The Hamtramck Blowout is a local music institution. It happens every year, (usually), on the first full weekend of March. It’s overwhelming and chaotic, makes you grin and go all wild-eyed; it’s fast, though not really that furious per se, and you have to make peace with the fact that you are not going to see every band that you want to—unless you believe in miracles.

Above all, the Blowout is vital. It nourishes the local music scene, it opens it up to newcomers in a stylishly slapdash way, and it gives everyone a chance to appraise the wide breadth of talent and variety of genres that are consistently percolating across practice spaces and dive bars in this region week to week. It’s had four slightly-to-moderately different iterations over nearly 30 years, but it keeps on going.

Wanna meet the local music ecosystem and dive right in? Blowout is your best opportunity! All that being said, this week on MI Local, I was joined in-studio by the dynamic hip-hop duo known as Passalacqua, comprised of emcees Blaksmith and Mister, who fatefully formed their ongoing project during a live performance at the 2010 Blowout.

On the show, Blaksmith (Brent Smith) and Mister (Bryan Lackner), talked about their interesting origin story, some of the nostalgia they have around their formative years together as collaborative artists, and then teased a bit about their upcoming set this Friday night at Blowout, where they’ll debut some new songs!

Singer-songwriter Michelle Held also joined me in-studio. Held has been on stages before, with a background in theater. She started writing poetry at a young age, inspired by so many verbose musical bards and troubadours such as Bob Dylan, but she actually started playing guitar at a later age—an anecdote she expounds upon during the interview.

You can hear it, and I certainly saw it firsthand, Held is an incredible guitar player, employing the intricate finger-picking style, and you can hear her perform two songs on the show this week, with her accompanying guitarist Mikey Abbasspour. Her voice is aching with emotion, it hits a heartbreaking vibrato, and her words poignantly pluck the heartstrings. Held performed her latest single, “Another Jane,” inspired by Jane Goodall, and an unreleased song, “Unresolved.”

In the third segment, I was joined by the prog-rock duo known as The Last War, with Drew Moore on guitar/vocals and Mile Pardo on drums/percussion, discussing their new EP, Smile, which came out last week. You can see them live, next weekend, at Small’s in Hamtramck.

Drew told us about his relocation from California to Detroit in 2023, where he fatefully met Miles and attained almost instantaneous musical and creative chemistry.

The Last War have released several singles over the last few years, including a slew of covers re-imagining some classics, but “Smile” is essentially their solid debut! Their repartee, on mic, is notably charming, so listen until the end. Plus they performed a live song from the new album, “The Kids,” complete with Pardo on bongos!

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

The sisters of Jackamo have been singing together their entire lives, and that will become evident immediately, once you hear them sing on this week’s MI Local.

Tessa and Alison Wiercioch were raised by artistic parents in a house full of music, from the record collection emanating from the HiFi to actual family members in their circle literally serenading throughout each room.

Soon, the sisters started singing together inside the house, in choir, and eventually in bands. They started playing and performing with guitarist Jimmmy Showers in 2018. Soon after, Jackamo was formed.

Over the last five years, they’ve been steadily releasing singles that showcase the sisters’ breathtaking sensibility for melody and dazzling natural ability to harmonize, weaving together a mix of Americana, folk, and indie-folk vibes, both sung from voices and strung with words that sound and feel wise beyond their years and quietly courageous in their tenderheartedness. Add in Showers’ amazing finger-picking style on guitar, and the occasional live accompanying ensemble, and you’ve got pure magic.

Jackamo spoke with me about finishing the recording of their debut album between that weird nexus of time between Christmas and New Years. They’re hoping to release it later this year, but in the meantime we can look ahead to the official release of its first single, “Judy,” which the band performed live on this week’s show.

Jackamo are performing this Saturday at the Shelter in Detroit, with Masha Marjieh and The Plushies. 

Also on this week’s show, in stylistic-harmony with Jackamo, I featured the new song from Michelle Held, “Another Jane,” which she called “…an ode to [anthropologist] Jane Goodall, turning toward what’s right in the world.”

We also heard a dreamy and spooky new instrumental from the visionary Via Mardot, imbued with her signature theremin, along with a new mixture of neo-soul and R&B from Chase Alan.

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