08/04/2006

Local, regional & national

Dunegrass Festival serves up area talent on an expanding scale

BY MAGGIE LILLIS
Record-Eagle staff writer

Special to the Record-Eagle
Electric Hot Tuna is on this weekend’s Sleeping Bear Dunegrass & Blues Festival lineup.

EMPIRE — For this weekend's Sleeping Bear Dunegrass & Blues Festival, event organizers are pumping up the level — at least a little bit.

The festival will feature an extra day of events, running today through Sunday this year. There's also a second stage for additional performances and more vendors, too.

"The whole theory behind it was to feature local and regional talent," said Mike Vanderberg, festival founder. "Back then there weren't a lot of festivals or a lot of venues (in the area) and I wanted to have a place where they could showcase their stuff."

At least 25 musical acts are expected to converge at the festival. They'll cover a range of musical genres from jazz and bluegrass, coming from New Orleans to Boulder, said Stephen Volas, manager and owner of Grassroots Productions.

Volas' company was brought in a year ago to develop and expand the festival. More national exposure of the festival has been garnered under Volas' supervision and the festival even landed in Relics Magazine as part of the top 100 "must hit festivals of the summer" list.

"We are taking baby steps right now, and I foresee this becoming a larger festival," he said. "It's in the heart of the dune lakeshore, Empire is a quaint nice town and a great location for it."

Musicians and bands performing include Steppin' in It, Breathe Owl Breathe, K. Jones and the Benzie Playboyz, Rootstand, Greensky Bluegrass, Peter Rowan and Tony Rice, Iris Dement, Potato Moon, Harper, Electric Hot Tuna, Cornmeal and others.

Henry Butler, a blind piano performer who was among those displaced by Hurricane Katrina last year, will also perform.

Empire government officials agreed that the festival's backdrop was a positive for the city and green-lighted a proposal to move the festival from a two-day gig to a three-day festival powerhouse.

Vanderberg admitted that although he is excited to see the festival grow, he wants to maintain the community feel Empire provides.

"We want to do what we have to, to keep it here or at least in that neighborhood," Vanderberg said. "We're doing what we can to keep it to a village scale. It's a small village, we appreciate that fact."

"We have nothing but good intentions," Vanderberg said. "It's a celebration."

Tickets range in price depending on length of attendance; camping passes are also available. To purchase, visit www.dunegrassfestival.com.

They're also available at East Shore Market in Beulah, Lake Street Market in Boyne City, Cedar City Market in Cedar, Bridge Street Books in Charlevoix, Cabbage Shed in Elberta, Deering's Market in Empire, Kejara's Bridge in Lake Leelanau, The Grain Train in Petoskey, Cafe Bliss in Suttons Bay, and Horizon Books and Oryana Natural Foods in Traverse City.