The new festival takes place Friday and Saturday at Lively Acres in Empire, with several regional blues acts, including Brendon Linsley and Captain Dirk.
‘Making Music to Inspire People’: Thornetta Davis headlines the inaugural festival in Empire. (Courtesy Photo)
Jim Lively didn’t want to see summer slip away. Busy running the Lively NeighborFood market and Lively Acres campground, he couldn’t leave the property for any kind of a lengthy vacation.
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So he decided to do the next best thing. Or maybe even the best thing period.
“Last winter, I was sitting around with my buddies. I wanted to do something for me. I like blues, beer and barbecue.”
So Lively began contemplating creating an event combining the three, and brought it up to one such gathering of friends. Among those present was Sugar Mae Owens, publisher of Big City Rhythm & Blues magazine. “She has a home in Glen Arbor, and she said, ‘Who do you want?’ I said (Detroit blues singer) Thornetta Davis, and she called her on the spot. That put me on the spot.”
“So I booked her and said, ‘I guess I’m doing it.’”
“His favorite artist is a friend of mine,” says Owens, taking up the story. “I called her and gave him the phone.”
The Fabulous Horndogs: Traverse City boogie band. (Courtesy Photo)
Thus was born Backyard Blues, Brews & BBQ, taking place Friday and Saturday (Aug. 7-8) at the Empire campground and market.
Lively NeighborFood Market will feature BBQ with local pork and beef, and Lively Acres Chef Tero Valtonen will provide side dishes, including gluten-free and vegetarian fare, all featuring local produce and ingredients. The beer will be from nearby Stormcloud Brewing in Frankfort, while Mawby Sparkling and Big Little Wines will provide a variety of wine.
Davis came to the blues as a result of sitting in with a band in Detroit. “In 1988, I was a top 40 R&B singer with a girl group, Chanteuse. I used to go to jam sessions on the east side of Detroit … at a club called Red Carpet,” she says. She would sit in with a band called The Chisel Brothers.
“They said, ‘Do you know any blues?’ I knew one blues song, ‘Stormy Monday.’ So I did that song, and every time I went back to jam they would ask me to do that song.”
The musical chemistry became so strong and the partnership so successful the group became The Chisel Brothers with Girl Thornetta. It played around the state.
That’s where Lively comes into the picture. He had become enamored of the blues after attending the Chicago Blues Fest. “When I moved to Traverse City I went to JRR’s Warehouse and saw the Chisel Brothers with Girl Thornetta,” he says. “I was a big fan.”
He wasn’t alone. Davis’ fame continued to grow over the years, and in the years since, she has gone on to headline status. Davis was named Detroit’s Queen of the Blues in 2015 by the Detroit Blues Society, with proclamations from the City of Detroit, County of Wayne and the State of Michigan. She has performed with and opened for Bob Seger and blues legends like B.B. King, Ray Charles, Etta James, Bonnie Raitt and more. She is a 10-time Blues Music Award nominee, as well as winning over 30 Detroit Music Awards.
‘FEATHER IN OUR CAP’ TO PLAY THE INAUGURAL FESTIVAL
Immediately preceding Davis on stage at the festival on Saturday, will be The Fabulous Horndogs. The Traverse City band has been a popular draw since forming for a New Year’s Eve gig in 1995. Since then it has gone through several shifts in personnel. Trombonist Billy Gauthier, a veteran of numerous other musical groups, joined in 2022. “We’ll bring the blues, boogie-woogie and a little swing,” he says.
Which is not hard for a band that also plays funk, reggae, soul and more. The versatile six-piece tailors its sets to the setting. Gauthier says it’s different at the outdoor shows at Marina Park in Northport than at a wedding reception or a gig at a bar.
Brendon Linsley (Courtesy Photo)
The band plays across the region, both as a headliner and an opening act. Gauthier says the band’s placement in the schedule doesn’t matter: They’ll give it their all regardless of the setting or show. “It’s a feather in our cap,” says Gauthier of performing with Davis. “It’s an honor to be part of the show and open for her.”
Davis says blues is a style everyone can connect with. “Well, blues is life music. We all are gonna experience the blues in our lives. It’s the truth, no matter what ups and downs you’re going through. I think that’s the connection to the blues.”
It’s a way of life for her, and she intends to keep spreading the gospel of blues. “I’m gonna continue on the path of making music to inspire people to love one another and spread love all over this world,” she says. “I believe that’s what music is here for it brings people together from all walks of life and we need more love on the planet nowadays.”
The Aug. 8 show opens with Mississippi-based blues historian and acoustic guitarist Captain Dirk Wissbaum at 3 p.m. Rising star and young guitar slinger Brendon Linsley from metro Detroit will follow. He recently won the Detroit Blues Challenge and was a semi-finalist at this year’s Memphis International Blues Challenge. He will return to Memphis for the International Blues Challenge in 2027. The Fabulous Horndogs will then take the stage, followed by Davis.
On Friday, campers and locals can enjoy Sugar Mae’s Blues Camp. The tradition
began over 25 years ago at the home of Sugar Mae and her husband, Robert Jr Whitall. They would invite blues musicians, friends and contributors to the magazine, which Whitall had founded, to join them up north.
“Every year we would do a Sugar Mae’s Blues Camp for our writers and friends to come up here to enjoy this beautiful land and go swimming in wonderful Lake Michigan,” she says “After the passing of my husband I wasn’t sure how to carry it on, so it was a perfect segue to have it at Lively Acres, where there is plenty of camping and lots of fun nearby. Swimming, hiking, biking, sunsets and now the blues. Dreams do come true.”
This year’s inaugural event at Lively Acres Campground will also feature an open-mic
blues campfire hosted by Captain Dirk Wissbaum. The Blues Camp requires a two-night minimum for campers, and reduced-price tickets ($30) are included. Locals can purchase a ticket to enjoy the blues campfire for $10.
For more information or to purchase tickets, go online to https://livelyacres.com/events/backyard-blues-brews-bbq/.
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