2020 D.I.M.E ARTISTS
Check back next year for more updates on our list of DIME artists.
For artist questions, please email Ted Nagy at TedN@musichall.org
D.I.M.E. STAGE
DIME Detroit is honored to be partnering with the Detroit Music Weekend organizers, and for The Underground@DIME to be the fifth stage for this fantastic citywide event.
ABOUT D.I.M.E.
DIME, the Detroit Institute of Music Education, is a music institute dedicated to teaching the next generation of modern musicians. Founded by music industry veterans Kevin Nixon and Sarah Clayman, DIME offers advanced music students a unique study experience in contemporary music, with expert musicians and music industry professionals teaching programs in guitar, bass, vocals, drums, songwriting and music industry studies. Nixon and Clayman launched DIME in 2014, joining the effort to revitalize and reinvigorate Detroit’s music landscape.
DIME’s partnership with Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver), a university accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and full member in good standing of National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), allows MSU Denver bachelor’s degrees in music area disciplines to be offered at DIME’s Detroit.
DIME also owns Original 1265 Recordings, a Detroit-based independent record label distributed worldwide by Caroline/Capitol Music Group. Artists include Wildflowers, Charity, Aplus, Adventures With Vultures, and Jena Irene Asciutto
2018 D.I.M.E ARTISTS
NO ALARMS
(Headliner) 6:15-7:00pm
No Alarms was conceived as the solo passion project of multi-instrumentalist Andrew Boles, and has since bloomed into a Detroit-based, fully-fledged, five-piece band—and they’re blurring the lines between modern indie pop and new wave revival, all the while building an engrossing live show from the ground up. The band, according to Skope Mag & MTM, "delivers infectious, arena sized pop hooks supported by an electro-pop-rockin’ instrumental foundation that infuses your being with memorable frequencies...incorporating a great deal of color within a stripped-down, neon-hued atmosphere." Their debut single Right is What's Left was featured in an episode of ABC's Kevin Probably Saves the World originally airing on February 6th, 2018. No Alarm’s EP was the 13th most added record on the NACC college charts during its debut week and has since peaked at #132 on the NACC 200.
Audra Kubat
1:00-1:20pm
Detroit Music Award winning singer/songwriter Audra Kubat has released 6 albums to critical acclaim in a career that spans over 20 years. A composer, performer, and educator, Kubat’s work has earned her a place in the community as a resource for empowerment through songwriting and music. Her methods of composition articulate grace and uncover hidden places that defy easy categorization. An offering of stark and beautiful reality that possesses experience yet embraces the whimsical.
Grace Elizabeth Lee
1:30-1:50pm
At just 18-year-old, Grace Elizabeth Lee, a Detroit native singer/songwriter, is thoughtfully crafting compelling lyrics and beautiful melodies that are convincingly beyond her years. Her debut EP Darling, showcases a voice that is both classic and modern in its aesthetic, guiding you through a landscape that is at times haunting, and at others a simple exploration of love through the eye of a teenager. Grace recently lent her voice to the song Best of You, which is currently featured in an Olive Garden campaign airing nationally.
Charles Laster III
3:10-3:30pm
Born and raised in Detroit, C3 is a third-generation singer/songwriter with a rich musical heritage. Coming from a family of musicians rooted in Gospel and R&B, C3 has been tapped to perform several special events around Detroit, including an appearance on WDIV Detroit’s broadcast news segment Live In The D, and Detroit’s annual Concert of Colors festival. C3 is currently studying to earn his bachelor’s degree in Commercial Songwriting at The Detroit Institute of Music Education, all the while finishing up his debut EP for Original 1265 Recordings.
Tommy Lee
4:50-5:20pm
Tommy Lee is a singer/songwriter based in Detroit, MI. A recent graduate of the CMP Vocals program at DIME, he has already shared the stage with a few notable Detroit music legends such as Kern Brantley (Lady Gaga, Beyoncé), Nate Watts (Stevie Wonder), and Motown recording artist KEM. With artists like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Prince as his biggest influences, Tommy seeks to make his own unique mark in the Detroit music scene.
Adventures with Vultures
5:30-6:00pm
A folk singer-songwriter evokes a certain image, and Matt Sauter breaks that image. With his backward ball cap, knuckle tattoos, and knee-shredded shorts, the lone singer/songwriter behind Adventures With Vultures tinkers with the image of what a folk singer should be. His latest effort, The Junction EP, is stylistically different from what Sauter is used to — he spent the better part of this decade writing hip-hop music, not folk music. Mos Def and J. Cole are cited among his influences, but so are Carole King, Shakey Graves, and Nathaniel Rateliff. Perhaps that’s why Adventures With Vultures brings a welcome, abrasive quality to tender, stripped-down songs.
