Summer Stages Local players aim to zing with summer plays
By Kelsey Lauer 6/15/09
If you’re in the mood for watching a good musical, seeing a little Shakespeare or even listening to Garrison Keillor, you’re in luck. From the banks of the Boardman River to the stage of the Cheboygan Opera House, theatre groups will be putting on a wide variety of plays across Northern Michigan this summer. Here’s some of what will be available:
Northern Michigan Music Fests Something for every musical taste this summer
By Kristi Kates 6/15/09
There are so many amazing music festivals set to take place both across the U.S. and internationally, you could spend your entire summer simply traveling from one to the next. But let’s say your budget - like so many of us - is only allowing one or two big-ticket events... but you still want more live music. No problem. Check out this roster of Michigan music festivals, most of them local or a mere few hours’ drive away. Several aren’t much more than $25-30, and a few are even free - and that’s the best deal of all.
Three Months of Music Annual Summer Concerts Preview
By Kristi Kates 6/15/09
It’s June, music fans, which means we’ve got your yearly roundup of the summer concert and festival events taking place around the country and around the world, so wherever you are, you’ll be able to catch the best live shows of summer 2009. We’re halfway through the first month of summer, so let’s get right to it - we’ll start things off Stateside, and then show you what’s going on overseas, too.
The Rebirth of Billy Squier By Rick Coates 6/29/09
Rocker Billy Squier dominated the arena rock scene in the early ‘80s, with a string of hits including “The Stroke,” In the Dark,” “My Kinda’ Lover,” “Emotions in Motion” “Everybody Wants You,” “The Big Beat,” “Lonely Is The Night,” “Fast Times (The Best Years of Our Lives)” and “Rock Me Tonite.” After spending a few summers touring as part of Ringo Starr’s All-Star Band, as well as taking a break from the music business, Squier is back, headlining his own tour that includes a stop in Traverse City. He will take to the National Cherry Festival Bay Side Entertainment Stage on Tuesday, July 7. Squier last performed at the National Cherry Festival in 2001 as part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame summer tour featuring Styx and Bad Company.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Kicks Off the Cherry Festival By Rick Coates 6/29/09
Kenny Wayne Shepherd was just a kid when he got his musical start. As a teenager in the early ‘90s, he and Jonny Lang were billed as “the boys who were going to save the blues.” The two guitar gunslingers were credited with introducing “America’s music” to a younger generation. Shepherd is now a young man. At 32 he is married (his wife is Mel Gibson’s youngest daughter) and has two kids and a different perspective on life and music from his wild teenage years. He will kick off the National Cherry Festival’s week long concert series on the Bayside Entertainment Stage, this Saturday, July 4. Shepherd will be joined by the Bihlman Bros., the boys from Benzie County who will soon have their first national album release and will be making their first Northern Michigan concert appearance in five years.
4Play: Don Henley, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Marshall Crenshaw, Iron & Wine
4Play Kristi Kates 6/29/09 Don Henley - The Very Best of Don Henley - Geffen Eagles singer Henley went through three record labels (Elektra, WB, and today’s Geffen) throughout the course of his recording career, and almost as many genres; ‘70s rock, ‘80s chart-pop-rock, and his late ‘80s foray into more sophisticated folky pop-rock among them. Regardless of what category he’s in, though, Henley always had a knack for the hooks, which are evident here in songs like the heartfelt romancer “The Last Worthless Evening,” the metallic pop track “All She Wants to Do is Dance,” the edgy-for-its-day “Dirty Laundry,” the desert-evoking “Sunset Grill,” and Henley’s biggest and most timeless classic, “The Boys of Summer.”
