The national recording artist known as Jude stood in the bitter East Lansing cold Sunday night unsure of what may lie ahead for the journeyman singer-songwriter.
Any lack of uncertainty was undetectable earlier in the night. Jude, who’s headlining the Kenneth Cole “Unlisted” tour with fellow Maverick recording artist Michelle Branch, rocked a sell-out crowd at Rick’s American Cafe, 224 Abbott Road, Sunday night.
But Jude’s future with Maverick Records looks like it’s coming to an end after only two albums, most recently “King of Yesterday,” released in September.
Executives at Maverick Records did not return phone calls to The State News on Monday.
Jude told The State News he plans to leave his recording deal with Maverick Records “in the next couple of weeks” and go back to an indie label.
“(‘King of Yesterday’) was not an album most fans wanted, it wasn’t what I wanted to do, and I want to go back to doing what I love,” Jude said. “I don’t love this.
“With this latest album I felt I was pressured to kiss the big music machine and kiss corporate ass, and I know if I went to another label I would find the same thing.”
Tim Vallender, a Saginaw resident, drove 70 miles to see Jude perform and expressed a similar form of disappointment in the pop poet’s latest album.
“There’s no one like him in modern music today,” Vallender said. “I like (‘King of Yesterday’), but it’s over-produced and it seems like he was kissing up to radio a bit too much.”
Jude performed mostly songs from his second album, “No One is Really Beautiful.”
Only playing a handful of songs from his most recent LP, Jude got the crowd roaring and screaming to lengthy renditions of his singles “Rick James” and a 10-minute performance of the college rock ballad “Brad and Suzy,” which included a brief break into “Groove is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite.
“We’ve been to East Lansing once before, and I just don’t remember the crowd being so nice,” Jude said.
The woman opening for the label-worn Jude wouldn’t have even been able to enter the 21 and up venue had she not been performing.
Branch, who just turned 18, is touring on her latest disc, “The Spirit Room,” released in August.
When she took the stage at 10 p.m., everyone got out of their chairs and bolted for the stage, spilling beer over tables in the process. It was standing room only for the length of her set.
And after she left the stage, so did most of the house, with only about 150 of the Jude faithful left in attendance.
Starting the night off were Grand Rapids rockers Sugar Talk. The band was selected from the Unlisted Battle of the Bands competition at Rick’s on Oct. 27.
From the 11 opening bands, one will be selected to win $10,000 from Maverick to make a demo recording.
