Music, art, and coffee converge at Lake Street Studios
By Norm Wheeler
Sun editor
Music returns as the Lake Street Music Festival tunes up this month (behind the Center Gallery across from Cherry Republic). Organizer Harry Fried, along with booking agent Seamus Shinners of Connemara Concerts, have lined up Cameron Blake (July 21), Drew Nelson (Aug. 4), and Mustard’s Retreat (Aug. 11) (Mule Bone performed on July 14) to perform on the Studio Stage in the backyard, continuing a live music tradition that Fried took over back in 2004. That’s when the stage, originally built for the birth of the Manitou Music Festival back in the late 1980s under the direction of cellist Crispin Campbell and hosted by the Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA, now called the Glen Arbor Arts Center), was refurbished.
“We started that summer with The Turtlenecks,” Fried remembers, “then we did an arts collage concert, and a few weeks later a benefit concert for the GAAA with Los Gatos. It was me, you, and Seamus, so we called ourselves Three Musketeers Productions!”
That first summer evolved into the backyard version of the Manitou Music Festival with several shows on the studio stage and a final August show on Graduation Green at the Leelanau School. The Manitou Music series was canceled due to COVID restrictions in 2020, and the Glen Arbor Arts Center—out of an abundance of caution—concluded that it is still too soon to resume the big-crowd shows that for years have kicked off the summer high season with the popular Dune Climb Concert. (Fingers crossed, the Manitou Music series will be back with a big fanfare in 2022.)
When he heard about the cancelation for this summer, Seamus called Harry. “Do you want to do a music series, to keep us on the map for travelling musicians?” he asked. Harry agreed, and thus the four-show festival is on. Fried secured the participation of Peter Chapman of Sleeping Bear Sound LLC to turn the knobs.
“It is gratifying and necessary to keep the music tradition going here,” says Fried. “Seamus has provided 30-40 notable performers and bands over the years, including Josh White, Jr., May Erlewine, Trina Hamlin, the Peter, Paul, & Mary Revisited show, Ronny Cox (who played Drew in the movie ‘Deliverance’), and several outstanding Irish groups touring in the early days of their careers.” The Lake Street Music Festival promises to be a rousing return to live music in the bucolic backyard behind the studios.
And the variety of art available here continues apace. The Bricker sisters, Cherrie Bricker Stege and Beth Bricker, whose parents Ben and Ananda helped create the Lake Street Studios along with Suzanne Wilson and Majel Obata, are in their original Forest Gallery. On the other side of the converted gas station, Nori Obata (Majel’s daughter) has her North Gallery. Out back in the annex is the Glen Lake Artists Gallery, tended by Amy Stevens and potter John Huston. In the middle of it all is the Center Gallery, still hosting an opening every Friday from 6-8 pm. The pottery of Matt McGovern and Nina Tarr is always available there, and the weekly schedule of openings includes artists Claudia Buchmann (July 16), Jeff Condon (July 23), Denise Samuels (July 30), Judith Tummino (Aug. 6), David Giordan (Aug. 13), and Linda Beeman (Aug. 20).
The newest addition to the Lake Street Studios complex is Rinco Bros. Coffee Roasters (just off Lake Street along the side alley that leads to the Glen Arbor Arts Center). On the back corner of the building behind the Forest Gallery, Rinco Bros. Coffee Roasters is the creation of brothers Mark and Brendan Ringlever, whose father left his Rinco coffee roasting business in the Netherlands in 1965 and moved to Grand Rapids. Mark has earned his Specialty Coffee Association certification, and the brothers have repurposed their father’s original logo and feature a poster of the young Ringlever on the side of their Roastery. Elevating the Art of Coffee is their slogan, and they offer fresh coffee, tastings and demos, and fresh roasted beans. They have also figured a way to abstract sections of a painting by their mother to color up their packaging.
If the cup of Honduran coffee from Rinco Bros. that I sipped while writing this article is any indication, this is as excellent as coffee can be! Go get yourself a cup, and check out the Lake Street Studios as you sip it.
Lake Street Studio Stage hosts Cameron Blake
Lake Street Studio Stage in Glen Arbor is delighted to announce the next performance in its ongoing “Studio Stage” concert series featuring Cameron Blake. The show is set for Wednesday, July 21, at 8 p.m. at the Studio stage located at 6023 South Lake Street in Glen Arbor. Joining Cameron will be Andrew Salibra (guitar) and IanThompson (bass).
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.
“Cameron Blake’s breathtaking eye for significant detail and his skill for getting inside of characters to reveal flesh and blood human lives is nearly unparalleled among modern songwriters, no matter if they are mainstream or indie,” wrote No Depression.
Michigan-born Cameron Blake is most passionate about engaging with the parts of us that are fragile and vulnerable. This is reflected most deeply in his songs, which have touched the hearts of people all over the world. Ranging from gospel-fired, high energy roots rock to introspective folk, Cameron’s music is as diverse as his personal story. He began composing and playing the violin at the age of twelve; a talent that would eventually culminate in a Master’s Degree from the Peabody Institute of Music in Baltimore. Compassion, curiosity and a fair share of burnout took him beyond the walls of the practice room and out on the street, where he regularly worked and communed with the poor. Sharing what he experienced was the starting point for a new career path as a singer-songwriter. He taught himself piano and guitar, quickly immersed himself in the Baltimore music scene and took his individual brand of chamber folk on the road.
After meeting the love of his life and moving back to Michigan to raise a family, Cameron’s artistry bloomed into full maturity with the release of Alone On The World Stage (2015). Recorded with nothing more than voice, guitar and occasional piano, the record garnered international acclaim for its subject matter; a heart-rending, poetic and poignant picture of the issues that face the world we live in today. His keen eye for detail and skill for getting inside of characters to reveal flesh and blood human lives continued with the release of Fear Not (2017); a lush, masterfully orchestrated album that tackles the complex subject of fear. The album has earned praise from the likes of The Huffington Post and No Depression and was released throughout Europe on the Netherlands based record label Continental Song City in 2018.
If you’ve seen him before, you know that Cameron’s performances leave a lasting, emotional impact. Whether it’s performing as a frontman or a soloist, in a sold-out amphitheater or an intimate club, Cameron gives himself fully to his audience. Described as “brilliant” (Baltimore City Paper),“impressive” (Local Spins) and “beautiful” (Washington Times), Cameron’s soulful baritone voice, powerful lyrics and physical presence make him one of Michigan’s most original and compelling live performers.
The musical creativity of Cameron Blake and his trio will surely touch the heart of every listener. It will make for a perfect “mid-summer night’s dream” as the light fades and the evening twilight begins. Their performance will at the Lake Street Studio Stage in Glen Arbor and is set for Wednesday July 21, at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $20 and available at Lake Street Studio or Oryana Food Cooperative in Traverse City. For tickets or more info, call the Studio at 231-334-3179.
