MICHAEL GRIMM TO PERFORM AT THE ICONIC SAND DOLLAR DOWNTOWN AT THE PLAZA HOTEL & CASINO IN DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS
Thursday, April 20, 2023 at 9 p.m.
No cover
Singer-songwriter Michael Grimm is bringing his soulfully-cool sounds to the iconic Sand Dollar Downtown at the Plaza Hotel & Casino in Downtown Las Vegas. Coming off the heels of his latest release, The Red Album, the “America’s Got Talent” champion will perform Thursday, April 20, 2023 at 9 p.m. No cover and guests must be 21 years or older.
With his soulful voice and earthy, Southern manner, Michael Grimm charmed millions of viewers as a contestant on Season Five of NBC’s popular “America’s Got Talent.” Parlaying his substantial singer-songwriter appeal into a first-place finish, Michael took home the $1 million prize and headlined the first-ever national “America’s Got Talent Tour.” Following that, he toured with the legendary Stevie Nicks and Heart, playing to arenas of 20,000.
In the spring of 2011, Michael debuted his first major label release, the self-titled Michael Grimm. Working with Grammy-award winning producer Don Was (The Rolling Stones, Elton John, B.B.King), Michael released an album that had his fans purchasing it in droves. The album featured some legendary talent, including Ann Wilson (Heart), Ian McLagan (Faces, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, John Mayer), Davey Faragher (Elvis Costello, Cracker) and Greg Leisz (Avenged Sevenfold, The Eagles). 30+ Grammy Albums nominee Kenny Aronoff played drums, with the legendary Waddy Wachtel on guitar.
Michael comes by his rootsy bonafides the authentic way, as a true son of the South. From age five, he grew up in Waveland, a small Gulf town in Mississippi that sits between New Orleans and Biloxi. “It’s a very humble, charming town. I loved growing up there,” he says. “My dad was not making any money,” Michael explains, “so my mother cleaned churches to try to pay the bills. We lived in a little camper that had holes in the floor. I remember if you looked straight through the hole in my bedroom floor, you could see the ground underneath. The funny thing is, I thought I had everything in the world. Looking back, all I owned were a few hand-me-down toys, but it didn’t bother me at the time.”
Unable to afford the cost of raising Michael and his sister, his parents gave them over to his grandparents to raise them when he was 5. There, Michael grew up listening to the country artists his grandmother favored: classics like Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams, George Jones and Ray Price. When he was 11, he sang at a wedding. One of the guests heard him and made him an offer. “This guy owned a bar, and he said, ‘I know you’re going on 12, but if you bring a legal guardian and you want to sing a karaoke set here … we can’t pay you anything, but you can put a tip jar down’.” Michael accepted and wound up performing there for the next several years. 
The Sand Dollar Downtown is located inside The Plaza Hotel & Casino at 1 N. Main St, Las Vegas, NV 89101 in Downtown Las Vegas. Hours of operation are Monday through Sunday from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. For more information on The Sand Dollar Lounge and The Sand Dollar Downtown, please visit TheSandDollarLV.com.
Keep up with The Sand Dollar Lounge on Facebook at @TheSandDollarLV and @TheSandDollarDT and on Instagram at @thesanddollarlv and @TheSandDollarDT.
About The Sand Dollar Lounge
Originally opened as a blues bar in 1976, The Sand Dollar quickly became a draw for iconic musicians including Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and even Mick Jagger over its first 30 years. Hit by hard times, The Sand Dollar closed its doors in 2013, but its spirit would not let it rest and within two years the Chinatown-adjacent bar was purchased and reignited by hospitality veterans Anthony Jamison and Nathan Grates. Honoring the tradition and history of the iconic Las Vegas venue, The Sand Dollar Lounge has reclaimed its beloved spot as a premier live music venue with free entertainment nightly, adding rotating craft beer selections, an extensive whiskey collection, seasonal craft cocktails by some of the city’s best bartenders, an amazing pizza kitchen, and table-top gaming in a smoke-free environment. In 2022, the iconic blues bar opened its second location in Las Vegas, located at The Plaza Hotel & Casino.