The West Michigan musician known as “Huggy Bear” runs a studio and helps organize this weekend’s Smiling Acres fest. The Artist Spotlight and this week’s Local Spins on WYCE radio podcast.
‘Serving the Projects’: Mark Lavengood in The Bear Den. (Photo/Local Spins)
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Anyone acquainted with Mark “Huggy Bear” Lavengood has experienced the unbridled exuberance, enthusiasm and embrace-happy nature of this multi-instrumentalist and serial West Michigan collaborator.
But the grinning Dobro whiz who first rose to prominence as a member of Michigan bluegrass outfit Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys before going solo has even more irons in the fire, so to speak, than many might realize.
For one thing, Lavengood now operates The Bear Den recording studio in a groovily revamped shed on a farm outside Coral, Mich.
For another, he’s the entertainment director for the third-year Smiling Acres Music Festival taking place this weekend in Trufant, less than 40 miles northeast of Grand Rapids – booking bands, handling marketing and helping organize the Fourth of July weekend event as part of a five-member team.
At Smiling Acres: Mark Lavengood on stage at an earlier festival. (Photo/Anna Sink)
“It’s a mighty team,” he says of the Smiling Acres crew, which will manage hundreds of festivalgoers reveling in sets on two main stages featuring the likes of May Erlewine, The Accidentals, Jack Droppers & The Best Intentions, Henhouse Prowlers and more. (Get the lineup and Local Spins preview here.)
“It (the festival) just kind of ended up manifesting itself being in the right place at the right time.”
The same could also be said for much of Lavengood’s musical career, which started in the roots music, bluegrass and folk realm but has delved into everything from Americana and “honky-tonk country” churned out by the band King Possum to “more electronic sounds and soundscapes.”
VIDEO: A Tour of The Bear Den
A STUDIO THAT’S ‘SMALL BUT MIGHTY IN POTENTIAL’
Lavengood said he approaches projects “unapologetically without any inhibition or concern of identity. It’s music and if you listen to it and like it, that’s great. There’s room for everyone in all different styles. To me, it’s about quality and collaborating with artist that I’m passionate about.”
To that end, the cozy Bear Den revels in a partnership approach with artists recording there, including guitarist Joe Rood (formerly of Gunnar & The Grizzly Boys), King Possum (featuring Lavengood, Andy Szumowski, Nathan Walton and Kyle Brown), an upcoming new solo album (his first since 2017’s “We’ve Come Along”) and a variety of other clients.
Partnering, Collaboratins with Other Musicians: Lavengood (Photo/Local Spins)
“I’m trying to provide the facility as a producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, singer, vocalist, writer, collaborator, performer, studio owner, operator and the utility of everything that can be created here,” he said.
“Right now, it’s small but like it’s mighty in potential. It’s kind of geared toward an artist that might have songs and wants somebody to flesh out the rest of the tracks. I like to serve the project; I like to serve the space.”
For this week’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE, Lavengood debuted a freshly mixed new track co-written with Rood (“Dallas”) and performed a solo version of an old song, “Imaginary Rabbits,” which will also appear on the new King Possum album. Scroll down for the radio show podcast.
Beyond performing at Smiling Acres (with a 2 a.m. Saturday night/Sunday morning slot as well as sitting in with other festival acts), Lavengood has a series of summer gigs ahead, including Wisconsin’s Miles of Music with The Nomads, White Oak Music Festival, Shiba Fest and Earthwork Harvest Gathering.
This week’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE — which spotlights music by Michigan artists at 11 a.m. Fridays and 5 p.m. Sundays on WYCE (88.1 FM) and online at wyce.org — also featured new music from Whorled, Distant Stars, Myron Elkins, El Bently 448, The Rebel Eves, Grace Theisen and Vagabonds. Listen to the radio show here.
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (6/30/23)
PHOTO GALLERY: The Bear Den in Coral
Photos by Local Spins
