Hoxeyville raises a Hoot

July 26, 2006

When organizers decided to host a music festival 14 miles west of Cadillac several years ago, some skeptics thought the Hoxeyville Music Festival was literally a bit too “out there” to make it.
But they underestimated the momentum of the music scene in Northern Michigan because on July 28-30, the Hoxeyville Music Festival will celebrates its fourth year at the Coyote Crossing Resort with nationally-known talent and regional favorites like Steppin’ In It, Seth Bernard and Daisy May, Greensky Bluegrass, and Rachael Davis.
“Last year we had a smaller line-up with bigger national acts; this year we have six more acts than we had before,” says organizer Jake Robinson. “The festival grows every year. We add more music that we like, and more friends that we make.”
Robinson is a huge acoustic music fan. As the owner of Robinson Guitars, he creates 12 to 15 flat-top, hand-made guitars every year at his shop in Kalamazoo. He apprenticed under Bryan Galloup in 2001 and started his own shop in 2003. The festival dovetails with his interests as a guitar maker.

THE LINEUP
Rachael Davis is a coup for the festival. Davis is a Cadillac native who’s a hit as a folk favorite in her new home in Boston. Playing the Newport Folk Festival is one of her many professional credits which include folk festivals across the country.
“From the beginning it’s been a very roots-based, home-grown kind of festival, and the festival has grown with the popularity of the bands,” Robinson said.
Hitting the stage on the festival’s first day, Friday, July 28, are Airborne or Aquatic, Daisy May, Greensky Bluegrass, Pops Walker, The Mudbugz and Seth Bernard, with the T-Lo Effect rocking the late night tent until the wee hours.
The second night, Saturday, July 29, will feature Four Finger Five, Dave Taylor, another set by Pops Walker, Rachael Davis, Smokestack, and Steppin’ In It with Ultraviolet Hippopotamus driving the late night show.
“Four Finger Five is a great band; boy, these guys can play,” Robinson says, adding that the band evolved out of a funk/jam band known as Elements.
“Pops Walker is a singer/songwriter and blues musician, another one of those cases where a friend of ours heard him play and said, ‘You should really check this guy out.’”

CANOE TOO
The Hoxeyville Music Festival offers more than just music. A canoe trip will be organized for Saturday. There’s also disc golf, a kids tent, crafts, open mike stage, a quiet camping area set aside for families, and arts and crafts and food vendors.
Coyote Crossing Resort will have its restaurant and bar open all weekend with food and drinks.
“Coyote Crossing from the beginning has been great to work with, and they have a beautiful site that provides a great showcase for the festival,” Robinson said.

THE DETAILS
The Hoxeyville Music Festival is July 28-30, at Coyote Crossing Resort, about 15 minutes west of Cadillac just off M-55.
Advance tickets are $35 per person, or $45 at the door. Tickets include both days of the festival and on-site rustic camping.
Tickets are available online at www.hoxeyvillemusic.com, in advance at Oryana, Traverse City; The Grain Train, Petoskey; Climb Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo; The Bistro, Cadillac; Elderly Instruments, Lansing; In Flight, East Lansing; Founders Brewing, Grand Rapids; Jungle Room, Birmingham; Shorts Brewing, Bellaire; Fekete, Knaggs and Burr, Cadillac; Terrapin, Kalamazoo.
Children 10 and under admitted free. No pets. No kegs. No fireworks. Day passes that do not include camping are $25 each day at the door. From the M-55 and M-115 intersection on Cadillac’s west side, take M-55 west 12 miles. Turn left (south) on S. 13 Road about a half mile to the festival site at Coyote Crossing Resort.