With August’s final blast of Michigan music festivals heating up the state this weekend, Local Spins showcases Mitten State performers at some of these celebrations. The radio show podcast and more.
Getting Their Freak On: Billy Strings with Greensky Bluegrass at GLC Live at 20 Monroe on Thursday (top); scenes from Ionia prepping for the Freak Fair (bottom). (Photos/Local Spins)
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One sign in particular said it all: “Welcome home, Billy Strings.”
One didn’t have to look very hard or very far on Thursday to see what kind of impact Billy Strings’ inaugural Ionia Freak Fair already has had on the small city of Ionia, population 12,265 — even before the first note gets played tonight at the Ionia County Fairgrounds.
Temporary campgrounds have popped up in unusual places to accommodate festivalgoers, including Bill’s Fireworks, which will house hundreds of festivalgoers over the weekend and ferry them via shuttles in old school buses to the fairgrounds.
A trip around Ionia on Thursday revealed vendors selling all manner of Billy Strings-related merchandise on Main Street, bluegrass performances and jam sessions at the Ionia Theatre, “freak”-related stickers and T-shirts of all kinds pretty much everywhere, and long lines of RVs waiting to park at the fairgrounds — commandeered by Billy fans from across the United States.
Scenes from Freaktown: Ionia on Thursday. (Photos/Local Spins)
Glenn Brown drove 14 hours from Columbia, S.C., to attend the Ionia Freak Fair, this after having already seen Billy Strings more than 25 times over the years. He credits the forthright bluegrass guitarist for helping keep him sober and he embraces the community of fans who are all about “love and good positivity.”
“I was going sober when Billy came into my life and I started really listening to his lyrics. His music really spoke to me,” Brown said. “He’s helped me get through a lot of hard times. He’s inspiring. I felt like this is where I need to be at this point in my life. I’m super excited to be here.”
With more than 27,000 revelers “super excited” to flood the town for the sold-out, two-day festival that features the superstar bluegrass guitarist’s famous pals — Greensky Bluegrass, Sierra Hull, Leftover Salmon, Lindsay Lou, Full Cord, Mark Lavengood and Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper — the city has been bracing for this onslaught since it was announced in mid-February.
“An event of this size will impact the community, but we have been preparing for this weekend for several months. The City has made a point of keeping residents informed via Facebook and our newsletters so they know what to expect,” City Manager Precia L. Garland told Local Spins.
“The city has been working with event organizers and our public safety partners to prepare for increased traffic and parking demand. We encourage everyone to plan ahead and allow extra time to reach their destination.”
Ionia’s Department of Public Safety will have additional officers on board for the weekend, she said, with the Ionia County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police providing extra staff support as well.
“We expect the event to have a positive economic impact on Ionia and the surrounding area. The city has been working closely with the Ionia Area Chamber of Commerce to help local businesses prepare and make the most of the increased number of visitors this weekend,” she added. “We are excited about the opportunity this event will bring to our local economy and the spotlight it will shine on our community for first-time visitors.”
A ‘PICKIN’ PARTY’ IN IONIA AND BILLY JOINS GREENSKY IN GR
Many festivalgoers arrived early on Thursday to set up camp at various locations around town and to attend a “Pickin’ Party” at the Ionia Theatre with performances by several bands along with some open jamming.
All-Star Affair: Greensky Bluegrass brought Billy Strings and Vince Herman on stage Thursday. (Photo/James Bond)
The “Billy Strings Week” hoopla even extended to Grand Rapids, 33 miles away, with festival acts Greensky Bluegrass and the Mark Lavengood Band heating up a packed GLC Live at 20 Monroe on Thursday night, with fans getting a special treat when Billy Strings himself showed up on stage to join the Kalamazoo progressive bluegrass group at the tail end of the show. Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon also made an appearance. (View the set list here and scroll down for photos from the concert.)
Earlier in the week, Grand Rapids’ Vertigo Music and other independent record shops hosted listening parties for Billy Strings’ new studio album, “So Much for Goodbyes,” which officially gets released today.
To further warm up fans, the Local Spins Michigan Music Showcase this week spotlights a new track from that Billy Strings album along with recent music from Lindsay Lou, Greensky Bluegrass and Full Cord (which recorded its latest single, “How a Muse Gets By,” with Billy Strings earlier this year), as well as a new song from Lansing metalcore outfit Heartsick, which plays the festival’s Pyramid Scheme Metal and Pinball Tent.
Of course, that’s not the only upcoming Michigan festival on tap. The show also features tracks by Michigan artists playing the Forest Trail Music Festival in Free Soil (Billy Gunther & The Midwest Riders, Jon Hayes, Cold Mountain Child), the Blues by the Bay festival in East Tawas (Sunny Bleu & The Moons), the Burning Foot Beer Festival in Muskegon (Mustard Plug), the Detroit Jazz Festival taking place over Labor Day weekend (Bob James), the Sounds of the Zoo Festival in Kalamazoo at the end of September (Jacob McLeod) and the Arts and Apples Festival in Rochester (Julianne Ankley).
Listen to all the tracks and the full radio show below.
The Michigan Music Showcase airs at 11 a.m. Fridays and 5 p.m. Sundays on WYCE (88.1 FM) and online at wyce.org, and on Interlochen Public Radio at 7 p.m. Saturdays. Check out previous show podcasts online here.
PODCAST: Local Spins Michigan Music Showcase (8/28/26)
PHOTO GALLERY: Greensky Bluegrass, Mark Lavengood Band at GLC Live at 20 Monroe
Photos by Veronica Ann Dearborn and Jamie Geysbeek
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