Interlochen scores with a super summer lineup

Interlochen scores with a super summer lineup
You could almost hear the high-fives sounding across Northern Michigan last week as the Interlochen Center for the Arts announced what may be its best summer concert season ever.
For starters, the festival is finally bringing Bob Dylan to the stage on the heels of his Grammy-winning smash career that has left music critics around the world agog at the 65-year-old legend’s enduring success. And with performers such as the Black Crowes, Guster, Moody Blues and Nickel Creek lined up, the season promises to be one of the liveliest in memory. There will even be performances by local guitar heroes Kenny Olson and Jeff Bihlman wrapping up the summer.
Over the course of two months, Interlochen will present more than 30 major performances, starting with the folk-pop trio The Wailin’ Jennys on June 18 and continuing through August 25 with Leo Kottke and a host of master guitarists.

Highlights of the summer series include:

JUNE
THE WAILIN’ JENNYS (June 18). This critically acclaimed Canadian folk-pop trio has exploded onto the roots music scene, performing their three-part harmonies frequently on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion and in packed houses across the U.S.
With his exquisite guitar style, expressive voice and honest performance, DOUGIE MACLEAN (June 21) has been hailed as Scotland’s finest living songwriter.
PETER FRAMPTON (June 26) asks the musical question, “Do you feel like I feel” with a string of pop/rock hits. His 1976 album, “Frampton Comes Alive!” made him a superstar; a Grammy this
year proves he is still one of the most inventive guitar players around.
Two of the most original voices to emerge during the 1980s team up for a blockbuster summer tour. LYLE LOVETT and K.D. LANG (June 27) share a talent for incisive, witty lyrical detail and an eclectic approach of music.
The PACIFICA QUARTET (June 28) continues to win the hearts of audiences around the world with its approach to the string quartet.
Vocalist NNENNA FREELON and THE WORLD FAMOUS COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA (June 30). Freelon tips her hat to the classic singers who have performed with the band, including Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.

JULY
Hailed by Melody Maker as “The Most ‘Rock-n-Roll’ Rock-n-Roll Band in the World,” the hard rock jam band THE BLACK CROWES (July 3) creates a fierce blues-oriented sound with a high-energy stage show.
THE CAPITOL STEPS (July 5) offer their brand of political fireworks in what has become an Independence Day tradition at Interlochen. Their parodies take potshots at the goings-on in Washington on both sides of the political aisle.
GUSTER (July 6) brings a spirit of alternative rock to the Kresge stage. Favoring short, catchy tunes and intricate vocal harmonies, the band has been hailed as one of the greatest independent successes of the 1990s.
Interlochen audience favorite, Russian virtuoso OLGA KERN (July 9) was awarded a Gold Medal at the 11th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition – the first woman to have achieved this distinction in more than 30 years.
At 65, BOB DYLAN (July 10) is writing some of the most moving and perceptive songs of his career – and earning Grammy Awards for Best Rock Vocal and Best Contemporary Folk Album.
COLLAGE (July 11) remains one of Interlochen’s most popular events – a tour de force sampler of student performances encompassing music, dance, theatre, creative writing, visual arts and film.
Like a live action cartoon, FRED GARBO’S INFLATABLE THEATER COMPANY (July 11) blends physical comedy, dance and juggling with fantastic pneumatic inventions.
One of the most powerful voices in country music today, TRACE ADKINS’
(July 12) smoky baritone and the rugged authenticity he brings to his music have made him a star.
America’s preeminent jazz saxophonist, BRANFORD MARSALIS, showcases his classical skills with the WORLD YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (July 15).
NICKEL CREEK (July 16) The Grammy-winning trio’s contemporary take on bluegrass has been described as “modern rock with acoustic instruments, played with bluegrass virtuosity.”
ANTHONY RAPP (July 17) is best known for originating the role of Mark Cohen in the Tony Award-winning rock opera “Rent.” A singer, actor, best-selling author and Interlochen alumnus, he performs songs from Broadway and reflects on his life on stage and the big screen.
The AVALON STRING QUARTET (July 19) has been hailed as “one of the most exciting young string quartets in America” by The Washington Post.
ANONYMOUS 4 (July 20) is four women combining musical, literary and historical scholarship with contemporary a cappella performance as they interweave music with poetry and narrative.
THE MOODY BLUES (July 21) are one of the most enduring and beloved rock bands in history. Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graeme Edge celebrate a catalog of hits spanning four decades.
JOSHUA BELL, the most exciting and influential violinist of his generation, joins the WORLD YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (July 22).
BATTLEWORKS DANCE COMPANY (July 24) boasts a repertoire of quirky idiosyncratic dances that are brilliantly composed and executed.
Synonymous with New Orleans jazz, the PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ
BAND (July 25) was awarded the National Medal of Arts for preserving a great American musical heritage.

AUGUST
THE CHARLIE DANIELS BAND (August 9) has embraced everything from country and bluegrass to rock, blues and gospel. The band’s 1979 single “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” won a Grammy Award and propelled the band to stardom.
JOHN HIATT and SHAWN COLVIN (August 10), share a solo acoustic double-bill. With his whiskey-soaked vocals and rowdy guitar-fueled blues-rock, Hiatt evokes such legends as Bruce Springsteen and Elvis. Folkie Colvin is a three-time Grammy winner.
BÉLA FLECK and THE FLECKTONES (August 12) have reinvented the image and sound of the banjo. Eight-time Grammy-winner Fleck has been nominated in more categories than anyone in Grammy history.
LEO KOTTKE (August 23) is a deep-talking Midwestern raconteur whose quick wit is matched only by his astounding skill on the six and twelve string guitars.
CLASSICAL and JAZZ MASTERS (August 24) features classical guitar virtuosos Jason Vieaux and Martha Masters, and jazz greats Gene Bertoncini, Howard Alden and Lee Dyament.
HOT ROCK and BLUES (August 25). Guitarist Kenny Olson of The Flask, Son Seal’s guitarist Jeff Bihlman, Gloria Estefan and Kenny Loggins’ guitarist John Defaria, and Interlochen’s own John Wunsch mix it up with rising stars Stoll Vaughan, Pablo Signori and Emre Yilmaz.

Tickets may be purchased online at http://tickets.interlochen.org. To purchase tickets over the phone, call the Interlochen Box office at 800-681-5920 or 231-276-7800 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

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