Celebrating small towns and songs of Leelanau
From staff reports
Our story series celebrating songs inspired by Leelanau County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes continues with Blake Elliott’s “Small Town,” which the singer-songwriter released in 2012 “after a really hard winter.” The song offers an homage to “how our little communities in Leelanau County show up and helped us through.”
State Rep. Betsy Coffia used “Small Town” for her first official political campaign song when she ran for Grand Traverse County Commission. The Accidentals took part in the recording for the music video of “Small Town,” which was filmed and recorded at Halohorn studios in Leelanau County with Andy Van Guilder.
View the video below.
“This small town has been so good to me, with its open mind and doors, and open hearts and those steady hands that pick you up when you fall apart, which feels like almost every day,” wrote Elliott who recently moved to Vermont after 18 years in Leelanau (though she returns on occasion to play gigs in our region). “They pick you up, they dust you off, they tend the wounds, they send you on your way.”
Elliott, a former instructor in the songwriting department at Interlochen Arts Academy and who draws comparisons to Traci Chapman and Ani DeFranco, moved to northern Michigan in 2006 following a last-minute conversation at the Beach Bards Bonfire in Glen Arbor that diverted her plans to head for California.
In a 2023 interview, she told the Sun that throughout her time playing in Leelanau County she has seen the kindness and supportiveness of her fellow musicians, claiming the music scene is full of love and generosity as opposed to competition and greed.
“I love supporting other musicians and offering to connect them with a gig… many people still do that for me even,” Elliott said.
Our series celebrating songs inspired by Leelanau County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes previously featured the late Louan Lechler’s folk song, “I’m proud to say I live in Leelanau County, where people live in houses they built with their hands.”
