlighting her as writer, vocalist, and conceptual center.

Here, Miyan stands in full command of the song’s architecture. The vocal is crafted with a songwriter’s eye for detail: verses that move, a hook that lands and lingers, and stacked harmonies that thicken the emotional field without cluttering the mix.

It is a clear marker of her evolution into a self-directed artist who can hold her own name on a record and deliver something that hits just as hard as her collaborations.

Track 4: “I Am Energy (Detroit Disco Funk Mix)” – Miyan Bryant

Next up, we step into her current chapter, a record that doubles as a personal manifesto, spiritual declaration, and club weapon. On this cut, Miyan’s voice rides the beat like a wave, turning the dance floor into a space where affirmation, Black futurism, and Detroit’s musical lineage converge. 

“I Am Energy (Detroit Disco Funk Mix)” is a fitting emblem of who she has become: an artist whose life, scholarship, and creative practice all revolve around the frequencies she puts into the world.

Track 5: “Treat Me Right” – Miyan Bryant / Carl Bias

For our final selection, we return to collaboration, a space where Miyan has always thrived. Here she teams up with producer and musician Carl Bias who brings Miyan’s sensibilities into a more stripped, conversation-level space. She alternates between direct address and melodic flourish, making the title phrase a demand, a reminder, and a dare.

“Treat Me Right” from Miyan Bryant and Carl Bias, a fitting closer that distills her approach to love, respect, and self-worth over a groove designed to move bodies and shift mindsets. We hope you enjoyed getting to know Miyan Bryant in five songs.

For more journeys into the worlds of artists like this, keep it locked to The Progressive Underground every Saturday evening at 6 p.m. on WDET 101.9 FM and online at wdet.org.

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If you want to understand where the soul-revival movement really lives, you have to look past the big coasts and into the Rustbelt. Detroit is a place where factory sirens and church organs have always shared the same air. It is the city that raised Aretha, Marvin, Stevie and Parliament-Funkadelic, and it keeps producing singers who treat soul music as a calling, not a costume.

Laura Rain is very much in that lineage. Before she ever cut a record under her own name, she did her time in the musical trenches in Detroit and Los Angeles clubs, learning to project over clinking glasses, loud conversations and indifferent sound systems.

In 2012, she met guitarist, producer and fellow music historian George Friend, and the chemistry was immediate. Within a week they were writing together, building a band around a lean, organ-driven trio format that merged Memphis soul, juke-joint blues, tough Detroit funk and R&B.

Under the banner Laura Rain & The Caesars, they went from Motor City bars to the international soul circuit: five full-length albums, a run of 45s and digital singles, heavy touring across more than 25 states plus Canada and Europe, and steady rotation on BBC, NPR and CBC networks. Along the way, they picked up Detroit Music Awards in both blues and urban categories, proof that their sound sits comfortably at the crossroads of soul, blues and R&B rather than in any one lane.

What makes their story compelling is not just the retro flavor, but the work ethic and intent behind it. The five tracks we will explore trace that arc: from a raw debut statement to UK crossover appeal, to tracks that double as Detroit-style soul anthems that shows they are still pushing forward. Let’s get into five songs that define Laura Rain & The Caesars.

5 Essential Tracks by Laura Rain & The Caesars

1. “I Don’t Wanna Play”(Electrified – 2013)

We start at the beginning, with “I Don’t Wanna Play” from their 2013 debut album “Electrified.”

This was the record that introduced Laura Rain & The Caesars to the wider soul world: a stripped-down lineup of organ, guitar and drums that captured the feel of a late-night neighborhood bar where the band is playing for keeps.

This track sets out their mission statement. Laura’s vocals are all grit and control, equal parts gospel testifying and blues shout, while George Friend’s guitar laces the groove with stinging fills that nod to Chicago and Memphis without ever sounding like imitation.

2. “Closer to the Win” (Single – 2021)

That was “Closer to the Win,” a track that would see success on UK soul charts and across digital media and help pave the way for their alliance with LRK records. That song also set the tone for the material that would end up on their 5th album, “Rise Again.”

The next track is built on a steady mid-tempo pulse, with horn accents and rich organ swells. This track highlights the core husband/wife partnership between Laura and George. Their writing combines her direct, emotionally honest lyric approach with his deep knowledge and dexterity of musically distilling blues, soul and jazz styles that is more about building a songbook that can withstand time and travel. Let’s check them out on the cut “I Am (Who I Want To Be).”

3.  “I Am (Who I Want to Be)” – Rise Again (2022)

That was Laura Rain & The Caesars with “I Am (Who I Want to Be)” from their album Rise Again. We next move to the title track for that album, where the focus widens to include not just one singer’s journey, but the city that shaped her. This track plays as a love letter to Detroit itself, a city in the midst of its own rebuild and renaissance.

The arrangement is classic Caesar territory: driving drums, melodic bass, warm keys and guitar lines that mingle with Laura’s vocals, her voice tethered to the rhythm with a mix of urgency and assurance. Given their story, the song feels autobiographical. Since forming in 2012, Laura Rain & The Caesars have self-financed tours, hustled merch at the back of the room, been intentional in cultivating relationships and fostering belief in their music with DJs around the globe, and have steadily built a reputation strong enough to earn multiple Detroit Music Awards in both blues and R&B categories.

This track distills that hustle and grind into a sermon about persistence and hope. Let’s check it, here’s Laura Rain & The Caesars with “Rise Again.”

4. “Rise Again” (Rise Again – 2022)

That was Laura Rain & The Caesars with “Rise Again,” the centerpiece of their 2022 album of the same name. From a raw organ-trio debut to UK modern-soul 45s, from affirmations of self to anthems of resilience and late-period slow burners, Laura Rain & The Caesars embody what it means to be a working soul band in the twenty-first century. They write their own material, tour relentlessly, collaborate across genres and keep the focus on real instruments, melodies and thoughtful composition.

For our final track, we move to their most recent work, a single that shows how this band continues to evolve while staying rooted in its core sound. Here’s Laura Rain & The Caesars with “Feels So Right.”

5. “Feels So Right” (Single – 2024)

That was Laura Rain & The Caesars with “Feels So Right,” a recent chapter in a story that is still unfolding.

If this 5-on-5 has pulled you into their universe, be sure to check out more musical journeys into the artists who are shaping modern soul by keeping it locked on The Progressive Underground every Saturday evening at 6 on 101.9 WDET and wdet.org.

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In this edition of 5-on-5, we shine a light on one of the most vital soul bands of the modern era, Durand Jones & The Indications.

Formed in Bloomington, Indiana in 2012, the group began as a side project among Indiana University music students Durand Jones, Aaron Frazer and Blake Rhein. What started as a dorm-room experiment with old tape recorders and stacks of vintage 45s evolved into one of the defining acts of the contemporary soul renaissance. With a sound that channels Curtis Mayfield’s falsetto grace, the Dells’ harmony stacks, and the grit of southern gospel, the Indications stand at the crossroads of then and now.

Their music resonates deeply with the retro-soul community and has found special embrace within the Chicano lowrider movement, a testament to the timeless reach of their sound. Ahead of their tour stop in Detroit tonight, let’s trace their evolution in five songs that capture their essence.

Five essential tracks by Durand Jones & The Indications

1. “Make a Change” (Durand Jones & The Indications, 2016)

We begin with a spotlight of a track from their self-titled debut album found on Colemine Records, a label founded in 2007 and dedicated to putting out timeless sounding music. The project was recorded on a Tascam 4-track in the band’s Bloomington basement and reintroduced the urgency of late-’60s era protest soul, anchored by Jones’ preacher-like vocal delivery and Frazer’s dynamic percussion.

The album would draw parallels to Stax and Daptone artists, but the Indications would bring a Midwestern humility to their message.

“Make a Change” was one of the heartbeats from the album, which was a call for empathy and social transformation framed in the language of classic rhythm and blues. The album would earn underground acclaim, prompting a reissue by Dead Oceans record label in 2018 and launching the band on a new trajectory.

2. “Too Many Tears” (American Love Call, 2019)

Up next, we move from the grassroots of activism to the elegance of reflection with a standout from their 2019 sophomore album, American Love Call.

Recorded in Brooklyn, the album fused lush strings, vocal duets and spiritual undertones reminiscent of The Impressions and The Delfonics. This album marked a leap in craftsmanship – a full band statement produced with the care of a lost Atlantic Records session. “Too Many Tears” finds Jones and Frazer trading vocals over a slow-burn arrangement that captures heartbreak and endurance in equal measure.

3. “Witchoo” (Private Space, 2021)

Next up, the group trades melancholy for groove, diving headfirst into the dancefloor of the 1970s with “Witchoo,” a track that made them music festival favorites. If American Love Call was candlelight and confession, then their 2021 album release Private Space was mirror ball and liberation. This album expanded their sonic reach, blending Philadelphia-style strings with disco basslines, congas and synth textures. Recorded at the Diamond Mine studios in New York, Private Space showcased the full bloom of the Jones-Frazer partnership, a balance between Jones’ grit and Frazer’s falsetto shimmer.

4. “Lovers’ Holiday” (Flowers, 2025)

From the dancefloor, we move to their latest phase – a sonic bouquet that reaffirms the band’s devotion to melody, message and emotional truth. The 2025 release of their album Flowers presents the band’s most refined and contemplative work to date. Recorded after an extended break that included Jones’ acclaimed solo album and two solo albums by Frazer, the group reunited with a sound steeped in maturity and grace.

“Lovers’ Holiday” channels the sensual restraint of early-’70s Marvin Gaye and the craftsmanship of Thom Bell. The production is more panoramic complete with harps, horns and gospel textures woven seamlessly. The lyrics celebrate intimacy as a spiritual act, signaling a band confident in its evolution.

5. “Been So Long” (Flowers, 2025)

From a 4-track in an Indiana basement to world stages and cross-cultural resonance, Durand Jones & The Indications embody the revival and reinvention of true soul music that speaks to the conscience while keeping you moving. They have been able to move effortlessly through the genre, painting timeless tracks that feel both authentic and effortless, while they forge a path in their own lane.

Our final track, “Been So Long,” epitomizes the emotional centeredness of the Flowers album, a masterwork that bridges nostalgia with modern perspective. The song’s bittersweet melody and layered harmonies present the sound of a group that’s lived through change, while still believing in the redemptive power of soul music.

If you dig artists who embody the spirit of true soul music, keep listening to The Progressive Underground every Saturday at 6 p.m. on 101.9 FM and wdet.org. See you next time.

Durand Jones & The Indications will perform at St. Andrew’s Hall in Detroit on Wednesday, Nov. 5.

More from The Progressive Underground:

• Pick of the Week (May 6): ‘Flower Moon’ by Durand Jones & The Indications
• 5-on-5: Snoh Aalegra, the cinematic songstress who feels every note
• After the silence: What D’Angelo’s life and music taught us about soul and survival