Golden road

Thursday, June 6 — The Lansing-based band Lansing Unionized Vaudeville Spectacle began its weeklong tour of West Michigan and the Upper Peninsula this morning with an impromptu, three-song set in front of Old Town’s Golden Harvest restaurant.

“Thank you all so much for coming out to see us off,” said LUVS founder/lead singer Dylan Rogers, addressing the 40 or so folks assembled outside the eatery. “I get to spend the next week with some of my best friends doing something we all love to do. This is going to be fun, but it’s probably going to get crazy.”

LUVS is a “gypsy rock” band, featuring a blend of classic Americana and Eastern European sounds. It formed about two years ago, growing from Rogers and a couple of accompanists to a 15-piece unit featuring a fiddle, a horn section and a vibraphone. The group will travel the state in a rented, 40-foot RV.

“We can’t fit everyone, exactly, but it’s going to be interesting,” Rogers said.

Rogers received a grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs to hire a videographer to accompany the band along the tour. The resulting film, to be called “Made in Michigan,” will feature highlights from the tour, backstage footage and short skits featuring members of the band. The tour will hit a number of Michigan breweries and some performance spaces in the U.P., including one venue that dates back to the early 1900s.

For more on the band’s tour, check out its Facebook wall.