Covenfest II

This Friday, October 28th Small's will be celebrating Halloween by welcoming the second annual Covenfest to its stage. This annual event features a mix of cool cover bands and fun performances to raise money for one of our all time favorite local charities, Turning Point. This year's lineup includes Kommander as Twins of Evil: Rob Zombie vs. Marilyn Manson, Nique Love Rhodes and The NLR Experience as Missy Elliott, The Scrappers as The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Queens of Noise a Joan Jett/Runaways cover band and the students from the School of Rock as The Ramones.

Tickets to get into the show are $10 with 100% of the cover going to charity. There will be a silent auction featuring a variety of amazing items that were donated from local businesses and a one of a kind pin that you can purchase for an additional $10 below.

This is a really fun way to celebrate Halloween and a great way to hep raise money for an amazing organization that needs every dollar they can get!

~S

Eat Well and Raise Money for Great Cause

Flint Local 432 is a non-profit, all ages, substance free venue in Flint, Michigan that promotes music and the arts within the community. Last year they celebrated their 30th anniversary by hosting a food festival in the local farmers market to help raise funds for the space to continue its programming. The fundraiser was so successful that they decided to turn it into an annual event.

The Mixdown will take place at The Flint Farmers Market this Friday, October 7th. The event will feature a walk-around tasting, chef demonstrations, drinks and a display telling the history of the Flint Local 432. This year's culinary lineup includes chef Tim Archuleta from Ichi Sushi in San Fransisco, Charles Siegel from Charles Chocolates in San Fransisco, Sean Gartland from Flint Food Works, Hannah Kovalcheck, Vegan Chef from the Soggy Bottom in Flint, Danny Moilanen from Vehicle City Tacos in Flint, Keysa Smith from Spectacular Spudz in Flint, Tony Vu from MaMang in Flint, and Jonathan Short from Lafayette Grand Café and Bakery in New York City. The event will also feature offerings from Shorts Brewery and specialty cocktails from Ken Laatz of Soggy Bottom.

Tickets to attend this year's Mixdown are $30 a person and they can be purchased here. The Mixdown will run from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. this Friday. We're glad to see this become an annual event because raising money for The Flint Local is a great cause! 

~S

How Motor Kitty Rescue is Changing The Lives of Detroit's Unwanted Kitties

There is nothing more special than the relationships that we build with our pets. They share our homes with us and they give us a reason to hurry home at the end of the day. They cuddle in our beds with us and become part of our families. Unfortunately, there are thousands of unwanted pets that have no home to call their own and no family to become a part of. I have heard a lot of people talk about the stray dog problem in the City of Detroit, but I haven't heard a lot of people talking about the stray cat problem. The fact is that there are thousands of unwanted cats roaming the streets of Detroit and there are two people embracing the problem in a big way.

Wes Borland and Carre Kwong Callaway are two musicians in a bad ass band called Queen Kwong that relocated to Detroit from L.A. just over a year ago. Since they moved here they have fostered hundreds of cats until they could be adopted into forever families. Wes and Carre are the creators of Motor Kitty Rescue, an organization that is trying to tackle the stray cat epidemic one feline at a time. They have already opened their doors to hundreds of Detroit's abandoned felines and changed their lives forever.  

We reached out to Carre to find out more about Motor Kitty Rescue and what it's like to share your house with 15+ felines. She shared more about her organization, their goals, and ways that we can all help tackle the issue of feline homelessness. If your an animal lover you will be incredibly inspired by what they are trying to do! Take a second to learn more and then head over to their website to find out how to donate and get more involved with this awesome cause. 

HID- What inspired you to start fostering/adopting out cats?
Carre- "We couldn't ignore all of the homeless cats in our community that were coming to us to be fed and sleeping under our cars in the rain. We also couldn't ignore the cats in the street that were getting hit by cars or the kittens that we found frozen to death. Most of the cats we've met are extremely friendly and probably once had owners who ended up abandoning them or losing them. It makes us nervous when we meet friendly homeless cats because those are the ones that are easy for people to grab to be used for bait in dog fights (this is unfortunately common). These are perfectly adoptable, social cats that deserve to be companions and pets for people. So, we decided to take them in, fix them up and find them homes."

HID- When did you adopt your first cat/kitten?
Carre- "I grew up with rescue cats, but I independently adopted two cats (Bonzai and FUBAR) when I was 16 and they went everywhere with me. They lived in my car with me and moved across the country with me, they're the best. Now they are 13 and still going strong."

HID- How many cats are you currently fostering?
Carre- "We have 16 needing homes."

HID- How do you find these fine little felines?
Carre- "A few are kittens of feral moms that were living in a shed in our neighborhood, others are friendly cats we found living on the street and in abandoned houses by Herman Keefer, and the rest are cats people tipped off us on that were in their yards needing medical attention, etc."

HID- How do you find people to adopt the cats?
Carre- "It's all been word of mouth, networking with other rescues and social media. We adopted out dozens over the last few months via friends and friends of friends, but then we ran out of people in our circle of friends who wanted cats. Luckily, we recently were introduced to a few other people working at better known rescues who have helped us find adopters by re-posting our posts on their social media pages. Now, we have a website, Instagram and Facebook to help connect potential adopters with our available cats."

HID- What kind of criteria do you have for people that adopt?
Carre- "We have specific, non-negotiable terms in our adoption contract like no declawing, no letting outside, and people have to agree to bring the cat back to us if things don't work out, etc. But, the most important step in the adoption procedure is to meet people and spend some time with them around the cats they're interested in adopting. We like to feel them out and see how they interact with the cats. You can tell a lot about a person by how they interact with animals."

HID- How do you keep up with all the litter boxes?
Carre- "Wes does that. And it's a full time job, poor thing."

HID-Did you foster kittens before you came to Detroit?
Carre- "Yes, we have worked closely with rescues in LA for years before we moved here."

HID- How can other people help?
Carre- "Well, of course donations are greatly appreciated and needed because food, litter, traps, and other supplies are costly when you're caring for 15+ cats. However, the biggest help is when people can volunteer their time. Wes and I are both touring musicians and are gone for at least half the year and when we are home we are usually working or records or Wes has a collection of oil paintings he's trying to fix and I'm in school full time...so, we are super busy and overwhelmed! When people can volunteer to help us with the everyday stuff like feeding, cleaning, and socializing with the cats, it makes a big difference. We are also always in need of people to foster cats waiting to be adopted, and transport cats to and from vet appointments and adoption events."

HID-What are your future plans and goals for Motor Kitty Rescue?
Carre- "In the next year, we plan to renovate a house to serve as the MKR headquarters so we don't have to use our private home (we have 7 feral kittens in our dining room right now!), and in the meantime, we are going to continue focusing on TNR and educating people on the benefits of spaying/neutering, rescuing cats and finding them homes, and assisting low income cat owners."

HID- Does Motor Kitty Rescue have any upcoming events?
Carre- "We have our first adoption event coming up at The Jam Handy Oct 20-24th during the AcroCat shows. Tickets are on sale now and a portion of the ticket sales goes to a rescue we work with called Animal House of Southeast Michigan!"

Tickets to attend a live AcroCat show in Detroit  are $23 and you can purchase them here. You can follow Motor Kitty Rescue on Facebook and Instagram and you can visit their website here to learn more! Please reach out if you can donate your time, a few dollars, or if you want to become the fur-ever home for one of these fierce felines! 

~S

Help Jessica Hayes Kick Cancer's Ass!

They say that with great power comes great responsibility, but the truth is that very few people go out of their way to use their clout in a positive way. Others choose to use their platform to make a real impact on the world. Challenging the normal and making a difference has always been important to local Detroit makeup artist Jessica Hayes. She spends her days working at Todd's Room, her nights creating innovative new looks for her followers and cooking up ways to make this world a better place.

Over the last few years she has created a small empire by sharing her styling and makeup tips through social media and weekly videos that she posts to her YouTube. You can get ready with Jess, check out the latest product reviews from all the big brands, and get tips on hair color and accessories. Jess shares her world with her followers and her followers lover her for it. At the time that this article went to print she has over 1.2 thousad followers on Instagram and 36 thousand subscribers on YouTube, with over 400,000 views on her most popular video. Needless to say, she has a lot of cred in the makeup and fashion communities. Last year she made the switch to all cruelty free products (she is a former MAC girl and that shit isn't easy to give up) and somehow she has stuck to it. When she believes in something, she goes all in.

Which is why I was not surprised to learn that Jessica was upping her game and taking her commitment to making a difference to the next level. Most people celebrate reaching 100,000 followers by posting a picture and congratulating themselves. Jessica celebrated this milestone by announcing that she was going to attempt to raise $100k to fight against cancer!

Jess is attempting to raise $100K in 100 days. She has started a Crowdrise account where you can donate to help her reach her goal. She has also gotten some of her favorite companies (Kat Von D, Makeup Geek, Morphe, and LASplash, to name a few) to donate lots of amazing products that you can enter to win. $25 gets you one entry, $50 gets you two and $75 gets you three entries in the drawing. You can learn more about the prizes by watching Jessica's video below. To top it all off, Jess is also going to shave her head if she reaches her goal!

Jess is one of the most bad ass women that has ever lived, worked, and played in Detroit and we would love to see her reach her goal! So take a second today and check out her video, watch some of her tutorials, and throw her a dollar or two!

~S

H20 Fest! A Water Benefit for Flint Michigan

This Saturday, February 13th The Tangent Gallery is opening its doors for an all day benefit to help gather water to take to Flint. They have recruited 19 bands to play throughout the day. If you bring at least a gallon of water you can come in and hang out for free. All the water collected will be taken to people of Flint who still do not have clean drinking water. The government is not stepping up and doing what they need to do, so we need to all step up and find a way to help our brothers and sisters in Flint. If you have a few extra bucks, pick up some water, stop by the Gallery, checkk out a band or two, and help them help Flint!

Full Lineup:
Go Gang - 12:10 - 12:25
My Own Will - 12:35 - 12:50
BheadR - 1:00 - 1:15
Lake Inferior - 1:25 - 1:40
Lightside Ash - 1:50 - 2:05
Xoo - 2:15 - 2:30
YaKuZa moon - 2:40 - 2:55
AngelLanise w/Fan Smith - 3:05 - 3:25
Baybro - 3:35 - 3:55
Something 2 Hate - 4:05 - 4:25
Nique Love Rhodes- 4:35 - 4:55
GS Tha Dream - 5:05 - 5:25
Awkward Theory - 5:35 - 5:55
Overdrive - 6:05 - 6:25
Cycle of Violence - 6:35 - 6:55
Smash Your Enemies - 7:05 - 7:35
Martez, WURL SOTTO, Cass Ketchum - 7:55 - 8:15
Aztek Barfly - 8:30 - 9:00
Halo of Vultures - 9:30 - 10:15

Doors open at noon on Saturday!

~S

Ferndale Mardi Bras

Most of us know about Mardi Gras kicking off in New Orleans this Tuesday, but not as many of us know about Mardi Bras also taking place this Tuesday at The Loving Touch in Ferndale. Mardi Bras isn't as crazy as Mardi Gras, but it has a much better purpose. The goal is to collect as many items as possible to help women in need. They are asking people to donate new unused bras, panties, tampons, pads, menstrual cups, panty liners, wet wipes, women's socks, toiletries and gallon size zip lock bags to donate to a variety of charities, including the Ruth Ellis Center and Alternatives for Girls.

They have collected a variety of really cool items to raffle off at the party. If you want to win one of the prizes all you have to do is donate. They will be giving raffle tickets to everyone that brings a donation to the event. The raffle portion of the night will begin at 8 p.m. on Tuesday and you can win all kinds of cool things including a one night stay at Motor City Casino.

The Loving Touch will be running drink specials throughout the night. Donations will be excepted all night starting at 6 p.m. They will be boxing up the donations as they receive them so if you would like to help you can get in contact with the organizer on the event invite here.

Most of us have a few dollars to spare or a few things sitting around the house we won't use, this is your chance to put those items to use for a good cause. Who knows, you may end up winning something really cool!

Imperial has also come up with a way to help raise money for the cause. They will be donating a dollar from ever taco sold in between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. this Tuesday to The Mardi Bra event. Bar tenders Shawn and Rex will also be donating a portion of their tips. So if you want to really give back, head to Imperial after work, have dinner and then get over to the fundraiser to get your raffle ticket before the raffle starts. It will be a fun night on the town and you will help out someone in need. It's a win win for all!

~S

Titties for Pitties

I love boobs, I also love dogs, both can be described as fun to look at and fun to play with! This weekend a group of talented burlesque dancers will be showing off their titties to raise money for the pitties. Ten dancers have teamed up with 7+ great local vendors for a night of fun at The Tangent Gallery. The event will also feature raffle prizes, a beard competition, and a photo booth. Dancers include Dish Delish, Eden Ivy, Holly Hock, Leena Allure, Lolo Lomard, Magenta Demure, Mabel Syrup, Sadie Tate and Victoria Nightshade. Vendors include Crafty Darling, Holly Hock Vintage, Allison Eve, Sassmouth Ink, Detroit Beard Collective, Murder City Facial Hair Crew, Pretties for Pitties and more!

Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Doors for the night open at 8 p.m. and you must register for the beard competition before 8:45, so make sure that you get there early. 21 and older are welcome to come out and play!

~S

Rock Out For Kids!

The spirit of giving and charity has been in the air lately and I couldn’t be happier about it! Last week, we told you about Bat On Fire rocking out for wounded veterans and this week we have another event to tell you about that is raising money for those in need. 

Bill Bondsmen, Standard Issue, Darkred, Best Idea Ever and The Kalashnikovs have teamed up to raise money for an organization called Little Kids Rock. This group provides music education and instruments to children in underfunded schools. 

When kids are involved in any activity at their school, the success rate increases and the failure and dropout rates quickly go down. Music education is noted to help kids in all aspects of education including improving cognitive skills, memorization and advanced thinking and problem solving skills. 

Bill Bondsmen are also going to be releasing a new 7 inch at this event that will be available for purchase. To find out more about the charity please go to littlekidsrock.org. This show is scheduled for Saturday, November 10 at 8:30 p.m. at Corktown Tavern. It's only $8 a person and 21 and over welcome. Come out, have a beer and rock out for kids who rock! 

~S

Help Kids And Win Some Awesome Art!

Childhelp is a national organization that has a local base here in Madison Heights. The foundation's purpose is to prevent and treat child abuse. This charity was founded in 1959 and is a non-profit organization. Their mission statement reads: "Childhelp exists to meet the physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs of abused, neglected and at-risk children. We focus our efforts on advocacy, prevention, treatment, and community outreach." Definitely a charity and purpose we here at Hip in Detroit can get behind!

Local hairdresser and friend Melody at The Studio hair salon not only made us aware of this charity, but let us know a way that her salon was trying to raise money for it. The Studio is raffling off $10 tickets to enter into a contest to win a piece of art by Fabio Napoliani called “Love Bugs do Bite” (pictured above) that is worth $500. Not only did I love the piece, but I loved the cause, so I wanted to share it with our readers. We love local businesses that not only profit in our community, but give back to those in it. So if you are interested in being entered in the contest please go here.

Good Luck! 

~S