What is the music of Michigan?

[tuebor]

I guess my question could be interpreted in various ways. It could mean, (1) "What kind of music do Michiganders like?", (2) "What kind of music originates from Michigan?", or (3) "What kind of music expresses the character of Michigan?"

(1) seems easy to answer. I grew up in Ann Arbor, and I heard mostly rock & roll when I was growing up. I've been told that Iggy Pop and Bob Seeger went to my high school. The commercial live music venues in Ann Arbor almost all played rock, blues, or jazz, with the exception of the Ark, a venerable folk music club. Hardly anyone I knew listened to country. So I would have agreed that Michigan is basically a rock & roll state if you'd asked me this question when I was 18.

But I've found that outside of SE Michigan, musical tastes vary. There are a LOT of country music fans in this state once you get out of the SE. At this year's Muskegon Summer Festival, the night when they had the nationally-known country music acts (whom I had never heard of) was the night with the longest lines.

The answer to (2) also seems obvious: Motown and techno are the only subgenres that have originated from Michigan. I guess the reason I initially resisted this answer was because I was really interested in (3), and I still don't think Motown or techno fill the bill here. I'm not sure Motown even expresses the character of Detroit any more, let alone Michigan, if it ever did.

I agree that Michigan is musically eclectic, and this shows up in what Michigan musicians do. Steppin' in it blends rock, blues, bluegrass, reggae, Cajun, western swing, etc. in their songs. Greensky Bluegrass does a hilarious bluegrass version of Prince's "When Doves Cry"--I can't imagine bluegrassers from KY doing that. I think it's great that Michigan's musicians are so open-minded, but I wonder whether they will go beyond eclecticism. Will these musical currents gel into something uniquely Michiganian, or will our musicians be content with an entertaining grab-bag of styles from elsewhere?