Grand Rapids-based piano plunker Zach Vinson comes to Kalamazoo on Friday, performing at the Strutt along with local favorites, the Glowfriends and Jes Kramer.
Kalamazoo is the last stop on Vinson’s 11-day midwestern tour — what he’s calling his “Empty the Bookshelves” tour. In addition to the usual spread of CDs and T-shirts, Vinson’s merchandise table will have a unique component — free used books of all genres, culled from Vinson’s own bookshelves as well as from collections around Grand Rapids.
“We definitely raided some thrift stores,” Vinson said.
Mixing his two loves of literature and music, Vinson aims to bring another communal aspect to the already close-knit artistic scenes in the Midwest and West Michigan. Besides having a real purpose and use, the idea of bringing books along on a rock n’ roll tour just sounded fun.
“We were just doing some brainstorming,” Vinson said. “We were trying to think of something more unique than a bunch of guys coming to town and playing some music.”
It is a unique idea, definitely, but one that came easy to Vinson, who was also a literature major in college.
“I love literature,” Vinson said. “We just want to get some books out there, maybe get some people who wouldn’t normally sit down and pick up a book.”
The books available span all genres and all varieties, from philosophy to poetry to children’s literature to non-fiction, genres new and old, classic and obscure.
According to Vinson, the “Empty the Bookshelves” concept has been successful so far. Concert patrons are encouraged to take a book along with purchasing a CD or a T-shirt, and most have taken Vinson up on his offer. Of course, it is difficult to fight the apathy sometimes found toward the printed word, he said.
“There was this one guy at a show who said ‘oh, I don’t need a book,’” Vinson said. “But otherwise the response has been really good.”
Besides being a connoisseur of fine literature, Vinson is also a musician at heart. He began playing piano at the age of four, adding guitar and songwriting to his list of talents throughout the years. He started his first band in high school at age 14. Vinson has been performing as a solo act for about four years, touring with a bassist and a drummer live.
Mixing piano, acoustic guitar, and quirky lyrics, Vinson operates in the musical lineage of such popular pop acts as Ben Folds and Weezer, and also cites bands like Iron and Wine and Pedro the Lion as less direct influences.
Although originally from Wisconsin, Vinson is currently based out of Grand Rapids. He acknowledges the fruitful alternative music and culture scenes that appear to be cropping up out of West Michigan, in cities like Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo too. Bands make good use of the number of smaller clubs and coffee shops those types of cities have to offer. For Vinson, talent can be found just about everywhere.
“In Grand Rapids it actually seems like we have more talented musicians than can actually fit in the city,” Vinson said.
Because of this excess of local talent, Vinson said that the fan bases become more spread out, and it is more difficult for any one band to really “make it.”
“It seems hard to develop a following,” Vinson said. “But I’m not sure yet what it’s like in Kalamazoo.”
Joining Vinson on this last date of his tour are local bands the Glowfriends and Jes Kramer, both of whom regularly play in and around Kalamazoo and have garnered quite the local following. Glowfriends have cornered the market on the shoegaze genre in Kalamazoo, while Jes Kramer only needs her guitar and unique lyrics to keep audiences enthralled.
Put it all together and Friday night at the Strutt promises to be an interesting night, full of collaboration both between bands and among artistic genres.
Zach Vinson performs with Glowfriends and Jes Kramer at The Strutt Café and Bar on Friday, Oct. 30. The show starts at 9 p.m., and the cover is $5.
