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Oct 26, 2009 Web Exclusive By Laura Leebove Photography by Laura Leebove

After spending a couple days going back and forth from Brooklyn to Manhattan, I took it easy on Thursday and planted myself in Williamsburg to save energy for the last two days of CMJ. I stopped by the DFA showcase at Brooklyn Bowl hoping to see YACHT, but left after learning the band wasn't going on until after 11 p.m. I passed James Murphy on the way out and made my way to the Quite Scientific Records showcase at Spike Hill, which, for a couple hours, served as a hub for Michiganders in NYC.

Lightning Love, from Ypsilanti, Mich., played endearing pop songs fronted by singer/synth-player Leah Diehl. With a girly voice slightly reminiscent of Kimya Dawson or Tegan and Sara, Diehl sang about getting drunk with friends and the awkwardness of putting labels on a relationship. It didn't really matter that she struggled to hit a couple of her high notes-the band's set was fun and the sound didn't need to be perfect.

Ann Arbor singer/songwriter Chris Bathgate was next and, while he's often played solo acoustic shows, on Thursday he had a band of six behind him, including a couple members of the Quite Scientific staff. A few of the songs Bathgate played were from his nearly-finished upcoming album, the most memorable being "In the City," for which he requested participation from a willing audience. Ultimately, the extra hands provided a depth to Bathgate's songs, with lap steel guitar, horns, and electric guitars. The biggest pitfall, though, was that Bathgate's voice sounded so heavy from reverb in the microphone (which may or may not have been intentional) that it took away from what he can produce on his own.

Headlining the night was Frontier Ruckus, an Americana group I've seen countless times throughout the past four years. (Full disclosure: I went to college with most of the group and they crashed at my apartment for a few nights this week, but I didn't actually know many of the band members until a few days ago.) Frontier Ruckus' debut LP, The Orion Songbook, was released last year on Quite Scientific and the band has shared bills with the likes of Cotton Jones and O'Death. Songwriter Matthew Milia's emotional, slightly twangy quiver leads the group, which recently has been pared down from six to eight members to just five. As a result, vocalist Anna Burch has taken on the bass, and multi-instrumentalist Zach Nichols has taken over all horn duties (though he's best known for his skills on the singing saw). The group is rounded out with David Jones on banjo, and Ryan "Smalls" Etzcorn on drums.

Frontier Ruckus, whose members are currently scattered throughout Michigan, have a repertoire of songs peppered with references to our mitten-shaped state, including many new tracks that will likely appear on the band's still-to-be-recorded debut for Ramseur Records (former home of the Avett Brothers and current home to Samantha Crain). The group closed with an excerpt from the new track "Pontiac," which segued into "Adirondack Amish Holler," a seven-minute-long, time-signature-changing romp that will never, ever get old.