Lake Street Studio Stage hosts Drew Nelson, Aug. 4, Mustard’s Retreat, Aug. 11

From staff reports

Lake Street Studio Stage in Glen Arbor is delighted to announce the next performance in its ongoing Studio Stage concert series featuring Red Horse Recording artist, Drew Nelson. The show is set for Wednesday, August 4, at 8 p.m. at Studio State, located at 6023 South Lake Street in Glen Arbor.

The Studio Stage Concert Series is a summer showcase featuring performers singing their original work at Lake Street Studio’s outdoor stage. It is a commitment to allow artists to perform their music in a concert setting and the series focuses on performers who write/sing/perform their own material. The music of Drew Nelson will be the perfect way to enjoy an August evening and the fading light of day.

Michigan-born Navy veteran Drew Nelsonis a storytelling songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. A fly fisherman and world traveler, he writes as a witness to the lives and journeys of those he has met along the way, mixing Americana and roots-rock with traditional folk styles.

Drew has toured across North America and Europe, performing solo and opening for popular rock artists like Melissa Etheridge and Edwin McCain as well as esteemed folk singers like Josh White Jr. and John Gorka.

He first met Gorka in 2006, when Nelson performed as part of Falcon Ridge Folk Festival’s prestigious songwriting contest. Gorka found him backstage after his performance and told him how much his songs moved him. Since then, Nelson has shared the stage with Gorka several times, including at such big events as the Kerrville Folk Festival. 

“Drew Nelson is one of my favorite new artists,” John Gorka says. “His songs sound like the rest of us feel … dazed, angry amazed and climbing.”

Nelson garnered further attention in 2009, when he released Dusty Road to Beulah Land (Waterbug Records), which topped the folk radio charts and caught the attention of the Grammy-winning indie label Red House Records.

“I love that Drew can rock out as well as write sensitive ballads,” Red House president Eric Peltoniemi says. “I admire his down-to-earth songwriting which portrays our world and ordinary people with such deep feeling and unflinching clarity. He has worked hard in life and hasn’t been afraid to get his hands dirty. He has 100% credibility in the subject matter he writes about, and I’m excited to get the chance to work with him.”

Nelson’s Red House debut Tilt-A-Whirl came out in early 2012. He can also be heard on the new album Dark River: Songs of the Civil War Era, along with Jon Dee Graham, Slaid Cleaves, James McMurtry and new label-mate Eliza Gilkyson. 

When Nelson is not on the road, he enjoys reading, rooting for the Detroit Tigers, doing hot yoga and working as an amateur luthier, building guitars and octave mandolins. He is also working on putting together a photography show.

Tickets cost $20 and are available at Lake Street Studio or at Oryana Food Coop in Traverse City. For tickets or more information call Lake Street Studio at (231) 334-3179.

Mustard’s Retreat, Aug. 11

Lake Street Studio Stage is delighted to announce the final performance in its ongoing Studio Stage concert series featuring the talented folk duo, Mustard’s Retreat. The show is set for Wednesday, Aug. 11, at 8 p.m.

Mustard’s Retreat is the talented duo of Libby Glover and David Tamulevitch. They have been delighting audiences by telling stories for 45 years- they are witty, insightful, fun, and profound, as well as accomplished songwriters and musician (guitars, dulcimer, electric bass, mandolin, harmonica, pennywhistle). In addition to being raconteurs and storytellers, they will give you things to laugh about for days to come and remember for years. Tales of stupid frogs, wandering cadavers, haunted bridges and techo-nerds, memories of small towns and high school, first loves and last…and places we’ve been or maybe just dreamed of.

“They may not be the ones you came to see, but they’ll be the ones you come back for” said Andy Braunfeld at Philadelphia Folk Festival

Mustard’s Retreat has always sung the songs they enjoyed and cared about, regardless of the trends of the music industry and pop culture. They are committed to simply being themselves, not chasing fame or brass rings, while delighting in and connecting with their audiences as if they were family. The honesty of what they present onstage and the extensive body of outstanding original songs and recordings all contribute to a fiercely loyal audience that continues to grow. “Music to cure what ails you” was how one reviewer in the 1970s described them, and that is as true now as it was then.

They’ve traveled more than a million miles and performed more than 7,000 shows, from pig roasts and pool parties to Lincoln Center Out of Doors, The Barns at Wolftrap and the Kennedy’s Center’s Millennium Stage.

Their performances are always joyful and uplifting, as well as intelligent, thought provoking and insightful. They’ve recently begun referring to their career and touring as “Defiantly Hopeful.” In part due to their long career, but more as a statement about what the music has meant to them. “Folk music is, at its heart, defiantly hopeful!” Tamulevich says. “We came of age in the 60s, at the confluence of Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul & Mary, Bob Dylan and the singer/songwriter revolution. We care much more about what we do and stand for and finding that common ground with our audiences, than fame or money: this is our community of choice, and we consider ourselves so fortunate to be here.”

It will be an enchanted Summer evening when Mustard’s Retreat brings their charming and heartwarming show to the Lake Street Studio Stage in Glen Arbor.