Summer is coming and along with it a variety of indoor and outdoor music venues will be available for the public to enjoy. Above, award-winning local musician Michael Monroe is often found performing in the summer unless he is in the Twin Cities or somewhere in the Midwest performing.
Music and summer go together like peanut butter and jelly. A messy goodness that doesn’t last very long, but it is very enjoyable while it does last.
The music festival and concert season in Cook County officially begins with Finding Your Voice: Stories & Song with storyteller Kevin Kling and songstress Simone Perrin, May 3-6 at the Gunflint Lodge.
This unique event will accommodate visitors for a four-day stay-cation at the lodge for under $500. The weekend stay package includes storytelling, music workshops, Q & A social hour and entertainment with Kling and Perrin and unlimited access to use of canoes, kayaks, and hiking trails and more.
Next, if you get a chance take in a Log Cabin concert performed at Michael Monroe’s beautifully handcrafted log house.
Michael will perform June 23 at 7 p.m.
Monroe, known for his award-winning instrumental soundtracks, has been playing for an audience in the comfort of his solar powered North Shore Log Cabin for 13 years. He plays everything from acoustic folk/ reggae on vocals, hand-crafted guitars made on the Gunflint Trail, to bamboo/crystal flutes.
On July 27-29, Grand Marais Music Collaborative will sponsor the Stars of the North Music Festival, a free event in downtown Grand Marais to raise funds for scholarships for area youth music lessons. This three-day event starts in the afternoon on Friday with a mix of local talent playing both electric and acoustic music and carries through the day and early evening on Saturday with the same mix and culminates in a “Rocking Gospel Hour” on Sunday, ending by about noon.
WTIP Community Radio, broadcasting from Grand Marais, presents the 11th annual Radio Waves Music Festival, Sept. 7-9 at Sweetheart Bluff, and continues to be a favorite of both visitors and area residents as well as performing musicians. Around 30 acts perform at Radio Waves, rain or shine—with two stages housed under a large tent—and includes on-site food, camping and children’s activities for a portion of Saturday and Sunday.
The Unplugged Music Festival has been a staple at North House Folk School since being founded and created by Grammy Award-winning musician and Minnesota native, Jon Vezner in 2002.
This year’s concert(s) will run Sept. 14-16 at North House.
Visitors attending this singer/ songwriter festival will be treated to a variety of performances, harbor-side, which includes a feature performance by international playwright storyteller Kevin Kling, a folk artisan marketplace with hands-on courses and mini workshops, and the Points North Online Auction that is open to the public.
Then too, there is music in Grand Marais Harbor Park most weekends throughout the summer, and local bars and restaurants bring in bands and single acts most weekends as well.
Summer is short in the Northland and work piles up. As for free time, if you like music, here in Cook County, the beat goes on all summer long.
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