Brian Rozman

Longtime Detroit music journalist Jeff Milo’s byline appears in publications locally and globally. He’s been plugging ears into the Detroit scene for years with his prolific Deep Cutz blog and his new YouTube series, The Milo Show. Each week, Milo gives us a rundown of can’t-miss shows in and around the Detroit area. 

June 21, 2019

Voyag3r at Small’s

This trio’s name is pronounced “Voyager 3,” despite the spelling, and they’ve been creating progressive rock and electronic adventure music for more than five years, specializing in making arrangements that sound like they’re from the soundtrack of a sci-fi or horror-action movie. 

These guys come from a rock-centric background, but on their latest album, “War Mask,” which came out last month, they’re expanding the potential of what can be done within the genre by adding inventive melodic phrases and tones from both the synthesizer and guitar, with epic-sounding drums. Yellowstone Apocalypse and Basterdous will open up this night at Small’s.

This is Voyag3r with “Ancient Enemies.”

Jackson and the Poolsharks and Nick Juno at the Crofoot

British folk singer Will Varley is coming to the Crofoot in Pontiac. Varley broke out around the global folk-rock scene within the last 10 years, but would likely please anybody who’s been following contemporaries like Frank Turner or veterans like Billy Bragg.

One of the two local artists opening up for him are Jackson and the Poolsharks, led by Daniel Jackson. The band will be bringing much more of the rock element, rather than folk, and if anything, they are more inclined towards a blues hybrid of rock and pop, a la The Rolling Stones, or The Allman Brothers. The other opener, Nick Juno, is a solo singer/songwriter on acoustic guitar, tapping back into Woody Guthrie and that Greenwich Village era, lyrics with a message inside the story slinging over some subtly furious strums across the fretboard.

Here’s Nick Juno’s song “Three Armed Scarecrows,” from his recent album, “Troubled With The Earth.”

June 22

Mike Galbraith at Northville’s Arts and Acts Festival

On the cover of Mike Galbraith’s new studio album, “Here Elsewhere,” he’s pictured changing a tire with a backwards cap on. It’s a reflection of the blue collar vibe you capture in his music.

Galbraith has been making music all his life, but he’s always been drawn to muses that were full of heart, a bit rough around their edges. Think The Replacements or Neil Young, Tom Waits and Bob Dylan. Galbraith has been recording and performing around the local music scene for a while, anyone who’s an appreciator of the folk and Americana are going to find a new favorite in him. This is his first album in four years, and it’s an all-acoustic affair. He’s performing in Northville at the Arts and Acts Festival put on by the Northvile Art House.

Here’s a song by Galbraith called “Out Of My Mind.”

The Ferndale Front Porch festival

The Ferndale Front Porch festival fills the entire afternoon of Saturday with live performances on dozens of front porches across the city. In their first year, they had 30 bands. The next year they had 57 bands. The idea is to get neighbors throughout the community of Ferndale, and the music lovers of neighboring communities, to come outside, walk, bike and scooter around, discovering live music down side streets, on front lawns, on stoops and in front of bungalows.

There are discoveries waiting around the corner, including Audra Kubat, who stopped in to chat with Ann Delisi recently, Anthony Retka, Jill Jack, Remnose and Jill Govan.

Here’s Jill Govan’s “Wonder.”