As you know, I’m a huge music lover. I enjoy pretty much every musical genre, although metal and rock will always have my heart. To be honest, there area few genres of music that I don’t like, but I won’t mention those right now.

Lately, I’ve been floored by the amazing independent musicians that I’ve been discovering. It’s really inspiring, since I’m a musician, too, and so far, everything that I have released I’ve done so independently. So, this article highlights some fantastic independent bands and musicians to get on your radar. All of these bands I discovered years ago, but I’m always finding new ones, too. By the way, all of these bands are from Michigan.

3 Awesome Independent Bands

Slumlord Radio

This is one of my favorite rock bands out of Michigan. They’re constantly playing live shows, and they release original music once in a while, too. If you like raw, fun rock ‘n’ roll music, then check out Slumlord Radio from Saginaw, Michigan.

Heartsick

Where do I begin with these guys? They’re one of the first bands I interviewed when I was first starting out with my career in radio and reporting. That was quite a while ago, and these Lansing, Michigan, guys are still around today. Heartsick has a great metalcore sound that has stayed modern over the years.

Centenary

Centenary is a great heavy metal band out of Detroit who has been in the business for years. They have a super heavy, chainsaw metal-type sound that is coined “Detroit Chainsaw Metal.” When you’re looking for the heaviest music out there, and music that is really well-written and played, then check out Centenary.

Anne’s Music

So, there are three fantastic independent bands to give a listen to when you have the time. Remember to please check out my music, too. I have three projects:

Upon Wings – This is my metal band. It’s mainly guitar-heavy music, with a few softer ballads, and very gothic in texture. Our biggest hit is “Afterlife,” and people also like the songs “My Remedy,” “Last Love” and “Haunting Me.”

Anne Autumn Erickson – This is my solo music. I started out doing pop music a few years ago and decided that I should probably separate it from my metal band, so I created this solo project. Lately, I’ve been getting more into rap and hip-hop with this project, too. It’s a mix of trap, pop and hip-hop, and I’ve also been producing my own beats for this project lately, too. Some of my most popular songs here are “Deal Breaker,” “Feel the Love” featuring Eazy Mac and “Pray,” the latter which was just released on Friday, July 26, 2025.

AnneAshley – This is my third and (hopefully) final project. I need to stop doing so many. This year, I started producing my own beats and instrumental music, and now, I’m even producing the music for my other two projects. But, AnneAshley is where my producer page lives. Two of my favorite and most popular songs on this platform are “Your Eyes (Remix)” and “Sandcastle.” The latter just came out on Friday, July 26, 2025.

You can find all of my music on Spotify, Apple, Amazon and all of the usual streaming services. Just search by the project names above.