Started by An Dro’s Carolyn Koebel, the interactive festival shifts from Lansing to Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids over three days, ending Sunday at One Trick Pony in Grand Rapids.
Simultaneously Engaged: Carolyn Koebel of An Dro is leading the second annual Global Roots Music Festival. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Music therapist and An Dro percussionist Carolyn Koebel has seen the impact that traditional music and rhythms from different parts of the world can have on audiences, from toddlers to senior citizens.
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Those reactions – and a desire to expose audiences to multi-cultural art forms – sparked her interest in launching the Michigan Global Roots Music Festival, which takes place for the second year in three Michigan cities starting Friday.
Mediterranean Fusion: Wisaal performing during last year’s festival at Osgood Brewing. (Photo/Kristine Carpenter)
With her own Celtic-fueled An Dro, Lansing’s Mediterranean fusion group Wisaal and West African drum and dance artists such as Dunuya, Rootead and Leah Ivory on board, along with others, the festival is a family-friendly affair that kicks off Friday night at The Avenue Café in Lansing, continues Saturday morning at the Bell’s Brewery Eccentric Café in Kalamazoo and wraps up Sunday afternoon at One Trick Pony in Grand Rapids.
“It’s based on experiences I’ve had playing traditional music from many cultural traditions, often instrumental, and noticing that it speaks to listeners across broad demographics, programs that kids, parents and grandparents can all find simultaneously engaging,” says Koebel, who grew up in Southwest Michigan and who holds degrees in percussion performance and music therapy.
The interactive, family and multi-cultural focus of the festival came out of discussions with her An Dro bandmates and others.
MULTI-CULTURAL, COMMUNITY MUSIC-MAKING AT ITS CORE
“I was doing a lot of interactive educational programs with local percussionist Josh Dunigan (of Afro Zuma) at the time and he was super-stoked to get on board with the concept,” she says. “Shortly thereafter, I reached out to Igor Houwat, Lebanese oud player for Wisaal in Lansing.”
The idea is to collaborate “with some other people around the state that are presenting some of the folk styles that are not necessarily based on solely the Appalachian roots” but indigenous music from around the world, she says.
Last year’s shows drew good crowds and invoked “a joyful community spirit” among attendees, Koebel says. “The kids may have outnumbered the adults, but it was a great blend.”
Each day’s program is interactive and encourages movement among participants.
“At its core, it’s community music-making or village music-making,” she says. “Instrumental music, especially when driven with world percussion grooves, leaves the screen wide open and allows the listeners to have really personalized and widely variable experiences. One of the most natural responses we see in young people is movement; other listeners may experience dimensions of imagery.”
Koebel performing at Winter Wheat. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Koebel herself was inspired two decades ago by “the soulful playing of the frame drum in the hands of master percussion artist Glen Velez” and later experimented with world percussion in the art ensemble Blue Dahlia, the Celtic band Fonn Mor and the Kalamazoo drum and dance group Dunuya, which she co-founded.
In addition to her work and recordings with An Dro, which is preparing for a busy March due to St. Patrick’s Day, Koebel also recently released her own solo compilation album of old and new material, “Collected Works Vol. III: Collaborations.” Recorded with Corey DeRushia at Troubadour Studios in Lansing, Koebel worked with a host of different musicians on the collection, and plans to release several more personal projects later this year, plus two albums with An Dro. Get more information about Koebel and her projects, and listen to her music, at carolynkoebel.com.
Each installation of the Michigan Global Roots Music Festival boasts a slightly different lineup, with the 7:30 p.m. Friday show in Lansing featuring Villalobos (with members of Cabildo), An Dro and Wisaal. Admission is $7 per person and $15 for a family.
Saturday’s 11 a.m.-2 p.m. concert at Bell’s in Kalamazoo features Michigan Hiryu Daiko (Japanese taiko drumming), Pokagon/Potawatomi drum song with Anthony Tibbits, West African drum and dance with Dunuya and Rootead, Persian drum song with Resa Shirazinejad, and Wisaal with Boheme Tribal dance. Admission is $5 per person and $15 per family.
Sunday’s 2-5 p.m. festival wrap-up at One Trick Pony will spotlight An Dro, the Bhraonain School of Irish Dance, Wisaal with members of Boheme Tribal, Villalobos and West African drum and dance. A hat will be passed for donations to support the festival. Get more information at the event Facebook page.
Learn more about the event and about An Dro’s future plans in this Local Spins on WYCE podcast, which first aired Friday on 88.1 FM.
Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLC
