TWEET LENGTH:
Zander Michigan is an artist from Detroit, MI. His iconic style makes him a timeless musician in the modern age.
PARAGRAPH LENGTH:
Zander Michigan is an artist from Detroit, MI. He and his band are ready to return to the stage and groove with the world after a few years away. His crooning vocals, hip gyrations, and smooth lyrics make him a classic signal in an age of futuristic noise. Zander is releasing his latest EP Mr. Melodies on April 19, 2024 following up his last release of “Kitchen Sink #2” in 2018. This latest EP was even mastered by Warren Defever, head mastering engineer at Third Man Mastering. He is also signed to a local music licensing company, Assemble Sound. Zander hopes to add this to his arsenal and team up with them to take the new songs to the next level. He already has a song on the Netflix original series Grace & Frankie and hopes to expand the sync-licensing horizon. He has been nominated for Detroit Music Awards three years in a row from 2016-2018 and was a finalist for the 2018 Chris Austin Songwriting Competition in North Carolina. Looking back, Zander Michigan was coined in early 2013, and since then he has released six albums. He has played many local Detroit festivals and venues and has appeared on the Mitch Albom Show, WDET (Detroit’s NPR), and MetroArts Detroit. He has toured the Midwest, played festivals around the country, performed on Daytrotter, and has been to England twice to tour. He says, “I’m making my way both eastward and westward in my pursuit of becoming a household name.” Zander has some big shoes to fill and many miles to walk. He is confident in his stride and has faith that what unfolds will help him get there.
FULL LENGTH:
Zander Michigan is an artist from Detroit, MI. He and his band are ready to return to the stage and groove with the world after a few years away. His crooning vocals, hip gyrations, and smooth lyrics make him a classic signal in an age of futuristic noise.
Zander took a few years off from the public eye due to the Covid-19 pandemic but kept writing songs during lockdown. Now that the world has re-opened, Zander is excited to release his 6th record, Mr. Melodies. He is as excited as ever to bring his music to the world. The new album will be out everywhere on April 19, 2024 and will have all of the characteristic style that ZM fans know and love.
In 2018, Zander released his last EP "Kitchen Sink #2". This featured four new songs in a brand new style. Yoga Poses, Set Me Free, Watch Your Body Sing, and Colours In Your Eyes bring a new freshness to Zander's sound, exploring pop coloring and sweeter melodies. The harmonica is noticeably absent though you won't notice because you'll be too busy singing along to the catchy hooks.
He also signed to a local music licensing company, Assemble Sound. Zander hopes to add this to his arsenal and team up with them to take the new songs to the next level! He has one song featured on the Netflix series Grace & Frankie and hopes to expand those horizons very soon.
He was nominated for Detroit Music Awards three years in a row from 2016-2018 and was a finalist for the 2018 Chris Austin Songwriting Competition in North Carolina.
Back in July 2017, Zander embarked on his second Zanarchy in the UK tour, which spanned seven shows in eight cities in England and Wales over 8 days. He hit Torbay (including Torquay, Paignton, Goodrington, and Totnes), Cardiff, Bristol, Manchester, and Hitchin.
The name Zander Michigan was coined in early 2013. Alexander Melidis AKA Zander Michigan, started writing folk songs in his room during his senior year of college and recorded a demo in his cousin's closet-turned-vocal-booth in the summer of 2013. The demo was called "Never Going Back Home" and was the kickstarter to Zander's new career path. He then moved home in the fall of 2013 and started playing open mic nights around the Detroit area, meeting many people in the Detroit music scene. By early 2014 he was featured on WAYN radio, TV Warren, and even made the Metro Times Blowout line-up. By the summer he interviewed with Ann Delisi on WDET, played Detroit River Days, Ann Arbor Summer Festival, and Arts, Beats, & Eats.
We head into the fall where it comes time to record his first full length album. Zander teamed up with engineer Yiannis Shafkalis at Dream Studios to create what would eventually be known as "Zander The Great". The duo worked through the winter and finally, in March 2015, "Zander The Great" was available for the world to hear. The album has all the power of the Greek Gods behind it. Zander went full production with this record, using not only his harmonica and acoustic guitar, but drums, piano, and electric guitar, along with his characteristic howling vocals. With track names like “The Great” and “Bathtub Gin” the album sets the tone for an in-your-face, no cares given experience that everyone can get excited about. Following the wildly successful release party of "Zander The Great", Zander embarked on a Midwest tour spanning Chicago (IL), Madison (WI), South Bend (IN), a Daytrotter session in Rock Island (IL), and ending in another stellar performance at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival.
Then came the Zander Folking Michigan t-shirts. This branding move was extremely popular and friends, family, and fans alike have all shown their support for Zander by taking photos with his shirts and allowing him to upload them to his blog. So far, over 200 t-shirts have been circulated throughout Detroit and various parts of the world (Minneapolis, Madison, New York, Chicago, Nashville, and as far as Canada, Australia, Brazil, England). Following the shirt craze, Zander embarked on the most exciting adventure of his career to date, Zanarchy in the UK. The 8 day, 4 show, and 2 radio interview tour was Zander's first international experience and a stellar one at that. Meeting his European booking agent, Bubbytastic, and hitting the road, they went everywhere from London, Bristol, Bath, Liverpool, Manchester, Shrewsbury, and everywhere in between.
Following the buzz of his first record and his first international appearance, Zander went back into the studio in July of 2016 to work on his second album, “Zander, MI 48018”. Though a much more subdued record than “Zander the Great”, still has Zander’s characteristically cheeky lyrics and heavy strum. It adds a little more depth and does a good job of tugging on the emotions a bit with more melancholy songs like “Be My Sugar”, “I Can’t See You With Him”, and “Paper Town”. In November of 2016, Zander had a release party for the album with his great friends Anthony Retka’s Big Parade, the Messenger Birds, and the Gasoline Gypsies. The reception of the album has been fantastic and the buzz has been carrying through the year well.
After “Zander, MI 48018” came a shift in style and direction. With the releases of two new EPs, Zander has shaken the Dylan sound and slipped into his own groove.
Finally, that exciting bit of history brings us back full circle to the present day and the months to come: A new album in a new direction. He says, “I’m making my way both eastward and westward in my pursuit of becoming a household name.” The young Midwesterner gets compared to Bob Dylan, but when people spout the word “Dylanesque”, he doesn’t mind. He thinks it’s endearing that people would compare him to such a great. Metro Times magazine even said, “Bob wouldn’t be too upset”. Regardless of his influences, Zander has some big shoes to fill and many miles to walk. He is confident in his stride and has faith that what unfolds will help him get there.
Zander Michigan is an artist from Detroit, MI. His iconic style makes him a timeless musician in the modern age.
PARAGRAPH LENGTH:
Zander Michigan is an artist from Detroit, MI. He and his band are ready to return to the stage and groove with the world after a few years away. His crooning vocals, hip gyrations, and smooth lyrics make him a classic signal in an age of futuristic noise. Zander is releasing his latest EP Mr. Melodies on April 19, 2024 following up his last release of “Kitchen Sink #2” in 2018. This latest EP was even mastered by Warren Defever, head mastering engineer at Third Man Mastering. He is also signed to a local music licensing company, Assemble Sound. Zander hopes to add this to his arsenal and team up with them to take the new songs to the next level. He already has a song on the Netflix original series Grace & Frankie and hopes to expand the sync-licensing horizon. He has been nominated for Detroit Music Awards three years in a row from 2016-2018 and was a finalist for the 2018 Chris Austin Songwriting Competition in North Carolina. Looking back, Zander Michigan was coined in early 2013, and since then he has released six albums. He has played many local Detroit festivals and venues and has appeared on the Mitch Albom Show, WDET (Detroit’s NPR), and MetroArts Detroit. He has toured the Midwest, played festivals around the country, performed on Daytrotter, and has been to England twice to tour. He says, “I’m making my way both eastward and westward in my pursuit of becoming a household name.” Zander has some big shoes to fill and many miles to walk. He is confident in his stride and has faith that what unfolds will help him get there.
FULL LENGTH:
Zander Michigan is an artist from Detroit, MI. He and his band are ready to return to the stage and groove with the world after a few years away. His crooning vocals, hip gyrations, and smooth lyrics make him a classic signal in an age of futuristic noise.
Zander took a few years off from the public eye due to the Covid-19 pandemic but kept writing songs during lockdown. Now that the world has re-opened, Zander is excited to release his 6th record, Mr. Melodies. He is as excited as ever to bring his music to the world. The new album will be out everywhere on April 19, 2024 and will have all of the characteristic style that ZM fans know and love.
In 2018, Zander released his last EP "Kitchen Sink #2". This featured four new songs in a brand new style. Yoga Poses, Set Me Free, Watch Your Body Sing, and Colours In Your Eyes bring a new freshness to Zander's sound, exploring pop coloring and sweeter melodies. The harmonica is noticeably absent though you won't notice because you'll be too busy singing along to the catchy hooks.
He also signed to a local music licensing company, Assemble Sound. Zander hopes to add this to his arsenal and team up with them to take the new songs to the next level! He has one song featured on the Netflix series Grace & Frankie and hopes to expand those horizons very soon.
He was nominated for Detroit Music Awards three years in a row from 2016-2018 and was a finalist for the 2018 Chris Austin Songwriting Competition in North Carolina.
Back in July 2017, Zander embarked on his second Zanarchy in the UK tour, which spanned seven shows in eight cities in England and Wales over 8 days. He hit Torbay (including Torquay, Paignton, Goodrington, and Totnes), Cardiff, Bristol, Manchester, and Hitchin.
The name Zander Michigan was coined in early 2013. Alexander Melidis AKA Zander Michigan, started writing folk songs in his room during his senior year of college and recorded a demo in his cousin's closet-turned-vocal-booth in the summer of 2013. The demo was called "Never Going Back Home" and was the kickstarter to Zander's new career path. He then moved home in the fall of 2013 and started playing open mic nights around the Detroit area, meeting many people in the Detroit music scene. By early 2014 he was featured on WAYN radio, TV Warren, and even made the Metro Times Blowout line-up. By the summer he interviewed with Ann Delisi on WDET, played Detroit River Days, Ann Arbor Summer Festival, and Arts, Beats, & Eats.
We head into the fall where it comes time to record his first full length album. Zander teamed up with engineer Yiannis Shafkalis at Dream Studios to create what would eventually be known as "Zander The Great". The duo worked through the winter and finally, in March 2015, "Zander The Great" was available for the world to hear. The album has all the power of the Greek Gods behind it. Zander went full production with this record, using not only his harmonica and acoustic guitar, but drums, piano, and electric guitar, along with his characteristic howling vocals. With track names like “The Great” and “Bathtub Gin” the album sets the tone for an in-your-face, no cares given experience that everyone can get excited about. Following the wildly successful release party of "Zander The Great", Zander embarked on a Midwest tour spanning Chicago (IL), Madison (WI), South Bend (IN), a Daytrotter session in Rock Island (IL), and ending in another stellar performance at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival.
Then came the Zander Folking Michigan t-shirts. This branding move was extremely popular and friends, family, and fans alike have all shown their support for Zander by taking photos with his shirts and allowing him to upload them to his blog. So far, over 200 t-shirts have been circulated throughout Detroit and various parts of the world (Minneapolis, Madison, New York, Chicago, Nashville, and as far as Canada, Australia, Brazil, England). Following the shirt craze, Zander embarked on the most exciting adventure of his career to date, Zanarchy in the UK. The 8 day, 4 show, and 2 radio interview tour was Zander's first international experience and a stellar one at that. Meeting his European booking agent, Bubbytastic, and hitting the road, they went everywhere from London, Bristol, Bath, Liverpool, Manchester, Shrewsbury, and everywhere in between.
Following the buzz of his first record and his first international appearance, Zander went back into the studio in July of 2016 to work on his second album, “Zander, MI 48018”. Though a much more subdued record than “Zander the Great”, still has Zander’s characteristically cheeky lyrics and heavy strum. It adds a little more depth and does a good job of tugging on the emotions a bit with more melancholy songs like “Be My Sugar”, “I Can’t See You With Him”, and “Paper Town”. In November of 2016, Zander had a release party for the album with his great friends Anthony Retka’s Big Parade, the Messenger Birds, and the Gasoline Gypsies. The reception of the album has been fantastic and the buzz has been carrying through the year well.
After “Zander, MI 48018” came a shift in style and direction. With the releases of two new EPs, Zander has shaken the Dylan sound and slipped into his own groove.
Finally, that exciting bit of history brings us back full circle to the present day and the months to come: A new album in a new direction. He says, “I’m making my way both eastward and westward in my pursuit of becoming a household name.” The young Midwesterner gets compared to Bob Dylan, but when people spout the word “Dylanesque”, he doesn’t mind. He thinks it’s endearing that people would compare him to such a great. Metro Times magazine even said, “Bob wouldn’t be too upset”. Regardless of his influences, Zander has some big shoes to fill and many miles to walk. He is confident in his stride and has faith that what unfolds will help him get there.