Wednesday August 4 and Thursday August 5, 10 am – 5:30 pm. 

Cost:  $ 110

For Registration information CLICK HERE

NOTE:  THIS CLASS WILL BE HELD AT DESIREE'S STUDIO IN SUTTONS BAY.  MAP PROVIDED UPON REGISTRATION.

Tuesday, August 10, 10 am - 4 pm

Cost:  $75

For Registration information CLICK HERE

NOTE:  THIS CLASS WILL BE HELD AT DESIREE'S STUDIO IN SUTTONS BAY.  MAP PROVIDED UPON REGISTRATION.

Wednesday, August 11 10 am - 4 pm

Cost: $75

For Registration information CLICK HERE

Friday August 13, 10 am to 4 pm.

Cost:  $75

For Registration information CLICK HERE

What:  SWITCHBACK-American Roots & Celtic Soul Concert

Where:  The Old Art Building In Leland

When:  August 13 at 7:30 pm

Tickets:  $15 in advance, $18 at the door.  Available at Oryana Natural foods, Leelanau Books, and The Old Art Building.

For more information on Switchback go to www.waygoodmusic.com

SWITCHBACK BIO

For over two decades, the musical partnership of Brian FitzGerald and Martin McCormack, known as Switchback, has been entertaining audiences around the world with their unique American Roots music blended with Celtic Soul.   In 1986, FitzGerald was a mandolin student of Jethro Burns and had already been touring with Clifton Chenier when he met McCormack, an award-winning voice student of Whelma Oshiem at the American Conservatory of Chicago and a member of the Star Search selected band Beyond Blue.  They were both chosen by legendary County Kerry composer and concertina master Terrence 'Cuz' Teahan to join his traditional Irish group.  Teahan taught FitzGerald and McCormack the old country techniques of Irish musical entertainment, making them one of the last generations to be directly influenced by a master of this musical genre.

 By 1988, shortly before Teahan's death, the duo continued his musical legacy with the Wailin' Banshees, joining forces with banjo great Bert McMahon of Woodford, County Galway and Chicago fiddle legend Mary McDonagh.  The Banshees flourished, but it was the power of seeing such Texan greats as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Ely, and Rodney Crowell that fueled FitzGerald and McCormack's songwriting and ultimately led to the formation of Switchback in 1993. 

 Their first album was literally a commercial success, with Chevrolet using one of the songs to promote their Chevy Blazer.  Their music eventually reached the ear of Grammy-winning producer Lloyd Maines, who then produced several albums for the band, with The Fire That Burns being selected as one of Performing Songwriter Magazine's top choices for 2003.  Throughout this time, the duo managed a heavy touring schedule, opening for such acts as The Moody Blues, Leon Russell, Lee Greenwood, John Hartford, and Beausoliel.

 Meanwhile, the Celtic music world never forgot the duo's Irish roots, so Switchback continued to cultivate a following at concerts and festivals.  The duo has shared the stage with such notable Celtic musicians as Cherish the Ladies, Gaelic Storm, Liz Carroll, and John Williams.  They annually tour Ireland and frequently perform at the Westport, County Mayo pub owned by The Chieftain's Matt Malloy, who often appears there as well.

 Playing over 200 engagements a year, Switchback can be heard at festivals ranging from the Stan Rogers Folk Festival in Nova Scotia to the Summer Celebration in Michigan where they performed for an audience of 15,000.  Their concerts take place at such venues as the intimately famous Bluebird Café of Nashville to the 3,400-seat Star Plaza Theater in Merrillville, Indiana. 

 Switchback's music is frequently played on radio stations such as RTE Radio One with Pat Kenny in Dublin, Ireland and can also be seen on Public Broadcasting Television stations throughout the United States.

 Switchback also conducts educational programs and songwriting workshops for school and community organizations.  They have developed several instructional sessions and often customize programs to fit the curriculum or concepts of the clients.  Many of these seminars are held in elementary and high schools and libraries but have been conducted in settings as far-ranging as juvenile detention centers and church camps.

 Wherever they play, no matter the size or age of audience, Switchback always captivates and charms folks with their energy and creativity.

Thursday August 19 and Friday August 20 10 am - 3 pm. 

Cost:  $110

For Registration information CLICK HERE

 What:  A Concert to benefit The Old Art Building with the Rachael Davis Band and  special guest, Joshua Davis

When:  August 25, 2010 at 7:30 pm

Where:  The Old Art Building in Leland

Cost:  $15-tickets available at Leelanau Books, Leland; Brilliant Books, Suttons Bay and Oryana, Traverse City or call 231-256-2131.

Band Bio

This collaboration brings together two of Michigan’s premier young singer-songwriters: Joshua Davis and Rachael Davis. Though these two don’t share a bloodline they do share a passion for traditional American music that runs deep in their veins.  

Rachael Davis is an award winning singer-songwriter whose brawny and transcendent vocals enhance her candid, unfeigned songwriting style.  Joshua Davis’s oil-on-canvas lyrics brought to life by fervent vocals will release the mind and straighten the spine of every listener.  Together the songs and harmonic possibilities along with their friendly antics and capable band members; Mike Lynch on organ and keys, Dominic John Davis on bass and Jason Scott behind the drums, are sure to surprise and delight audiences everywhere.

 Joshua Davis Bio:

Joshua is a seamless union of both city and country. The music is steeped in ragtime blues, sweet jazz, real country and cajun, and Davis blends these traditions with his love for gritty rock n' roll and old soul. The result is what Performing Songwriter Magazine calls, "Some of the liveliest and most rocking roots music around.”

 Davis travels across the country playing at concert halls, old theatres, festivals, clubs, dives, classrooms and parks. He’s released a number of albums, including his 2005 solo effort, “Fool Rooster”, which earned the album of the year slot from “Progressive Torch and Twang”, a cult favorite Americana show on WDBM. He’s released four albums with roots-rocking quartet Steppin’ In It, one album of jazz standards with Shout Sister Shout, and has played on too many albums to count.

 Davis has appeared on West Virginia’s Mountain Stage radio show and Kentucky’s Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour. He’s played prestigious festivals like Telluride Bluegrass in Colorado and Suwannee Springfest in Florida, not to mention every festival Michigan, his home state, has to offer.

 He lives in Lansing, MI with his wife and daughter where he is successfully balancing touring, husband/fatherhood and recording a follow up to Fool Rooster, to be released in the near future.

 Rachael Davis Bio:

When Rachael Davis first opened her mouth to sing she had clear tone, sharp control, an extensive range and a keen understanding about the nature of a tune, which were all unusual for a two-year-old. At five-years-old she learned to sing harmony to the mountain songs her mother sang to her, at eight she earned five dollars for her first paying gig with the family band Lake Effect. At nine-years-old Rachael took up piano and started writing the songs that would ultimately prime her for her future as a songwriter. At twelve she took her first guitar lesson, at fourteen she began performing without her parents. At fifteen, sixteen and seventeen-years-old Rachael was writing songs that laid bare wisdom which widely exceeded her years. When Rachael was eighteen her father put his Bart Reiter banjo in her hands and taught her how to play claw hammer banjo. Rachael will joke that by doing this, her father had cursed her for life, but the reality is that he had allowed his daughter to discover her first devastating love in the lilting splendor of a well played old-timey tune. At twenty Rachael recorded and released her first album “Minor League Deities” that was a collection of the songs she had been writing during her teenage years. The album won critical accolades in the acoustic music scene and acclaim among folk music listeners. The year after “Deities” was released Davis took her song and dance from the comfort of her Midwestern upbringing to the roar of the east. She made a place for herself in Boston, Massachusetts where she found good friends, reticent success and new influences that would catapult her into the next stage of songwriting. Coming into her own as she played for passers by on the city’s sidewalks and subway platforms Rachael started drawing musical inspiration from sources that weren’t in her parents’ substantial vinyl collection. She was discovering new artists with new sounds and new songs all on her own. Whether they were contemporary sounds that the world at large was hearing for the first time, or they were the classics that Davis was encountering for the first time. Rachael found sanctuary in basement level record stores and Boston’s premier acoustic music clubs. She fell in love with the voices of Patty Griffin, Aoife O’Donovan [Crooked Still] and Deb Talan [The Weepies]. Rachael began to listen with a discerning ear to the songwriting of Gillian Welch and Greg Brown, got a few performance tips from stage veterans like Vance Gilbert and Cheryl Wheeler and even got the guided tour, a time, or two, from Josh Ritter, who was a local at that time, and indie rock’s parade float princess, Mary Lou Lord. These influences and experiences set a heavy hand on the artist that Rachael is today.

Because Davis has been swayed by so many different types of music her style is difficult to file and will not languorously rest amid broader musical genres. Rachael’s slant on acoustic music can aptly be explained by a mixed cassette tape that her father played during her early childhood in the family’s Chevy Cavalier station wagon “Iggy”. On one side of the cassette was the soundtrack for the film The Big Chill on the other side was John Hartford’s “Areoplane”. Countless hours of riding and listening during such a critical period for a receptive child had a lasting impression and thus created Davis’ very own category of acoustic music that she amorously calls ‘Motown-Banjo’.

 In the time of her 10 year solo career Rachael has released 4 albums including one collaboration with the Lansing, Michigan based American-roots band Steppin’ In It and one live record with long-time musical partner Brett Hartenbach [Daniel Johnston] that came out of a live radio show recorded in Breman, Germany in May of 2004. Davis has lent her voice to countless other recordings including tracks for film, television and guest vocals on other records.

 Right now Rachael is living in Bath, Michigan with her husband, accomplished bassist Dominic John Davis [Steppin’ In It], where she is presently immersed in her latest project….three-year-old Virgil Ryman Davis.

Charles R Murphy Artist-In-Residence 2010

Graduating from Minnesota State University with his BFA in Studio Art, he set off for Cape Cod to immerse himself in a community of artisits.  After his first taste of apinting and exhibiting on the East Coast, he settled in the Grand Traverse Bay area of northern Michigan where he again found himself in a large community of artists.  For several years, Murphy exhibited in art fairs around the state, garnering award and a large audience of collectors.  With additional assistance from galleries and dealers who represented him, his work found its way into many large corporate collections such as Kraft, General Motors, Prudential, Mead Corporation, International Harvestor, Us Gypsum and Joh Hancock.

While his career as a painter took form he supplemented his income through another of his interests, woodworking.  Murphy spent a number of years designing furniture and cabinet making for shops in the Grand Traverse region.  Seeking greater fulfillment from his painting, he set the woodworking aside and began teaching painting classes and workships at regional art centers.  Expanding on this experience he has undertaken more travel for his own painting as well as the opportunity to teach in a variety of environments.  These pursuits have taken him around the US , France, Spain, Italy, Nova Scotia, Hawaii and the Caribbean.

A couple of excursions into illustration have resulted in two books. The first book, the award-winning "Reach for the Moon" was a collaboration with a young learning disabled writer.  The second bood, a children's book titled "Smokey the Raccoon", published by PF Publishing.  In 2002 Charles was flatter to have his work selected for publication in Artists' Magazine's 2002 limited edition calendar.  The calendar features 13 artists juried from a field of 13,000.

Charles Murphy curently teaches painting programs at the Grand Traverse Art Center in Traverse City, Michigan.  His works are in the 143rd Annual International Traveling Exhibition of the American Watercolor Society.

June 11-13, 2010-Reception and Exhibit

Meet the artists and view a mixed media presentation of a lifetime collection of original artwork in oils and watercolor.  Join us for the opening reception on Friday, June 11 from 5 to 8 pm.  The exhibit continues Saturday 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday 12 to 4 pm. 

June 24 & August 9-Intensive All Day Workshops

This workshop is designed to engage the student watercolorist in a wide variety of watercolor applications.  Woven into these exercises will be sound principles of “picture making” including formats, value pattern schemes and organized color palette use.  Class size limited, registration required.  10 am – 4 pm. $25

July 12-Lecture and Demonstration

Charles will give a presentation on the history and development of the watercolor medium.  The paint and its behavioral properties will be clearly laid out.  Paired with this discussion will be active demonstrations to illustrate the examples.  1 – 4 pm.  $10