Grammy-award-winning songwriter and champion of North House Folk School Jon Vezner (left) is working on bringing big names to Grand Marais September 15-18 for North House Folk School’s tenth annual Unplugged concert series. Local businesspeople are working on rolling out the welcome mat. With Vezner (L-R) are Eric Humphrey of the Lake Superior Trading Post, North House Executive Director Greg Wright, and Kathy Rice of The Pie Place.
Jon Vezner, Grammy-award-winning songwriter, Cook County cabin owner, and champion of North House Folk School, is hyped about bringing tourists to Grand Marais. He is setting the stage for North House’s tenth annual Unplugged concert weekend September 15-18, and he’s working hard to bring in some big names. “Lots of singers and songwriters will be in town,” he told a group of local businesspeople at North House on February 11.
Vezner has been integral to Unplugged from the beginning. His history on the North Shore is much older than the annual fundraiser, however. “I’ve been coming up to Cook County probably longer than many of you have been alive,” Vezner said.
Ten years ago, Vezner said, he was visiting his dad who was living in an RV in the Grand Marais Tourist Park. He wandered over to North House, where a canoe-building class was going on. He really likes the types of crafts taught at North House, he said, and he found out the nonprofit had only $12 in its bank account. He wanted to help, and thus began North House’s biggest annual fundraising event. Over the last decade, he has recruited many of his musician friends – famous musician friends – to perform at Unplugged.
Vezner understands tourist areas. He used to vacation in Crested Butte, Montana, where all the millionaires went after being priced out of Aspen, Colorado by the billionaires, he said. He would like to see Grand Marais earn its place on the national tourist map. When he invites his friends to come to Grand Marais to perform, they say, “Where?” Once they get here, they love it and want to come back, he said.
This year, Unplugged will feature three nights of concerts along with numerous classes and a well-connected keynote speaker. Hitting the stage will be Kathy Mattea, Tim O’Brien, Lindsay Mac, and others yet to be announced. Guitar-maker James A. Olson of Circle Pines, Minnesota has agreed to speak on Friday afternoon. Olson’s guitars sell for about $13,000 each. People such as Sting, David Crosby, Phil Keaggy, and Paul McCartney have bought guitars from him, and James Taylor won’t play anything else, Vezner said. He said he thinks some of these musicians just might decide to make a trip to Grand Marais if Olson will be speaking.
Another coup is that a nationally syndicated radio show, Mountain Stage, will make its Midwest debut, broadcasting from the concerts on Thursday and Friday, September 15 and 16.
Vezner is trying especially hard to bring in a whole lineup of big names this year. The concrete goal is to make money for North House’s endowment fund, but Vezner also wants the event to draw national attention to what this area has to offer.
Eric Humphrey of the Lake Superior Trading Post and Kathy Rice of The Pie Place volunteered to spearhead a collaboration among local businesspeople that will promote the area during the Unplugged weekend.
North House Executive Director Greg Wright wants to “tell the Grand Marais story” this September. “This isn’t just about Unplugged,” he said. “It’s about the story of Grand Marais and Cook County.”
“It’s going to be a lot of exposure for Grand Marais,” Vezner said. “If North House wins, you all win.”
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