Northern Michigan..Traverse City

[sumibuilt]

Any must see shops or Jams up here? Cool area!

[Mark Richardson]

If you are driving by Lansing, MI on the way home, you should check out Elderly Instruments.

http://www.elderly.com/

My wife and I have been up to Traverse City several years in a row the first weekend in August. There is a nice blues and bluegrass festival over near Sleeping Bear Dunes Nat'l Park in Empire that weekend. I do not know of any good music shops in Traverse City. I always stop in at Elderly as we are passing through.

http://www.dunegrassfestival.net/

Mark

[Don Julin]

There are a few gtr shops but nothing great mando-wise. If you are driving plan your trip through Lansing and go to Elderly Instruments. As far as jams: there is a celtic jam on Mondays from 6-9 at the Loading Dock. There a lot of good players here and we have a very seasonal economy so you will find many musicians playing at eateries. When are going to be here?

[Jkf_Alone]

For shops, there are 3 that I know of;

1. Marshall music - on Airport, Great selection of sheet music and instruction materials, good selection of guitars and amps. No mandolins worth playing.

2. Good News Music - on main street, Interesting collection of guitars, a few old mandolins, and smaller selection of instruction.

3. Zamar Guitar - also on Airport. Good selection of acoustic instruments.

There are only 2 jams that I know of in the area, and both are on folkjam

[sumibuilt]

Don, Are you friends with Stefano Santangelo of the Mideando String Quintet?

[sumibuilt]

Thanks JKF, will check them out!

[Paul Merlo]

UNfortunately I don't think the Dunegrass Festival is happening any more. Their website is still showing info for 2008. From what I've gathered (search TC newspaper archives online), the producers bit off more than they could chew last year and are a little behind in their finances. Essentially, nobody (the bands) got paid. It's a shame too, because my wife and I went in 2007 and could not have had a better time seeing acts like David Grisman, Peter Rowan, Yonder Mountain String Band, Railroad Earth and much more.

There is a Bluegrass Festival much farther south in Muskegon on Aug 1.
http://www.muskegonfairgrounds.com/events.htm

[Mark Richardson]

After I posted the link to the Dunegrass Festival, I checked it and found as you did that it takes you to last year's festival info. There is a new website for 2009. As Merlopj posted, this year's festival is really different. It is all local or Michigan musicians. None of the more national bands of the past. Luckily, my wife and I are doing something else this year. Not that the local talent would not be any good...

[Bob_Blackman]

If you happen to be up there this weekend (July 10-12), the annual Blissfest music festival is taking place in (relatively) nearby Harbor Springs, MI. Lineup ranges from John Jorgenson Quintet to Mountain Heart, Kathy Mattea to Loudon Wainwright III. Info at <www.blissfest.org>.

[tree]

I'll be staying on the northeast end (Moulton Road) of Torch Lake week after next - we're flying into Detroit and driving up (already planning to stop at Elderly's on the way home). I don't know many Celtic tunes, but it might be fun to check out the jam.

I've also bought my nonresident all-species fishing license online and would love to spend a few hours with my yard-sale flyrod on a trout stream somewhere. I've never fished the Boardman south of TC, I want to try that sometime. May also go back to the Bear River in Petosky, I've had some luck there. Anybody know if Yuba Creek is fishable?

[David Collins]

There are a few gtr shops but nothing great mando-wise.

Except for perhaps Mike Kemnitzer, just a few miles away. To be honest though, he's a rather busy man, and does not have an "open to the public showroom". I don't know if it would be appropriate to ask if you could just drop by unless you were seriously interested in buying an instrument, which from what I know I believe he is still years backlogged in orders, and not taking any new ones currently.

As said, there's Elderly's on the way up. Bryan Galloup's shop is in Big Rapids, which though it's a pretty impressive shop to see, it's not likely to be directly on your way. He is branching out in to producing mandolins, though I don't know if that's in full swing yet.

For the most part though, if you want to check out a bunch of mandolins, Elderly's is about it, other than a few average music stores here and there which aren't likely to be much different from what you'll find anywhere else.

[Bob_Blackman]

Here's a plug for one other cool Michigan event, for anyone passing through on the weekend of August 7-9, and one particular guest will be of special interest here. The Great Lakes Folk Festival is an outdoor free festival of traditional music in downtown East Lansing (just a few miles down the road from Elderly Instruments!). Several outdoor stages, including a Dance Tent, present an array of music from different cultures and genres, and this year's bluegrass act is none other than the recent birthday celebrant Jesse McReynolds and his band. (Jesse is scheduled to perform on Saturday at 4:20 p.m. and 7:50 p.m., and on Sunday at 4:20.)
Other performers include the Irish band Slide; the fabulous klezmer-jazz group from Toronto, Beyond the Pale, with Eric Stein on mandolin; the group Gadelle from Prince Edward Island; a swing trio from Austin, TX, called Shotgun Party; plus blues, Cajun, Tex-Mex, polka, and more. The various bands seem to include several mando/bouzouki players. Lots of excellent ethnic food too. Admission is free (donations are encouraged). More info at <www.greatlakesfolkfest.net>.
This is our spinoff from the National Folk Festival, which came to East Lansing for a 3-year run in 1999-2001, and then we continued with our own similar locally-run event. Disclaimer: I'm on the festival's local Music Advisory Committee and serve as one of the on-stage emcees, but all as a volunteer.
Check it out if you're in our area August 7-9!

[Don Julin]

Don, Are you friends with Stefano Santangelo of the Mideando String Quintet?

Yes I met him years ago when playing gigs in Italy.

[Don Julin]

I live in Traverse city and play gigs most nights at wineries brewpubs ect. I play with a variety of good players. look me if if you have time when you are in town.