Foxgrave’s new release, “Snake Oil,” is a five-song single sided 12-inch record that masterfully teeters on the line of loose rock ’n roll and tight, melodic pop punk. It’s pissed off, yet poetic. Rowdy, yet reflective—similar to The Replacements in their heyday. Vocalist/guitarist Caleb Shook chatted with City Pulse, here’s what he had to say about the band’s new release, its third, on Smog Moon Recordings.  more

After being established through a Facebook group, a team of local musicians has moved their live concert streaming series to its own independent website. Established in late 2020, Best Friend’s Club has helped alleviate the drought of live music for both performers and fans. more

Despite the cataclysmic effects the pandemic had on county fair events in 2020, most are expected to take place this year, at least in some form. more

ArtPath, an annual public art project alongside the Lansing River Trail, has reached its $7,600 crowd fundraising goal for its fourth exhibition year. more

A cocktail of rain, wind and even a little snow assaulted the farmers market last week. The fair-weather hipsters stayed home. So did the lemonade stand. Altogether, more farmers showed up than customers, and coffee was the only thing that sold out because everyone’s hands were cold. There was a steaming cauldron of chicken congee for sale at the Vietnamese sandwich stall, and had the cardboard bowls not run out, the congee would probably have sold out, too. more

Katherine Heiny’s new book, “Early Morning Riser,” is a comic novel that doesn’t need a laugh track. “Early Morning Riser” will make you laugh out loud on its own. … more

You could get into a thicket teasing out trombonist Michael Dease’s many inspirations. He’s a professor of jazz at MSU, after all. more

Between the small town of Owosso and the even smaller town of Perry, runs M-52 — a remote stretch of Michigan highway that’s mostly lined with cornfields and intersecting dirt roads. Among this rural countryside once sat an eerie, dilapidated farm house. That abandoned two-story home is now demolished, but it lives on via the cover of “Polymorphic,” the brooding debut record from Bloody Butterflies.   more

Now that more people are getting vaccinated, Habitat for Humanity is taking on more projects and slowly getting back to the way things used to be.   more

Dawn Newton’s just-released novel, “Remnants of Summer,” filled me with nostalgia for my Michigan roots and it often brought tears to my eyes. The coming-of-age novel is an engaging mix of innocence and being faced with harsh realities.  more

Todd Welch doesn’t smoke pot. After a 25-year career with the Michigan State Police in an era of illegal recreational marijuana, he said that he’s more likely to pour cocktails than pack bongs.  more

As part of the Lansing Lugnuts' opening week festivities, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin's husband, Dave Slotkin, made an appearance as the team's mascot Big Lug.  more

Frances Kaneene was a guardian angel to Rachel Nanteza. more

Winifred Jean Bearup, 100, of Charlotte, was named the winner City Pulse’s first “Best of the Best” Mother’s Day award following a heartfelt nomination from her 68-year-old son, Richard Bearup. The big prize: $175 in gift certificates to Sweet Custom Jewelry and Bliss Salon Spa Boutique.  more

After an 18-month hiatus, The Lansing Collectable Toy Comic and Record Show returns Sunday, but with some precautionary measures, said host Tesco Vee.  more

On an otherwise quiet Sunday afternoon in late May 1927, more than 85,000 vehicles crowded the roads leading to Bath. They were drawn by a sense of morbid curiosity to see the remnants of a massive explosion, which on May 18 ripped into the Bath Consolidated School, killing 44 including 38 children. more

Scott Pohl is a retired reporter and host with the WKAR radio station. He fell in love with John Irving’s novel “A Prayer For Owen Meany,” and later met the author at a reception. … more

I was introduced to Matias Brimmer by his father, Henry, a graphic designer who recently retired from being a professor of advertising. He talked ecstatically about his son’s art. In a proudly paternal fashion, he told me that it looks like Matias is fighting his demons on the canvas.  more

Last week, Mac’s Bar was listed as ‘temporarily closed’ on Facebook. Talent buyer Scott Bell said that when it completes renovations, Mac’s would reopen as a sport’s bar and likely not feature live music from local artists. The Facebook page was updated with a photo that said “R.I.P. Mac’s” and local social media was rife with posts memorializing the bar, as people lamented the news and shared their deepest personal experiences hanging out with friends and attending gigs at Mac’s Bar.  more

Between the snow-capped Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, Woody Ellis, 39, rested alone last week in a rented room in Ölüdeniz, Turkey. Far from hometown Lansing, he sported his sole t-shirt and a scruffy precursor to a beard as he prepared for another journey.  more