ACCIDENTALLY HIP
Steamy Summer Swing
Friday, JuLY 16th @ 8:00 PM
*This event has shifted to a livestream format due to weather. Tickets are still available for a private livestream link until 30 minutes before showtime.*
Summer is here and Accidentally Hip plans on making things so cool you’ll be glad for the hot weather. Their exciting show of crowd favorites, Steamy Summer Swing, is live and in person at the Kerrytown Concert House with their signature sound of taking modern tunes and flipping them into swing tunes and vice versa. Led by award winning arranger and composer R. MacKenzie Lewis, this versatile and flexible ensemble takes on everything from early swing and jazz standards to R&B, Hip Hop, and current pop tunes, all with their distinct twist. Their broad musical influences merge together to create a unique, fun, and dynamic musical experience.
The exciting and fiery vocals of Courtney Riddle gets the audience’s hearts racing one minute and melts them the next. Her brassy and bombastic flair balances with her vulnerable sensitivity, allowing the group to take on a wide range of songs from powerful driving hits to delicate tender ballads. The band, including their expanded three horn section, is joined by the electrifying vocals of Christopher Joseph for this special outdoor concert.
The band’s members have performed and written for some of the finest ensembles in the country including The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Will Sessions, Shoshana Bean in Concert, Paul Keller Orchestra, Broadway & Off-Broadway national tours, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, The Contours, The Coasters, Jerry Mack and the Terriplanes, Mainstreet Soul, and Steve Cox and the Detroit Hammers, among others.
IMPORTANT INFO REGARDING THE LOT LOUNGE
The Lot Lounge is an outdoor venue in our back parking lot. A cash beer and wine bar will be available for those 21+.
If this event needs to be cancelled due to inclement weather, the show will go on for you at home! We’ll move the artists inside and pivot to a livestreamed concert on the same date and time at a private link that will be shared only with ticket holders. All decisions regarding inclement weather cancellations will be made no later than 2 hours prior to the performance. All ticket holders will be notified by email with instructions for accessing the private livestream between 1 hour and 30 minutes before showtime.
PLEASE NOTE: Since we have this livestreaming option for our audiences (and the artists we engage), there will be no refunds or exchanges for The Lot Lounge ticket purchases this summer. Thank you for your support and understanding as we work to find innovative ways to continue connecting artists and audiences!
R. MacKenzie Lewis has been an arranger, composer, pianist, and music director in South East Michigan for nearly two decades. In addition to being the band leader with Ann Arbor’s own band Accidentally Hip, Lewis is the composer and music director for Eastern Michigan University’s School of Communication, Media, and Theatre Arts and a lecturer and accompanist with the School of Music and Dance. Some favorite theatre projects outside of university life include music directing and orchestrating the national tour and Off-Broadway premiere of The Berenstain Bears LIVE! in Family Matters, the Musical; Gypsy at the Hangar Theatre in New York (Broadway World Award for Best Music Direction); A Little Night Music at the Performance Network (Wilde Award for Best Music Direction); Legally Blonde at MSU (Pulsar Award for Best Music Direction); Irrational (Composer, Wilde Award for Best New Script); and Romance in Hard Times with William Finn at the Barrington Stage Co. He also composed music for Wings of Ikarus, Jason Invisible, and Mockingbird (two Helen Hayes nominations), all of which were commissioned and premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.. Lewis has also composed the musicals: Video Games: The Rock Opera, Treasure Island, Pinocchio, A Very British Christmas, Sugar Plum Panto, The Elves and the Schumackers, DJ Whittington – A Hip-Hop Panto, and Soaring on Black Wings, a world premiere with Ben Vereen.
Courtney Riddle is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and has a 25 year history in the music and theater scenes in southeast Michigan. She spends her days working as the Recruitment and Rehearsal Director for the UofM CRLT Theater Program, and much of the rest of her time as mom to 16 year old daughter Ella. Courtney has performed with Accidentally Hip for more than 10 years and is excited to be back at The Kerrytown Concert House!
Chris Joseph is a native Ann Arborite, and a local singer and actor. He has been seen on stage in productions with many area theaters such as the Encore Musical Theatre Company, Ann Arbor Civic Theater, Dexter Community Players, and Horizon Performing Arts. He is thrilled to be making his way back to his roots to sing with the phenomenal artists of Accidentally Hip and to perform at the incredible Kerrytown Concert House. When not on stage, Chris is the Curriculum Specialist for an Early Learning Center in Northville and the father to a energetic 2 year old daughter. He would like to thank YOU for supporting the return to in person events and live music. And, of course, for supporting KCH!
David G. Maki II has always been musically involved. From a young age he was not only performing in a variety of different bands but also playing a variety of instruments. He is a graduate of Music Performance from Eastern Michigan University and had a 3 1/2 year stint with Carnival Cruise Lines where he had the chance to further develop his musical skills. Currently he does freelance work around the Detroit/Ann Arbor areas or wherever a saxophone is needed. This allows him to immerse himself in styles such as Blues, Funk, Soul, R&B and Jazz. He has been known to occasionally write some horn section parts for groups in the surrounding areas. Lately he has been passionate about developing his musical skills and theoretical knowledge so that he can achieve the next level of success.
Billy Harrington is an Ann Arbor-based drummer, percussionist, music director, and producer of both live and recorded music. Well-established throughout Michigan as a performer proficient in musical theatre, traditional jazz, rock, and pop, he is also active as a drum technician, an instructor, and as a close, recurring collaborator of many local singer-songwriters.
