By Erik Hopkins, staff reporter.
Counter Culture in Saginaw is hosting a hip-hop centric concert event the first week of Dec., the Winter Freeze Fest. Local artists from Saginaw, Bay City, Flint, and Lansing will be performing , and the line-up currently has 12 local artists expected to play on Dec. 9.
Jameson Stamann, aka Laine, is hosting and performing in Freeze Fest with the hope to create more events like this in the tri-cities area, noting that the scene needs more expanding.
“Not many Hip Hop shows come through Saginaw so I’ve taken things into my own hands,” says Stamann.
His partner in crime and performing partner, Rick Williams Jr., wanted to point out that he and the people who are all performing at Freeze Fest are trying to continually pump life back into our local talent.
“Laine, myself, along with the whole SoSay family have been working overtime to book more shows in Saginaw and around the state,” says Williams Jr., “SoSay International has been working really hard to connect the Murder Mitten, not just Saginaw and Flint.”
According to Stamann, different styles of Hip Hop are hard to find in the tri-cities area, and local music is not at its strongest peak. Local shows like the one at Counter Culture help cultivate and prosper the growing community of artists.
“Events like this are very important to the music scene. Without artists and booking agencies throwing these shows the music scene becomes almost nonexistent which leaves many artists stuck in a rut due to the lack of shows and exposure in their area,” says Stamann.
Artist Artees Flores is also set to perform at Freeze Fest and he commends the amount of kindness and support he gets from fellow performers and others in the music community here in the tri-cities.
“I’m super excited to see the outcome of the new material from various artists, and I’m just ready to be back on stage rockin it with the best of them. Performing locally and with other local talent opens endless doors of more opportunities in the future.” says Flores.
Admission for the door is $10 a pop, and Winter Fest is an all ages permitted show. Performances from the artists will start at 8 p.m. and go until about 12:30 a.m.