Sips, Sounds & Smoke LLC

09/28/2024

07/22/2024

Sips, Sounds & Smoke LLC presents “The Listen Closely Lounge” happening tomorrow, Tuesday July 23rd!

📍 Location: Byrd’s Cigar Lounge, 9421 John R St, Detroit, MI 48202

🕕 Time: 6-10pm

Get ready for an evening of smooth and sexy vibes as we launch our “Summer Smoke Sessions” every 2nd & 4th Tuesday of the summer!

🎶 Our Playlist Practitioners will set the perfect ambiance with their mix of familiar and not-so-familiar tunes, ensuring a happy ears experience that both educates and entertains.

Indulge in great music, fine ci**rs, premier food and delightful sips. Don’t miss out on this unforgettable evening!

07/09/2024

Tonight! The Listen Closely Lounge Live Soft Opening featuring the Playlist Practitioner Steve “Big Wicked” Whitted providing the vibes. “Big Wicked” is an old friend of Sips, Sounds & Smoke who has collaborated with us to make respective playlists based on our interpretation of the theme. We’ve also been guests on his podcast a couple of times. Check out the last time we were guests on the show along with Mr. Marshall Bullock recorded at Byrd’s Cigar Lounge. It was the warm-up to tonight. Go to the bio for the link to listen in. We’re going back to Byrd’s (9421 John R St Detroit, MI 48202) tonight, 6pm -10pm, and few more times with our “Summer Smoke Sessions.” Can’t make it tonight? Come for the official opening in two weeks. Stay tuned…
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03/11/2024

Go to our bio for a link to the playlist.

03/11/2024

"Trumpet Time”

“CHALLENGE!!” That’s what we did! We challenged Steve “Bigwickie” Whitted to curate a playlist featuring the trumpet. Now, why did we go and do that? The trumpet? Turns out, it’s his favorite instrument. So, no wonder he first sent us a 6- hour playlist! We asked him to edit it to three, 2-hour playlists, and within an hour, he sent “Matthew 24:31” playlist. The first of his three-part series!

The title should tell you everything you need to know why we appreciate our fellow Playlist Practictioner. A Bigwickie playlist or podcast is going to make you think and prompt you to do a little research. And, no, we’re not going to tell you what the verse reads. But we will tell you this. It’s very appropriate and fitting. What did we just say about a Bigwickie playlist or podcast? He’s going to make you think. If you’re still not convinced, wait until you hear his upcoming podcast featuring yours truly as one of his guests. More about that soon!

Okay, we did say we issued a challenged (wink wink) didn’t we? Well, we curated our own trumpet playlist, “Trumpet Time,” but we took some liberty with our songs. While on some, the trumpet is the primary voice, while on others, the trumpet is a second voice or even backup voice. “Matthew 24:31” keeps the trumpet in the forefront by featuring more traditional jazz trumpeters sprinkled with some current ones. Conversely, “Trumpet Time” pays homage via the first artist featured but then jumps right into a mixture of stretch music artists and others for a variety of grooves featuring the trumpet But guess what? They both are hitting!! Go to our bio for a link to both playlists and have yourself a happy ears experience!

08/29/2023

It appears that everyone is re-introducing themselves nowadays, and we’re no different. Sips, Sounds & Smoke LLC (SSS) is comprised of three main components: Sips, which primarily represents the promotion of spirits through our Cocktail Connoisseurs; Sounds, the promotion of mostly marginalized music artists; and the Smoke represents two different branches, culinary & premium hand-rolled ci**rs. (shh, there’s actually a 3rd branch under Smoke…). The engine that drives the SSS machine, like it does our lives, is and always has been music, the Sounds. 

Our Sounds component is through our Listen Closely Lounge where we feature not only DJs, but also who we dubbed Playlist Practitioners, non-DJs that know how to doctor up a mix of music to create playlists for various moods. 

Our in-house Playlist Practitioner, Uncle Phil, has been starting things off, but he has invited some fellow Playlist Practitioners to provide us with a happy ears experience very soon. In the meantime, Unc going to drop one more playlist in the Moody Monday series. 

This latest one, “Nu Groove,” is just a can of paint splashed against a blank white wall. It was created from digging through the digital library and selecting songs that simply made the ears happy, and songs that others should experience. The two purposeful artist selections were Moonchild and Tank and the Bangas, who performed last night at Aretha Franklin Amphitheater in Detroit. There are three songs a piece from these two artists serving as the encore neither one of them were afforded! Happy Ears experience to you all!
Go to bio for link

06/26/2023

It's another Moody Monday! Rain makes you want to chill, so that's the vibe of this playlist, Ladies Lullaby Zone.f you know our history, we are impartial to the ladies, especially when creating a chilled out, relaxed vibe. Well, here we are again letting the voices of Gwen Bunn, Ego Ella's May, Yazmin Lacey, and others take our stresses away. Go to the bio for the link. Have a happy ears experience!

05/23/2023

We know it's Tuesday, but our Monday mood inspired this play. So what mood were in?The mood to unwind with some chilling vibes. And in the vein of this upcoming weekend parties, “Unknown & Rare” and “Rare & Unknown,” The Listen Closely Lounge offers this playlist, Moody Monday - Grooves!

This one contains a mix of songs released this year and within the past five to eight years. We can’t say the tunes are necessarily rare, but we would guess to say they are unknown to those that do not take or have the time to seek out new music.

We appropriately begin things off with the song, “I Get Moody Sometimes" by a Detroit icon who has helped so many Detroit artists in so many ways, Amp Fiddler. We show some more love to one of our favorite artists, Yazmin Lacey, with a couple of her tunes, “Legacy,” and “Fool’s Gold” off her 2023 album Voice Notes.

We also show some love to another “stretch music” trumpeter (Christian Scott being the other) that we believe has gone under the radar for too long, Theo Croker. We feature four (4) of his tunes from three different bodies of work. The dance friendly, “Happy Feet” from his 2021 BLK2LIFE II A FUTURE PAST, a Drake remake of “Fair Trade” from 2022 Live in Paris album, and “THEO SAYS” and “SOMETHIN’” from the 2023 BY THE WAY.
Also included, Madison McFerrin, Yaya Bey, Alfa Mist, SAULT and more. Go to bio fornthe link to the playist. Make sure you follow us to continue with your Happy Ears experience!

05/20/2023

05/08/2023

You never know what kind of day Monday will be. What kind of mood the events of the day may put you in. Today, I want to unwind with a wonderful artist from across the pond, Yasmin LACEY. Explore her music and have yourself a happy ears experience.