Daytrotter Barnstormer IV Review

Barnstormer IV Dexter, MI 4-28-11

Words by Jason Moritz; Photos by Melanie Hilliard

You may or may not know about Daytrotter.com. And even if you do, you may or may not know that it’s basically a collective of people who run a small recording studio in Rock Island, Illinois, and who then stream the songs recorded there for free on their website (higher quality tunes can be downloaded for a charge). Mainly up and coming independent musical acts perform there on the way through their Midwest tours.

So what does this have to do with Michigan? Well, for the first time Daytrotter brought its Barnstormer tour (its fourth) to our state. Dexter to be exact. Or was it Chelsea? Neither and both, actually. The show took place on a farm on Island Lake Road halfway between the two Washtenaw County cities. The five acts (Keegan Dewitt, Guards, Romany Rye, Hellogoodbye and Sondre Lerche) played inside a cool (literally and figuratively) old barn. SOLD OUT, a Barnstormer first! Truly bringing the good stuff to the people in rural Michigan. Thanks, Daytrotter! Hope to see you again next time!

(Hellogoodbye (my favorite Barnstormer band) will play Michigan again later this summer on the Vans Warped Tour at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, July 8.)

Photos:

Keegan Dewitt

Guards

Romany Rye

Hellogoodbye

Sondre Lerche