Jackson Coffee Company

Arriving Nowhere is a band made up of close friends from Jackson, MI. that write and play music together. With original songs being driven by catchy guitar licks and vocal melodies, don’t be surprised when you find yourself singing along. You’ll feel this band emitting a vibe similar to Alice in Chains and Shinedown to create a dark grungy alternative rock with an overtone of hope.

Teag and PK is the project of Mike Teager and Matt (PK) Borghi. Teag and PK was spun off of their larger quintet, The Elevator Conspiracy, as a side project for for the duo to emphasize improvisation, songs, and ambient music.

The music of Teag and PK has had many comparisons from Nick Drake and Bon Iver to a stripped down version of the Grateful Dead and the Dave Matthews Band. As a duo, Teag and PK work to bring even more influences into their work including that of jazz, folk, blues and other acoustic roots music with a bit of playfulness thrown in to mix it up.

With a repertoire that includes jazz standards, traditional America folk music, exploratory improvisational numbers and songs reminiscent of the great singer/songwriter period of the 1970s, Teag and PK host a dynamic and moving on-stage performance.

Mike Teager plays sax, and flute, while Matt PK plays guitar and sings.

Rochelle Clark from Chelsea, Michigan and John Natiw from Canton, Michigan are The Potter’s Field, a Midwest based Folk/Americana/Roots duo. Known for poetic, gritty lyrics, driving instrumental style (including acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, harmonica, typical and non-typical percussion elements and the occasional kazoo), close and powerful vocal harmonies and easy stage presence, The Potter’s Field surprises with new songs and ideas that sound familiar yet nostalgic.

The Potter’s Field’s original compositions cover a variety of topics and styles while holding fast to their Midwest roots. The duo’s cover song choices display a wide variety of tastes and influences such as Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson, Johnny and June, The Black Crowes, Brandi Carlile, Over the Rhine and more. Audiences leave shows entertained and uplifted, thoughtful and hopeful.

Born and raised in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, MJ Bishop is an acoustic solo artist who, after residing in Seattle for 30 years, moved to Nashville in the Spring of 2010 to further hone her songwriting skills and begin work on her fourth album. Her music is described as open-road longing folk Americana. She has been compared to Patsy Cline, Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch. Combining deep roots in acoustic music with a maturing country sensibility, MJ creates a genre that is, in many ways, her own. Her influences include Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, k.d. lang, Patty Griffin, Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams.

Pull of the Moon, MJ’s long-awaited third album (2008), sees her rolling up her sleeves and plunging into the grittiness that is Americana, through the sweet, familiar melodies of folk. The added trim around the edges reveals her deep roots in country, jazz, rock and pop.

On these 12 tracks, MJ’s unwavering smoky vocals start from the dirt in the crawl space, climb the stairs to the kitchen, the bedrooms, the attic, and finally blast through the roof. She takes you on a journey starting with the evocative opener “Up North” (about her small home town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula), weaving a story around the life of a guitar, life’s pushes and pulls, love, loss, heartache, freedom from the nine-to-five job, and the appeal of the open road. You will be conflicted by the lyrics as they first lure you with the promise of good times before abruptly dropping you into a chasm of loneliness and heartache.

Producing a pretty big sound armed with only a single guitar and her vocal chords, MJ’s songs leave you humming well after the last note is sung. Personally connecting with the audience is important to MJ, and her charm, musicianship and professionalism shine during her performances. Entertaining runs in the family and she claims to be addicted to the stage.

MJ has performed steadily since 1998 in and around Seattle, and has also taken her music to Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona, Tennessee, Indiana, Michigan and Florida.

Jen Sygit has been writing songs since she was knee high to a grasshopper. Her parents report that as a child she gravitated toward the musical instruments in the room and within minutes was able to play melodies on them. As early as Elementary school Jen could be found writing love songs on her parents beat-up organ in their basement and by middle school she was also composing songs on her acoustic guitar (a gift bought on a whim by her parents- upon which she has never had a lesson). It was this affinity for music that led her parents to encourage Jen to audition for the Interlochen Fine Arts Camp which she attended for several years during her adolescence studying voice, trombone, piano and visual art.

Born in Port Huron, MI, Jen spent her childhood years in the nearby town of Marysville, where she lived until 1999 when she moved to Lansing to attend Michigan State University. Jen quickly infiltrated the capital city’s music scene via the area open mics and blues jams. It was at one of these jams that she picked up her first gig as front woman for a blues-rock band called Murdawg and the Lowdown, Dirty Strays. During her stint with Murdawg she learned about an opening at world-renowned music store Elderly Instruments. Jen was hired and worked at the music shop for three years-attributing her ecclectic mix of tunes to her time there. At Elderly Jen honed her acoustic guitar skills while also learning how to frail banjos, strum ukuleles and pick dobros.

Jen now has three albums under her belt with her latest So Long Pollyanna to be released on Earthwork Music in May ‘09. Her last release Leaving Marshall St. was nominated for a Detroit Music Award for BEST ACOUSTIC/FOLK ALBUM in 2007 and made it to 9 on the independent roots music charts that year. The album also landed on a number of ‘Best of’ lists as well. Now, besides regionally touring and playing shows, Jen can also be found hosting the popular weekly open mic at Dagwood Tavern in Lansing. She has been host of the thriving scene for almost five years.

Jen is also in a band called Stella! with Jo Serrapere. Conceived by Serrapere (former member of Uncle Earl and award-winning songwriter), Stella! began working on a new album this spring in Brooklyn, NY under the supervision/patronage of Dave Marsh (Michigan native, co-founder of Creem Magazine and celebrated rock critic). The album is being produced by Adam Druckman with assistance from Larry Eagle (percussionist and background vocalist on Springsteen’s Seeger Sessions album) and primarily features the songwriting of both Jen and Jo. Stella! appeared live on Dave Marsh’s Sirius/XM show ‘Kick Out the Jams’ in April ’09. So Long Pollyanna was also spun during the show.