The Nuance wins Walk the Beat Albion 2025; The War and Treaty claim victory over a downpour at WTB After party
By SYLVIA BENAVIDEZ
Contributing Writer
The Nunance, an energetic rock band, won Walk the Beat Albion 2025. They along with 19 other bands enjoyed the benefits of partially sunny day. Later in the evening The War and Treaty, an internationally acclaimed Americana, country, and gospel band, were not so fortunate. Cliff Harris, the founder of Walk the Beat Albion, former director, and longtime board member welcomed the band and audience to the Walk the Beat After Party.
Albion Mayor Victoria Garcia Snyder then proclaimed Aug. 23 as War and Treaty Day in Albion citing that the Trotters were “beacons of hope…” The couple, visibly moved to tears came to the stage and began to play, the song “Hi Ho” at 6:19 p.m.
The rain started off slowly, then became stronger and eventually caused a power shortage to the stage about a few minutes into the performance. They tried to play on until the rain came in torrents. The War and Treaty left the stage and fans scattered everywhere seeking shelter. The pummeling rainstorm lasted about 10 minutes but getting the band back on stage took a little over an hour.
Harris came back on stage announced that the winners of Walk the Beat were The Nuance and then The War and Treaty began performing again with the song, “Mother’s Chile” but the power outage to the stage happened again. That’s when Michael and Tonya Trotter, who call Albion their hometown, made their way down to the fans.
One song they sang “Soul on Fire” transitioned into a personalized rendition of “Autumn Leaves” which has the lyric, “But I miss you most of all my darling when autumn leaves start to fall, but Michael shouted, “Albion, I’ve missed you most of all.” The couple dedicated the song to Stirling Books & Brew owners Jim and Staci Stuart. “Michael likely dedicated ‘Autumn Leaves’ to Staci and I because of memories of singing the song at Cascarelli’s when I was doing the jazz down there every other week,” said Jim Stuart. “We do have some mutual fond memories of those times when they dropped in and sang, as well as when they performed for one of our “Ismon Ball” events for Valentine’s Day. It was very sweet of them to dedicate a song to us.”
Stuart explained that the Trotters purchased a house from them, and they were neighbors a number of months before they moved to Nashville. Stuart said, “We ate together and hung out together often along with our mutual friends Matthew and Alyn Kay of Albion. We had some memorable moments at their house over Christmas and other times, and they were over to our house a number of times to visit or to share a meal.”
Once the concert was over, the Trotters stayed to meet and greet fans and neighbors for over 30 minutes. Steve Sobaski was one of the many Albion residents hugged by the Trotters. He said, “That performance on Superior Street was like a great family reunion between the Albion Community and the Trotters. It was wonderful that they came back so willingly to support such a great project in Walk the Beat.”
And that is one of the many goals that Walk the Beat Albion hopes to accomplish by hosting the event. The board members want to encourage community through music. “The festival was great,” said Harris. “Fantastic music and fun and great attitudes everywhere. Best attended ever, by my count. I was especially glad to see as much as 30% turnout by senior citizens! Love that we bring music to their community where it is easy to find.”
The goal of the Walk the Beat board is to get instruments in the hands of the next generation of musicians, offer a platform for current musicians to practice their craft and feel appreciation from their audience as well as a chance to win the 40 hours of studio time in Grand Haven.
K. Proudy one of the Walk the Beat performers, who crafted his own guitar, is self -taught and plays many festivals. He said, “This one is a good cause getting instruments to kids. It always tough to afford instruments and it’s not at the forefront of schools and teaching, but it is really good for your brain, and if you look at studies, it does all kinds of things to make the hemispheres work together.”
The Nuance will perform in Kalamazoo on Sept. 6 at the Old Dog Tavern, at the Kirby House in Grand Haven, Aug. 30, and The Score in Grand Rapids on Sept. 1.
“The word on the street all day was about them and their sound. I only got to listen for two songs, but it was great,” said Harris. “So happy for them!”
Current director of Walk the Beat Albion, Nancy Doyal shared, “We really look forward to our 10th anniversary next year officially. You know, It doesn’t stop after Saturday. September, I’ll start working on sponsorships… It really does take a year.”
