LivelyLands Music Festival amplifies northern Michigan music
From staff reports
The upcoming LivelyLands Music Festival will provide a musical adventure like nothing else in northern Michigan, featuring genre-diverse artists from Austin to Leelanau County and points in between.
The festival, set for Aug. 24-26 near Empire, intermingles artists from Austin, including the pop phenom MIDDLESPOON, with local folk favorites Robin Lee Berry and Patrick Niemisto & Friends. Other local artists share the bill with acts from New York, Detroit, and Grand Rapids—performing bluegrass, rock, R&B, folk, and indie pop.
LivelyLands executive producer and founder Emily Lively, who grew up in Leelanau County and now works in Austin for SXSW, imagined the festival as a way to connect musicians and audiences from her two favorite places. After a successful first-run at her family homestead last year, Lively is returning with a three-day event centered in Empire that also highlights local food, games, bonfires, breakfast tacos, and sunsets on the beach.
LivelyLands is designed to be small, family friendly, and casual, while presenting an irresistible musical range for a sophisticated audience. Lively drew on her community and professional connections to curate a line-up that emphasizes diversity in genre, geography, and experience.
MIDDLESPOON, the Austin duo, describes their music as banana pop; Mark Lavengood and Gregory Stovetop, of Earthworks Collective fame, are roots and rock, respectively; Jason Weems and Bill Davis are fixtures in the Austin singer/songwriters scene; Little Graves is an indie pop/alt rock band originating from Leelanau County; Detroit-based Vespre, featuring Kaylan Waterman, offers elements of Soul Gaze and Nu-Disco; the North Carolines are northern Michigan’s newest dynamic Americana band with southern influence; Conor Lynch is an up-and-coming pop/folk artist from Traverse City and East Lansing, and Robin Lee Berry and Patrick Niemisto, who have performed in northern Michigan for many years to legions of fans, were mentors to Lively while growing up.
“I couldn’t be more excited and proud to gather this amazing group of musicians in this beautiful place,” says Lively. “Get ready to groove!”
LivelyLands offers a full weekend of events in the Empire area. View the full schedule of events and buy tickets at TheLivelyLands.com.
