Leland Old Art Building hosts Crockett, Ball, Brown
From staff reports
The Leelanau Community Cultural Center (The Old Art Building) is pleased to announce a very special evening of music, featuring three gifted singer/songwriters Jim Crockett, Fred Ball and Mark Brown. These “Old Friends” are coming together to perform Thursday evening, August 8, at 7:30 p.m.
Crockett is the “elder” statesman of the local folk community. His musical roots in the area go back over 30 years and many consider his “Manistee River” song as one of the folk anthems of our area.
Sharing the stage and the spotlight with Crockett will be his old friend and fellow songwriter, Fred Ball. In the late 1970s and early ’80s, Ball transformed the Glen Arbor Roller Mills from a grist mill into a recording studio. Ball recorded many of the rising stars of the local folk music scene there at his studio. Crockett was one of the first to record there. What only a few knew, was that Ball was a fine singer/songwriter himself. Ball was a surprise favorite of the crowd at the 2009 August Picnic in the Park Folk Festival in Almira Township and has opened for a Michael Smith performance for “on the porch concert series” at Sleder’s in Traverse City.
As a special added bonus for this evening, joining these two “Old Friends” in this concert performance will be their good friend and fine performer, Mark Brown. He began his professional music career by playing clubs in the Traverse City area in the early ’70s before leaving the area in 1975. After a short stint playing clubs in Charlottesville, Virg., he moved to Denver, where he played clubs in Denver, Steamboat Springs and Vail. While in Denver, Brown composed a musical, “Rules of the Game,” which was produced for the stage at the Jewish Community Center in Denver.
Brown moved to Seattle in the late ’70s, where he recorded two vinyl albums of original material with the group Stonehouse and composed a second musical, “Charley Parkhurst,” which was staged on Whitbey Island and again in Seattle.
In 2007, he recorded the CD “Words and Music,” a project produced with long-time collaborator and dear friend Paul West. In 2018, Brown produced a solo CD of recent original tunes entitled “Songs from Many Waters.” He continues to write music and perform in clubs in the Walla Walla, Wash., area, where he now resides. Mark’s musicianship on a variety of instruments and his vocal harmonies provide some added lustre to any performance that he is involved in.
This performance by a trio of “Old Friends” promises to be a fine evening of music for one and all. The Leland Old Art Building, located at 111 S Main Street, is delighted to host this special performance by Crockett, Ball and Brown. These musical musketeers create great chemistry on stage together. The show is Thursday, August 8, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $50 at the door. Tickets are available at the Old Art Building in Leland or online at MyNorthTickets.com. For more show information visit OldArtBuilding.com.
