DUNEGRASS FESTIVAL DANCES INTO TENTH YEAR

from staff reports
Get ready for some country jammin’ folks. The 10th annual Sleeping Bear Dunegrass & Blues Festival is upon us, and the facilitators don’t have to find a new location for the daylong party this year.

Show up early on Saturday, August 3, at the big field next to the ???? Church, off of M-22 in downtown Empire. The music and dancing last from 10 a.m. to nearly sunset, interspaced by eating breaks and trips to the nearby Empire beach. The shuttle bus as well as the usual vendors and arts and crafts fair will be there. The Beach Bards poetry troupe will MC us through the day as always. Advanced tickets cost $15, and can be picked up at various locations including Deerings Market in Empire, New Moon Records or Oryana Natural Foods in Traverse City, or by calling 326-5287. Tickets cost $20 at the gate.
Here’s the list of bands, with plugs from Amelia Vanderberg, enthusiastic environmentalist, current organizer and daughter of the festival’s founder, Mike Vanderberg:
Open mic, 10-11:30
Ryan Bodiford, 12-1
“Darn talented solo acoustic guitar player from Gaylord.”
Les Dalgliesh 1-2
“Local singer-songwriter who evokes joyful tears with his gentle voice.”
Green Sky Bluegrass 2-3
“fun people from Kalamazoo – great dancing music.”
Planet22 3-4
“band from Pennsylvania that has come to Dunegrass for years as kids. Creative musicians who play innovative music. Now it’s there turn to perform.”
The following bands are Dunegrass veterans.
Cabin Fever 4-5
“terrific folk-bluegrass band that has been here since beginning. These are locals who get ‘creepy’.”
K-Jones and the Benzie Playboys 5-6
“Cajun band fresh of a mighty performance at Bliss Festival three weeks ago.”
Mobile Cheifing Unit 6-7
“an up-and-coming reggae band from Kalamazoo that includes festival organizer Amelia Vanderberg.” What’s up with the name, Amelia?
Super Strain 7-last call, whenever we get tired!
“the best jam band currently on tour. Check ‘em at www.superstrain.com.”
Amelia was only 8 years old when the first Dunegrass Festival fell into place on the big field across M-72 from the Empire Visitors Center. Almost no one expected the festival to see its ten-year anniversary, especially two years ago when Dunegrass was not able to lease the original field any longer. Amelia credits her mother with asking the Empire Village Council for help in placing 1,500 people and an entire music festival – which generates plenty of money for the local community — somewhere else in town. “It worked out well that the Deerings graciously allowed us to have the festival on its current sight,” Amelia says. “Things generally seem to fall into place with this festival, and we don’t have to worry about anything.”