The roster for the seventh annual regional music festival at Circle Pines Center mixes national acts with local stars, and expands one of its stages. See the full lineup, with videos of some featured bands.
Buttermilk Headliners: New York folk-rock faves The Slambovian Circus of Dreams. (Photo/Tom Moore)
Over the past six years, Buttermilk Jamboree has grown to become one of the most charming, family-friendly festivals in West Michigan.
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Growing Popularity: Crowds have grown every year at Buttermilk Jamboree. (Photo/Anna Sink)
For 2017, the regional music festival held at Circle Pines Center between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo will up the ante, not only bolstering a strong Michigan-based lineup with national acts such as The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Chameleon Culture, Britt Kusserow and Cathy & Marcy, but by moving the event back a week to avoid end-of-school conflicts.
This year’s Buttermilk Jamboree will take place June 16-18, with organizers today officially announcing the 2017 lineup of performers.
“We will have over 40 acts throughout the weekend, plus workshops, open mics, kids’ activities and performers, swimming, yoga, a craft beer and wine tent, food and goods vendors, art, poetry and so much more,” center director Tom VanHammen said of the seventh annual festival.
In addition, Buttermilk Jamboree will expand its cozy “Front Porch/Big Bill Broonzy” stage by putting it under a tent in the front yard of the Circle Pines Center farmhouse and adding tables, chairs and couches to give it “a coffeehouse lounge type feel” for the smaller acts that will perform there.
A LATER START TO ‘MAKE IT EASIER FOR TEACHERS, STUDENTS, PARENTS’
As for moving the festival from the traditional second weekend in June to the third weekend, VanHammen noted that “many of the local schools will be running later this year. This change will make it easier for teachers, students and their parents to attend the festival.”
Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer
However, this also means that Buttermilk will now be held the same weekend as the popular Founders Fest in Grand Rapids.
The Buttermilk lineup announced today features a handful of East Coast and West Coast acts, including New York’s Slambovian Circus of Dreams, an extraordinary folk-rock band that has cultivated a devoted audience which follows the group around the country. (Check out a video of the band and other Buttermilk acts below.)
The festival in Delton — which attracts more than 2,000 people — also will feature Grammy winners Cathy & Marcy (aka Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer), old-time country and swing instrumentalists who are well-known and acclaimed for their children’s music and family-oriented performances, as well as the East Coast’s Chameleon Culture and West Coast artists Anne Weiss and Britt Kusserow.
ANOTHER STRONG MICHIGAN LINEUP
This year’s roster, of course, also includes a bevy of popular Michigan performers: Channing & Quinn, The Mickeys, Northern Fires, Robin Connell & Kathy LaMar, Jill Jack, Less is More, The Change, Hannah Rose & The GravesTones, Eric Engblade, The Weatherheads, Hawks & Owls, Shari Kane & Dave Steele, Jive at Five, Detroit Pleasure Society, Diff & Dudley, The Corn Fed Girls, K. Jones & The Benzie Playboys, Lac La Belle, Red Sea Pedestrians, Tia Imani Hanna, Dede & The Dreamers, The Schrock Brothers, Brotha James, Conklin Ceili Band, Bigfoot Buffalo, The Moxie Strings, Libby DeCamp, The Mainstays and Roberta Lee & Denny G. (Tune in to Local Spins on WYCE 88.1 FM at 11 a.m. Friday when Roberta Lee & Denny G. will be the in-studio guests.)
Mike Evans, public relations coordinator for Circle Pines Center, said he’s excited about the way “music builds throughout the night. Take Saturday night: We’ve got K. Jones & The Benzie Playboys leading into Red Sea Pedestrians leading into Tia Imani leading into Slambovian Circus of Dreams with Mainstays and Dede & the Dreamers still on tap to close out the night. And it’s like that every night.”
Back for 2017: Eric Engblade returns to Buttermilk. (Photo/Anna Sink)
The festival also boasts “a lot of performers that are new to Buttermilk this year or haven’t played the festival in a while,” noted VanHammen, who’s personally looking forward to new Buttermilk acts such as Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Jive at Five, Jill Jack, The Moxie Strings, Bigfoot Buffalo and others.
Buttermilk also is adding some new vendors, expanding its acoustic jam tent offerings, enlarging the regular camping area and, for the second year, offering a designated handicapped camping area.
Tickets are on sale now, with early-bird prices good through April 15.
Adult early bird weekend tickets are $85; children’s tickets (ages 4-15) are $20. (Sunday only and Saturday/Sunday tickets are also available.) Ticket prices go up to $100 for adults between April 16 and June 7, and $120 for the weekend at the gate.
Weekend tickets include two nights of camping. Gates open at noon Friday, with music starting at 5 p.m. and running through 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Get details and tickets online here: http://www.buttermilkjamboree.org/tickets1.html
Coverage/photos of Day 1’s ‘beautiful’ kickoff at Buttermilk 2016: https://localspins.com/buttermilk-jamboree-sets-new-historical-musical-milestone-kickoff-2016-festival/
Coverage/photos of Days 2 and 3 at ‘place of magic,’ aka Buttermilk 2016: https://localspins.com/55498-2/
VIDEO: The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, “Very Happy Now”
VIDEO: Chameleon Culture, “Nothing Special”
VIDEO: Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, “Goodbye Anne”
VIDEO: Jill Jack, “Live Like There’s No Tomorrow”
VIDEO: The Mickeys, “Smoke and Mirrors”
VIDEO: The Moxie Strings, “Eileen”
Copyright 2017, Spins on Music LLC
