From staff reports
A beautiful summer’s evening at the foot of the Dune Climb in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, hundreds of families enjoying their pre-concert picnics and then a musical program provided by artists of national stature: this is the magical mixture which has filled audiences with warm memories every year since the first Dune Climb concert in 1998.
The setting is magnificent and the music is even better. The concert at the Dune Climb is presented annually by the Glen Arbor Art Association and is free to the public. Because of the unique venue and incomparable music it routinely draws an audience of several thousand.
This year’s concert will take place Sunday, July 15 at 7 p.m. Detour, a Michigan-based bluegrass band that combines original contemporary bluegrass sounds with great traditional favorites, will be performing. Detour’s tight focused harmonies, precision instrumentals, and creative melodies will take the audience down a unique bluegrass road.
The band’s talented line-up features the soaring lead vocals of Missy Armstrong, the championship fiddling of Peter Knupfer, the inventive rhythm lines of Jack Grant on bass, the soulful guitar of Scott Zylstra, the hard driving mandolin and superb song writing of Jeff Rose, and the stellar banjo playing of Kevin Gaugier. Detour has quickly become a standout — “a bluegrass joyride” that the Lansing State Journal acclaims as “perhaps the best bluegrass band Michigan has yet produced.”
There is no charge for the 7 p.m. concert; however, a National Park pass is required for parking. Free shuttle busses will provide transportation to overflow parking lots. Bring chairs or blankets to sit on. Some folding chairs are also provided in front of the stage. In the event of rain, the show will go on at the Glen Arbor Town Hall.
The Dune Climb concert is part of the Glen Arbor Art Association’s Manitou Music Festival which is underwritten in part by grants from the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs and Oleson Foundation, as well as corporate sponsorships from Art’s Tavern, Cherry Republic, Glen Lake Chamber of Commerce, The Homestead Resort, Huntington Bank, McCahill’s Crossing Dairy Bar and Motel, On the Narrows Marina and individual contributions. To see the full schedule of concerts visit glenarborart.org or call the Glen Arbor Art Association (231) 334-6112.