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The local music scene in Leelanau County not only highlights the dedicated and seasoned professionals we see playing at venues through the year, but is unique in the way it welcomes and enriches the lives of young artists on the rise. From young performers like The Accidentals and Billy Strings who grew up singing and playing next to our shore of Lake Michigan, to the rising Trillium Groove, Leelanau is the perfect place for young artists and musicians to find their voice and place their roots. Trillium Groove’s upcoming Leelanau County schedule include performances at Leelanau UnCaged in Northport on Saturday, Sept. 28, and Thursday, Oct. 3, at Jacob’s Farm on M-72.

“Houses are great, but I think this is real pretty,” Jacob’s Farm owner Michael Witkop said as he stood outside the hilltop Orchard View wedding barn and gazed north across their 10-acre corn maze to the red centennial barn, where workers scurried like busy ants to open the restaurant, bar, and outdoor music venue by early June. Beyond the M-72 corridor, which connects his destination to bustling Traverse City, the hills of Leelanau County hovered in the distance like low-hanging clouds. We’re featuring Jacob’s Farm as part of our series on innovative solutions to the farming crisis. On May 7, Witkop addressed 65 attendees of Michigan State University (MSU) Extension’s first-ever Agritourism Summit, which included a tour of local agritourism businesses that have succeeded in bringing customers directly to their farms—thereby forestalling the fate that has forced tens of thousands of small farms across the United States to close in recent decades.

Housing North

The public is invited to attend “Close to Home,” a fundraising event held by the Northwest Michigan Rural Housing Partnership organization Housing North in collaboration with Here:Say Storytelling on Thursday, June 8, from 6-9 pm at the Orchard View barn at Jacob’s Farm on M-72 west of Traverse City.