Wallis Bird

Few can enrapture an audience the way Wallis Bird can. Bird is coming to Michigan with a brand new album, Hands, which finds her turning the spotlight onto herself, raising issues that are sometimes hard to confront, only to emerge optimistic and whole.

Says the Associated Press: ”Along with the badassery, Yamagata brings a world-weary passion to her singing. Her voice is a soul-baring, sultry instrument that commands center stage at all times. She has that deliberate, I’ll-sing-the-note-when-I’m-ready pacing that helped make Amy Winehouse great, and before her Billie Holliday.”

Australian band Sons of the East is an under-the-radar success story, racking up millions of streams and selling out shows across Europe and Australia without ever straying from their independent roots. And they built that impressive following through their incredible and energetic live shows, paired with a serious handful of exceptional original songs.

Everything in Jon McLaughlin’s life makes its way into his music, whether he’s conscious of it or not. The artist, raised in Indiana and based in Nashville, brings all of his experiences and beliefs into each song he creates, something that is especially true now that he’s the father of two young girls.

Lucy Kaplansky started out singing in Chicago bars. Then, barely out of high school, she took off for New York City. There she found a fertile community of songwriters and performers—Suzanne Vega, John Gorka, Bill Morrissey, Cliff Eberhardt, and others—where she fit right in—and kept on singing after earning a degree and working in the field of clinical psychology.

Augustana is back with new music, and through its formation, its creator Dan Layus has stepped into a new musical universe. While the artist is well-known for anthemic indie-rock leaning hits like “Boston,” “Sweet and Low,” and “Steal Your Heart,” Augustana’s consistent march of new and ever-evolving material has embodied a refusal to settle artistically. Never has that been more clearly evident than with the artist’s latest studio album, “Everyday an Eternity: Solo Piano Works,” a genre-shaking full-length record that redefines what can be expected from this artist.

The Sweet Remains consist of three gifted and charismatic singer-songwriters, each of whom contribute to the writing and the three-part harmonies that define the band’s sound.

Born the youngest child of two blind parents in Pittsburgh, William Fitzsimmons grew up in a house filled with a myriad of sounds to replace what eyes could not see. William comes to Michigan with a new release, “Covers,” that includes a version of John Denver’s “Annie’s Song.”