Michigan acts and stars from across the globe pump up this year’s Blissfest lineup. Regular advance tickets for the July 8-10 festival are now on sale.
Special Blissful Place: Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers will return to Blissfest this summer. (Photo/Anna Sink)
Performers and veteran attendees lovingly refer to it simply as “Bliss.”
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Rite of Passage: Bands such as The Accidentals have cut their teeth at Blissfest. (Photo/Anna Sink)
For three dozen years, Blissfest has brought a joyful musical atmosphere to rural northern Michigan and the 2016 edition of the July festival will up that ante with headliners who include multi-instrumentalist Keller Williams, iconic veteran electric blues act Hot Tuna and Peter Yarrow of the legendary folk trio, Peter, Paul & Mary.
“Bliss stands alone from the rest of the pack,” insisted Grand Rapids musician and songwriter Ryan Williams, a Blissfest regular and a member of the band The Change, which will perform at this year’s festival being held July 10-12 on the festival farm north of Harbor Springs.
“It’s the lineups and activities, not to mention the amazing support they give to Michigan music. Blissfest is an organization that continues its support of the arts with multiple events throughout the year.”
This year’s lineup announced earlier this month boasts a top-notch batch of Michigan acts such as The Go Rounds, Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys, Breathe Owl Breathe, Dragon Wagon, Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers, Seth Bernard & May Erlewine and, once again, The Accidentals.
Returnee: May Erlewine will perform this year with Seth Bernard and Tyler Duncan. (Photo/Anna Sink)
Indeed, Blissfest holds a special place in the hearts of this fast-emerging, hard-touring indie-folk trio from Traverse City because that’s where multi-instrumentalists Savannah Buist and Katie Larson first met drummer Michael Dause in 2013. Not long after, he joined The Accidentals and his life was forever changed.
“Blissfest was the first music festival I ever attended back in 2010,” recalled Dause, 21. “It was where I was first introduced to the Michigan music scene. I saw Seth and May play a midnight show on a very small stage and it blew my mind.”
Dause – who’ll also perform a solo set at the event – called Blissfest “an amazingly curated festival” which introduces him to new acts from around the country and the globe every year. The festival spotlights a host of genres, including bluegrass, folk, blues, Zydeco, Celtic, jazz, Latin, and world music.
MICHIGAN FAVORITES JOIN INTERNATIONAL STARS AT BLISSFEST 2016
The acts performing this year really do span the globe, from The Netherlands’ Harmony Glen and Uganda’s Kinobe & Wamu Spirit to respected American acts HuDost, The Hillbenders, Cedric Burnside Project, The Brown Rice Family, That One Guy, The Boxcar Boys and 10 String Symphony.
Other national and international artists announced for this year’s festival include Sweden’s Baskery, Colorado’s Cary Morin, New Orleans’ Dirty Bourbon River Show, North Carolina’s Goldie & The Screamers, Boston’s Heather Maloney, and Chicago’s The Way Down Wanderers. (Check out the full 2016 lineup at blissfest.org.)
Blissfest Debut: Oh Brother Big Sister play the festival for the first time this year. (Photo/Johnson Photography)
Michigan is well represented, too, with northern Michigan’s Kung Fu Rodeo, Kellerville, Michelle Chenard and The Hoop Incident, Saugatuck’s Delilah DeWylde & The Lost Boys, Marquette’s Conge Se Menne, Detroit’s Olivia Millerschin, Boyne City’s The Pistil Whips and Benzie County’s K. Jones & The Benzie Playboys.
Traverse City’s Oh Brother Big Sister, aka siblings Penny Jean and Radel Rosin, will play Blissfest for the first time and are “pretty stoked” to be part of the 2016 lineup.
“For Michigan musicians, performing at Bliss is sort of a rite of passage,” Radel Rosin said. “It is like Michigan’s music scene is recognizing your work and getting behind it. The incredible support of local music in Michigan is what gives us the ability to be full-time musicians and we are incredibly grateful to live in this beautiful state.”
Advance festival tickets are now on sale, with weekend adult tickets costing $135 ($95 for Blissfest members) and teen tickets (ages 13-17) priced at $51.35 ($38 for members). Individual Friday, Saturday and Sunday tickets also are available.
Weekend adult tickets will be $155 at the gate that July weekend; $60 for teens. Children up to age 12 are free when accompanied by a parent or adult guardian.
Go online to blissfest.org or call 231-348-7047 for ticket information.
Copyright 2016, Spins on Music LLC
