There’s no April Fools here! Just a serious love of music — all music, from all genres, brought together through common vibe and feel. New music from High Vis, Bab L’ Bluz, Beth Gibbons (in town on April 7 at Masonic Cathedral Theatre), Lizzo, Orions Belte, Sparklmami and more.

The big thing on the musical menu is revisiting the Garden State soundtrack 20 years later, including selections from The Shins, Nick Drake, Thievery Corporation and Frou Frou.

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for April 1, 2025

• “Sexy To Someone” – Clairo
• “All I Want” – Broken Social Scene
• “Image” – Magdalena Bay
• “Mind’s A Lie” – High Vis
• “Wave To Anchor” – Hundred Waters
• “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five” – Paul McCartney & Wings
• “Elevate” – St. Lucia
• “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” – Michael Jackson
• “Mahlalela” – Hugh Masekela & Letta Mbulu
• “Only Good for Conversation” – Rodriguez
• “Bangoro (Gitkin Remix)” – Bab L’ Bluz
• “On The Road” – Rattlesnake Milk
• “New Slang” – The Shins
• “One of These Things First” – Nick Drake
• “Drinkin’ on a Tuesday” – Sarah Mary Chadwick
• “Let Go” – Frou Frou
• “Lebanese Blonde” – Thievery Corporation
• “Reaching Out” – Beth Gibbons
• “Glory Box (Live / Remastered 2023)” – Portishead
• “All Mine” – Portishead
• “Black Coffee” – Sarah Vaughn
• “20 Feet Tall” – Erykah Badu
• “Run Outs” – Alfa Mist
• “Nite” – Gossip
• “South (feat. Lex Amor)” – Wu-Lu
• “TOUCH” – Sparklmami & Les Sons Du Cosmos
• “The Carneddau” – Orions Belte
• “Still Bad” – Lizzo
• “Begin Again (Joe Goddard Remix)” – Jessie Ware
• “Gentle Thoughts” – Herbie Hancock
• “Dangerous” – Surprise Chef
• “Hangin’ on Your Lips” – Cousin Kula
• “Red Room” – Hiatus Kaiyote
• “Mammone (feat. SHOLTO & David Bardon)” – Rachel Kitchlew & SFJ
• “Loso Na Madesu (feat. Natanya) [Lewis OfMan Remix]” – Brian Nasty

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Bill “the dean of Detroit photography” Rauhauser left a lasting impact on both the photography community and cultural history of Detroit.

He documented Detroit through his lens from the 1940s until his death in 2017, presenting to the world the city he knew and loved. He was able to capture the human experience in the city during rapid change and racial divisions.

Not only was he nationally recognized for his work, he helped uplift a generation of photographers, teaching as a professor at the College for Creative Studies for more than 30 years, and a guest lecturer at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan. 

Coup D’état, a boutique store in Detroit’s East English Village neighborhood, will be hosting an exhibit of Rauhauser’s work, titled “Bill Rauhauser: A Retrospective,” beginning at 5 p.m. this Saturday, March 29. The exhibition is a partnership between Coup D’état and Hill Gallery in Birmingham.

Angela Wisniewski-Cobbina, owner of Coup D’état, joined The Metro this week to discuss the exhibit, which will feature 23 of Rauhauser’s pieces that showcase his dedication to capturing raw, authentic moments and everyday life in Detroit.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More stories from The Metro on Thursday, March 27, 2025.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

This week, we’ve got musical performances from across genres, a theatrical performance whose impact goes beyond the stage and food for feminine empowerment.

Plus, your chance to win tickets to see the Tigers on Opening Day at Comerica Park! Read on to learn more.

Music

On Thursday, March 27, Intersections is back at Spot Lite Detroit for a night of soul-stirring sounds featuring a live performance by Dez Andrés. Expect deep grooves, rich rhythms and a unifying vibe. The party starts at 9 p.m., admission is free and guests must be 21+. For more information, visit Spot Lite on Facebook.

For electronic music fans, check out the Official Movement Pre-Party at Spot Lite featuring an extended set from Dam Swindle with special guest Whodat on Saturday, March 29. Doors open at 9 p.m. and guests must be 21+. Tickets start at $24 including fees. For more information, visit wl.seetickets.us.

For those who lean more indie, check out Detroit queer rockers Elspeth Tremblay & The Treatment as they celebrate the release of their new record, ‘Cut Your Losses,’ with an EP launch party at The Old Miami on Saturday, March 29. Elspeth Tremblay & The Treatment are frequently featured on MI Local (heard Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on WDET) and were finalists in our 2024 Sounds Like Detroit contest. The Detroit Party Marching Band and Elephant Den will open up the show, and music starts at 10 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the door and guests must be 21+. For more information, visit Elspeth Tremblay & The Treatment on Facebook.

For something with a little more twang, acclaimed country husband-wife duo The War and Treaty are performing at Saint Andrew’s Hall in Detroit with special guest Tiera Kennedy on Saturday, March 29. Standing-room seats are still available for $40 and doors open at 7 p.m. For more information, visit livenation.com. Plus, be sure to tune into Ann Delisi’s Essential Music (weekends at 11 a.m. on WDET) that day at noon to hear a live in-studio interview with The War and Treaty’s Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter!

And for the jazz lovers, Aretha’s Jazz Café is hosting a Dinah Washington Tribute Show on Monday, March 31 starring Nina Simone Neal as part of their Preservation of Jazz Monday Night Music Series. Neal is an award-winning Detroit R&B vocalist and has represented Dinah Washington in The Satin Doll Revue for the past five years. The show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are $35 online and at the door. Seating is first come, first served. For more information, visit eventbrite.com.

Theater

Friday, March 28 is opening night for “The Prom” at Wayne State’s Hilberry Gateway in Detroit. This high-energy musical follows a group of self-absorbed Broadway stars who discover a small town’s prom controversy and rush to help — and to restore their own reputations. Performances go through Sunday, April 6, and the 8 p.m. performance on Saturday, March 29 will be followed by a Queer Prom post-show event to kick off Wayne State’s Pride Week. Tickets range from $20 to $30, and audience members are encouraged to bring prom attire and accessories to donate to students in need before the show. For more information, visit theatreanddance.wayne.edu.

Dining

Close out International Women’s Month on Monday, March 31 with an Essential Cooking Dinner at Lady of the House featuring a 5-course meal by Chef Kate Williams and wine pairings by sommeliers Paulina Schemanski and Mary Davis. The 5 p.m. seating is sold out but a handful of spots remain for the 7:30 p.m. seating. For more information, visit wdet.org/events.

Up next

The Detroit Tigers will celebrate their Opening Day at Comerica Park on Friday, April 4 as they take on the Chicago White Sox at 1:10 p.m. In honor of the occasion, WDET is partnering with Tito’s Handmade Vodka and our neighbors at Mario’s Restaurant to offer a special drawing for our listeners! The winner will get two tickets to the game, a swag bag, lunch for two at Mario’s, and free parking and shuttle service to and from the game. The drawing is open now through 3 p.m. on Thursday, April 3. To enter and learn more, visit wdet.org/events.

In less than two weeks, humorist and author David Sedaris is bringing his sardonic wit and incisive social critiques to Detroit’s Fisher Theatre. Join us on Tuesday, April 8 for an evening of all-new readings, Q&A and book signing as Sedaris slices through cultural euphemisms and political correctness with great skill. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets range from $65 to $90 including fees. For more information, visit wdet.org/events.

Editor’s note: A previous version of the story incorrectly referred to Culture Crate as a nonprofit organization. Culture Crate is a for-profit social venture.

Woman-owned small business Culture Crate is working on a campaign to encourage education on Palestinian cultural traditions. The campaign is accessible through Kickstarter, where people can purchase Nabulsi saboon (soap) making kits.

“One fear with any cultural heritage practice is if you lose the practice, could we then lose the knowledge about it,” said Culture Crate CEO Nadine Zaza.

Saboon making did not just contribute a product to the world, but also advancements in chemistry and language. Zaza explained that Culture Crate’s mission is to preserve these cultural practices, and that her experience as a design educator helped her realize that the “most influential, most important ways for students, and for, really, people and anyone to really engage intentionally with culture and with knowledge is to do it yourself.”

In this way, the saboon making kit encourages preservation of Palestinian cultural traditions through an educational and interactive process.

Saboon making is a cultural practice that has existed in Nablus, Palestine for centuries. In 2024, it was inscribed in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This list recognizes non-physical heritage practices around the world as a way to highlight global culturally diverse creativity.

The saboon making kits include everything needed for the process, including silicone molds, gloves, safety goggles, sodium hydroxide and Palestinian olive oil, as well as educational pamphlets illustrating the history of saboon making and booklets explaining the importance of cultural preservation.

Palestinian soap making kits is Culture Crate’s first campaign, but they hope to expand by focusing future campaigns on other heritage practices from other parts of the Arab world.

Editor’s note: This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization; BPR, a public radio station serving western North Carolina; WABE, Atlanta’s NPR station; WBEZ, a public radio station serving the Chicago metropolitan region; and Interlochen Public Radio.

The Trump administration’s freeze on funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, the landmark climate law from the Biden era, has left farmers and rural businesses across the country on the hook for costly energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy installations.

The grants are part of the Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP, originally created in the 2008 farm bill and supercharged by funding from the IRA. It provides farmers and other businesses in rural areas with relatively small grants and loans to help lower their energy bills by investing, say, in more energy-efficient farming equipment or installing small solar arrays.

By November 2024, the IRA had awarded more than $1 billion for nearly 7,000 REAP projects, which help rural businesses in low-income communities reduce the up-front costs of clean energy and save thousands on utility costs each year.

But now, that funding is in limbo. Under the current freeze, some farmers have already spent tens of thousands of dollars on projects and are waiting for the promised reimbursement. Others have had to delay work they were counting on to support their businesses, unsure when their funding will come through — or if it will.

REAP is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Secretary Brooke Rollins said the agency is “coming to the tail end of the review process” of evaluating grants awarded under the Biden administration.

“If our farmers and ranchers especially have already spent money under a commitment that was made, the goal is to make sure they are made whole,” Rollins told reporters in Atlanta last week.

But it’s not clear when the funds might be released, or whether all the farmers and business owners awaiting their money will receive it.

The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in northern Michigan draws over 1.5 million visitors every year. Jim Lively hopes some of those people will camp RVs at a nearby site he’s planning to open next to his family’s local food market. He wants to use solar panels to help power the campsite and offset electric bills for the market, where local farmers bring produce directly to the store.

Lively helped promote REAP during his time at the environmental nonprofit Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, where he’d worked for over two decades. So the program was on his mind when it came time to replace the market’s big, south-facing roof.

“We put on a metal roof, and worked with a contractor who was also familiar with the REAP program, and we said, ‘Let’s make sure we’re setting this up for solar,’” he said. “So it was kind of a no-brainer for us.”

They were told they had been approved for a REAP grant of $39,696 last summer — half of the project’s total cost — but didn’t feel the need to rush the solar installation. Then, at the end of January, Lively was notified that the funding had been paused.

The property runs on electricity, rather than natural gas, and Lively wants to keep it that way. But those electric bills have been expensive — about $2,000 a month last summer, he said. When they get the RV site up and running, he expects those bills to approach $3,000.

Selling local food means operating within tight margins. Lively said saving on energy would help, but they won’t be able to move ahead with the rooftop solar unless the REAP funding is guaranteed.

Continuing to power the property with electricity rather than fossil fuels is a kind of personal commitment for Lively. “Boy, solar is also the right thing to do,” he said. “And it’s going to be difficult to do that without that funding.”

For Joshua Snedden, a REAP grant was the key to making his 10-acre farm in Monee, Illinois, more affordable and environmentally sustainable. But months after installing a pricey solar array, he’s still waiting on a reimbursement from the federal government — and the delay is threatening his bottom line.

“I’m holding out hope,” said Snedden, a first-generation farmer in northeast Illinois. “I’m trying to do everything within my power to make sure the funding is released.”

In December, his five-year old operation, Fox at the Fork, began sourcing its power from a new 18.48 kilowatt solar array which cost Snedden $86,364. The system currently offsets all the farm’s electricity use and then some.

REAP offers grants for up to half of a project like this, and loan guarantees for up to 75 percent of the cost. For Snedden, a $19,784 REAP reimbursement grant made this solar array possible. But the reimbursement, critical to Snedden’s cash flow, was frozen by Trump as part of a broader review of the USDA’s Biden-era commitments.

Snedden grows the produce he takes to market — everything from tomatoes to garlic to potatoes — on about an acre of his farm. He also plans to transform the rest of his land into a perennial crop system, which would include fruit trees like pears, plums, and apples planted alongside native flowers and grasses to support wildlife.

A solar array was always part of his plans, “but seemed like a pie in the sky” kind of project, he said, adding he thought it might take him a decade to afford such an investment.

The REAP program has been a lifeline for Illinois communities struggling with aging infrastructure and growing energy costs, according to Amanda Pankau with the Prairie Rivers Network, an organization advocating for environmental protection and climate change mitigation across Illinois.

“By lowering their electricity costs, rural small businesses and agricultural producers can put that money back into their business,” said Pankau.

That’s exactly what Snedden envisioned from his investment in the solar power system. The new solar array wouldn’t just make his farm more resilient to climate change, but also more financially viable, “because we could shift expenses from paying for energy to paying for more impactful inputs for the farm,” he said.

He anticipates that by switching to solar, Fox at the Fork will save close to $3,200 dollars a year on electric bills.

Now, Snedden is waiting for the USDA to hold up their end of the deal.

“The financial strain hurts,” said Snedden. “But I’m still planning to move forward growing crops and fighting for these funds.”

At the start of the year, Jon and Brittany Klimstra were nearly ready to install a solar array on their Polk County, North Carolina farm after being awarded a REAP grant in 2024.

As two former scientists who had moved back to western North Carolina 10 years ago to grow apples and be close to their families, it felt like a chance to both save money and live their values.

“We’ve certainly been interested in wanting to do something like this, whether it be for our personal home or for our farm buildings for a while,” said Jon. “It just was cost prohibitive up to this point without some type of funding.”

That funding came when they were awarded $12,590 from REAP for the installation. But, after the Trump administration’s funding freeze, the money never came.

“We were several site visits in, several engineering conversations. We’ve had electricians, the solar company,” said Brittany . “It’s been a very involved process.”

Since the grant is reimbursement-based, the Klimstras have already paid out-of-pocket for some costs related to the project. Plus, the farm had been banking on saving $1,300 in utilities expenses per year. In a given month, their electricity bill is $300-$400.

Across Appalachia, historically high energy costs have made the difference between survival and failure for many local businesses, said Heather Ransom, who works with Solar Holler, a solar company that serves parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio.

“We have seen incredible rate increases across the region in electricity over the past 10, even 20 years,” she said.

Through Solar Holler, REAP grants also passed into the hands of rural library systems and schools; the company installed 10,000 solar panels throughout the Wayne County, West Virginia school system. About $6 million worth of projects supported by Solar Holler are currently on hold.

In other parts of the region, community development financial institutions like the Mountain Association in eastern Kentucky combatted food deserts through helping local grocery stores apply for REAP.

Solar Holler also works in coal-producing parts of the region, where climate change discussions have been fraught with the realities of declining jobs and revenue from the coal industry. The program helped make the case for communities to veer away from coal and gas-fired energy.

“What REAP has helped us do is show people that it’s not just a decision that’s driven by environmental motives or whatever, it actually makes good business sense to go solar,” Ransom said. In her experience, saving money appeals to people of all political persuasions. “At the end of the day, we’ve installed just as much solar on red roofs as we do blue roofs, as we do rainbow roofs or whatever.”

The grants aren’t only for solar arrays and other renewable energy systems. Many are for energy efficiency improvements to help farmers save on utility bills, and in some cases cut emissions. In Georgia, for instance, one farm was awarded just under $233,000 for a more efficient grain dryer, an upgrade projected to save the farm more than $16,000 per year. Several farms were awarded funding to convert diesel-powered irrigation pumps to electric.

The USDA did not directly answer Grist’s emailed questions about the specific timeline for REAP funds, the amount of money under review, or the future of the program. Instead, an emailed statement criticized the Biden administration’s “misuse of hundreds of billions” of IRA and bipartisan infrastructure law (BIL) funds “all at the expense of the American taxpayer.”

“USDA has a solemn responsibility to be good stewards of the American people’s hard-earned taxpayer dollars and to ensure that every dollar spent goes to serve the people, not the bureaucracy. As part of this effort, Secretary Rollins is carefully reviewing this funding and will provide updates as soon as they are made available,” the email said.

Two federal judges have already ordered the Trump administration to release the impounded IRA and BIL funds. Earthjustice, a national environmental law organization, filed a lawsuit last week challenging the freeze of USDA funds on behalf of farmers and nonprofits.

“The administration is causing harm that can’t be fixed, and fairness requires that the funds continue to flow,” said Jill Tauber, vice president of litigation for climate and energy at Earthjustice.

Rollins released the first tranche of funding February 20 and announced the release of additional program funds earlier this month. That did not include the REAP funding.

The USDA announced Wednesday it would expedite funding for farmers under a different program in honor of National Agriculture Day, but as of March 20 had not made an announcement about REAP.

Rahul Bali of WABE contributed reporting to this story. ​​

This weekend in metro Detroit is a musical takeover on many fronts, from the eagerly anticipated (and WDET supported) Hamtramck Blowout to celebrating musical legends like The Beatles and The Spinners.

Also, a family-friendly parade of devilry is overtaking the Cass Corridor to welcome spring alongside a Detroit cryptid. Read on for more.

Hamtramck Blowout

For three days (March 20-22) over 25 venues will be showcasing hundreds of local bands and performers across Hamtramck. Check out the show schedule and purchase a wristband online in advance for $35 or at the venue for $40. WDET is also an official media partner of this year’s event. Visit wdet.org/events for more information.

A rooftop festival of colors

Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, is underway. Take your celebration of color, love, and spring to new heights at the Holi Color Fest at the Exodus Rooftop this Saturday March 22. Tickets are for entry only and start at $25.

Blasts from the past

Great music has longevity, and that can be seen in two special performances happening this weekend. The touring show “Rain: A Beatles Tribute” will be making its Detroit stop at the Fox Theatre this Friday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are still available and start at $25.

The second big-time musical group being showcased is a Motown favorite: The Spinners. The renowned group will be performing at the Andiamo Celebrity Showroom this Saturday, March 22.

Marche into spring

The Marche du Nain Rouge takes a little red creature of mishap prominent in Detroit’s local legend and makes him a focal point for a spring celebration of mischief and revelry.

This year’s Marche du Nain Rogue is on Sunday, March 23. The celebration will kickoff with musical performances at the intersection of Canfield and Second. Once the infamous Nain appears, he’ll lead crowds in a procession down to the Masonic Temple, which will host an afterparty from around 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Organizers encourage all attendees to show up loud and Detroit-proud in costumes, prepared to participate in a parade with good humor and high energy. Read more about the event and parking at the Marche Du Nain Rouge website. 

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Fashion in Detroit is more than just a trend, it’s a statement.

Many Detroiters use their attire to reflect their identity, their hustle and their roots. Iconic pieces such as gator boots, fur coats, and “buffs” signal to others where you’re from and the grit that defines you. Whether you’re from the east side or west side, your outfit tells the world who you are. 

For decades, Detroiters have taken pride in what they wear. The city’s fashion reflects a blend of ruggedness and celebrity influence. Legends like Aretha Franklin were known for wearing Dittrich mink fur coats, while rappers made Pelle Pelle jackets a staple of Detroit’s hip-hop scene. Today, young people and blue-collar workers continue to sport Carhartt gear and local sportswear. Gen Z, in particular, has embraced supporting Black-owned brands, further contributing to the city’s ever-evolving fashion identity.

Today on The Metro, we discuss how fashion in Detroit is not just about individual style, but also about the shared experience of living in a city with such rich cultural and historical roots. 

Guests:

• Kahn Santori Davison – A freelance journalist and contributing writer for The Metro Times.
• Monika Sinclair – Wayne State University assistant professor of teaching, fashion design and merchandising.
• Brooklynn Jackson – Owner of Form Fit clothing and a senior Wayne State business student. 

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More stories from The Metro on March 18, 2025: 

• Adrienne Roberts covers Michigan’s cannabis industry, as well as jobs and unemployment for the Detroit Free Press. She joined the show to talk about Michigan’s cannabis industry and what it means for the state’s economy. 

• Staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan Jay Kaplan joined The Metro to discuss President Donald Trump’s campaign against transgender rights and why it’s relevant to everyone. Kaplan leads the LGBTQ Project at the Michigan ACLU. 

• Michael Ford’s Hip Hop Architecture Lecture Series is taking place from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19, at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture and Community Development. The panel discussion will dig into the impact of women on hip-hop. Ford is known as the Hip Hop architect and has designed Hip Hop Museums in The Bronx and Memphis. Ford and jessica Care moore — Detroit’s poet laureate and a panelist in the lecture series — joined the show to talk about the event and the impact of women on hip-hop and design. 

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Detroiters celebrated 313 Day on Thursday — a time to reflect on the beauty of Detroit and to celebrate the past, present and future of a city so many of us love.

Artist and educator Sabrina Nelson returned to The Metro to help celebrate the city and encourage listeners to support WDET during the station’s Spring Fundraiser. 

Nelson, a native Detroiter born in the wake of the 1967 Rebellion, is a studio art teacher at the Detroit Institute of Arts and on staff at the College for Creative Studies. During her conversation with The Metro hosts Tia Graham and Robyn Vincent on 313 Day, Nelson shared her inspirations behind her work and why she loves Detroit and WDET so much.

Living in Detroit in the ’80s, Nelson has memories riding the “Iron Horse” — the Detroit Department of Transportation Grand River Bus — and listening to Ed Love on WDET. 

“When I went to CCS, that’s all I listened to,” Nelson said. “Actually, WDET is the first station I heard Me’shell NdegéOcello’s ‘Plantation Lullabies,’ and that was when [former WDET host] Nkenge Zola was here.” 

Detroit touches every part of the world and Nelson is always connecting with people from the city while traveling, she said. 

“Detroit is my home. It is my anchor,” Nelson said. “I fly and yo-yo myself out to Zimbabwe, to Paris. I always come back, because this is home.”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

WDET kicked off its 2025 Spring Fundraiser last week, and we are offering some exciting incentives to encourage listeners to support the station.

Everything we do at WDET is community-focused, and without support from the community we serve, we wouldn’t be able to continue the ever important work of highlighting local, fact-based news that impacts you, uplifting Detroit artists and musicians, and keeping listeners abreast of what’s happening in the city and region.

More than 50% of our operating budget is funded by WDET members. If you are someone who appreciates and values the work we do, and haven’t made a gift of support to WDET, consider making your first donation during our spring fundraiser to take advantage of generous funding matches and other awesome incentives. All first-time donors will also receive an exclusive limited edition WDET water bottle.

Those who make a gift during fundraiser will also have opportunities to be entered into exclusive drawings during specific programs, with a focus on Detroit’s entertainment, restaurants, and unique local experiences.

The War and Treaty tickets, studio visit

Anyone who makes a gift during Ann Delisi’s Essential Music, Rob Reinhart’s Essential Music from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday, March 15, or during Acoustic Café  from 1-3 p.m. this Sunday will be entered into a drawing for two tickets to see the acclaimed country husband and wife duo, The War and Treaty at Saint Andrew’s Hall on March 29.

The lucky winners will also be invited to WDET Studios to watch Ann Delisi as she interviews Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter live at noon, the day of the show.  

Related: Ann Delisi talks with The War and Treaty for Essential Conversations

Win tickets to Movement

There will be several opportunities during various WDET programs this week to win a pair of tickets to will be Detroit’s iconic Movement Electronic Music Festival, taking place downtown at Hart Plaza on Memorial Day weekend. 

All you have to do is make a gift during The Boulevard with Waajeed from 8-10 p.m. Wednesday, March 12; during The Progressive Underground with Chris Campbell from 6-8 p.m. this Saturday, March 15, or The New Music Show with Shigeto that night from 8-10 p.m., and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win one of several pairs of tickets to Movement.

Additionally, those who make a donation during an extended In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper, from noon to 4 p.m. on Friday, March 14, and you could win a pair of VIP tickets to Movement. Winners will also receive a Movement swag bag. 

Majestic Theatre golden ticket

Those who make a gift to WDET during In The Groove from noon to 4 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, March 12-13, could be among the five winners to receive 10 “golden tickets” to see any show of their choice at the Majestic Theatre or Magic Stick this year, regardless if the show is sold out.

Hamtramck Blowout and Jazz Fest

Donate during Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! from 10-11 a.m. this Saturday or during Sound Opinions from 10-11 a.m. Sunday to be entered for a chance to win a pair of wristbands to Hamtramck Blowout. The three-day music festival will showcase over 200 local bands and performers across dozens of venues and community spaces around the city, March 20-22. 

Also, those who donate during the Don Was Motor City Playlist from 8-10 p.m. on Friday could win a Detroit Jazz Fest bundle, which includes four premium front-of-stage tickets to all three days of the festival. The annual festival is held downtown on Labor Day weekend, Aug. 30-Sept. 2.

There will be another opportunity to win a day pass to Jazz Fest during  this week’s re-air of Alternate Take with Liz Warner, from 10 p.m. to midnight on Saturday, March 15.

Stay up-to-date with the latest incentives WDET is offering during the 2025 spring fundraiser at wdet.org or by downloading the WDET app.

This week on Liner Notes, we step into the sonic universe of “Songs from the Big Chair,” the 1985 masterpiece from Tears for Fears that captured the complexities of human emotion, social unrest, and the shifting tides of the 1980s.

Formed by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, Tears for Fears emerged from the UK’s post-punk scene with an intellectual and emotionally raw take on pop music. Their debut album, The Hurting, introduced audiences to their psychologically introspective lyricism and synth-driven sound, but it was their sophomore effort, Songs from the Big Chair, that launched them into global superstardom. Drawing from Arthur Janov’s primal therapy theories and weaving in grand, cinematic production, the album blended new wave, pop, and progressive rock into anthems that defined a generation. Let’s dive in.

We begin with an anthem—both personal and political.

Track 1: “Shout”

Shout is more than a chorus-friendly singalong; it’s a primal call to arms against oppression and stagnation. Written by Orzabal, the track was initially about primal therapy, but it evolved into a broader message of resistance. That massive drumbeat? A mix of live drums and a LinnDrum machine, creating an industrial thunder that propels the track forward. Released as a single, Shout became a global phenomenon, cementing Tears for Fears as master songsmiths of cathartic pop. 

As Shout fades, we descend into “The Working Hour,” a track drenched in melancholic grandeur.

Track 2: “The Working Hour”

With a sultry saxophone intro by Mel Collins (of King Crimson fame) and dreamy piano chords, “The Working Hour” meditates on the soul-draining nature of corporate life. Orzabal’s soaring vocals, coupled with the track’s progressive structure, create an almost hypnotic journey.

Fun fact: This was one of the first tracks recorded for the album, setting the tone for its sophisticated sonic textures. 

Track 3: “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”

What happens when existential dread meets the perfect pop hook? “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” — an instant classic.

The song almost didn’t make the album, but producer Chris Hughes pushed for its inclusion. Its shuffle beat and shimmering guitar riff make it one of the most instantly recognizable songs of the 1980s. Beneath its breezy sound, the lyrics reflect Cold War anxieties, political greed, and the insatiable thirst for power. The song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains an enduring cultural touchstone, appearing in countless films, shows and even video games. 

Now, we shift gears into the percussive urgency of “Mothers Talk.”

Track 4: “Mothers Talk”

Inspired by the UK government’s Cold War-era “Protect and Survive” campaign, “Mothers Talk” is a jittery, high-energy warning of nuclear threats. Featuring unconventional vocal effects and layered synth textures, it was Tears for Fears at their most experimental. The track was actually released as a single a year before the album dropped, with a reworked version later appearing on the U.S. release.

After the storm of that track, we arrive at one of the album’s most intimate moments.

Track 5: “I Believe”

“I Believe” strips away the dense production for a raw, emotionally rich ballad, showcasing Orzabal’s love for jazz legend Robert Wyatt. The minimalist arrangement allows the vocals to shine, a stark contrast to the grandiosity of the album’s other tracks. It’s a moment of vulnerability in an otherwise epic album, proving that sometimes, simplicity is the most powerful tool. 

Now we move into the shortest track on the album. 

Track 6: “Broken”

“Broken” is a sonic bridge between past and present. Originally written during “The Hurting” sessions, it serves as an instrumental prelude to the next track, with pulsating synths and haunting guitar lines setting an ominous tone. This seamless transition showcases the band’s ability to weave interconnected narratives within their albums.  

We now get into a defining moment of “Songs from the Big Chair” — “Head Over Heels,” an emotional whirlwind wrapped in cinematic production. Lyrically, it’s a story of obsession, desire, and longing, played out over grand piano chords and layered harmonies. The track’s soaring chorus and dramatic structure made it an instant fan favorite, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

Track 7: Head Over Heels / Broken (Live Reprise)

Released on Feb. 25, 1985, Songs from the Big Chair was a commercial and critical triumph. It topped the U.S. Billboard 200, went multi-platinum, and spawned some of the most iconic tracks of the decade. But beyond the accolades, the album stands as a testament to Tears for Fears’ ambition, artistry, and ability to translate deep psychological themes into universally relatable music.

With its fusion of introspection and anthemic power, “Songs from the Big Chair” didn’t just define the sound of 1985 — it became a timeless reflection of human nature, the struggle for control, and the search for meaning in an ever-changing world. Even today, its themes resonate, making it a cornerstone of both new wave and pop history.

We close with Listen, an atmospheric, meditative piece that dissolves the boundaries of traditional song structure.

Track 8: “Listen”

Ethereal synths, ghostly vocals, and an almost cinematic feel give “Listen” a haunting beauty. Lyrically sparse but emotionally charged, it leaves the listener in a state of reflection — a fitting finale to an album that explored the depths of human emotion and societal tension.

If you love deep musical dives like this one, tune in to The Progressive Underground every Saturday evening at 6 p.m. on 101.9 WDET.

Some dairy farmworkers say they’re struggling to get basic resources like PPE, testing, and flu shots needed to protect themselves from possible bird flu infections, even after connecting with their local and state health department.

That’s according to the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC), which issued a press release Thursday describing recent situations in which they say workers tried to get testing, vaccines, and personal protective equipment, but ran into barriers and delays.

While the CDC says the risk of bird flu to the general public is still low, cases have been picking up speed in the past year, with 70 reported human cases in the U.S. so far, including one death. Dairy herds have been the source of infection in 41 of those cases, including two dairy farmworkers in Michigan in May.

In mid-January 2025, a group of 20 dairy farmworkers in the Upper Peninsula “reported being sick with flu-like symptoms,” according to the MIRC release. “The illness spread quickly among the workers.”

On January 22, the local health department (MIRC staff attorneys declined to say which health department, to protect the identity of the workers) said “they did not have H5N1 PPE, tests, treatments, or vaccines readily available, nor do they have the staff and language resources needed to communicate effectively with this vulnerable workforce,” the release said.

“They didn’t have free flu vaccines, and these workers couldn’t afford to pay for flu vaccines,” said Anna Hill Galendez, managing attorney at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center.

Seasonal flu vaccines don’t protect against avian influenza, but they’re highly recommended for people with exposure to potentially infected animals, because a co-infection of human seasonal flu and avian flu could theoretically result in a mutation of avian flu that’s better adapted to spreading between humans. (In July, the CDC said it would spend $10 million on preventing bird flu infection in farmworkers, including $5 million for providing seasonal flu shots, Reuters reported.)

The local health department did eventually provide paper masks and COVID testing, and it took about two weeks “before they were able to get access to seven avian flu tests, which wasn’t going to be enough for all of those workers,” Hill Galendez said.

The health department also arranged a testing site for workers, but there was a miscommunication, she said, and the farmworkers weren’t sure whether their employer would allow them to attend.

“Dairy farmworkers often work 12-hour shifts, six or seven days a week,” she said. “There’s a lot of concern for many workers about missing work, for fear of being fired. And so they’re often looking to their employer to facilitate access to these resources, or to feel like they’re being given permission to access these kind of resources. And so it can be really hard to figure out how to get these resources to dairy workers in a way that they can actually take advantage of them. So in this situation, that communication didn’t work out in a way that allowed them to actually get access to that testing.”

An MDHHS spokesperson said it “quickly responded to reports of farmworkers in the Upper Peninsula with symptoms consistent with respiratory illnesses like influenza. To protect their health and safety, MDHHS worked with the farmworkers’ local health department (LHD) to make resources available including translation services, influenza testing, influenza vaccination and personal protective equipment (PPE).”

But MIRC said it took a month for the farmworkers to eventually get PPE. It also provided a written statement from an unnamed U.P. farm worker:

“The reason for sharing what I’m going to say is that we’re workers on a farm and we’ve been affected by a flu/virus, a cough that none of us has been able to avoid,” the statement said in part. “We spent one or two days in bed suffering from a fever and sore throat…We hope that through this communication, there can be protective equipment for the other ranches, since we’ve already gotten PPE at the ranch where we are working…If the protective equipment had arrived faster, we might not all have gotten sick.”

Milk testing and flu shots 

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) “did go out to test either the farm’s cows or milk within about two weeks of the first reported illness,” Hill Galendez, the MIRC attorney, said. “We weren’t aware of that testing at the time, but later learned that that took place and those tests came back negative.”

A spokesperson for MDARD said the agency “has tested bulk milk on all dairy farms in the U.P. and all have been negative for HPAI.”

CDC guidance recommends testing symptomatic people who’ve been exposed to infected animals, the MDHHS spokesperson said via email Thursday.

“Recent bulk milk testing at Upper Peninsula dairy farms by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) was negative for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which meant exposure to animals sick with HPAI was not suspected among these farmworkers. MDHHS and the LHD made the decision to offer seasonal influenza testing to these workers, as their illnesses occurred at a time when there was extremely high respiratory virus activity, including seasonal influenza.”

But to date, those U.P. farmworkers still haven’t received their seasonal flu shots, Hill Galendez said. “The emphasis is over and over again on animal health, over human health. And so we see that focus again on the health of animals and consumer safety, over workers and protecting workers.”

The MDHHS spokesperson said seasonal flu shots were offered to the workers, but “I do not believe they took us/the LHD [local health department] up on the offer.”

Getting vaccines to farmworkers 

MIRC also described a dairy worker in Barry County “who noticed her co-workers were sick and wanted to avoid contracting the illness,” and reached out “to the local health clinic [but] was told they didn’t have the avian flu vaccine.” That same worker then contacted her local health department, but staff there didn’t speak Spanish.

An MDHHS outreach worker was able to assist her in communicating with that health department a few days later, but the worker was “disappointed” to learn that avian flu vaccines aren’t currently available in the U.S. (Some countries like Finland have been offering them to farmworkers.)

“It’s important to recognize that there are workers that are looking for these protections and we could be making them available, but we aren’t,” Hill Galendez said. “Dairy workers that understand their risks really [and] are looking for protection for themselves.”

(Last week, Bloomberg News reported the Trump administration has paused a $590 million contract the Biden administration made with Moderna for bird flu shots. It also canceled a key FDA meeting about which strains of flu to target in next year’s flu shot.)

The Barry-Eaton County District Health Department said it was contacted by several farms and farmworkers last year, “and was able to quickly fulfill all PPE requests. However, BEDHD has not been contacted by any farm owners or workers since June 2024.”

And while the department isn’t allocated adult seasonal flu vaccines, they can administer them if a farmworker is unable to get one at a local pharmacy or health care provider. The department also said it can provide flu testing and the flu medication, Tamiflu, for symptomatic farmworkers from farms where highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been detected.

Asked about how many farmworkers have received seasonal flu vaccines at MDHHS outreach events for farmworkers, a department spokesperson didn’t specify, but said it is working with several partners, including “a CDC project specifically to increase seasonal influenza vaccine coverage in dairy and poultry workers in several Michigan counties…As part of this, we have run some local events where we have administered doses of flu vaccine.”

Farmworkers are especially vulnerable right now, Hill Galendez said, and their employers often aren’t offering the recommended PPE. The challenges of reaching dairy farmworkers means it’s more important than ever to offer mobile testing and flu vaccine clinics, and proactively distribute PPE directly to workers, she said.

“That would all go a long way to make sure that dairy workers actually get access to these resources.”

This week, we’re celebrating 313 Day, International Women’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and the start of WDET’s spring fundraiser! It’s people like you who power this essential service to Detroit, so please consider making a gift of support today. There are tons of fun prizes in it for you if you do, so tune in throughout the week to learn how to win!

Give now »

Plus, other fun stuff like drunken spelling bees, DJ sets at the DIA and more. Read on for details.

Detroit Day

Celebrate 313 Day with a celebration at Valade Park on the Detroir Riverfront on Thursday, March 13. This free, all-ages event features live music, local food and Detroit-centric activities, including trivia and comedy with T. Barb, love letters to Detroit with InsideOut Literary Arts, a 3.13-mile run with We Run 313 and a Detroit vendor market from All Things Marketplace. The event goes from 3:13-8 p.m. and is completely free to attend. For more information, visit their Eventbrite page.

Women’s Day

Celebrate International Women’s Day at Batch Brewing in Corktown on Saturday, March 8. Beginning at 2 p.m., the brewery will have an International Women’s Day Market featuring 13 woman-owned vendors who make and sell things like pottery, candles, vintage clothing, permanent jewelry, art and more. DJ Thornstryker will be spinning tunes from 2-6 p.m. and guests can enjoy a collaborative brew between Detroit Girls Pint Out and the women of Batch Brewing, as well as a collaborative dish with Chef E. For more information, visit batchbrewingcompany.com.

Then the celebration continues in the evening with Best Batch Comedy hosted by local comic Patty Rooney. This International Women’s Day comedy show features some of the city’s funniest women, including Johanna Medranda, Tam White and Melanie Hearn — all of whom have performed at WDET’s “What’s So Funny About Detroit?” comedy show as well. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 at the show is 18+. For more information, visit their Eventbrite page.

St. Patrick’s Day

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day early with Celtic song, dance and storytelling at Orchestra Hall on Sunday, March 9. Led by conductor and co-creator Ernest Richardson, “Celtic Journey” showcases traditional Irish marches, reels, jigs and ballads performed on authentic Irish instruments accompanied by the DSO. This one-day-only performance starts at 3 p.m. and tickets start at $25. For more information, visit dso.org.

Other fun stuff

Over the next week, WDET is on a mission to put the fun in fundraising. We’ll have celebrity guests, special themed episodes and opportunities to win cool stuff every day. Prizes include weekend passes to Movement, wristbands for the Hamtramck Blowout, vinyl record packages, Pistons suite tickets and more. We’ve even got a new insulated water bottle available exclusively to listeners who have never donated before! Tune in to WDET on 101.9 FM, wdet.org/listen-live or the WDET app to learn more about how to win, and make your first gift of support now at wdet.org/give.

On Friday, March 7, the DIA is hosting an After Dark event featuring DJ Problematic Black Hottie as part of Tiff Massey’s exhibition, “7 Mile + Livernois.” Guests can enjoy dancing, music and a cash bar in Rivera Court from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The exhibition offers a vibrant, inclusive view of Detroit, celebrating collective identity, ancestral flyness and beauty. This event is free to attend with general admission to the museum, which is also free for residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. For more information, visit dia.org.

Friday, March 7 is teacher night at Detroit Shipping Company, featuring drink discounts for educators, music by DJ Heart & Soul and a “Buzzed Bee” for guests to test their spelling skills while under the influence. The event goes from 6-10 p.m. and is hosted by King Jamarr and Sistahaus Community Network. For more information, visit detroitshippingcompany.com.

On Saturday, March 8, Detroit singer, songwriter, artist and storyteller Ideeyah is making their Moondog Café debut. Ideeyah has been active in the city’s music scene for over a decade, working with producers like Theo Parrish, Jon Dixon, De’Sean Jones and WDET’s own Waajeed (host of The Boulevard Wednesdays 8-10 p.m.). To complement the live performance, Detroit DJ and producer Whodat will be on the turntables before and after the show. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the performance begins at 8 p.m. This event is open to all ages, and tickets are pay-what-you-can with a suggested donation of $20. For more information, visit their Eventbrite page.

Roy Ayers was more than music. He was a frequency, a wavelength, a pulse embedded in the DNA of Black cool. And if you were a Black kid growing up in Detroit — where his sound was pushed and heavily promoted on Black radio — then Ayers was as much a part of your upbringing as coney dogs, Belle Isle summers, and Saturday morning car washes in the driveway.

His music was the soundtrack to a warm summer night. It hummed from open windows, spilled from boomboxes on front porches, and pulsed through Cadillac speakers rolling slow down Woodward. And now, the maestro has left the stage. Ayers died on Thursday in New York City at the age of 84 after battling a long illness.

The first time I heard Roy

I don’t remember the exact moment I first heard Roy Ayers — his music was just there, like sunlight or the hum of streetlights at dusk. But I do remember the first time I understood why his music mattered.

I was a kid, maybe 11 or 12, riding in my uncle’s Cutlass Supreme. He turned up WJZZ, and suddenly, those golden keys and cosmic chords filled the car: “Everybody loves the sunshine…”

The warmth of that song hit like a July afternoon, like fresh-cut grass and melted ice cream. It was Blackness distilled into sound. It was the sonic manifestation of our joy, our pain, our resilience. Ayers sang AND spoke to us, through shimmering vibraphone notes that floated like incense in the air.

The architect of vibes

Musically speaking, Ayers was a builder of worlds. In the 1960s, he stood at the crossroads of jazz, soaking in the brilliance of icons like Lionel Hampton and Herbie Mann. But he wasn’t content to stay in one lane. He saw the future of Black music before the rest of the world caught up.

With Roy Ayers Ubiquity, he stretched the boundaries of jazz — fusing it with funk, soul, R&B, and an unmistakable cosmic spirituality. He saw that jazz wasn’t just about technical mastery; it was about feel, about translating human experience into rhythm and melody.

His music had a pulse, a body-moving urgency. “Running Away,” “Searchin’,” “Love Will Bring Us Back Together” — these were anthemic jazz-funk grooves of liberation and blueprints for a new Black sound. Ayers gave jazz its hips and he made it dance.

Seeing him live — a revelation

If you grew up in Detroit during the ‘70s and ‘80s, you lived his music. WJZZ, the city’s legendary jazz station, kept him in heavy rotation and made sure that tracks like “Mystic Voyage,” “We Live in Brooklyn, Baby,” “You Send Me,” and other choice selects from his discography were part of our daily sonic diet.

But hearing him on the radio was one thing. Seeing him live? That was a completely different experience. I had the privilege of either catching him live or hosting and introducing him numerous times at various venues.

He loved performing in Detroit and felt at home here musically. And with every show, he would pull you into the music and make you a part of it. His stage presence and musicianship, especially during his Ubiquity days, were effortless and special. He had this way of making a venue — whether a packed amphitheater or an intimate jazz club — feel like a warm family reunion in your living room, and you had no option but to vibe with him.

“Roy Ayers was a frequency shifter, a man who understood that music is more than notes and chords, and at its core, is meant to move you. And now, he belongs to the ancestors.”

The hip-hop connection

Ayers’ genius didn’t fade with time. In fact, he became even more relevant as hip-hop ascended. His catalog became a treasure trove for producers and MCs who recognized the richness of his grooves.

A Tribe Called Quest, Pete Rock, Mary J. Blige, J Dilla, Digable Planets — so many architects of hip-hop’s golden age studied Roy Ayers, flipping his beats, chopping his melodies, breathing new life into his rhythms.

To this day, you can hear his DNA in the music of Kendrick Lamar, Flying Lotus, Robert Glasper and countless lo-fi producers who use his vibraphone-laced sound as a spiritual compass.

And here’s the thing — Roy never tripped about being sampled. He loved it. He wanted his music to live on, to mutate and evolve. He once told me after one of his shows that “music is supposed to be shared, that’s what keeps it alive.”

Vibes never die

Roy Ayers was a frequency shifter, a man who understood that music is more than notes and chords, and at its core, is meant to move you. And now, he belongs to the ancestors.

It’s hard to imagine a world without Roy Ayers, but then again, we don’t have to. His music will always be here, humming through late-night DJ sets, spilling from open windows, reverberating in the headphones of kids who weren’t even born when he first picked up the vibraphone.

Tonight, I’m doing what feels right — I’m pulling out his catalog. I’ll start with Mystic Voyage, let it wash over me like it always does. Then I’ll move forward, then move backward, let the music take me where it always has — because with Roy, time never moved in a straight line anyway.

Everything else can wait.

Because while we say goodbye to the man, the music? That’s eternal. Roy once told us that “Everybody Loves the Sunshine.” And even now, even in the sadness of his passing, the light of his music continues to shine and refuses to dim. Rest in rhythm, legend.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

There are many religious rituals and traditions practiced around the world where food plays a central role.

Food encourages us to gather with one another and share stories, while particular dishes and cuisines help tell the story of where we came from, who we are and where we hope to go. 

The holy month of Ramadan, which began at sunset on Friday, is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, observed by Muslims around the world through prayer, fasting, reflection and ending with a large, celebratory breaking-of-the-fast, known as Eid al-Fitr. Today is also Fat Tuesday, marking the end of the weeks-long Mardi Gras celebration leading up to Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent in the Christian faith.

Today on The Metro, we were joined by three metro Detroit chefs to discuss the common connections food has with cultural or religious traditions and celebrations.

Guests:

• Nikita Sanches: Detroit-area chef and owner of the Patchwork Culinary Project, a nonprofit education program that offers culinary training to immigrants and refugees. 
• Omar Anani: Chef and owner of the James Beard-nominated Saffron De Twah, an award-winning modern Moroccan bistro on the east side of Detroit.
• Ameneh Marhaba: Founder and owner of Little Liberia, a West African eatery which is about to relocate to Detroit’s East English Village neighborhood.  

Use the media player above to listen to the full conversation.

More headlines from The Metro on March 4, 2025:  

• At the turn of the 20th century, metro Detroit had one of the largest mass transit system in the United States. But ridership decreased over the years, and the streetcar system became too costly for the city to maintain. The streetcar tracks across the city have since been paved over, but a new campaign from the Metro Detroit Democratic Socialists of America aims to restore the tracks along Michigan Avenue. Metro Detroit DSA member Melina Herrera joined The Metro to discuss how the organization is working to move the needle on transit in Detroit.

• Juli McLoone is a curator in the Special Collections Research Center at the University of Michigan. One of her focus areas is the evolution of cuisine in various regions and cultures, and she helped preserve and digitize the only known copy of the earliest cookbook authored by a Black woman, “A Domestic Cook Book: For the Kitchen” by Mrs. Malinda Russel — published in Michigan in 1866.

• We also revisited two recent conversations on The Metro with Bharat Ramamurti, senior advisor for economic strategy at the American Economic Liberties Project, and Canadian Economist Jim Stanford about Trump’s tariffs, both paused and in effect.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

This week, some station favorites are playing live in-concert. Plus, dance parties, costume contests and opportunities for local artists. Read on to learn more.

Hear local music

Starting on Thursday, Feb. 27, Miss Eva’s speakeasy is welcoming The kLOUDs Band as their first Artists in Residence. The Motown-style R&B group will be performing live every Thursday night now through April 24 from 8-10 p.m. We speak from experience when we say they know how to put on a show — The kLOUDs and frontman Drey Skonie performed at our Sounds Like Detroit concert last summer after being fan favorites in Detroit’s Tiny Desk Contest! Doors for this week’s show open at 7 p.m. and tickets are $15, no advance purchase necessary. For more information, visit missevasdetroit.com.

Staying at Miss Eva’s, Detroit singer-songwriter Ideeyah is kicking off Women’s History Month with a Saturday Night Unplugged performance on Saturday, March 1. Her music blends electronic with soul, and we got to witness her raw talents up close when she performed at WDET’s studios back in 2023. Doors for this intimate concert open at 7 p.m., the show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are $20. The Lobster Pitstop food truck will also be on-site all night long. For more information, visit missevasdetroit.com.

Heading downtown, Detroit pianist and educator Michael Malis is performing a rare solo show at the historic Fort Street Presbyterian Church in Detroit on Wednesday, March 5. Malis recently joined In The Groove to give us a preview of what he’ll be playing and chat about why this venue is so special to him. Doors open at 7 p.m., music starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $25 online. For more information, visit michaelmalis.com. 

Go dancing

On Thursday, Feb. 27, Drag Night returns to Bowlero in Royal Oak. This free monthly drag show and dance party takes place every last Thursday in the Bowlero’s lounge. Hosted by Auntie Chanel, this month’s performers are Drag Chef Kokayne, Valentina Rosé, Doubleho Sevyn and Remy Lafontain. Social hour starts at 8 p.m. and the show starts at 9 p.m. This event is 18+. For more information, visit bowlerodetroit.com.

Then on Sunday, March 2, kick off your Mardi Gras celebrations with Domingo: Carnival Edition at Spkrbox in Detroit. From 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., DJ Iza and DJ Yak will be bumping reggaeton, baile funk, latin house, dembow and afro house. For more information, visit @sprkbox.detroit on Instagram.

Strut your stuff

On Wednesday, March 5, UFO Bar is throwing a Detroit Talent Show where fun is the only skill necessary. Hosted by Auntie Ely, entry is $5 and winner takes the pot.  The show starts at 10 p.m. followed by an afterparty DJ set by Ashton Swinton. Limited spots are available, so email ely@spotlitedetroit.com to sign up in advance. For more information, visit @ufobardetroit on Instagram.

Then on Thursday, March 6, Bowlero is celebrating Day of the Dude with live music, $9 White Russians and a Big Lebowski costume contest. Detroit rock bands The Beggars and Dirty Copper will be playing in the lounge, and WDET’s own Ryan Patrick Hooper (host of In The Groove weekdays noon to 2 p.m.) will be DJing. Music starts at 8 p.m. and the costume contest starts at 9 p.m. This event is 18+ and admission is free. For more information, visit bowlerodetroit.com.

Get involved

On Saturday, March 1, the Detroit Office of Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship is hosting their first city-wide Performing Arts Summit at The Detroit School of Arts. The summit will highlight how our creative workforce can drive a healthy economy and thriving communities, featuring presentations and discussions about resources the city has to offer and opportunities the city has to further support artists. Admission is free and broken up into theatre, dance, music and film sections. For more information, visit their Eventbrite page.

I love having the opportunity to feature a local artist live, in-studio, to chat about their latest projects; even better if they’ve got new music to premiere! With MI Local, one of the goals is to literally introduce you to the local music scene, and that’s why I was excited to invite stoop lee to join me this week for a conversation about his latest collaboration, and to give listeners a sneak-preview of a new song that drops on March 7.

Lee, a.k.a. Ade Olaniran, is a very driven, prolific, and often infectiously upbeat artist and human being, keen on drawing a lot of love and attention toward — and about — the Detroit music scene. Lee’s been releasing music and performing around the region for a little more than five years, with a handful of stellar EPs available on his Bandcamp. This week, on MI Local, he talked about a new project, collaborating with MUNCH and Datsunn known as Local Organic, as well as setting us up for a preview of their first single, “UR World,” which comes out next Friday.

Also on this week’s show, we heard a debut single for a new project known as Verlaine, featuring Gavin Becker and Josie Palmer, “Try My Luck,” a softly ethereal ballad in the vein of Cigarettes After Sex and Beach House. Speaking of the dream-pop subgenre, we also heard new music from local duo Bluhm, with their song “When You’re Gone.”

On the punk and indie-rock side of things, we heard a new raucous track from the trio known as The Antibuddies, with Cordelia Chase (an homage to Buffy!?), and a poignant yet bracing ballad from Wally Dogger, “Your Expiration Date Is Approaching.”

See the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above. You’ll hear my interview with lee begin around the 10-minute mark. 

MI Local Playlist for Feb. 25, 2025

• “When You’re Gone” – Bluhm
• “Try My Luck” – Verlaine
• “Roaring Golden Sunrise” – Magdalene
• “UR WORLD” – Local Organic (stoop lee, Datsunn & Munch)
• “hurt people hurt people” – falooshh
• “Burn Out” – The Dream Scream
• “Cristal Peak” – Twinn
• “Keroscene” – Ness Lake ft. David Daignault
• “Your Expiration Date is Approaching” – Wally Dogger
• “Swept Away” – Speed Circuit
• “You’ll Always Love Me” – Rose St. Germaine
• “Cordelia Chase” – The Antibuddies
• “Elf Heaven, Dwarf Hell” – Child Bite
• “Sunset” – Basic Comfort

NEW YORK (AP) — Roberta Flack, the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose intimate vocal and musical style made her one of the top recordings artists of the 1970s and an influential performer long after, died Monday. She was 88.

She died at home surrounded by her family, publicist Elaine Schock said in a statement. Flack announced in 2022 she had ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and could no longer sing.

Little known before her early 30s, Flack became an overnight star after Clint Eastwood used “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” as the soundtrack for one of cinema’s more memorable and explicit love scenes, between the actor and Donna Mills in his 1971 film “Play Misty for Me.” The hushed, hymn-like ballad, with Flack’s graceful soprano afloat on a bed of soft strings and piano, topped the Billboard pop chart in 1972 and received a Grammy for record of the year.

“The record label wanted to have it re-recorded with a faster tempo, but he said he wanted it exactly as it was,” Flack told The Associated Press in 2018. “With the song as a theme song for his movie, it gained a lot of popularity and then took off.”

In 1973, she matched both achievements with “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” becoming the first artist to win consecutive Grammys for best record.

She was a classically trained pianist discovered in the late 1960s by jazz musician Les McCann, who later wrote that “her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known.” Versatile enough to summon the up-tempo gospel passion of Aretha Franklin, Flack often favored a more reflective and measured approach.

For Flack’s many admirers, she was a sophisticated and bold new presence in the music world and in the social and civil rights movements of the time, her friends including the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Angela Davis, whom Flack visited in prison while Davis faced charges — for which she was acquitted — for murder and kidnapping. Flack sang at the funeral of Jackie Robinson, major league baseball’s first Black player, and was among the many guest performers on the feminist children’s entertainment project created by Marlo Thomas, “Free to Be … You and Me.”

Roberta Cleopatra Flack, the daughter of musicians, was born in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and raised in Arlington, Virginia. A gospel fan as a child, she was so talented a piano player that at age 15 she received a full scholarship to Howard, the historically Black university.

Flack’s other hits from the 1970s included the cozy “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and two duets with her close friend and former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway, “Where Is the Love” and ”The Closer I Get to You” — a partnership that ended in tragedy. In 1979, she and Hathaway were working on an album of duets when he suffered a breakdown during recording and later that night fell to his death from his hotel room in Manhattan.

“We were deeply connected creatively,” Flack told Vibe in 2022, upon the 50th anniversary of the million-selling “Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway” album. “He could play anything, sing anything. Our musical synergy was unlike (anything) I’d had before or since.”

She never matched her first run of success, although she did have a hit in the 1980s with the Peabo Bryson duet “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” and in the 1990s with the Maxi Priest duet “Set the Night to Music.” In the mid-90s, Flack received new attention after the Fugees recorded a Grammy-winning cover of “Killing Me Softly,” which she eventually performed on stage with the hip-hop group.

Overall, she won five Grammys (three for “Killing Me Softly”), was nominated eight other times and was given a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2020, with John Legend and Ariana Grande among those praising her.

“I love that connection to other artists because we understand music, we live music, it’s our language,” Flack told songwriteruniverse.com in 2020. “Through music we understand what we are thinking and feeling. No matter what challenge life presents, I am at home with my piano, on a stage, with my band, in the studio, listening to music. I can find my way when I hear music.”

In 2022, Beyoncé placed Flack, Franklin and Diana Ross among others in a special pantheon of heroines name-checked in the Grammy-nominated “Queens Remix” of “Break My Soul.”

Flack was briefly married to Stephen Novosel, an interracial relationship that led to tension with each of their families, and earlier had a son, the singer and keyboardist Bernard Wright. For years, she lived in Manhattan’s Dakota apartment building, on the same floor as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who became a close friend and provided liner notes for a Flack album of Beatles covers, “Let It Be Roberta.” She also devoted extensive time to the Roberta Flack School of Music, based in New York and attended mostly by students between ages 6 to 14.

Flack had taught music in D.C.-area junior high schools for several years in her 20s, while performing after hours in clubs. She sometimes backed other singers, but her own shows at Washington’s renowned Mr. Henry’s attracted such celebrity patrons as Burt Bacharach, Ramsey Lewis and Johnny Mathis. The club’s owner, Henry Yaffe, converted an apartment directly above into a private studio, the Roberta Flack Room.

“I wanted to be successful, a serious all-round musician,” she told The Telegraph in 2015. “I listened to a lot of Aretha, the Drifters, trying to do some of that myself, playing, teaching.”

Flack was signed to Atlantic Records and her debut album, “First Take,” a blend of gospel, soul, flamenco and jazz, came out in 1969. One track was a love song by the English folk artist Ewan MacColl: “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” written in 1957 for his future wife, singer Peggy Seeger. Flack not only knew of the ballad, but used it while working with a glee club during her years as an educator.

“I was teaching at Banneker Junior High in Washington, D.C. It was part of the city where kids weren’t that privileged, but they were privileged enough to have music education. I really wanted them to read music. First, I’d get their attention. (Flack starts singing a Supremes hit) ‘Stop, in the name of love.’ Then I could teach them!” she told the Tampa Bay Times in 2012.

“You have to do all sorts of things when you’re dealing with kids in the inner-city,” she said. “I knew they’d like the part where (‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’) goes ‘The first time ever I kissed your mouth.’ Ooh, ‘Kissed your mouth!’ Once the kids got past the giggles, we were good.”

–Reporting by Hillel Italie, Associated Press

A backyard poultry farm in Monroe County is the latest Michigan flock hit by the highly pathogenic Avian influenza. 

Hundreds of thousands of turkeys at a commercial farm in Ottawa County had to be euthanized at the end of last year because of the bird flu outbreak. 

But the disease isn’t only affecting turkeys and chickens. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources estimates the virus has killed more than 300 wild birds in five counties since Jan. 1, 2025.

Mitch Marcus, a wildlife health supervisor at the DNR, says the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is also affecting waterfowl and birds of prey.

“Think ducks, geese, swans,” he said. “Also scavenging birds and raptors, so think eagles and owls.”

People who found dead birds in the wild alerted the DNR. Marcus says scientists at Michigan State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Lab test tissue samples for the virus.

“If HPAI is suspect from those results, the samples get sent on to the national vet services laboratory for confirmation,” he said.

The DNR encourages people who find at least six dead birds in one area to report the discovery through its “eyes in the field” tool.

Marcus says it’s best to avoid direct contact with a dead bird in the wild. If someone finds one on their property, he recommends caution.

“If they’re in a situation where they have to get that carcass removed, I would suggest that they utilize some personal protective equipment,” he said.

Read more: Avian flu outbreak forces major layoffs at Michigan’s largest poultry farm

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development also offers advice for pet owners concerned about bird flu.

“A good general precaution is just keep your pets away from any sick or dead wild animals,” Marcus said.

The DNR says HPAI has infected some feral and domestic cats in the U.S., but so far, it has not affected dogs.

The state has detected the virus at large commercial poultry farms in western Michigan as well as backyard flocks in Wayne, Oakland, and Monroe counties.