Manitou Music Festival announces 2016 summer concert series
From staff reports
The Manitou Music Festival (MMF) presents exciting and diverse concerts featuring national and regional performers in idyllic outdoor & family friendly locations. The MMF has been a summer tradition in Glen Arbor since the mid 1990s. This year the Glen Arbor Art Association is partnering with the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to offer three additional concerts for a total of 14 concerts, many are free and they are all free to children under 18.
Northport Community Band
Sunday, July 3, 7 p.m.
Old Schoolhouse Lawn, Glen Arbor
The ever popular Northport Community Band will get you ready for Independence Day. The band concert is always a favorite activity for the whole family. Bring your lawn chairs, friends and family and enjoy this Glen Arbor tradition. FREE
Rain location: Leelanau School Auditorium
Way Down Wanderers
Sunday, July 10, 7 p.m.
18th Annual Dune Climb Concert at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Equal parts fast-paced and soulful, five-piece modern-folk Americana act, The Way Down Wanderers, draw listeners in with energy, originality and soulful generosity. Youthful and professionally trained, these young men captivate audiences with soaring instrumentals, foot stomping sing-alongs and a lively stage show. Gather your lawn chairs and your picnic baskets and join in the fun.
FREE, National Park Pass Required for Parking
Rain location: Glen Arbor Town Hall
Nessa
Sunday, July 17, 8 p.m.
Studio Stage at Lake Street Studios
Nessa is an exciting new Celtic fusion ensemble, led by flutist/vocalist Kelly McDermott, presenting a dynamic array of freshly arranged ancient Celtic ballads and folk songs from the U.K. This upbeat band combines classical, jazz, and Irish influences with accents of world music, along with clever, soulful arrangements of classic themes. Nessa is a fun, funky group with depth and color.
Rain location: Glen Arbor Town Hall
Blue Horizon featuring Lee Murdock
Wednesday, July 20, 7 p.m
Coast Guard Station Maritime Museum Lawn at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Great Lakes troubadour Lee Murdock has formed a new band, Blue Horizon, adding buoyant harmonies and rhythmic undercurrents to build a sound that’s as refreshing as a splash of fresh water over the bow. Lee Murdock is broadly acknowledged as “the premier interpreter of songs and tales about the Great Lakes,” Blue Horizon’s arrangements of Lee’s carefully researched traditional tunes is a meeting of the old and the new. Limited seating will be provided. You are welcome to bring your own lawn chairs.
Rain location: Leelanau School Auditorium
Mulebone
Sunday, July 24, 8 p.m.
Studio Stage at Lake Street Studios
Mulebone, this Brooklyn-based blues duo consists of Hugh Pool on guitar, boot board, vocals, and harmonica, and John Ragusa on any number of flutes, tin whistles, jaw harp, and conch shells. Inventive instrumental know-how and boundless blues expression evoke the muggy Mississippi Delta. Together they are a potent force in contemporary blues – original and interesting.
Rain location: Glen Arbor Town Hall
The Crane Wives
Wednesday, July 27, 8 p.m.
Studio Stage at Lake Street Studios
The Crane Wives are a homegrown indie-folk group that defies musical stereotypes. They utilize three-part harmonies, eclectic instrumentation, and a passion for songs crafted to create music that is both accessible and innovative. Their live show features contagious energy with original music that ranges from quiet ballads to danceable groove.
Rain location: Glen Arbor Town Hall
Jeremy Kittel Trio
Sunday, July 31, 8 p.m.
Studio Stage at Lake Street Studios
Jeremy Kittel is a fiddler, violinist, and composer, fluent in multiple musical genres. He moves from original Celtic compositions to Irish-tinged jazz, new grass and triple-fiddle harmonies, with startling improvisations and plenty of traditional Scottish and Irish tunes. Joshua Pinkham, mandolin, and guitarist Quinn Bachand round out the trio.
Rain location: Glen Arbor Town Hall
The Moxie Strings
Wednesday, August 3, 8 p.m.
Studio Stage at Lake Street Studios
The Moxie Strings is the electrifying combination of fiddler Diana Ladio, and cellist Alison Lynn. With their feel good melodies and foot stomping rhythms, these girls have put a fresh, enticing spin on Celtic and Americana music. Their ear catching originals and dance worthy traditional tunes have quickly made them one of the most well-loved instrumental acts.
Rain location: Glen Arbor Town Hall
Dave Hardin
Sunday, August 7, 8 p.m.
Studio Stage at Lake Street Studios
Dave Hardin’s music exemplifies the combination of hill music, bluegrass, twang, and flat-top pickin’ now known as Americana. His songs come from observing life’s triumphs and hardships. Dave’s voice is instantly recognizable, and his style of playing is full and rich, with notes, chords and percussion all from his guitar.
Rain location: Glen Arbor Town Hall
Goitse
Wednesday, August 10, 8 p.m.
Leelanau School Lawn
Forged in the white-hot creative crucible of Limerick University’s Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, Goitse have graduated with a musical maturity worthy of the greatest. Their distinctive sound lies in the quality of their own compositions interspersed with traditional tunes from Ireland and abroad, which make each set entertaining and unique.
Rain location: Leelanau School Auditorium
Summer Singers
Tuesday, August 16, 7 p.m.
Glen Lake Community Reformed Church, Burdickville
Enjoy an evening with the Summer Singers, an all-volunteer group of fifty voices who will present a wide variety of vocal works under the direction of Dana Allen. This enthusiastic group of mixed voices has been singing to a packed house for many years. They are a popular local tradition. FREE
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Find Your Park Concert Series
FREE — National Park Pass Required for Parking
The National Park Service turns 100 this year. Join in the celebration with a concert in the park this summer and find your park through music. Park rangers, campers, and visitors will have a toe-tapping musical evening at DH Day Campground amphitheater.
Due to limited parking, visitors who are not camping will be asked to park in Glen Haven and hike or bike to the D. H. Day Campground amphitheater via the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail.
Brett Mitchell
Thursday, June 30, 8 p.m.
DH Day Campground Amphitheater
He’s a drummer turned guitarist turned singer-songwriter. He’s Brett Mitchell and he knows how to stitch together some standout music from a wide range of materials. His heartfelt and sincere songwriting and his appealing vocals, whether he is singing lead from guitar or drums, deliver a live show that is high energy and riveting.
Mark Lavengood — Roots
Wednesday, August 17, 8 p.m.
DH Day Campground Amphitheater
Mark Lavengood is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, dobro player. Eccentricity and diversity are two names of his main frame. “Lavengood has woven together a sound quilt of friendship and American Roots music that could have only happened in Michigan” according to Seth Bernard.
