Hosted for the 16th year by the Great Lakes Acoustic Music Association, Saturday’s affair boasts sets by Tom Paxton, Michael Cleveland, Don Julin, workshops and more. See the full schedule.
Anticipating “An Absolute Blast”: Traverse City mandolinist Don Julin will perform and host a workshop at Cooper’s Glen. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEOS OF FEATURED PERFORMERS
Support our coverage of
West Michigan's music scene
Entering its 10th year at the Radisson Plaza in Kalamazoo, and 16th overall, the 2018 Cooper’s Glen Festival will feature no shortage of talent whatsoever on or off the stage Saturday.
Save this image on your smartphone to take along
Grammy-nominated fiddle virtuoso Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper closes out this year’s fest, which will be headlined by Grammy-winning legendary songwriter Tom Paxton and feature performances by two-time Grammy-winning folk duo Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer and Traverse City’s Don Julin Acoustic Trio.
“I’m really excited about this year’s lineup,” said Kathy Nichols, president of the Great Lakes Acoustic Music Association which puts on the annual fest. “It’s an incredible mix of musicians. And they are here not just as performers, but will be in workshops in the afternoon, which is amazing as people will have the chance to get up close and personal and ask them questions.”
Cleveland, the 10-time International Bluegrass Music Association fiddle player of year, for instance, will co-host a fiddle workshop with bandmates Josh Richards and Tyler Griffith; Paxton will lead a songwriting workshop; Julin, a mandolin workshop.
“We are thrilled to be on the bill this year,” said Julin. “There’s not a whole lot of bluegrass festivals you can go to in the middle of winter in Michigan. The whole idea of it being an indoor festival in a hotel gives it a completely different feel, than say an outdoor festival where people are camping, but it’s an absolute blast.”
FIERY PERFORMANCES, OPEN JAMS AND WORKSHOPS LED BY VIRTUOSOS
Julin added that Cooper’s Glen is “put on by a great bunch of people and they hire some really good bands. Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper will certainly blow the roof off the place. They are going to have to get the fire extinguishers out by the time he is done.”
Fiddle Virtuoso: Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper will close out the evening.
Other workshops slated for the day focus on guitar, banjo, ukulele and storytelling, as well as a dobro workshop led by Al Bates (formerly of Greensky Bluegrass) and Traverse City’s Joe Wilson (who’s performed in numerous Michigan bands, including Steppin’ In It).
Julin has spent the past two years since parting ways with rising bluegrass star Billy Strings putting on mandolin workshops across the country and running an online mandolin school, Mandolins Heal The World. This summer, he will lead workshops at nationally renowned festivals such as RockyGrass in Lyons, Colorado and Swannanoa Gathering in Asheville, North Carolina.
“I’ve really put a lot of my energy back into teaching, which is what I was doing before I hooked up with Billy (in 2012). I’m just now starting to get out and play a little more again,” said Julin, whose trio is rounded out by a pair of fellow Traverse City residents, Wilson and bassist Kevin Gills, the latter of whom also used to play with Strings and Julin.
In addition to the workshops and live performances, attendees will be able to visit a variety of music-related vendors, including luthiers, instructors and local music shops. They also have an opportunity to shop at the GLAMA garage sale, and sit in on jam sessions or participate in the festival’s Open Mic, which is scheduled from 2-4 p.m. Saturday.
Tom Paxton
This year’s one-day festival represents a change from past years when Cooper’s Glen was a two-day affair, with organizers noting it may be easier for attendees to experience and pack everything into a single day rather than a longer weekend.
“There’s open jams that go on all over, groups of people jamming all day long in different corners of the Radisson, playing music,” said Nichols. “So bring your instrument. There’s an instrument check room that is going to be open the entire day except for during the evening performances from 9-11:30. You can leave your instrument there and it will be safely watched.”
Pre-sale tickets, which include admission to all workshops and the evening performances, are available for $40 at Marshall Music and Broughton Music Center in Kalamazoo as well as online. Tickets will be available for $50 at the door and workshop-only tickets will be $15 at the door. Children 16 and under are admitted free with a paying adult.
The festival will also feature a cash bar and food vendors. Visit greatlakesacoustic.org for more information on this year’s festival.
VIDEO: Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper
VIDEO: Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer
VIDEOS: Don Julin
Copyright 2018, Spins on Music LLC
