A musician himself, area resident Joe Stidham is a regular at local musical performances. Until recently, though, Stidham noticed there was no one-stop shop online to seek out when and where those performances were occurring. So he made one himself, and it’s now a Facebook page - White Lake Music Review.
“I’d have to go to these individual Facebook pages just to figure out who was playing where,” Stidham said. “If I wanted to see who was playing at Sawyers, I’d have to go to their site, and if I wanted to see who was going to play at the Red Rooster Tavern, I’d go to their events page. I just thought it’d be nice if someone had all the shows going on in the White Lake area in a given week, so I just started doing it.”
Stidham has been posting his compilations of area musical performances since last summer to various locally focused Facebook groups, and in February he launched the solo page to get the word out about local musical performances. So far he’s gathered 229 followers on the page.
Stidham’s day job, as a buyer for a large food company in Kalamazoo, enables him to work from home, so he has some flexibility in seeking out who he wants to see play and when. He is also a performer in a local band, The Formers, and plays bass at his church as well.
Stidham didn’t become a performer until, he said, six years ago, although he’d always played guitar and been interested in the possibility. He recalled that while in college at Ferris State in the early 1990s, he’d see a show and imagine what it would be like to play in one.
“I just wasn’t ready,” Stidham said of the time. “At a certain point I decided I was getting better, and I would go to people’s houses and have jam sessions. I’d think, what’s stopping me from being in a band and performing at a venue? It happened in my late 40s and not my 20s, and I don’t mind that at all. I’m just thrilled it happened. It’s one of those better-late-than-never things.”
While the page is called the Music Review, Stidham does not fancy himself a music critic and said he has no intention of posting anything negative about any artist - many of the shows he attends are performances by bands he already knows he likes or is sure he will, given his sensibilities. His goal is to drive interest in local music, and to let those already interested know where to find it.
Stidham finds the local music scene impressive, especially given the relatively small size of the area. Even in slow weeks, he finds there is usually at least one performance going on in a given day.
“It might be a pianist performing at the Book Nook at 10 a.m., or it might be an open mic night,” Stidham said, “but there are a couple places in town that have events at least once a week. Sawyers has events Friday and Saturday nights. Pub One Eleven has events Saturday nights. A light week right now is 10 to 12 (events) spread across six venues. It’s never just been two or three shows. It’s amazing how much we have going on in our small community.
“There have been some really good weeks where I’ve played on a Friday night, and Saturday night I’ve gone out to see another band, and Sunday afternoon there’s someone performing at Sawyers. There are days I’ve had three music days in a row,and it’s a neat experience.”
Musicians often are inspired with new ideas based on things they see from other musicians, and that’s no different for Stidham. It’s not why he does the reviews, but seeing fellow performers in action is a way to, for lack of a better phrase, stay sharp.
“Maybe one band is really good with bantering with the crowd, and you think maybe we could do that,” Stidham said. “Our band is Americana music and a little different, so I don’t know if there are songs where I’d say I wish I could do that song. But some people are really good about interacting with the crowd, or maybe someone did a great guitar part I might be able to pick up.”
Stidham is pretty set on keeping his page tuned to local music rather than expanding to Muskegon to the south or Oceana County to the north, though he enjoys both scenes; his band, in fact, sometimes performs in Pentwater. However, he likes the idea that someone from those places, or beyond, could notice what his page is doing and be moved to start a similar endeavor in their own community.
In the meantime, he’d like to think his page is helping, in some small way, to grow the local music scene.
“It might just be me, but I think I’m seeing more and more people at the shows,” Stidham said. “The other thing I’ve noticed is...venues are starting to realize if they don’t post events, they’re missing out. I think people are taking notice. I think because of that, some venues are running their event pages a little better. A few of these venue owners have reached out to me saying they missed posting something and asking if I can add it to my list. That’s kind of what made me start the page.”
