Above: Enjoying cake at the North Shore Music Association’s 25th anniversary party October 9 are Hattie Kunze of Grand Marais (R) with two visitors from out of town. Left: Behind the cake table are (L-R) North Shore Music Association (NSMA) Program Director Kate Fitzgerald, Grand Marais Mayor Sue Hakes, and NSMA board president Chel Anderson.
The North Shore Music Association (NSMA) celebrated its 25th anniversary in a big way October 9 at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts. Featuring a concert by singer/ songwriter/guitarist/violinist Rachael Kilgour of Duluth, the evening also included a silent auction of merchandise from local businesses, a collection of goods and monetary donations for the Cook County Food Shelf, and birthday cake from Lola’s Sweet Life Bakery.
Rachael Kilgour “sings about love, heartache, family, and social justice with determination and charm,” said North Shore Music Association Director Kate Fitzgerald. “She writes about what matters, and she writes about it well.” Her “stunning musical talent, intelligent lyrics, and heartbreakingly beautiful voice carry out her vision to create social change,” Fitzgerald said.
“It’s all of my humanity saved up and made pretty for sharing,” Kilgour has said. “That’s why the songs feel so very gigantic and intimate.”
Kilgour’s self-titled debut album came out in 2008. The next year, she announced her intent to donate 50% of all of her live show profits to a local cause or charity of her choice. “It’s one thing to sing about the stuff that needs changing in the world,” says Kilgour. “It’s another to actually give it a try.” Kilgour donated half of her profits from the North Shore Music Association 25th anniversary party to the Cook County Food Shelf.
According to NSMA board president Chel Anderson, the association has presented nearly 300 performances since its first concerts – outdoors — in the mid-1980s. “We’ve danced a summer night away to Randy Lee Big Band or Café Accordion at Naniboujou Lodge,” she recalled. “Enjoyed summer concerts by Frank Gillis and the Lake Superior Jazz Band, Diva shows, and local musician showcases, featuring the prodigious talents in our community. Sustained a tradition of community dances at town halls from Schroeder to Hovland, and more recently, at North House.”
Ann Russ of the former vocal group Trillium tells about the association’s very beginning: “I helped Steve Dobbleman out with the Schroeder Folk Festival at Lamb’s Campground when we first moved to Tofte back in 1984 (the second year that festival was held, I believe), thinking that would be a good way to meet people in the community.
“After that summer, a group of us decided to strengthen the organizational aspects of the event, incorporate as the nonprofit North Shore Music Association, write some grants, and move the festival to Bridge Run at Lutsen Mountains. We called the three-day event the North Shore Music Festival and had two stages, dancing, and family activities located on Bridge Run overlooking Moose Mountain and Lake Superior.
“The festival was a great success, but after several years we opted to change our focus to a monthly concert series featuring regional and nationally known musicians.
“Through grants we gradually accumulated a sound system, lighting, and eventually a trailer to haul our equipment around the county, holding events in various town halls, churches, resorts and schools.
“In 1998, the Arrowhead Center for the Arts was built and became our permanent home in cooperation with WTIP, the Grand Marais Playhouse, the Art Colony, and ISD 166.
“The original board members included myself, Bill Hansen, Betsy Bowen, Bill Huggins, and Vern Booth.
“Over the years, [my husband] Wayne and I hosted many of the musicians in our home, and our daughters would often ask as we listened to random musicians on the radio or tapes/CDs, ‘Did they ever sleep in my bed?’”
Happy anniversary, North
Shore Music Association!
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