2026 Drive the Beat: DJ Showcase at the Detroit Auto Show

DJ Lineup

SILLYGIRLCARMEN

Carmen Johnson is an active DJ, singer and actress born in Detroit who performs under the name SILLYGIRLCARMEN. She’s played in many exclusive settings around the world. From Detroit to LA, Montreal to Paris. And festivals such as Charivari Detroit, Movement Detroit, West Coast Weekender and Miami Music Week. Carmen is known to craft passionate sets that energize the room and ignite the dance floor. Highly requested, she has played alongside industry favorites such as Louie Vega, Moodymann, MK, Nora En Pure, DJ Minx, Rich Medina, Delano Smith, Will Clarke, EatsEverything, Gene Farris, Green Velvet and Osunlade. She is now focused on her production and original music releases from Nervous Records, Popgang Records, Soul Clap Records and her brand new label Sun & Sound Detroit. House Legends Karizma and Glenn Underground, among others, have already crafted one of a kind remixes with her original works. Carmen is 100% passionate about music, arts, and all things involving creative expansion.

Instagram: @sillygirlcarmen

Shigeto

The Detroit-based, Japanese-American musician, DJ, Portage Garage Sounds label co-founder, WDET 101.9FM host, and longtime Ghostly International artist records under the alias Shigeto. It’s his middle name and his grandfather’s name, a tribute to the Japanese branch of Saginaw’s family tree. Shigeto also means “to grow” — appropriate, given his premature birth weight of less than a pound. Today, Shigeto stands for Saginaw’s vividly beautiful electronic music. Beat-driven but given to richly textured sound design, rhythmically fractured yet melodically sumptuous, Shigeto’s music bridges the past and present, bringing the artist face to face with a creative legacy that spans decades.

Saginaw picked up the drums at an early age, spending much of his childhood playing in the Detroit/Ann Arbor music scene. After nearly flunking out of high school — save for his music studies — Saginaw spent three semesters studying jazz at the New School in NYC and three more in London, where he began woodshedding, obsessed with learning electronic production. Soon enough, beats materialized, Saginaw moved to Brooklyn in the early 2010s and took up the name Shigeto, and his peers and press began to take notice. Following a stint there, he returned home to Michigan in 2013 and since then has become part of the fabric of Detroit’s music scene.

Instagram: @__shigeto

BlaaqGold

BlaaqGold is a Detroit music producer and DJ whose sound blends soul, hip-hop, and house into timeless, emotion-driven experiences. His work bridges culture and innovation, bringing a refined sense of rhythm, storytelling, and style to every stage and collaboration.

Instagram: @blaaqgold

Emily Thornhill

In 2007, Emily began her musical career as a karaoke and open mic host in and around the Detroit area. She was the Detroit Piston’s official resident DJ from 2014 to 2019. In addition to her weekly Karaoke night, she is also a sought after DJ for corporate and private events.

Instagram: @emthornhill

Erno

Deeply rooted in the Detroit music scene, Ernie Guerra aka Erno embodies the varied styles of music the city is known to produce. Dabbling in nothing and involved with everything, Erno has been DJing and producing for over 10 years. His sets can be best described as disco and classic house having a love affair with techno, showcasing his love of over 4 decades of dance music. The backbone is funk but is adapted to modern day dance music to create a continuous experience, psychedelic even. Erno is a forefront member of Tour Detroit, the legendary summer party series that traveled to random venues each month. Also a record collector, he co-hosts a weekly 100% vinyl, crate digging night called Slow Jams, which is 16 years and running.

Instagram: @ernotheinferno

Clark Warner

Clark Warner’s DJ style incorporates ambient, melodic, and lush electronic music. His thematic DJ sets are built on a collage of moving sounds, rhythms, and soundscapes that channel time and space. Co-founder of the MINUS label, with Richie Hawtin, and veteran of the Detroit underground since the early 1990’s, he has performed internationally while holding club residencies in Detroit, Denver, and New York City. With partner Liz Warner (aka Liz Copeland), he co-hosted over sixty editions of the ‘Focus Electronic’ monthly segment on Detroit’s WDET-FM. He’s performed at festivals (Movement, Mutek, Sonar, to name a few), museums, galleries, film festivals, planetariums, clubs, and warehouses, across North America, Europe, and Australia, over the past three decades.

Instagram: @instaclark

Craig Gonzalez

Detroit’s Craig Gonzalez was drawn to vinyl from a young age, captivated by hip hop and the underground party scene of the 1990s. This fascination quickly evolved into a lifelong passion for DJing, driven by a desire to weave rhythmic layers into compelling, personal stories.

A self-taught artist, Gonzalez’s collection spans the rich musical evolution of Detroit, including techno, house, hip hop, funk, dnb, and a diverse range of other genres. His skills were further honed during his residency at Solar in Ann Arbor, where he shared the decks with renowned artists. Gonzalez has also been a frequent fixture at Movement and other major local events, where he’s shared the stage with legends in the electronic music scene. Since 2022, he has been a resident DJ for the Third Thursday monthly event by Paxahau, further cementing his presence in Detroit’s vibrant nightlife scene.

Deeply influenced by the musical depth of Detroit and the hypnotic craft of global artists, Gonzalez’s style reflects a rich, interconnected network of like-minded creators. His connection to family, history, and the culture surrounding electronic music gives his sets a profound sensibility, effortlessly translating onto the dance floor.

Instagram: @cgonz313

Father Dukes

Constantly exploring sounds of house, techno, hip hop, funk, soul, drum and bass, electro and more, Father Dukes seeks to create unique and memorable musical experiences while pushing the limits of musical cohesion. Father Dukes has been involved in Detroit electronic music for over a decade and the powerful musical legacy of Detroit are deeply inspirational to her.

Instagram: @father___dukes

Tammy Lakkis

A rising voice in Detroit electronic music, Tammy Lakkis is a multidisciplinary artist known for her playful and energetic hardware live sets and an adventurous and eclectic style of DJing. Her EP Notice on Portage Garage Sounds put her on the map as a unique one-stop-shop seamstress of sound celebrating the coexistence of the strange, the dark, and the fun. She is a resident DJ at Motor City Wine and Temple Bar. Lakkis is a natural storyteller and her music fluctuates between extremes, genre, and temperature. She fearlessly oscillates from downtempo oddities through flirty vocal House to ferocious bassline-driven bangers and back. A true lover of curveballs.

Instagram: @tammylakkis

Rebecca Goldberg

Rebecca Goldberg is a DJ, music producer and graphic designer based in Detroit. She has released high-quality music and multimedia projects for over a decade. Goldberg tours internationally as a DJ and live performer and has been featured on internet-radio shows hosted across the globe. With several EPs, remixes and live releases under her belt, Goldberg has refined her style while allowing her audience to discover and appreciate her unique sound. Her dedication to keeping Detroit music innovative is her motivating force.

Instagram: @rebecca__goldberg

Chris Campbell

Chris Campbell is an award-winning journalist, DJ, and host of The Progressive Underground on NPR affiliate WDET-FM, where he curates progressive soul, jazz, and electronic music from across the globe. A newly inducted member of the Recording Academy, he also writes for GRAMMY.com, spotlighting the artists and innovators shaping the international electronic music scene.

Instagram: @cambeaux

Patrick Ryan Hooper

Ryan Patrick Hooper is the award-winning host of “In the Groove” on 101.9 WDET-FM Detroit’s NPR station. He’s known for his “all rhythm, no algorithm” approach to music selection, connecting the musical dots between new, cutting edge releases and old school comfort food classics. As a journalist, Hooper has covered stories for the New York Times, NPR, Detroit Free Press, Hour Detroit (where he serves as a monthly cultural columnist), SPIN and Paste magazine.

Instagram: @ryanpatrickhooper

Liz Warner

Liz Warner is best known for her long-standing radio show, “Alternate Take,” on WDET Public Radio 101.9 FM. Some of the most interesting places Liz has DJed include the desert in California, the rooftop hotel in Los Angeles, at Hart Plaza, and on a riverboat on the Detroit River. A multi-media journalist, Liz studied Arts Journalism at the University of Southern California and recently was awarded a Testimonial Resolution by the Detroit City Council to acknowledge years of dedication to the music and art communities in Detroit.

Instagram: @lizmosis