Rolling Stone - USA (2020-02)

February 2020 Rolling Stone 61

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preserved Studio A “Snake Pit,” where you

can feel the ghosts of the Funk Brothers in the

room. Just a few blocks away, Gordy’s former

mansion in the Boston Edison District, with a

swimming pool and bowling alleys, merits a

visit if you’ve got time.

HOT WAX

Jack White’s Third Man Records pressing

plant, in Detroit’s Cass Corridor, is a music-

head’s dream, with a vinyl manufacturing

operation humming along not far from a busy

performance space. The 10,000-square-foot

pressing plant’s eight Newbilt machines were

the first for a U.S. facility in 35 years, and the

machinery — including hydraulic generators

and a closed-loop water-recycling system —

is both state of the art and environmentally

friendly. “We wanted to be a label that had its

own pressing plant,” White said of the space,

which employs a lot of college kids. “It’s been

a long time since Capitol and Columbia and

all those labels had their own pressing plants.”

KICK OUT THE JAMS

Saint Andrew’s Hall/the Shelter and the multi-

venue Majestic Complex are fixtures on the

touring circuit, as well as ideal showcases for

locals. The latter’s Magic Stick joins the near-

by Marble Bar and TV Lounge as reliable sites

‘

D

ETROIT IS OUR own universe,” says

underground-rap hero Danny Brown.

“Diverse artists — not necessarily

what’s popular on the radio or

YouTube, or what’s cracking in the rest of

the world. We have our own world.” The city

that has given us a staggering 30 Rock & Roll

Hall of Fame inductees is an insane breeding

ground of musical cross-pollination; just stop

by one of pioneering DJ Carl Craig’s Detroit

Love showcases, or head to Assemble Sound,

a former church that’s been recently repur-

posed into a 24/7 recording studio and “artist

development campus” that encourages artists

to drop by and collaborate; it’s launched

alt-pop favorite Jax Anderson (formerly Flint

Eastwood) and Interscope Records up-and-

comer Yoshi Flower. Garage rock, soul, and

jazz each have their own strong communities

and “it all bleeds into one another,” says Don

Was, Grammy-winning producer and Blue

Notes Records chief. “It’s really that kind of

melting pot.”

HISTORIC HITS

The Motown Museum is in the early stages

of a $50 million expansion, but the original

Hitsville USA HQ on West Grand Boulevard

is already a gem, with plenty of artifacts and

a re-creation of founder Berry Gordy Jr.’s

original upstairs apartment. Best of all: the

for next-gen EDM, and the Marble’s monthly

Motor City Soul Club caters to the old-school

crowd. Cliff Bell’s, with its shiny wood finishes

and speakeasy ambience, is the spot to hear

a steady stream of high-level jazz.

MOVE YOUR BODY

Detroit has made a place for itself on the

crowded U.S. festival calendar. It starts with

the Movement Electronic Music Festival,

which brings scores of acts (many of them

homegrown) and tens of thousands of fans in

their best Day-Glo every Memorial Day week-

end to dance along the Detroit River. Three

months later, on Labor Day weekend, the

Detroit Jazz Festival is the world’s largest cost-

free jazz gathering, with recent headliners

including Pat Metheny, Ron Carter, Terence

Blanchard, and others. GARY GRAFF

A huge Third Man

pressing plant, a

studio churning out

future stars, and cool

garage-rock clubs

are reinvigorating

the Rust Belt capital

D-LIGHTFUL

Clockwise from

top left: Craig, who

helped take Detroit

techno to the

world in the 1990s,

is still throwing

down; outsider-rap

auteur Brown at

his Detroit studio;

employees at Jack

White’s Third Man

Pressing Plant

LAFAYETTE CONEY ISLAND

Patti Smith met future husband Fred

Smith of the MC5 at this eatery.

CADIEUX CAFE

The Belgian sport of feather bowling is

maintained at this northeast-quadrant

spot, which boasts a full mussels menu.

Detroit Eats

Detroit,

Michigan