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| The Lake of the Clouds in the Porcupine Mountains. |
Twenty-five separate acts will perform on two outdoor stages. Each year the festival solicits audience survey forms asking for feedback. "The feedback has been very positive," said Linda Kermeen, festival director. “One sentiment echoed by many survey respondents when asked about the performers selected is ‘keep surprising us!’ This year’s lineup is no exception, with many surprises in store.”
World music will be represented this year by headlining act, the multi-cultural Guy Mendilow Band. Led by Israeli performer Guy Mendilow, the quintet makes this ancient music relevant to today’s audiences by recasting it through the lens of modern migrations. From Guy Mendilow’s first touring experience as a boy, swapping songs with Ladysmith Black Mambazo as a vocalist with the American Boychoir, to building cross-cultural understanding through facilitating musical workshops with government education ministers from Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon; Mendilow and the Guy Mendilow Band continue to journey beyond musical boundaries.
Other headlining acts are:
Mountain Heart makes a welcome return to the Porkies stage this year. Mountain Heart wowed festival goers in 2008 and has won, or been nominated, for Grammys, ACM, CMA and multiple IBMA Awards. Mountain Heart has appeared on the revered stage of the Grand Ole Opry in excess of 125 times. This presentation is supported by the Performing Arts Fund, a program of Arts Midwest through the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, General Mills Foundation and Land O’Lakes Foundation.
Also performing is Rita Hosking and her band Cousin Jack. Rita was named winner of Best Country Album (Vox Pop) in the 2010 Independent Music Awards. “Come Sunrise,”,Hosking's third album, was recorded in Austin, Texas with producer and guitarist Rich Brotherton (Robert Earl Keen, Caroline Herring). “Come Sunrise” launched Hosking onto the international Americana scene.
Newcomers to the Porcupine Mountains stage include the Ragbirds, Hoots & Hellmouth, Ray Bonneville, The Red Sea Pedestrians, The Pines, D.B. Rielly, Roma di Luna, Alison Scott, KAIVAMA, Canon Ball and The Back Room Boys.
Returning are Sista Otis, Seth Bernard and May Erlewine, Charlie Parr, the Bathtub Mothers, Kevin Bowe + the Okemah Prophets, Conga Se Menne, Black River John, Rory and Dale Miller, Doris and the Daydreams, and Yvonne Blake.
The festival’s third stage– the “Busking Barn” -- will have its welcoming doors open throughout the event. The barn is a cozy structure in which stage coordinator Dale Venema hosts scheduled acoustic performances, along with spontaneous ‘open’ jam sessions.
Always popular with families is the children’s tent area, designed to entertain young festival goers with various colorful activities. Children are the future of music and they conclude their festival experience each year as performers on stage.
The festival made Michigan history in 2005 by becoming the first music festival to be held in a state park. The Friends of the Porkies organization that presents the festival is a nonprofit group that represents the interests of all users of the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. The park is a popular tourist attraction, with a breathtaking 60,000 acres of natural beauty located in Ontonagon County. Ontonagon County is largest by acreage and is also one of the least densely populated counties in Michigan. There are more than 40 miles of Lake Superior shoreline, and thousands of acres of state and federal land in the county. There is a community lighthouse and an area rich in mining history and Native American history. Ontonagon County also boasts Michigan's and the Midwest's largest span of virgin hardwood maple/hemlock forest located within the boundaries of Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.
Tickets are $90 for a three-day pass, $35 for a single day pass, and there is a 20 percent discount available to seniors 60 or older and teens ages 13-17. Tickets for children ages 7-12 are $10 for either a three-day pass or a single day pass, and children 6 and under receive free admission.
For more information regarding the 7th Annual Porcupine Mountains Music Festival, visit www.porkiesfestival.org or call 800-344-5355. For more information about the park, go to www.michigan.gov/porkies.
Michigan residents can purchase the Recreation Passport ($10 for motor vehicles; $5 for motorcycles) by checking "YES" on their license plate renewal forms, or at any state park or recreation area. Nonresident motor vehicles must still display a valid nonresident Recreation Passport ($29 annual; $8 daily) to enter a Michigan state park, recreation area or state-administered boating access fee site; these can be purchased at any state park or recreation area, or through the Michigan e-Store at www.michigan.gov/estore. To learn more about the Recreation Passport, visit www.michigan.gov/recreationpassport or call (517) 241-7275.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state's natural and cultural resources for current and future generations. For more information, go to www.michigan.gov/dnr.
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