Paddling to the Sea with Song of the Lakes

Dec. 4, 2015

Their sound is comprised of many influences, from Scandinavian elements to the blues, with the water running through each and every one. Their very name is evocative of the region we all live in. And they’ve been a familiar local sound to many since 1983. Song of the Lakes began as a Celtic band playing sea shanties, and over the past three decades have evolved to incorporate jazz, world music, and even a little rock into their mix. Their 25th anniversary was celebrated with a concert at the Interlochen Center for the Arts; but there are even more numbers to take note of. The band is marking their 32nd year with their sixth album, which will be their first CD release in 10 years, by celebrating the 75th anniversary of the classic kids’ book “Paddle to the Sea” by Holling C. Holling. Song of the Lakes’ founder Michael Sullivan explains.

TRAVELING MAN

“Several years ago we performed at the Manitou Music Festival’s Dune Climb Concert, and afterwards the festival director suggested we consider the Paddle to the Sea project,” Sullivan said. “We immediately fell in love with the story — it follows the journey of a young Ojibway boy who carves a canoe man in winter and leaves it on top of a snow mound. With spring, the snow melts and the man slides into a river to begin a journey that will take several years, in which he visits all of the Great Lakes and eventually finds his way to France.”

AUDIENCE INSPIRATION

The following year, the band translated the book into a musical performance in Macomb County. “We were surprised at the 200 people who attended, of all ages, many with their ‘Paddle to the Sea’ book with them,” Sullivan said. “The audience was extremely engaged in the show to the point of tears; we’d never experienced such strong and deep emotion by an audience. This compelled us to develop a recording of the songs that we had written inspired by the book.”

BAND BONDS

Each member of Song of the Lakes brings a different element to the band, and contribute the same to the Paddle to the Sea recordings. “Ingemar (Johansson) brings the Nordic traditions, Lisa (Johansson) the classical sensitivity, Rick (Jones) the campfire jams, and I represent the Celtic and blues/rock traditions,” Sullivan explained. The band has es sentially grown up together; when they first started out, they were in their youth, with new families of their own. “Our bonds became deep-rooted, as we experienced the joys and sorrows of life together,” Sullivan said. So it’s appropriate that a kids book is serving as another catalyst for further fusing these long-time bandmates together.

STORY TO SONG

“We attempted to remain true to the content of the story and utilized some phrasing from the book,” Sullivan said. “But we also took some artistic liberties and developed a verse that repeats through most of the songs to convey a sense of an ongoing journey throughout the entire work.” Sullivan suggests absorbing both forms of media together; listening to the CD as you read the book.

A Michigan Humanities Council grant was recently awarded to the group as well, and they’ll be using it to develop a multimedia show around the book and CD for school systems. But wait — there’s more. (Let it not be said that Song of the Lakes doesn’t also have a sense of humor.) “We developed a dance to go along with one of the Paddle to the Sea songs called ‘The Lumberjack’ — it might be bigger than ‘The Macarena,’” Sullivan grinned.

Song of the Lakes are previewing Paddle to the Sea at Horizon Books in Traverse City on Dec. 11 at 8pm, and will follow this appearance with a full concert, Paddle to the Sea: A Musical Yarn at the City Opera House also in Traverse City on Feb. 27 at 7pm; this show will mark the official start of their 2016 concert tour. For more information, visit songofthelakes.com