Two Concerts Worth the Winter Drive

Throw on the parka (and your dancing shoes) for these February performances

By Ross Boissoneau | Jan. 31, 2026

Winter time is concert time. True, there aren’t nearly as many shows as in the summer, but it’s still a good time to catch your favorites or have your ears opened to new discoveries. While you don’t have to brave the crowds, you do have to brave the weather. So here are a couple picks to make the drive worthwhile, whether that drive is 20 minutes or two hours.

Worth The Drive #1: Full Cord, with special guest Robin Lee Berry

Freshwater Gallery, Boyne City, Feb. 14

“It’s not quite progressive and it’s not quite traditional,” says bassist Todd Kirchner of Full Cord’s brand of bluegrass. The band’s mix of Western Swing, rock and roll, jazz, and traditional bluegrass provides virtually every audience with something familiar and something new.

“We’re not pigeonholed into one thing,” says Kirchner.

That gives the group the ability to switch up its set based on the venue and the audience. If it’s an older audience, the group might lean a little more traditional. On the other hand, “If it’s people wearing tie-dyes, we pull out our rock and roll,” says guitarist Eric Langejans.

Kirchner and Langejans met years ago and immediately forged a connection. “I met Eric at a bluegrass festival and we started picking. We hit it off. We hung out the whole night and said, ‘We need to do this on the regular,’” remembers Kirchner.

Together with mandolinist Brian Oberlin and Max Allard on banjo, they make up the core of Full Cord. Fiddler Chase Potter will be joining the group in its incarnation as a quintet. That’s another way in which the versatility of the group manifests itself: It can play as a trio, quartet, or quintet depending on the venue or who’s available.

The group is based primarily in West Michigan. Langejans lives in Holland, while Kirchner is from Grand Haven and Oberlin calls Grand Rapids home. Allard is originally from Chicago but now resides in Ohio, while Potter flies into gigs from his home in Nashville.

Full Cord won the prestigious 2022 Telluride Bluegrass Band Competition in Colorado, and followed that up being named the Momentum Award Band of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association. Kirchner says that recognition has helped propel them into more and bigger gigs.

Still, it’s the versatility that marks the band. Asked what their favorite song to perform is, Kirchner says “I like funky songs.” He opts for “Stealin,’” an old jug band song also covered by the Grateful Dead (Kirchner cites Jerry Garcia as his earliest inspiration).

Langejans goes a little farther afield: “I kind of like the songs people don’t see coming. ‘Ride Like The Wind’ by Christopher Cross. When people hear that, they’re like, ‘What?’” he says.

Opening the show is Robin Lee Berry. She and her husband Tony Williams own Freshwater Gallery. Even though she’s a familiar face around the region, Berry has only played at the gallery a couple other times, opting to present other artists. “It’s quite an opportunity. I’m in front of a really hot bluegrass band,” she says. “How do I put a set together?”

Apparently by mixing and matching. Berry is a seasoned folk performer, but also boasts a jazz background, including time spent fronting the Bay Area Big Band and with the Northwestern Michigan College Vocal Jazz Ensemble. So she’ll be looking to include some jazz standards—she says it’s likely “My Funny Valentine” will be in her set—as well as some of her originals.

She’s looking forward to becoming part of the audience after her set. “Full Cord is different and exciting. It’s high energy, they keep it moving. They’ll throw in some Pink Floyd, bluegrass style. It’s kind of a new sound.”

It’s also worth the drive to hear Full Cord in Traverse City. The group is playing two shows in the region: Feb. 13 at Milliken Auditorium and the Feb. 14 show at Boyne City, though Berry is only performing at the latter.

Tickets are $45. Call (231) 582-2588 to reserve.

Worth The Drive #2: Keith Hall Brazilian Jazz Trio, with Chico Pinheiro

The Alluvion, Traverse City, Feb. 27

Professor of Jazz Drum Set at Western Michigan University Keith Hall spent a dozen years touring worldwide and recording with singer and saxophonist Curtis Stigers. Hall has also performed with other jazz royalty, including Randy Brecker, Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis, New York Voices, Janis Siegel, and many more.

He lived and worked in New York City for nine years, performing in a multitude of musical contexts, including as a regular sub for Tommy Igoe on Broadway’s The Lion King. Hall was also a member of the Latin-jazz quartet Grupo Yanqui, chosen by the U.S. State Department and Jazz at Lincoln Center to represent the country in the American Music Abroad Program.

It was all in keeping with his love affair with the drums, which started in fifth grade. “It was always about the drums. It’s always been my focus and passion,” says Hall.

Even when he was landing gigs with jazz artists and touring the world, the Battle Creek native had another almost secret desire: to return to his home state, and maybe even teach at the college he attended. “I always thought I might slide into teaching. In New York in the ’90s, I earned my Masters at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College,” Hall says.

“I thought someday I might want to teach at college and pass on the things I didn’t get earlier in my career. My dream was to move back to Michigan and teach at my alma mater. Now 22 years later here I am, a tenured professor.”

A professor who still performs whenever he can. Hall has jammed with The Alluvion Big Band, and he’s excited about bringing his own music to Traverse City. “This trio is special,” he says of bandmates Carlo De Rosa (bass) and Matt Fries (piano). “They’re my colleagues at Western. I’ve known Matt over 30 years, and Carlo for a long time.”

The music will be a mix of bossa novas, sambas, and other Brazilian jazz, which Hall has been studying the past few years. That includes his time in the country when he took a sabbatical from teaching at Western. “I’ve been studying the music intensely for two years. I took lessons in Brazil and continue online.”

Guesting with the trio will be Brazilian guitarist Chico Pinheiro. “He’s a Brazilian jazz star,” says Hall. He’s been nominated for two Grammy Awards and performed with the likes of Placido Domingo, Kathleen Battle, Kurt Elling, Herbie Hancock, and many others. “We’ll do some of his music. All three are world-class musicians,” says Hall.

Hall hopes to record this year with all three musicians, and possibly others. Till then, he’ll continue performing and teaching the next generation.

Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the door at thealluvion.org.