Gig Alert: Frontier Ruckus at Dan's Silverleaf Tonight

Besides the great (but unheralded) Volebeats, Detroit hasn't exactly become known as a haven for Americana music. Frontier Ruckus hopes to change that.Formed in 2003 by Matthew Milia and David Winston Jones, the band didn't get around to releasing a proper debut until 2008. The Orion Songbook proved to be...

By Darryl Smyers

November 18, 2009

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Besides the great (but unheralded) Volebeats, Detroit hasn't exactly become known as a haven for Americana music. Frontier Ruckus hopes to change that.

Formed in 2003 by Matthew Milia and David Winston Jones, the band didn't get around to releasing a proper debut until 2008. The Orion Songbook proved to be well worth the wait, though, as songs like "Animals Need Animals" and "The Deep-Yard Dream" showed Milia to be a songwriter of exceptional skill.

Now expanded to a sextet, Milia and crew create a very atmospheric take on traditional folk and bluegrass. Musical saw, trumpet and melodica float in and out of the mix as Milia slowly weaves his rural tales in his soft, reedy voice.

Frontier Ruckus' newest opus, Way Upstate and The Crippled Summer, Pt. 1, is due out any day now and promises to be more of the high quality folk-rock that fans of Iron & Wine and Gillian Welch have come to expect.

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