Lansing native Michael Malott has had a full and successful music career already, but now he’s bringing his time and talents back to his hometown with his new venue,
Zeppelin’s Music Hall.
The intimate space with a 60-person capacity is located on East Michigan Avenue in Lansing, across from The Green Door and next door to Emil’s Restaurant. Currently featuring live music Thursday through Sundays, Malott feels his music hall concept fills a need in the Lansing music scene.
“I spent a lot of time in New York City, and I like the warmth of the smaller clubs,” he says. “I didn’t see anything like that here. There are a lot of young, emerging artist out there who are under the age of 21 or 18 are excluded from playing a lot of places.”
Zeppelin’s does not serve alcohol and is therefore an all ages club. Marlott explains that this is important not only to give young musicians a place to play, but also to give young music enthusiasts a place to hang out.
“I would rather have them sitting in my club listening the music and not drinking and driving around, doing stupid stuff.”
Zeppelin’s will feature a wide range of music, including acoustic nights on Sundays, jazz nights, and even a taping of a variety show similar to
The Gong Show that will air on public television.
“We have a reggae artist coming in from Kingston, we have a rock band from New York coming next month,” says Marlott. “It’s rock, industrial, punk, reggae, jazz and bluegrass. It’s everything.”
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