Published: August 29, 2008 10:05 am         

Ragbirds headline Bellaire festival

Ann Arbor-based group offers 'infectious global groove'

BELLAIRE -- Randall Moore, percussionist for the Ann Arbor-based band The Ragbirds, has at the ready an "elevator pitch" to explain the group's sound.

"We call it infectious global groove," Moore said.

Interested? There are two chances to hear The Ragbirds this weekend in Bellaire. The band, fronted by singer-songwriter Erin Zindle, plays tonight at Short's Brewing Company and at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Chain O' Lakes Campground. The performances are part of the first Chain O' Lakes Music Festival this weekend at the Bellaire brewery and campground.

"A lot of the bands that play at Short's stay with us while they are playing. They come up for the weekend. We've gotten to know a few of the bands and just like to support the smaller musicians," said campground owner Flip Rutledge.

At 8 p.m. tonight at Short's, singer-songwriter Rose Fraser and Pinky Lee, a female vocal duo from Petoskey, open for The Ragbirds. Saturday at the campground, the first musicians take the stage around noon. The Ragbirds are scheduled at 1 p.m., followed by Squeaky Clean Cretins, Luke Winslow-King and Susan Fawcett, Seth Bernard and Daisy May Erlewine and Who Hit John?. The festival moves back to Short's at 8 p.m. Saturday with more from some of the same musicians. An informal jam session takes place Sunday at the campground.

The Ragbirds will bring folk-rock music tinged with "heavy world overtones," said Moore, who also plays djembe. The band began with Moore and Zindle, who plays violin, mandolin, banjo, accordion and percussion.

They toured in more than a dozen states, but Short's is "one of our favorite places in the world," Moore said.

"We love their beer," he said. "We love the area, of course. Obviously, that area of the state is really gorgeous."

The group followed up their debut album "Yes Nearby" with "Wanderlove" in 2007. Moore said The Ragbirds will next record a live album to capture the "intensity" of their shows, known for getting the audience "up and dancing."

Tonight's show at Short's will be a night for girls to rule the stage, said Dave Schwartz, the brewery's booking manager and a drummer for Pinky Lee.

"We've just got four of the best female singers I've ever heard around here, and they are all original songwriters as well," he said.

Admission to tonight's event is $6. The cost to get into the campground, located on M-88, is $10 plus tips. Rutledge said festival-goers should expect to pay $30 to $60 for the weekend.

Antrim County News (Jan 2, 2008)

Like music to our ears

Artists bring musical project to Antrim County

By Hadley Robinson
Editor

BELLAIRE - Recording songs in a newly-built cedar cabin overlooking Lake Bellaire as the snow dropped outside was music to the ears of a group of artists that came to Antrim County last week.

Five musicians, Samuel Seth Bernard, May Erlewine, Luke Winslow-King, Susan E. Fawcett and David Fetzer, along with other various collaborators, came together for five days last week to work on the Hi-lo Project.

The idea of the project is for a variety of artists to bring ideas to the table and work with each other to create music and other art forms.

"It's more of a project than a band because it mutates every year," Bernard said.

The music is sometimes planned, sometimes improvised.

"A lot of times we all have songs we've written that don't make it on albums," Erlewine said. "They often come to the table at Hi-lo."

The project began five years ago, when several of the musicians were playing a gig together at the Otsego Club in Gaylord. They would play in the restaurant and then go upstairs to their hotel room to record music. For the next three years, these musicians and other friends continued the recording and playing over in Gaylord.

"It became a tradition the week between Christmas and New Year's," Winslow-King said.

This year, the project moved to Bellaire for the first time.

The group stayed at the Chain O' Lakes Campground on M-88 between Bellaire and Mancelona, where they recorded on cassettes each day in the cabin.

"We wanted to support local artists that are working so hard," said Debbie Rutledge, who owns the campground with her husband Flip.

After recording all day, they headed down each night to play for an audience at Short's Brewing Company.

"A lot of us are from the area and it feels like home," Bernard said. "We moved it to Short's because that's where we feel the happiest with the greatest sense of family."

Also for the first time this year, the group recorded their live shows in addition to the sessions in the cabin.

The artists agreed that they got a much better reception at their live shows in Bellaire than in previous years.

"The live shows add a new element," Erlewine said.

All the musicians live in various parts of the state, and Fetzer came this year for the first time all the way from Salt Lake City, Utah. Most of them met at Interlochen Center for the Arts when they were younger. Though all have found themselves doing music, only Winslow-King went to Interlochen for music-the others were working in theatre and visual arts.

"I try to come to Michigan as often as I can," Fetzer said. "Shacking up with a wood stove recording music with a bunch of dear friends was enough impetus to fly standby during the holidays."

The Hi-lo project is about more than just music. The group was working with some other artists to make a movie in Antrim County.

"At the end of the year people have peace and rest and can collect themselves," Bernard said. "We're trying to do that creatively through the medium of this project."

The Hi-lo artists expressed a strong connection and commitment to this region. Many are from surrounding areas and find it to be a central place to come together.

Bernard and Erlewine have been playing at Short's for several years, even performing a weekly gig at one time.

For them, it feels comfortable to be in the area, and when Bernard discovered the Chain O' Lakes Campground, he felt it was all coming together.

"All these things were serendipitous," he said. "Chain O' Lakes has been so supportive of musicians here. It's great to be in a community that supports local musicians."

So last week, when they weren't recording, they were enjoying the area, spending time outside, checking out local artists and organizations. "This place has all these treasures," Erlewine said. "If there is anything we could do, it'd be to bring attention to that."

The group hopes to put out a live album from the recordings at Short's and a "Best of Hi-lo" album from the last five years.

Hadley Robinson can be reached at hrobinson@ michigannewspapers.com or by calling 231-533-8523.

New sign unveiled at campground

Chain-O-Lakes Campground was the host for the Bellaire Chamber’s May “Business After Hours” event last Wednesday evening. Campground owners Flip and Deb Rutledge used the occasion to unveil their new sign that greets visitors to the M-88 location. Photo by John Tarrant