Area staple Calliope and East Lansing up-and-comer Adams Castle will be playing at Macs Bar, 2700 E. Michigan Ave., in Lansing Friday night, but you may be surprised by what you hear.
Both bands have been working on new music, and fans may get a sneak preview tonight.
Jason Lantrip, Calliopes guitarist, said the band is currently working on its fourth album, which will be released this fall. He said they plan to perform some of their new songs tonight.
Were going to be debuting new music at Macs Lantrip said. A good bulk of the rest of our set will come from our most recent album Organics.
Lantrip said Calliope, which has been on Chicagos Thick Records since 1995, has taken a different approach to their latest album.
Were constantly exploring with flavors of jazz and other forms of music, Lantrip said. And the new album will have more song songs than weve done in the past, but with the usual Calliope slant on it.
Lantrip said hes looking forward to playing at Macs Bar because its the type of place that caters to his bands style.
Its small and weird, but its the best place around, Lantrip said. Weve been playing there for a few years, and we were lucky to get in early.
Also performing is Adams Castle. The band was formed in East Lansing more than two years ago and has since been playing throughout Michigan.
Adams Castle pianist Sami Jano said his band will also be debuting new music at Macs, much of which has been written in the four months since the band last played in the area.
Weve been playing in Detroit at the Magic Stick and the Detroit Contemporary, Jano said. I think well probably begin playing more regularly at Macs if the show goes as well as we expect.
Jano said Macs Bar is extremely supportive of original and independent bands, and he thinks Adams Castle will fit in well.
Its a cool place because its totally different, Jano said. Its going to be a really live show.
There will be a ton of people, and its going to be a lot of fun.
Matt Ellison, who is both the general manager at Macs Bar and the drummer for Calliope, said he also expects the show to go well.
I think its going to be great, he said. I think were are going to be really well received.
Ellison said his affiliation with the bar didnt factor into the bands decision to play there as much some might think.
This is just a great place for independent music, Ellison said. Macs treats all their bands great and thats really important to us.
Its a great bar and its close to home, and thats why we play here.