About the band: rural discontent meets suburban angst

Diane Russell: vocals, guitar, lyrics

Music has found Diane even when she didn’t want it to. Growing up on a small farm in West Michigan, music filled the house with her dad on guitar, singing Dwight yokum and Johnny Cash and mom singing sweet melodies from Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton. Meanwhile, Diane got her musical start singing pop songs along with the car radio and then picking up the trumpet and playing in high school and college marching band. She came of age in the 90’s, so influences from Phil Collins, Bon Jovi, Jewel, Weezer, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam have made a lifelong impression.

Years later, after losing her parents from a life lived hard, she picked up the guitar and let music fill in the void they left behind. With no intention of learning anything beyond a few cover songs, she started guitar lessons at the music academy run by Michael Arthur and thus began the musical union neither of them were looking for. Michael did what he does best and pushed Diane completely out of her comfort zone helping her find the potential that always existed, leading to performing live and writing original music. Musical passion poured over into a personal one, now blending musical notes, and families with four kids, two dogs and four cats between them.

Michael Arthur: guitar, vocals, lyrics, arranging, production

He always had a musical calling, but had to fight hard to answer it. Growing up outside of Flint, Michigan, he embodied what it is to have potential but have it lost to decay. His personal and professional struggles dogged him through his adolescence, but music would help lift him out. Majoring in performance and jazz guitar is never for the faint of heart and there are many times when he questioned his path, but music never let him quit even when the world told him he should. After college, he channeled his musical talents into helping others learn the craft. He opened his academy in 2010, helping musicians find their voice for the next 15 years. More recently, recording has been his passion, starting RKSTRS Music to produce himself and others. Complex rock melodies and shred guitar riffs will find their way into his music, stemming from musical influences that include Metallica, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dream Theater and 90s hair bands like Extreme, Poison and Winger. 

While singer-songwriter may seem like an unlikely genre for Michael, it makes for one-of-a-kind musical outcomes listeners will find as they follow Michael and Diane’s musical project: Within Reds.