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When Leelanau County singer-songwriter Joshua Davis introduced his song “Up to the Light” at an April concert at the Old Art Building, he shared the story about the song’s inspiration and announced its part in the Consenses Walks project about to be unveiled in Leland, an artistic game of “Telephone” including seven local artists. The game challenged another artist, anonymous to him, to respond to his song in their own creative format, just as he’d sat down with the Infinite Disc sculpture on the Leland River to form his own creative response to it. The chain was to continue until all of the artists formed creative interpretations in their own mediums. Davis, sculptor Charlie Hall, painter Kristin MacKenzie Hussey, poet Michelle Leask, potter Benjamin Maier, fabric designer Maggie Mielczarek, and ice cream maker Joe Welsh are part of Consenses, a challenge for artists of varying mediums living in the same community to work together in an anonymous chain of inspiration until all five senses are represented. Leland is home to the second completed Consenses Walks founded by Sally Taylor, an artist, musician and former music professor at Berklee College of Music.

Tickets are still available for Leelanau County resident Joshua Davis’ concert on Saturday, April 15, at the Old Art Building in Leland. “There are so many reasons I love the Old Art Building besides the fact that it’s a quick drive for me,” Davis told the Glen Arbor Sun. “I love the history of the building. I love the community that supports it. I love that it embraces all mediums of art, and the sound (there) is killer. It’s one of those really special venues.”

The fields at Backyard Burdickville in Empire Township will come to life once again with the sound of music. The LivelyLands Music Festival returns, Aug. 20-22, to the former Empire Eagles’ campground on M-72, which the Lively family purchased in 2019. LivelyLands was canceled last year during the COVID-19 shutdown. With guitar picking and beautiful maladies crooning through the fields and forests, this intimate, “backyard” festival carries the legacy of Leelanau County summer music festivals.

Comfy chairs, soft lighting, and the tuning of a left-handed guitar set the scene. As fans log on to watch Joshua Davis play, he welcomes them individually with a smile. It hasn’t been easy on performers since the Coronavirus pandemic took deep hold in March, and Davis is no exception. Never mind the fact that he is semi-famous, having been a finalist on the NBC show “The Voice” in 2015—life has been hard. “It was a Wednesday and I had all my gigs canceled on me,” he told me during an interview over Zoom. “My booking agent called me up and they were like, ‘Everybody’s canceling.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, not only is that all my income, but it’s also my creative outlet and it’s my joy.’ So I’ve gotta figure something else out.”

The Leelanau Community Cultural Center will host Holly POP! Come to the Old Art Building in Leland, on Nov. 23-24 from 10 a.m.–4 p.m., and step into a one-of-a-kind shopping experience, featuring distinctive artisanal products and celebrate the beauty of the holiday season.

I track down Joe Wilson at a sweet two-story house tucked in the woods in Leelanau County. It’s daytime, so Joe is the daycare dad of his seven-year-old son Oliver, a friendly 2nd grader. Joe’s wife Emily is out digging in the dirt somewhere in The County running her Green Thumb Landscapes business. A brilliant dobro player, Joe gigs most nights in one of the many bands it takes for a local to piece together a living as a musician up north. Sundays it’s The Hot Biscuits at Martha’s Table in Sutton’s Bay, Mondays it’s Cabin Fever at Boonedock’s in Glen Arbor, some Fridays it’s the Joe Wilson Trio at Union Street Station in Traverse City, some nights it’s at Hop Lot in Suttons Bay, or the Aurora Winery with E Minor. Joe has schlepped his axe and his gear in and out of pretty much every full- and part-time music venue across the north. How did he make the choice that required not just talent, but patience, determination, luck, and moxie?

From staff reports Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore once again find itself in the spotlight of ABC’s “Good Morning America”. In 2011, the show’s viewers picked our National Lakeshore as America’s “most beautiful place”. That gave tourism to Sleeping Bear and the Glen Arbor region a shot in the arm. This time, ABC’s Ginger Zee […]

On Thursday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m., Frankfort’s Garden Theatre will show The People and the Olive, a documentary created by Aaron Dennis and Glen Arbor Sun editor Jacob Wheeler, as well as music by Joshua Davis from his forthcoming album “A Miracle of Birds”. The film follows this year’s Run Across Palestine — a five-day ultra-marathon across the West Bank of Palestine to illuminate the struggles of fair-trade olive farmers. Davis’ album is inspired by the run, and his experiences as a Jewish-American in Palestine. Learn more about the film here.

Traverse City filmmaker Aaron Dennis (his dad, Jerry, writes wonderful books about the Great Lakes) and I are thrilled that the State Theatre in Traverse City will host the world premier of our documentary, The People and the Olive, on Monday, Sept. 10 at 6:30 p.m.