Article Contributed by Dan Ward
Published on 2026-07-29
Horseshoes & Hand Grenades - photos by Dan Ward
Small towns are awakening. There is plenty of good happening in places where life moves at a slower pace and the town has only two stoplights.
During the summer, Buchanan, Michigan, puts out the welcome mat every Thursday night for an evening of music at The Common. The concerts help close out the week and ease everyone toward the weekend. This particular Thursday felt especially festive, with the community preparing for Saturday’s Shady Grove Bluegrass Festival featuring Horseshoes & Hand Grenades.
Hey Annie was exactly the kind of band the town needed on a Thursday night. The group plays old favorites from across the generations and does them right—the perfect medicine to shore everyone up for Friday and the well-deserved weekend ahead.
Brothers Kevin Alsott on guitar and Mark Alsott on bass were joined by vocalist Ryan Hamilton, guitarist and vocalist Eric Lindburg, and drummer Shannon Kling. The band reached deep into the past, often pulling out songs listeners had forgotten how much they enjoyed.
The evening was a perfect lead-in to the Shady Grove Bluegrass Festival. Food vendors lined the streets, children played in the creek, and neighbors met up and caught up. On Friday night, another local favorite, the Redbud Ramblers, hosted a campfire sing-along to set the mood for Saturday’s daylong celebration.
Saturday began with local alternative bluegrass band Shreddy Tendergrass. Nick Kovach on harmonica and vocals, Greg Gerard on guitar and vocals, Jared Huttenstine on mandolin and vocals, Marshal Grathwohl on upright bass and vocals, and Matt Marnocha on guitar and vocals got things moving with “Hello,” “Wild Turkey,” “Moonshine,” and “Drivin’ My Life Away.”
Throughout the day, members of the Watershed Ramblers and Redbud Ramblers hosted an ongoing guitar workshop. Musicians from both groups helped aspiring and advancing bluegrass players sharpen their skills. Nothing makes someone want to practise more than a little encouragement from a hometown bluegrass hero.
Sweet Dee and the Wild Honeys followed. The heart of the band is Dee Sutton on guitar and vocals and Sallie Oberlin on bass, with guest musicians rotating into the lineup. For this performance, they were joined by Redbud Ramblers fiddler Beth Helm and Third Coast Swing guitarist Kaedin Plummer. Had you not known they were sitting in for the day, you might have assumed they had been playing together for years.
The ensemble’s Americana sound moved easily through country, folk, blues, swing, bluegrass, and classic popular music. Sweet Dee’s originals, including “Light of the Harvest Moon,” “Let Me Be Your One and Only,” and “Please Don’t Take Your Love,” offered glimpses into the artist’s life and experiences. The band also handled timeless songs such as Fats Waller’s “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and selections from the Cole Porter songbook.
The audience responded enthusiastically, with people getting to their feet and dancing. Dee’s lovely voice brought warmth and life to every song. Plummer proved to be an inventive player capable of soloing over nearly anything, while Helm drew rich, harmonious tones from her fiddle with an effortless calm.
Sutton and Oberlin, who hail from the Grand Rapids area, know how to work a crowd. Their music is lively, moving, cheerful, and just a little comical. The intention is clear: make people happy. Sweet Dee delivers that feeling with enough charm and lightheartedness to help listeners forget their troubles for a while.
With the crowd in motion, northern Indiana’s rising Watershed Ramblers took the stage. Opening for Horseshoes & Hand Grenades made this an important appearance, and the band arrived ready.
Alex Gottschlich on guitar and vocals, Ian Soto on mandolin and vocals, Wes Goodpaster on banjo and vocals, Mitch Pearson on bass, and Stephen Jude making his first appearance with the band on fiddle delivered homegrown music that sounded polished and tight.
Many bands describe themselves as hardworking, but the Watershed Ramblers live it. When they are not in the woodshed developing new material, they are travelling to a show or recording their next release.
They took the stage with authority and went straight into “End of the Line,” “Picture in a Tear,” “Heartland,” and “Right Back.” The band’s sound carried a sweet resonance and just enough twang before they moved into Ronnie Bowman’s “Love for an Angel.” Gottschlich, Soto, and Goodpaster blended beautifully, their harmonies ringing through the grounds.
The group closed with “Our Time,” “Low Rider,” John Prine’s “Pretty Good,” and “Growing Old.” Keep an eye out for the Watershed Ramblers. They put on an excellent show.
As the sun began sinking toward Lake Michigan and the air finally cooled, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades walked onto the stage with the confidence of a band that knew exactly why everyone was there.
Adam Greuel on guitar and vocals, David C. Lynch on harmonica, accordion, and vocals, Collin Mettelka on fiddle and vocals, Russell Pedersen on banjo and vocals, and Sam Odin on bass and vocals opened with a brand-new song. It was a bold beginning, but the band delivered from the first note.
Their harmonies were sharp enough to make the nearby buildings shudder. This was bluegrass of the first water.
Pedersen may be the happiest member of the group. His smile rarely faded while his fingers flew across the fretboard. He played with both confidence and composure.
Mettelka was the more serious presence, watching the other musicians closely before surgically attacking each passage. He coaxed notes from his fiddle with a precision that would have made Itzhak Perlman smile.
Greuel and Lynch may not be brothers by birth, but nature clearly found a way to bring them together. Greuel has a towering stage presence, both physically and personally. Lynch is quieter and more reserved, allowing his playing to speak for him. The contrast creates plenty of fun.
During one exchange, Greuel began a solo while Lynch raised the harmonica to his lips in preparation for his turn. Greuel simply kept going. Lynch gave him a sideways glance, and Greuel responded with an expression that seemed to ask, “Was that your cookie?” The crowd caught the joke, and Lynch broke into a smile. Personality flows from this band as freely as the Wisconsin River.
The harmonies were so tight that the overtones could be heard on every sustained note. Their ability to remain on pitch while playing with such energy was inspiring. These musicians possess natural talent reinforced by years of hard work. They make music enjoyable, and the audience recognised that there was something special happening onstage.
Then there was the bass player. Odin handled the upright bass like a collegiate wrestler, constantly moving around the instrument and shifting between bowed and plucked passages. He was entertaining to watch, but his voice proved even more striking.
When handed the microphone, Odin sang with a tone that was rich, chilling, ominous, and penetrating all at once. He is the band’s secret weapon, released at just the right moment to send goosebumps through the crowd. He is impossible to forget.
By the end of the evening, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades had made their place in Buchanan’s musical history. The community will remember this year’s Shady Grove Bluegrass Festival and eagerly await its return.
The Gateway Foundation will soon begin planning next year’s event, but topping this lineup will not be easy.
