Spontaneous Musical Combustion in Eastside Lansing

On Lansing’s venue-heavy Eastside, you can find great local music with acts you’ll never see anywhere else.

Take The Dewaynes. With Bobbie DeWayne on stand-up bass, Grifford “Griff” DeWayne providing vocals and harmonica, and Marquee DeWayne on drums, this talented, three-piece Lansing band melds hip-hop, blues and rock & roll into a sound as culturally diverse and artistically offbeat as the city they call home. They may be Lansing’s best kept secret.

But The Dewaynes are hard to define.

For starters, the group’s ability to tour together is hindered partially by Griff’s sometimes-busy touring schedule. “We’ll keep rocking until Griff goes on tour with another band,” says Marquee. “He plays with The Verve Pipe and the Villebillies from Louisville, so we’d have to chase him around to play.”

Add to that the fact that, despite the common moniker, the three men are not actually kin. But these musical brethren have created a mock family based on a shared, if bizarre, approach to creating music.

Namely, they make everything up as they go.

This spontaneous approach means the band has no songs, no pre-rehearsed music and no set list; in other words, none of the normal integers in the live music equation.

“You never know what’s gonna happen, because we don’t,” says Griff. “You can’t pin down what a stand-up bass player, a drummer and a harmonica player that make everything up are supposed to sound like.”

Eastside Vibe

It’s no surprise that this band of genre-bending bluesmen hang their proverbial hats in Michigan’s capital city. Griff and drummer Marquee are lifelong Lansing inhabitants, now living across the street from each other in the city’s increasingly bohemian Eastside neighborhood. Only bass player Bobbie Dewayne recently defected, moving to the city of Zeeland to pursue a law degree after living in Lansing for five years.

Chuck Mannino, owner of Mac’s Bar on Michigan Avenue, says The Dewaynes originality is what makes them a good fit for his Eastside venue. Hosting live music from local and national bands seven nights a week, Mannino has seen his share of music, and considers The Dewaynes to be some of the best musicians in the area.

“We like weirder, more avant-garde stuff,” he says. “Because of their bluesy sound they can play any bar, but because they are so unique, they fit in here.”

Lansing’s Eastside neighborhood is rich in venues for such music lovers. Jesica Starr, the manager at the The Green Door Blues Bar and Grill, says their club is really “designed around live music entertainment” with a stage, dance floor, and live music seven nights a week. "This really is Lansing's home for live music,” she says. "We have a lot of blues, but mix it up with other types of music."

Ted Wilson, the owner of The Replay Entertainment Exchange, newly relocated to 1723 E. Michigan Ave, proudly proclaims his shop as “The Coolest Store in Lansing” on a sign above the front door. “This store sells records, movies, video games and has live rock shows. How could it not be the coolest store in Lansing?" he asks.

In a local music scene that Wilson describes as “underground,” he suggests that there are shows happening every night, but “you need to know where to look." He proudly offers the Replay as “an intimate club scene for local artists and touring bands that want to be exposed to younger fans." The venue offers all-ages shows, and averages 10 or 15 per month.

"I try to make the shows an eclectic mix,” says Wilson. “When I book shows I look for a combination of originality and talent. We feature metal bands, punk bands, rock, ska—really any kind of local music. “

“It just such a friendly spot,” The Dewayne’s Griff says of Lansing’s Eastside neighborhood. “The whole stretch of businesses down there is great; Emil’s, the Lopez Bakery and (Gone Wired) internet café.”

Roots of Innovation

Individually, the three men who make up The Dewaynes have been cutting their musical teeth in Lansing since John Engler was in his second term and The Small Planet was still open. Over the years, the musical paths of these men intersected significantly, with Marquee and Griff playing together in the now-defunct rock band 100 Watt Head and with all three of them in swamp-rockers Kung Fu Diesel.

It was during performances with these bands The Dewaynes’s spontaneous approach was conceived. The musicians and their instruments now speak to each other in unique languages that clash and reconcile and run into danceable grooves and jaw-dropping solos, never knowing exactly what’s going to happen next.

“It’s the idea that it’s fun to watch an artist paint a picture,” says Griff.

He attributes their likeability to their versatility. “We can customize to any scene, whether it’s a biker party or a hip-hop spot,” he says.

The group also makes the rounds on the local festival circuit. At the REO Town Music Festival over the Labor Day weekend, The Dewaynes improvised in front of an unusually large audience in South Lansing’s reborn car manufacturing district, and the event held special significance for Marquee.

“My dad sold the tools that made these cars for 30 years,” he says. “I have a history here.”

In the near future, Marquee will be holed up at his house on Lansing’s Eastside, carefully tracking the live recordings that will become the first Dewaynes record. The band is planning to release it before Christmas.

Kevin Madness is a freelance writer who sings and plays stringed instruments in The Boxcutters. He lives in East Lansing, holds a degree in Journalism from Michigan State University and maintains his own music criticism website at www.ratsinthespeakers.com.

Dave Trumpie is the managing photographer for Capital Gains. He is a freelance photographer and owner of Trumpie Photography.