MARQUETTE, Mich.—Fiddler and storyteller Trae McMaken will perform songs and stories from Beaver Island at the Beaumier Heritage Center at Northern Michigan University.
The event is scheduled at 7 p.m. tonight, Aug. 1, in 105 Cohodas Hall. Admission is free, but there is a suggested donation of $5 for adults and $1 for students/kids. This performance is held in conjunction with the center’s current exhibition, “Scattered to the Winds: the Vanished Community of Cables’ Bay,” which details the history of Beaver Island.
Growing up on the Michigan-Ontario border, McMaken imbibed varied styles of fiddle playing including Irish, Scottish, Quebecois, Ontario old time and Michigan old time. He founded MichiganFiddle.com as a resource for centralizing historical collections of Michigan fiddling and for promoting the tradition.
This summer, McMaken spent several days on Beaver Island performing and leading workshops as part of the Glen McDonough Folk School. His 2011 album “ For the Long Winter Nights” takes a look at the fiddle and song traditions of Michigan and the Great Lakes and also incorporates some of his original numbers.
The Cables’ Bay exhibition is funded by a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities. McMaken’s performance is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.
Source: Press Release
