Dunegrass & Blues Fest

With all the buzz surrounding the Traverse City Film Festival this week it might be easy to overlook the region’s vibrant music scene, including the 2006 Sleeping Bear Dunegrass Festival in Empire this weekend. But that would be a big mistake because this year’s Dunegrass is light years ahead of those in the past.
Last year Stephen M. Volas and Jeremiah Sequoia, two music enthusiasts from Benzie County, jumped on board to help festival founder Mike Vandenburg kick things up a notch. They brought in Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassidy of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna fame along with Vince Welnick of the Grateful Dead and The Tubes. Festival attendance increased by 100%.
Kaukonen and Cassidy will be back this year with the “electric” version of Hot Tuna performing on Saturday night. Vince Welnick was scheduled to return but fell victim this June to what has become known as the “Grateful Dead Keyboardist Curse.” Welnick became the fourth keyboard player from the band to pass away prematurely. So Grateful Dead alumni Tom Constanten will come in Welnick’s place. Constanten was the Dead’s keyboard player during part of their heyday (including Woodstock). He has escaped the “curse” and feels that it is important to come to Dunegrass to pay tribute to Welnick on Friday night.
“Vince was a great gentleman and a soldier of music. For that very reason, I miss him in a way that I can’t explain. I will honor his memory forever,” said Constanten.
Welnick’s guitar player added this:
 “Traverse City showed Vince a
tremendous amount of love and encouragement at a time when he needed it most,” said Doug Hagman. “He always had a wonderful time there and performed several shows in Traverse City over the past couple of years. There is no place that I think is more appropriate for this band to perform a tribute to him.”
 
THE LINE-UP
Dunegrass offers an eclectic mix of local and international artists performing everything from folk to rock with bluegrass, the blues and zydeco thrown into the middle of it all.
Returning to the area for the first time in a few years and making his Dunegrass debut is Peter Harper. The Blind Pig recording artist has traveled to the area often from his home country of Australia and last year took up full-time residence near Ann Arbor. He has been busy touring North America in support of his Blind Pig debut release “Down To the Rhythm.” The album is a follow up to his 2003 multi-award winning “Way Down Deep Inside” album.
Harper made his first appearance in the area seven years ago at the invitation of the Northern Michigan Blues Society. That night he wowed a full house at the former G.T. Billiards who were mesmerized by his powerful, soulful vocals coupled with his mastery of the blues harp.
Now he returns (his last performances in the area included the 2004 Blissfest and Boardman River Festival of that same year) as a master of the didgeridoo, an instrument indigenous to his native Australia. Teaching himself, Harper has received “the blessing” of Aboriginal didgeridoo players who come to his performances and praise his “authentic” play of this sacred instrument.
 
SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
Harper began a journey of self-discovery and revelation a few years ago. It began with a chance meeting with ‘Dan Running Bear’ a Native American from the Hopi tribe. Harper became fascinated with the spirituality and culture of the American Indians. He also became aware of how little he knew about the Australian Aborigines of his homeland. He set himself a course, which completely changed his whole concept of the indigenous culture of the land in which he grew up. Harper dedicated his 2003 release “Way Down Deep Inside” to the first Australians.
Without major label support, Harper has built an impressive international following. He has been a regular at the Milwaukee Summer Fest, playing the main stage at the coveted 8 p.m. time slot. In 2004 he won the “Male Vocalist of the Year Award” at the Australian Music Awards. 
A talented songwriter whose lyrics put forward the “challenge” to think for ourselves in the political process and question the wrongs of society. But for those not interested in a social message being served with their music, no worries; Harper’s talents make even the most social-political issues danceable. Harper is a must-see, his stage presence is infectious and entertaining, coupled with his mastery of the blues harp and didgeridoo. Then throw in his smooth and silky vocals he makes even the best beers in Australia not as thirst quenching.
Catch Harper Friday night at the Loading Dock (www.loadingdock.org) in Traverse City. He performs again in the early afternoon at Dunegrass on Saturday (www.dunegrassfestival.com). Harper will close out the Traverse City Film Festival Sunday August 6 at the Closing Party. He will take the stage around 9:30 (tickets are at www.tcfilmfest.org).
 
TWO LEGENDS
For singer/songwriter fans, two legends will take the stage on Sunday. They happen to be married to each other but they seldom perform together, though anything is possible at Dunegrass. Greg Brown has been a longtime favorite of the region. He performed here a couple of summers ago at Intlerlochen and for years he use to do a fishing-concert tour of the region.
Brown will take the stage at 6 p.m. just after local favorite Steppin’ In It. Iris Dement and Greg Brown have said at the time of their marriage in November of 2003 that they were going to keep their personal and performance lives separate from one another While his wife probably won’t join him, it is a safe bet that Brown will join Steppin’ In It or vice versa. Two years ago after their Interlochen performance both headed to Union Street Station and gave a rousing jam session and Brown is a big fan of the Lansing based band, Steppin’ in It.
Mid-afternoon Sunday Iris Dement will take the stage. She is one of the most celebrated folk singers of the day. At 45, she is celebrating her 20th year in her musical career, one that is rooted in gospel (she is the youngest of 14 kids from a religious family and started singing spirituals at age 3) and inspired by the likes of Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell. But at the end of the day Dement likes for her songs to speak for themselves.
“Everything I want people to know about me is in my music,” said Dement. “I am very intimate and hands on with my music. So many approach this as a career and they look to do things to advance that career. This music is me and I refuse to create some sort of separation between me and my music so that I might have a career.”
 
 EARLY DAYS
After graduating from high school Dement took on a series of jobs waitressing and secretarial before moving to Nashville in 1988. She honed her vocal skills at open-mic nights and eventually landed a label deal with Rounder Records. She released her debut “Infamous Angel” CD which garnered instant universal acclaim. The album was popular in both country and folk circles despite the lack of support from mainstream radio. Sales success through word-of-mouth earned her a deal with Warner Bros., which reissued “Infamous Angel” in 1993.
Dement released her second album “My Life,” in 1994 and a third in 1996 “The Way I Should.”  The latter was a sharp departure from her introspective earlier works and focused on subjects of sexual abuse, religion, government policy, and Vietnam. With the exception of her collaborations with John Prine (earning her a Grammy) in the late ‘90s. Dement would not release another album until 2004 when she returned to her introspective roots with the CD “Lifeline.”
The CD has been met by mixed reviews from critics but has been well received by her fans who continue to flood to her limited performances (she performs only a few times a year these days).
“I don’t write, sing or perform for the critics,” said Dement. “I sometimes read what they have to say, but I put it behind me quickly and move on. I can’t be what other people want me to be, I am who I am.”
 
For a complete line up of the three-day Sleeping Bear Dunegrass & Blues Festival visit www.dunegrassfestival.com or call the box office at 231.882.9502.
Enclosed is a copy of your ad that will be running in the next issue of Northern Express. Please contact Kathy Johnson with approval or to discuss any changes you would like to have made.

Thank you,

Express Publications
231-947-8787 View On Our Website