Zander Michigan

Zander Michigan is a folk/Americana singer/songwriter from Detroit, MI. He plays the guitar, the harmonica, and sometimes even plays the fool. His Bob Dylan style vocals, heavy strum, and cheeky lyrics make him a classic sounding musician in an age of futuristic banter. CW50 Detroit recently added Zander Michigan to a local music playlist saying, "American folk at its finest. Zander brings us the traditional bluesy folk that we’re all so familiar with." Zander is currently getting ready for his second record release party. His second album "Zander, MI 48018" will soon be a reality! He is slated for appearances on CW50, Essential Music with Ann Delisi, Big and Bigger on Cave Radio, Hip in Detroit, and many more! Check social media for more information on release details! After the album is released, Zander hopes to take festival season by storm next year with another jaunt in England and perhaps SXSW? Stay tuned! Make sure to click on the "Shows" tab to check if Zander will be in your city any time soon. The name Zander Michigan was coined in early 2013. Alexander Melidis AKA Zander Michigan, started writing folk songs in his room during his senior year of college and recorded a demo in his cousin's closet-turned-vocal-booth in the summer of 2013. The demo was called "Never Going Back Home" and was the kickstarter to Zander's new career path. He then moved home in the fall of 2013 and started playing open mic nights around the Detroit area, meeting many people in the Detroit music scene. By early 2014 he was featured on WAYN radio, TV Warren, and even made the Metro Times Blowout line-up. By the summer he interviewed with Ann Delisi on WDET, played Detroit River Days, Ann Arbor Summer Festival, and Arts, Beats, & Eats. We head into the fall where it comes time to record his first full length album. Zander teamed up with engineer Yiannis Shafkalis at Dream Studios to create what would eventually be known as "Zander The Great". The duo worked through the winter and finally, in March 2015, "Zander The Great" was available for the world to hear. The album has all the power of the Greek Gods behind it. Zander went full production with this record, using not only his harmonica and acoustic guitar, but drums, piano, and electric guitar, along with his characteristic howling vocals. With track names like “The Great” and “Bathtub Gin” the album sets the tone for an in-your-face, no cares given experience that everyone can get excited about. Following the wildly successful release party of "Zander The Great", Zander embarked on a Midwest tour spanning Chicago (IL), Madison (WI), South Bend (IN), a Daytrotter session in Rock Island (IL), and ending in another stellar performance at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival. Then came the Zander Folking Michigan t-shirts. This branding move was extremely popular and friends, family, and fans alike have all shown their support for Zander by taking photos with his shirts and allowing him to upload them to his blog. So far, over 200 t-shirts have been circulated throughout Detroit and various parts of the world (Minneapolis, Madison, New York, Chicago, Nashville, and as far as Canada, Australia, Brazil, England). Following the shirt craze, Zander embarked on the most exciting adventure of his career to date, Zanarchy in the UK. The 8 day, 4 show, and 2 radio interview tour was Zander's first international experience and a stellar one at that. Meeting his European booking agent, Bubbytastic, and hitting the road, they went everywhere from London, Bristol, Bath, Liverpool, Manchester, Shrewsbury, and everywhere in between. Since returning from merry ol' England, Zander has been writing music for his next album and playing around Detroit. And finally, all of that exciting bit of history brings us back full circle to the present day and the months to come: A new album and more international touring. He says, “I’m making my way both eastward and westward in my pursuit of becoming a household name.” The young Midwesterner gets compared to Bob Dylan, but when people spout the word “Dylanesque”, he doesn’t mind. He thinks it’s endearing that people would compare him to such a great. Metro Times magazine even said, “Bob wouldn’t be too upset”. Regardless of his influences, Zander has some big shoes to fill and many miles to walk. He is confident in his stride and has faith that what unfolds will help him get there... wherever "there" is. 100% Detroit Folk Music