Rick Coates

Music Rick Coates Blue October takes aim at suicidal behavior
By Rick Coates
Matt Noveskey grew up in Traverse City as part of a musical family.
The 1994 graduate of St. Francis High School credits his family’s
diverse interests in music in shaping his path in the rock band, Blue
October.

Art Rick Coates Devo This: The Art of Mark Mothersbaugh
By Rick Coates
While Mark Mothersbaugh might not be a household name, his work
certainly is. From his work as the lead singer of Devo (“Whip It,
“Through Being Cool,” “Jocko Homo,”) to producing the jingles from
hundreds of commercials (Hawaiian Punch, Hershey’s, Coca-Cola,
McDonald’s, Nike, and Toyota) and several movie and TV soundtracks and
theme songs (Rugrats, PeeWee’s Playhouse), Mothersbaugh is near the
front of every Rolodex in Hollywood.

Dining Rick Coates SweeTango Apples
This weekend kicks off the annual
Charlevoix Apple Festival, and while apples do not get as much play as
cherries do, they are very important to our economy. In fact
Michigan’s largest and most valuable fruit crop is the apple with an
average annual economic contribution to the state of $700-$900
million.

Music Rick Coates Petoskey’s Rocker: Mark Farner
By Rick Coates
Grand Funk (Railroad) founding member and frontman Mark Farner has
made Petoskey his home for the past 25 years. Tack on another 10 years
he lived in Onaway before that and Farner is a “Northern Michigan” guy
through and through and “darn glad of it,” especially right now.
Farner, who left Grand Funk after the band’s 1999 tour, will perform
in Petoskey, this Saturday, Oct. 2, at the Odawa Casino’s Ovation
Hall.

Dining Rick Coates Tannery Creek Market
D. “The Meatman” Schultz has been an entrepreneur since graduating
from high school. He even did a stint as Mark Farner’s (Grand Funk)
manager. He decided eight years ago that his “last entrepreneurial
hurrah” would be to open an old style butcher shop in Petoskey.

Music Rick Coates Rootstand throws a Rootenanny
By Rick Coates
What has been a great summer of outdoor music festivals throughout
Northern Michigan wraps up this weekend with Rootenanny, hosted by
acoustic roots rockers, Rootstand. The three-day festival (September
24-26) in Ellsworth will feature 20 bands and is being promoted as a
family-friendly event for all ages.

Dining Rick Coates Chili by The Bay
It is tailgate season and that means a lot of secret chili recipes will find their way to many stadium parking lots. Legend has it that chili originated in Texas sometime in the early 1800s by cowboys who drove cattle through the plains and needed simple meals. One theory is that cooks traveling in these cattle caravans planted oregano, chiles, and onions among patches of mesquite to protect them from foraging cattle. The next time they passed the same trail, they would collect the spices, combine them with beef, and make a dish called “Trail Drive Chili”.
In the Midwest, Cincinnati chili is the regional favorite. Typically “Cincinnati-style chili uses unique ingredients such as chocolate, cinnamon or cloves and typically does not use chili powder or chili peppers. It is usually served over spaghetti, hot dogs, chili or chips.”
Traditional dishes include two-way: spaghetti and chili; three-way: spaghetti, chili, and shredded cheese; four-way: spaghetti, chili, shredded cheese, and either diced onions or beans; five-way: spaghetti, chili, shredded cheese, diced onions, and beans.

Dining Rick Coates Great Lakes Chip Company
America’s number one snack food? The potato chip of course. According to potato chip folklore this crunchy snack and sandwich side was developed purely by accident. In the summer of 1853, Native American George Crum was employed as a chef at an elegant resort in Saratoga Springs, New York. A dinner guest was upset with the thickness of Crum’s french fries and sent them back.
Crum in turn was upset and decided to send out the thinnest fries he could make, the guest was ecstatic over the browned, paper-thin potatoes and word began to spread about Crum’s “potato chips.”
Michigan is one of the top producers of potatoes grown for potato chips and Traverse City entrepreneurs Chris and Ed Girrbach (of Pangea’s restaurant in Traverse City) decided to take advantage of the crop. Earlier this summer they launched the Great Lakes Potato Chip Company. Not only are they using local potatoes and seasonings, they are manufacturing and distributing their chips from a production company at the base of the Leelanau Peninsula.

Dining Rick Coates 231 Harvest Signature Cocktail
The Evening with Mario Batali in Traverse City a few weeks ago attracted
2,000 guests who dined on Batali recipes prepared by the chefs from The
Cooks’ House and Epicure Catering. While the food was exceptional and the
culinary teams are to be commended for preparing 10 recipes to perfection,
equally impressive was the 231 Harvest Signature Cocktail introduced that
evening.

Features Rick Coates Striding the Straits: The Mackinac Bridge Labor Day Walk
By Rick Coates
On Labor Day, tens of thousands of walkers will converge on the 53rd Annual Mackinac Bridge Walk. Since there is no fee charged to walk, only estimates are available on how many people participate; organizers guess that on a great year it‘s 60,000 plus, and on an average year, around 45,000. All indications point to this being a great year.
“This has been a great tourism season here in St. Ignace,” said Janet Peterson, executive director of the St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce. “The weather has certainly helped out this year
compared to last year. The Bridge Walk is one of the big events of the year for us; it is sort of the unofficial end of the summer celebration for a lot of people.”

Features Rick Coates Labor Day Weekend Getaways
By Rick Coates
It‘s the last official weekend of summer (even though summer is still around officially for a couple more weeks) and from BBQ’s to boating there is plenty to do in Northern Michigan. Here are a few
suggestions that might not be on your radar for a Labor Day Weekend getaway:

Music Rick Coates The Sun still Shines for KC’s Disco Days
By Rick Coates
Few musicians can take credit for actually creating a music style, but when you ask who was responsible for the disco music scene of the early ’70s, one Howard Wayne Casey comes to mind.
Casey founded the KC and the Sunshine Band in 1973 and is the force behind such hits as “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty,” “Give It Up,” “Keep It Comin’ Love,” “That’s The Way (I Like It),” “I’m Your Boogie Man,” “Get Down Tonight,” and “Boogie Shoes.” Along with the Bee Gees and Donna Summer, KC pioneered the disco music and dance scene.
Howard Wayne Casey, nicknamed KC, brings his band to Northern Michigan this weekend to the Odawa Casino Resort in Petoskey. The Saturday concert will be the band’s first appearance in Northern Michigan in years.
“I am looking forward to it up there. Is it snowing yet? I love the snow,” laughs KC. “I have been checking the weather up there and see that it has been great all summer. But truly I like the snow. I live in Miami and we don’t get snow, so I love it because I get to see it and then leave it.”

Dining Rick Coates Hall’s Sweet Corn
Northern Michigan sweet corn is making the headlines this summer. Scientists released a study earlier this summer attributing the Michigan corn crop to lower summertime temperatures. Climatologists claim that the increase in corn crops in Michigan over the past 60 years increases the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, resulting in cooler temperatures. In other words, our summer might have been even hotter this year, if it weren’t for all the corn grown in Michigan.
Okay, that is way too much science for something that tastes so good. The sweet corn crop in the region is in full harvest. Last week I was at the Traverse City Farmers’ Market and there was a crowd gathered around Hall’s and their giant trailer full of sweet corn. I asked one person in line about it who said Hall’s is the “best anywhere and I come every Wednesday and Saturday to get it.”
Well, when I loaded up my bag and went to pay, I asked for the secret to their success and the young woman just smiled and said, “It is all in the water, that’s all I am saying.”

Features Rick Coates Larry Bell: Craft brew titan started as a home-brewer
By Rick Coates
Larry Bell is the “godfather” of the Michigan craft brew industry of
microbreweries and brewpubs. While the modern craft brew industry
started out West, Bell is one of its pioneers this side of the
Mississippi River. He has inspired legions of brewmasters to follow in
his footsteps.

Music Rick Coates It feels like the first time for re-energized Foreigner
By Rick Coates
Foreigner guitarist, lyricist and co-founder Mick Jones has seen the good, the bad and the ugly of the music business. He brings a reincarnated Foreigner to Interlochen Center for the Arts on Thursday.
Jones is the only original member left in the band that released 39 singles with 20 reaching the into the Billboard Top 20. Since their first release in 1977, Foreigner has sold more than 50 million albums, packing such hits as, “Cold As Ice,” “Feels Like the First Time,” “Hot Blooded,” “Double Vision,” “Dirty White Boy,” “Waiting For A Girl Like You.”