Michigan COVID-19 Updates & Concert Cancellations, Plus Sault Ontario News & Notes!!

Here is our 80th straight daily post at the SMS, and it includes some assorted recent news and notes, details on an ambitious project to catalogue local music history (something readers should all care about), and leading off, the latest updates on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan. Here's what you should know!

On Tuesday, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer lifted the state's stay-at-home order, and if you want to read into the minutia about that announcement, there's plenty of articles about it on state news websites. The Sault Evening News outlined what you can and can't do now in this article published yesterday, and sadly, concerts as we know them are still prohibited for the time being. Indoor gatherings of more than 10 people and outdoor gatherings of more than 100 are still not allowed in Michigan, and even if something were to be booked, social distancing measures of 6+ feet remain in effect. The announcement doesn't change anything re: restaurant and bars in the Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan, which were previously allowed to open with appropriate social distancing measures and can still do so (the rest of the state can open these businesses on Monday.) As for casinos, the closure of Michigan casinos until June 12th actually only applies to those under state jurisdiction.

Specifically, this means that tribal casinos (like the Kewadin Casino branches and Bay Mills in Brimley) could begin re-opening this past weekend, but both appear to be exercising caution, as both have clearly announced on social media that they will also remain closed until June 12th. The short term future of concerts at these casinos still doesn't look good, and they took another hit on Friday, when Kewadin formally cancelled the Tripp 'N' Dixie show at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo on June 13th, as per that show's Facebook event page. Also, Kewadin's website's entertainment page has announced that "all events are temporarily postponed until further notice", which covers any concerts booked through at least the Fourth of July. As such, I have removed Tarnished's Signatures Lounge dates in the Soo on June 18th & 24th from our calendar, as well as Highway 63's Northern Pines Lounge shows in St. Ignace on July 3rd & 4th.

As such, our Sault Michigan calendar is now empty until the rescheduled Black Label Society concert at The Dreammaker's Theater on August 8th, but if I was a betting man, I wouldn't be gambling on the new date holding up, alas. Stay tuned to the SMS and your preferred Michigan news source for further details on the coronavirus pandemic and it's effect on concerts as they roll in!

Next up, let's move to Sault Ontario, where Rotaryfest music director Shaun Antler is working on a big project, specifically to catalogue and archive a list of as many local bands as possible. The project was covered in this Sault Star article by Brian Kelly on May 28th, and began in  conjunction with Rotaryfest's Rewind anniversary stages two years ago, but recently resumed work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shaun plans to wrap up things by the end of the month and share her results with the Sault Ste. Marie Museum, with plans to create a music exhibit at the museum in the future using her data. This is definitely a daunting project, especially when trying to catalogue and cite information on local bands before social media. I've given 2005 as my cutoff for reasonable online materials before, but as websites close and overhaul their layouts, that gets harder too. If you can help Shaun add bands or musicians to her database, message her at santler@shaw.ca!

A handful of SMS-relevant bands are cited in the article as needing member information, such as Free Beer, Smeltzer, and Them. I have helped Shaun with this project, and while members of those bands have been covered on the SMS in the past, social media aliases and common names may be tripping up some of her leads. I hope to send her some more info shortly, but contact her above if you want to help out! Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:

• This probably goes without saying, but this year's Algoma Ride For Autism (scheduled for June 20th) has been cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers confirmed this on their Facebook page on Tuesday, but they do hope to bring the event back in 2021. This is SMS relevant because live music has been a staple of the charity motorcycle rally's festivities, including a run of annual sets by local punk veterans Redundant. Hopefully the Ride does return next year, it's a great event for a great cause!
• Local guitarist Michael McCormick is looking for a singer for his current hard rock band project, who take inspiration from bands like The Foo Fighters, Halestorm, Metallica, and Poison. Specifically, he wants someone with "good frontman skills", but singing ability isn't necessarily his primary concern. I'm not familiar with Michael musically, but his post is attracting interest, so message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post on Sunday for more details! Just use common sense given the pandemic.
• Had an active social media account existed for them, I would have recently moved Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie's solo project The Sorrow Fields to our inactive band links. This project last saw a public update via Mission Control Studios' Facebook postings on their unreleased debut album's sessions in January 2019, and Mitch's personal Facebook page (which saw occasional Sorrow Fields updates) was quietly taken down in recent months as well. Hopefully nothing bad happened, as Mitch is a very talented musician, and I hope we'll see The Sorrow Fields and Bear Hunters' long-gestating albums on sale down the road!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!