The Bay Community Theatre in Suttons Bay kicks off its Fall 2025 live series on Saturday, Sept. 20, at 7 pm with a special solo evening with May Erlewine. One of the Midwest’s most prolific and passionate songwriters, Erlewine has a gift for writing songs of substance that feel both fresh and soulfully familiar. Her ability to emotionally engage with an audience has earned her a dedicated following far beyond her Michigan roots, touching people all over the world.
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.”
May Erlewine is a contemporary folk singer and songwriter based in Traverse City whose pastoral, socially conscious music has won a sizable and growing following throughout the Midwest and beyond. Erlewine performs on Lake Street Studio Stage as part of the Glen Arbor Arts Center’s Manitou Music series on Sunday, July 28, at 8 pm.
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.
If 2011 continues to be as full of excitement, exhilaration, and adulation as its first weekend, Emma Cook is headed for quite a year. On the evening of Sunday, Jan. 2, Emma packed The Loading Dock restaurant/bar in Traverse City with almost 200 of her closest friends for the release party of her new CD, “Days of Wonder”. The fruit of a semester off from the University of Vermont, and an autumn of intense work with Patrick Niemisto at the Holy Wah Studio near Maple City, Days of Wonder is a harvest of Emma’s crystalline voice and emerging songwriting skills.
Earthworks musicians Seth Bernard and May Erlewine joined the team for today’s 16-mile run, which took us into the Yirgachefe coffee region, and a mere 36 miles from our ultimate destination on Thursday. At every water and food stop along the road, Seth and May lit up the crowds of villagers and children, who clapped, danced, and engaged in the sort of cross-cultural love and understanding that music knows best.