Believe it or not, hiding behind the thick foliage at 3424 Lowcroft Ave. is a 672-square-foot home built in 1959. But from the overgrown sumac tree on one side of the front door and another tree on the other, growing up and out to obscure the entire front of the house, you’d never know. more

Growing up in the 1980s and ‘90s in Charlotte, Michigan, Sean Anthony Sullivan drew musical inspiration from analog sources — namely, his parents’ records. more

Thomas Wolfe, author of “You Can’t Go Home Again,” had it all wrong. Author Jim Ray Daniels has been returning home in his short-story collections for a number of years. more

“Ritmo means rhythm in Spanish,” explained Michael Eyia, director of Orquesta Ritmo, on an episode of WKAR’s BackStage Pass. “The group got started as a little garage band many years ago. We wanted to have parties and keep our own thing going with Latin music. We wanted to keep our identity as musicians and other things, as far as the Spanish community was concerned.” more

From large events like a jazz festival, a food truck festival, the St. Johns Mint Festival and Michigan State University’s Bee Palooza to smaller events like a CD launch party, a daylily sale and a sketchbook-decorating workshop, residents of Greater Lansing have no shortage of opportunities for a fun-filled weekend. more

As a film projectionist, Frank Uhle has spent untold hours showing movies for audiences of all stripes. Now, he has stepped out from the cramped projection booth to showcase the 90-year history of cinema in Ann Arbor with his first book, “Cinema Ann Arbor: How Campus Rebels Forged a Singular Film Culture.” more

From serving up Southern comfort-food classics at 4 Tha Soul Restaurant, which opened in February, to helping folks better their mental health, husband-and-wife team Dartagka and Domonika Tipton are nourishing the souls of Lansing residents from the inside out. For this week’s New in Town, I had a chance to talk to Dartagka Tipton about the couple’s new restaurant, their other businesses and what it all means for the people of Lansing. more

With a diverse and lengthy discography behind him, Ryan Andrews returns with another experimental blast of majestic heaviness, this time with his band No Skull. Over the years, Andrews (guitar/vocals) has issued stacks of lo-fi releases with past bands like Red Teeth and Bert. more

The siren song of smooth jazz will sail over Lansing’s east side again Saturday (Aug. 12). Lansing-based saxophonist Phil Denny’s Armory Smooth Jazz Fête is back on its grooving feet with a full slate of top national artists after the pandemic stopped the show in 2021 and a relentless deluge swamped the grounds in 2022. more

Jan Bidwell, a psychotherapist and mindfulness meditation teacher, is hosting a launch party for her new CD, “Tactical Mindfulness,” Friday evening (Aug. 11) at the Michigan Institute for … more

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan State University hosted an annual Bee Palooza at its Horticulture Gardens to promote pollinator stewardship, or humans’ role in protecting and providing … more

Older people in my family have a simple, uplifting mantra when it comes to aging: never get old. My grandmother quipped this for nearly 40 years before passing at age 92. And now my parents quote our ancestral adage, even though their retirement activities so far have included earning a doctorate degree and hiking the Appalachian trail, respectively. more

This weekend, Greater Lansing offers a variety of outdoor events, including a jazz festival, children’s movie screenings, a county fair, bike races and runs, a Mental Health Fun Day and more. If you prefer the comfort of air conditioning, there’s still plenty to do, including new art exhibitions, a high school playwright showcase, a mass garage sale and an author visit. more

Autumn Weston is the fourth-generation owner of Weston’s Kewpee Sandwich Shoppe, which opened in downtown Lansing in 1924. She recognizes this as an important milestone for both her family and the city as a whole. more

Red Cedar Spirits 2000 Merritt Road, East Lansing   Sunday Jazz Jeff Shoup, Jim Alfredson, and Ben Turner Sun., August 6th, 6-9 p.m. more

Given that it’s the Senior Issue, this week’s column is devoted to looking back on the city’s musical past. While bands like the Ones and Plain Brown Wrapper had a massive following in Lansing and beyond in the ’60s and ’70s, other bands were a just flash in the rock ‘n’ roll pan — but they still left behind remarkable records. Here are just a few old singles that will transport you back to the days of mop tops and bell bottoms.  more

Growing up in Detroit, saxophonist James Carter loved when his mom played records by great jazz vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan... more

Bob Robinson has been active in the Greater Lansing theater community since the “early ‘80s.” He was a co-founder of Grand Ledge’s now-defunct Spotlight Theatre  alongside the late Len Kluge, who was also a theater reviewer for City Pulse. But at 75, Robinson’s life has changed dramatically. more

Saturday, Aug. 5
7 p.m.
Riverwalk Theatre
228 Museum Drive, Lansing

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Sunday, Aug. 6
11 a.m.-3 p.m. 
Potter Park
1301 S. Pennsylvania Ave., Lansing

more