Beat the Winter Blues with Music

Dec. 11, 2015

The winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night each year. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, this occurs in December, while people long for the sun and grumble about the limited hours of daylight.

Blissfest music festival is one of the highlights of a northern Michigan summer, and folks who aren’t necessarily “winter people” might be wishing they were back in those warm July days.

No one can change the weather, but the Blissfest organization is trying to shed a little light on the full cycle of the seasons by bringing some of their music to the winter months via their annual Solstice Celebration.

JUMPSTART JAMS

“We’ve all heard of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder),” said Blissfest guru Jim Gillespie. “And a lot of folks experience what’s just called the winter blues. ‘Dark’ and ‘cold’ are not really terms that elicit a lot of joy for most of us here around the 45th parallel, but what really seems to help me is music, either playing it or listening to it.”

Bring music together with people, Gillespie explained, and you’ve got a better chance at fighting off those winter blues.

“Solstice celebrations, which are tradition in many cultures, offer help by getting like-minded folks together as a community to experience human company together,” he said. “We all know the intense feelings we get doing this in the summer, such as at Blissfest, but gatherings any time are a real jumpstart for most of us.”

LOCAL GROOVES

Held at the Emmet County Community Building at the Fairgrounds, Blissfest’s Winter Solstice Celebration includes live music, plus a pre-concert winter potluck, a silent auction to support Blissfest and find holiday gifts, dancing and plenty of grooving to bring a little brightness to the dark evening.

This year’s performers, as always, are a mix of familiar local musicians and imported sounds.

“This year we are featuring Peter Harper and the Midwest Kind; he’s an award-winning singer-songwriter who creates a mix of original world, blues and roots music,” said Blissfest marketing assistant Dan Calloway. “You’ll hear soulful vocals, wailing harmonica and the haunting drone of the didgeridoo (an Australian wind instrument).”

Boyne City funk duo The Pistil Whips will also perform, along with Gillespie’s own band, Dr. Goodhart’s Home Remedy, and local singer-songwriter consortium The Shifties, among others.

“People often say that the Solstice Celebration is halfway to the next Blissfest,” Gillespie said, “and it actually is like a little mini-Blissfest for our local community.”

MELODIC COMMUNITY

The Winter Solstice Celebration will also benefit Blissfest’s Cabin Fever initiative, an ef fort to build efficient, solar-powered cabins to accommodate guests at the Blissfest Recreation Center. The cabins will also be used in Blissfest’s new artists-in-residency program.

“The Blissfest will provide a cabin and basic recording system for artists to use to create,” Gillespie said. “The artists will be encouraged to share their art via performance for our new farm-to-table dinners and other events planned for our new recreation center.”

The new recreation center located on the Blissfest farm property in Bliss, Mich., features cabins, a rustic campground and an assembly building, all of which are available for Blissfest, community and private events, as well as general recreational camping.

“The center will provide opportunities to experience and connect with art, culture, nature and family,” said Calloway.

And, of course, there will be music, which Calloway calls “the universal language that brings us together to soothe the soul.”

“Just consider the Blissfest Solstice Celebration our winter blues therapy session,” Gillespie added, “with music, feasting and community to provide a little remedy for these cold and dark times.”

The 2015 Blissfest Winter Solstice Celebration will be held at the Emmet County Community Building in Petoskey on Saturday, Dec. 19 starting at 5pm. For tickets and more information, visit blissfest.org.