Jump to full article: Michigan Radio, 2008-04-15
Intro: Michigan is one of 18 states that has not passed some form of smoking ban for restaurants and bars. But the next time you go out to see live music, the air in the place may be a little cleaner, and you may have the band to thank.
In a cinder block basement scattered with musical instruments and mic cables, the band My Dear Disco is rehearsing for a show.
Michelle Chamuel is My Dear Disco's lead singer. She says before joining a band, she never spent much time around smoking.
"So going to a club where everybody was smoking was pretty shocking," says Chamuel.
Chamuel says smoke gets in the way of her singing. She says it's especially hard singing with a band. "They play pretty fast, and you have to breath really deeply really quickly. So if you just inhale an entire lung full of smoke, trying to hit the next note is going to be super hard."
So the band started asking venues to go non-smoking while they play. . . .
He says he asked the popular Ann Arbor club, The Blind Pig to go non-smoking, and he was surprised by the booking agent's answer. "He was not only willing to do it. He was thankful. He was like, 'Aww man, I'm so glad you asked.
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