On May 26, the alternative-folk band Michigan Rattlers will perform at The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor. Their show will include several old-favorite songs alongside newer material, including their lead single, “Pure Resistance.”
The band’s lead guitarist and vocalist, Graham Young, called their upcoming performance a fun trip back home. He noted that their upcoming show is the band’s second time playing at the music venue.
“We love playing live,” Young said. “Our shows have a big communal community vibe to them. Our shows are celebratory, so we’re stoked to be here, and we hope you’ll be stoked to be there.”
From Petoskey, The Michigan Rattlers are composed of childhood friends Young, Adam Reed (bass), Christian Wilder (piano), and Tony Audia (drums).
In 2016 they were featured as one of Rolling Stone’s “Ten New Country Artists You Need To Know.”
The group has performed at festivals like Bonnaroo and Electric Forest. Young credits their Michigan inspirations to their growth and sound.
“We got a lot of Michigan pride,” Young said. “It was this desire to have that connection to the Midwest and Michigan. We are out here in California, but there is something special about the Midwest idea.”
Since their inception back in 2015, the band has released two albums, “Evergreen” in 2018 and “That Kind of Life” in 2021. Both of which were well regarded and received positive reviews.
This year, the Michigan natives released their latest song “Pure Resistance,”, a track that features atmospherically-powerful instrumentation and poetically-vivid storytelling. Led by Young’s husky voice, this song is the lead single to their upcoming album, which has yet to be named.
“For that song, we spent three or four days in the studio,” Young said. “We broke this album up into two different chunks. The first chunk was six days, and then we had another block of eight days where we finished the rest of the songs.”
According to Young, their new album will consist of around ten songs. For their upcoming show, the Michigan natives stated those in attendance could be in for a musical treat, including hearing Pure Resistance and potentially a host of other new songs from the soon-to-release album.
“Expect the whole range of our catalog,” Young said. From the beginning to Pure Resistance, Maybe we’ll include one or two that we haven’t put out yet. And maybe a couple of covers that we need to work up. It should be fun.”
While the group lives in California, Young states that every visit to Michigan brings him that childhood feeling of growing up in the Mitten state.
“We’re all pretty simple individuals,” Young said. “I love hanging out and getting the nostalgic hometown vibe. I’m a real sucker for that. I grew up around Lake Michigan, so I love going to the big lake or the pub and brushing elbows with people from high school that were in your life years ago.”
For more information on The Michigan Rattlers Blind Pig performance on May 26, visit blindpigmusic.com.
Antonio Cooper is a freelance journalist from Detroit, Michigan. His coverage of music festivals and interviews with local celebrities appeared in The E-Current Magazine, The Detroit Metro Times, XXL Magazine, RichMagDigital, The Ann Arbor Observer, and Pop Magazine.
