The Dangling Participles

The Dangling Participles are a Lansing-based band with a diverse song set ranging from indie folk and Americana to jazz and pop. The band’s soulful vocals—shared by Tamiko May and Austin Kaufmann—give the duo its signature sound, rich in harmonies. 

Their performances feature spirited duets, storied lyrics, soulful harmonies, and a vibrant folk-jazz instrumentation, with Kaufman achoring  the pair on guitar and May adding coronet and ukulele. Songwriters both, they draw deep from the wells of literature, art, family, and relationships to pen songs evoking the breadth of human experience.   

The Dang Ps (as their fans call them) pair their love for songwriting, harmonizing, and arranging with a lively on-stage experience. In 2022, The Dangling Participles won the Lansing City Pulse newspaper's "Top of the Town" award for Best Folk Artist/Band.

They released their first full-length album, Present, in 2018. Local Spins website album reviewer Ricky Olmos (Grand Rapids) writes: “The Dangling Participles’ Present evokes sonic images of crowded back-alley speakeasies, smoky blues bars and exotic, faraway lands. At its heart, Present is a genre-spanning body of work, with an inclination toward acoustic-inspired songs.”

In December of 2022, they released its sophomore album One More Drop. Of this new album, music journalist Lori Stratton (Ann Arbor) writes: “The Dangling Participles thoughtfully demonstrate authenticity throughout the 12 tracks on One More Drop, which features storied lyrics, infectious multi-part harmonies and vibrant folk-jazz instrumentation.”  And in his album review for the Local Spins website (Grand Rapids), reviewer Dutcher Snedeker writes, “[L]istening to this record feels like a burst of dopamine.”