Rainy Third Coast Thursday

Happy Friday eve everyone!

It has been a typical week around Third Coast. Bill is in Dubai, Binnie is in the office and Ruby Tuesday is under the table taking a nap. In short, everything is awesome.

We have had the opportunity to be a part of some truly awesome projects in studio A. On Tuesday we had the new local band Five Strand Fusion in to lay down tracks with our engineer Brian Ralph. This group of five young people has so much talent and community support behind it. We are thrilled to have been a part of their beginnings, and can’t wait to see where they are able to go from here.

Next, on Wednesday we had the new project, Dobros Heal The World, rehearsing and recording with our engineer Joe Hettinga. Getting to record people that are seeking to put out good vibes and good juju is what we are all about here. So projects like these always put smiles on our faces.

Lastly, our spotlight of the week goes to the one and only Joe Hettinga. We want to say a special thank you to Katlin Merby for these amazing write ups about our team and our town.

We appreciate everything this community does that enables us to be the wonderful place that we are. Enjoy!

Joe Hettinga Spotlight -

Joe Hettinga has enjoyed being able to see his career and passions intertwine. He has achieved numerous accomplishments in the music industry.

“My greatest accomplishment is being able to make a living doing what I love.  That I can actually work and call it work but it doesn’t always feel like work because it’s so much fun. I’m so inspired by what I do that it keeps me in a good place,” Joe said.

The Chicago jam scene, Grateful Dead, Phish, jazz and classical are a few influences that have molded his music taste and where he’s at in his career.  

“I feel like all the work that I have done over the years has led me to where I am now and it’s going to continue to go that way. I’m going to keep pursuing and doing new things as well as expanding on what I know,” Joe said.

He generally sings and plays keyboards when touring but would love to branch out to playing guitar as well. A few bands he has toured with have been particularly enjoyable to play with.  In high school, his endeavors with Strange Arrangement began. After college, the band got back together, ended up recording two records, and then touring for five years.

“Strange Arrangement was an absolute blast and it was a way of bringing all my musical skills together and I got to showcase and do everything I like in one band,” Joe said.

Another band that has been one of his favorites to tour with was Digital Tape Machine because he got the chance to combine production work and electronic music in a live setting.   

His favorite musical endeavor, at the moment, has been touring and working with May Erlewine. From October through November this year, he will be playing on her tour in support of her new album and is looking forward to the east coast and southern tour dates.

“It’s just a complete change of pace for me with playing folk songs. It’s truly just beautiful music,” Joe said.

He will be touring with another band that May is apart of, The Motivations. It is an 11 piece jazz band with horns, 5 singers, 2 guitars, 2 keyboards, bass drums, and May. The band primarily plays soul songs written by May, and Motown hits, with a sprinkle of Prince and Talking Heads covers.

Joe recently played with the Pop Scholars in Grand Rapids at the Wealthy Theatre. They are a four piece improv comedy group that make up songs on the fly based on what is happening in the skit.

Throughout this month, Joe will be playing shows with Marcus Rezak supporting the release of his ‘Gateway to the Galaxy’ record. ‘Gateway to the Galaxy’ is one of the most recent projects that has quickly taken a spot on the top of his list of favorite projects to be involved with.

A few of his other favorite projects he has worked on while at Third Coast are Max Lockwood’s recently released, self-titled record and one of the first full-length records completed when he first began working at the studio, ‘StopWatchTimeDrop’ by The Turnips.