Last weekend’s 14th festival held on an island at the northern tip of Lake Michigan was unforgettable and filled with fellowship. Local Spins was there to document the event populated by Michigan bands.
Rock in the Woods: The Outer Vibe on stage during the Beaver Island Music Festival. (Photo/Anna Sink)
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Remote, Unique: The performance area on Beaver Island. (Photo/Anna Sink)
EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s Michigan’s version of “island music.” Since 2003, organizers of the Beaver Island Music Festival have brought a bevy of regional musicians to this enclave located in northern Lake Michigan, some 32 miles from Charlevoix on the mainland — a two-hour ride on a ferry that last weekend carried oodles of guitars, amps and related gear for what’s essentially a four-day celebration of Michigan music. Even the ferry rides were filled with live performances.
This year’s festival drew several hundred people and featured performances by Seth Bernard, Tyler Wood, Ben Pervier & Andrew Sias, Ed Palmer, Dave Boutette, The Outer Vibe, Olivia Mainville & The Aquatic Troupe, Jack & The Bear, Sydney Burnham, Soul Patch, Megan Dooley, G-Snacks and Brotha James — many of them playing the 56-square-mile island for the first time. Local Spins was there, too, with photographer Anna Sink capturing the action. We also asked members of The Outer Vibe and Megan Dooley to provide a diary of the trip and some observations about this unique event. Here’s what they had to say.
THE OUTER VIBE
Ferry Vibe: The Outer Vibe on the two-hour jaunt to Beaver Island. (Photo/Anna Sink)
Lisa Kacos: Beaver Island Music Festival is a really special event. I sat next to a woman on the ferry who comes from Seattle every year to attend BIMF. The people who attend this festival are devoted music lovers. The festival invites new bands to perform year after year, and festivalgoers eagerly anticipate the introduction to the new music.
I had a conversation with a man who said, “Last year I hadn’t heard of a single one of the bands that was scheduled to play. I saw every performance and I loved every single band.”
Nick Hosford: I agree. Beaver Island Music Festival impressed me with the musicianship displayed by the bands. I liked every band I heard. Also, it was fun getting to hang out with Michigan bands like Jack & The Bear, Olivia Mainville & the Aquatic Troupe and G-Snacks.
Lisa Kacos: The fact that we were all on an island together meant that we all got to watch each other’s sets. No one had anywhere else to be. It was truly all about the music.
MEGAN DOOLEY AND THE LAST ROOTS
Megan Dooley:
Still recouping and reeling from our recent excursion to Mackinac Island and Tahquamenon Falls, The Last Roots and I embarked on yet another trip To Michigan’s wild north, this time to Beaver Island for their annual music festival.
The drive up to Charlevoix from Kalamazoo was beautiful and sunny, and we were all excited to ride the ferry across the lake to see Michigan’s self-proclaimed “Emerald Isle” for ourselves. I’d heard great things about the Beaver Island Music Festival, so I had applied to perform back in January and we were accepted.
Island Girl: Megan Dooley (Photo/Anna Sink)
The ferry docks in Charlevoix were bustling with festival attendees, musicians frantically packing their gear and a few unlucky locals who joked with me about how they picked the wrong day to get home on the boat. The Beaver Island Boat Co. was markedly less organized than the well-oiled machine of Mackinac Island’s dock system, but also much less touristy, easier going and charmingly unassuming. We later came to find that this was the overall general vibe of not just the ferry docks, but the entire Island, its locals and the festival itself.
We boarded the huge boat and found seats in the kitchen area with a large table. It was then that I realized that this particular festival didn’t start at the grounds like every other music fest I’ve attended. It started on the boat. Party Barge!
Beer was allowed and sets of music were actually scheduled for the ferry trip itself, which clocked in at about a 2-1/2 hour ride. However cool the idea of scheduled boat music was, it proved extremely difficult to pull off on this particular ride over, as we quickly entered very choppy waters on Lake Michigan and a large storm system to boot. The Syd Burnham Band played remarkably well considering the ensuing storm. The boat started rocking, literally, and didn’t stop until we pulled into the harbor on the Emerald Isle and a torrential downpour greeted us as we docked.
Festival-goers huddled under awnings, while a flurry of musicians ran around desperately trying to cover their rain-soaked gear, left uncovered in open cages and unloaded by dock workers into the heavy rain. The festival didn’t seem to be starting off on the right foot and many folks begrudgingly made their way to the grounds by way of shuttle – grumpy, wet and not excited about setting up camp in the damp and drippy woods.
But like the best rainbows, once the storm clouds receded later in the evening and everyone settled in for the weekend, the colors of this adorably rustic, rootsy and remote Michigan music festival shone as bright as could be.
Dance Party: The atmosphere at the festival was rootsy, rugged and upbeat. (Photo/Anna Sink)
Opening sets from Olivia Mainville & The Aquatic Troupe, The Outer Vibe, G-Snacks, and Stylee livened everyone’s spirits as the night grew drier, warmer and clearer, a trend that thankfully continued throughout the entire weekend, which boasted three times as many attendees as the 2015 festival.
Featured at this year’s celebration was a fantastic line up of known (and not so well-known) Michigan musicians like Seth Bernard, Brotha James, Jack & the Bear (my new personal favorite), Syd Burnham Band, Soul Patch and even the island’s first-ever local band: King Strange, among others.
The festival proved to be as folksy, resilient and rugged as the island and its inhabitants. After the skies (and the air) cleared, the rest of the weekend was beautiful, relaxing and filled with energetic performances and attendees. It was speckled with delightful musical collaborations, general frolicking in the woods, and lots of toads: They were everywhere and many returning guests spoke of seeing some reach the size of a softball.
In the end, festival organizers and property owners Dan and Carol Burton proved that the best experiences might just be the hardest to get to.
This event is small enough to be considered a well-kept secret gem of the Michigan music festival season, yet big enough in character and good company to make a wonderful lasting impression on all its participants.
Beaver Island Music Festival won’t soon be forgotten in our book. If you happen to check out next year’s fest, make sure you try the fish. Seriously. The freshly caught Michigan lake trout is cleaned, filleted, cornmeal-batter dipped and fried on site. That alone was worth the trip in my book.
See you next year, Beaver Island!
PHOTO GALLERY: Beaver Island Music Festival 2016
Photos by Anna Sink
