Indoor Listening

Oct. 7, 2016

Fall/Winter Concert Series

Summer music festivals may be well over, and fall fests are winding down along with the temperature outside, but that doesn’t mean that the music stops in northern Michigan. Instead, it simply moves indoors for great concert listening. Here are two series to start your season:

FRONT PORCH CONCERT SERIES

Overseen by longtime local concert organizer Seamus Shinners, this series at Traverse City’s Sleder’s Family Tavern started its fall run with a pair of shows late in September from Ireland’s Aoife Scott band and medieval/Spanish guitarist Claude Bourbon. In October it welcomed The Waydown Wanderers, whose namesake debut album was produced by The Avett Brothers’ Mike Marsh. On Nov. 13, the Porch will welcome Izzy and the Catastrophics, a boiling mix of rockabilly, swing, surf, and bebop. Canadian folk singer-songwriter James Keelaghan is expected for the series’ mid-January show, in which you’ll hear the musician’s eloquent tunes centering around themes of social is sues,

most notably on his best-known track, “Cold Missouri Waters.” And on the last Sunday in March, the Porch will welcome Bill Staines, the vintage Massachusetts singersongwriter whose own songs have been covered by everyone from Peter Paul and Mary to The Highwaymen and Nanci Griffith. Additional shows for December, February, and April are also in the works, so keep an eye on the Sleder’s website for more live music on the way.

For tickets and more information: sleders.com or (231)-947-9213

Venue: Sleder’s Family Tavern, 717 Randolph, Traverse City

GOPHERWOOD CONCERTS

Cadillac-based Gopherwood Concerts’ 33rd series opened last week with a bang that came courtesy of longtime Gopherwood performer Seth Bernard. Oct. 22 is the next show in Gopherwood’s monthly lineup, and it will feature The Whistle Stop Revue, a progressive bluegrass outfit from Detroit. Nov.

19 will bring in the West Michigan trio The Schrock Bros. (actually two brothers and their father), who harmonize, Americanastyle, with their guitar and bass lineup.

January’s show will feature Detroit singer-songwriter Chris Buhalis, fresh off the Wheatland Music Fest and promoting his brand new album Big Car Town! In February, get out of the cold with Ralston Bowles, the Grand Rapids songwriter who’s shared the stage with Shawn Colvin, Arlo Guthrie, and the Del McCoury Band, among others.

One of Gopherwood’s most popular shows each season is its Made in Michigan fundraiser, and that’s coming up on March 11, with an always-solid lineup of performers TBA. On April 15, welcome in the warmer weather with a literal spring in your step at a show by Jive at Five, a band known to “get the room swinging from the first note” with an energetic combo of swing/jazz music. Finally, the Gopherwood season ends on May 13 with a sure-to-beeclectic show from Zak Bunce, a singer and multi-instrumentalist who surprises audiences by playing everything from guitar to bass, banjo to ukulele, to spoons and trash cans.

For tickets and more information, see gopherwoodconcerts.org or call 231-846-8383 or 800-836-0717.

Venues vary by show; call for locations.