Of Wind, Horses and Music

Ah, the end of summer is always such a fascinating time on the North Shore. People have been reporting changing leaves for more than a week now, but it wasn’t until the wind swooped in earlier this week that the smell of fall was in the air.

Lots of people get out in the woods now, too. No bugs! Balmy days. Beautiful paddling. Here’s a video featuring photographer Layne Kennedy talking about paddling in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Here’s a piece from his blog. Inspiring stuff.

DNR botanist and plant ecologist Chel Anderson was interviewed on WTIP radio about the plants and flowers we can see in the early fall. Click here to read her interview by Jay Andersen. Click here to listen to it.

There’s plenty of hot music in the county this week.

On Friday night, KGB, (“The kinder, gentler KGB”)  with John Koscielak on piano & vocals, John Gruber on bass and vocals and Don Bauer on guitar) play at What’s Upstairs above Betsy Bowen’s Studio in the Old Playhouse. The concert ($10) starts at 7:30 p.m. and will feature Latin jazz, jazz standards and jazzy blues with a clean, soft, smart sound. A good time.

Then on Saturday night, Nashville comes to Grand Marais with Jerry Vandiver, an award-winning sisnger/songwriter from Nashville who will perform at the Grand Marais Art Colony at 7 p.m.  You can get a preview on WTIP’s The Roadhouse, which airs from 5-7 p.m. Friday night. Vandiver will be interviewed and play some tunes. He will be performing with award-winning singer/songwriter Shy-Anne Horvorka, a Native American from Thunder Bay who has done everything from playing with the Thunder Bay, Ontario Symphony Orchestra to performing her own songs on Canada Idol, the Canadian equivalent of American Idol. http://www.shy-anne.com/#mce_temp_url#.

He has written songs for a number  of nationally known bands and musicians, including Tim McGraw and The Oak Ridge Boys, and two of his songs are hanging on the walls of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Vandiver’s  first major label cut was “Don’t Waste It On The Blues” by Gene Watson which reached No. 5 on the Country charts. Since then, he has had songs recorded by Wild Rose, Lee Greenwood, Barbara Mandrell, Phil Vassar. Tim McGraw recorded Vandiver’s “For A Little While” which reached No. 2 on the country charts and was performed by McGraw on the David Letterman Show and the Superbowl 2009. The song is also featured on McGraw’s Greatest Hits CD. Thanks to McGraw, Vandiver now has songs on more than 16 million records.

His performance on Saturday night is a benefit for the Art Colony. Tickets are $9 in advance, $10 at the door. Worth a ticket.  Call 387-2737 for more info.

There’s more music this week, too. Here’s a schedule:

Wednesday

• Pete Kavanaugh, Birch Terrace, 7-20 p.m.
• Jazz at Caribou Highlands featuring saxophone player Randy Lee, 5:30-8 p.m. Lee is the is founder, artistic director, and woodwind soloist of the Big Time Jazz Orchestra, based in Duluth. Here’s his Web site.
• Ian Alexy, Gunflint Tavern, 8-11 p.m. Ian Alexy is a dynamic singer/songwriter/guitarist who plays with Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank. This is a solo gig, though. He plays funk, country blues and folk, hip hop, soul, roots rock, Americana and jazz.
• Bluefin Grill, Tofte, Bingham & Thorne, 8-11 p.m. Bob Bingham and Gordon Thorne play classic blues. Click here to learn more. Listen.
• Grand Marais singer/songwriter Michael Monroe plays at Lutsen Resort for a fish boil on the beach, 5-8 p.m. Here’s his Web site.

Thursday

• Singer/songwriter Joe Paulik, Lusten Resort, 5-8 p.m.
• Live music at the Gunflint Tavern, 8-11 p.m.

Friday

• Trail’s End Band, Trail Center, 5:30-9 p.m.,The Trail’s End Band plays primarily classic rock favorites with a variety of country rock thrown in. Mark Darling on keyboards; Jeff Sylvester lead singer and guitar; Jon Kallberg on bass guitar and vocals; Tony Faras on guitar.
• KGB, What’s Upstairs, in the Old Playhouse above Betsy Bowen’s Studio, 7:30 p.m., $10.
• Pete Kavanaugh Group, Gunflint Tavern, 9-midnight, Expect to hear great blues, rock, funk & reggae from some guys on a mission.

Saturday

• Cook County’s Most Wanted, Birch Terrace, 1:30-5 p.m. They play alternative country, country rock and classic rock, always a popular group.
• Don Bauer, Lutsen Resort, 7-10 p.m.
• Pete Kavanaugh Group, Gunflint Tavern, 9- midnight.
• J2 (Squared) and the Makers, Papa Charlie’s, 6:30-9 p.m.
• Jerry Vandiver, Benefit for the Grand Marais Art Colony, 7 p.m., $10.

Sunday

• Don Bauer, Gunflint Tavern, 8-11 p.m.

Monday

• Joe Paulik, Gunflint Tavern, 8-11p.m.

Tuesday

• Bump Blomberg, Gunflint Tavern, 8-11 p.m.

Other events this weekend:

The Cook County Farm & Craft Market features fresh produce and a variety of arts and crafts. It’s held in the Senior Center parking lot each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Cook County Fair will be held on Friday through Sunday at the Community Center. It runs from 8 a.m. -8 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 4:30p.m. Sunday. There are lots of things to do and see this year, including exhibits, inflatables for kids, horse games and demonstrations, a Family Welness Fair, face painting, a petting zoo, a cookie contest, a cake walk and live music, to name a few. Bands include the Flute Reed River Band, which plays from 5-7 p.m. Friday night and Oversized Load, which plays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

And not to forget, there will be activities in the horse arena all weekend.  On Saturday at 2:30 p.m. J.P. Bell of the Talmadge River Ranch on the North Shore, will hold a cutting horse demonstration and class. Bell is nationally known for his skills. Check out these  demonstration videos of him. He’s great, and so is his horse. Click here to view.

Sunday afternoon is dedicated as a Horse Play Day and everyone is invited to come watch.

In other art news, watercolorist Peter Humeniuk will teach a painting class at the Grand Marais Rec Park from s12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Aug. 21 & 22. For more information, visit www.bigbrush.com. For more information, call 387-2044 and leave a message.

Art exhibits this weekend include “Four Points,” an exhibit of contemporary Native American art at the Johnson Heritage Post Gallery. The exhibit includes works by Jim Denomie, Andrea Carlson, Star Wallowingbull and Julie Buffalohead. The Heritage Post is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

Potter Ann Ward and painter Bruce Palmer have a joint exhibit at the Cross River Heritage Center which continues through August. And Tim Young is exhibiting his work at Chez Jude in Grand Marais.

The Grand Marais Art Colony is holding a number of classes this month. Laurie Toth is teaching a class in soft pastel painting which starts this Friday. Linda Gammell and Holly Swift will hold a workshop entitled “Creating a Visual Journal; Collections from Nature” at the Art Colony Aug. 27-29 and Peachie Schmid will teach a class in fused glass jewelry Aug. 28-29.

And not to forget the Plein Air Painting Competition and Exhibition Aug. 27-Sept. 6. To register and for more information, call 218-287-2737 or visit the Web site here.

More than 40 plein air artists from all over the region participate in this event, which includes a night paint and a quick paint, a lecture by plein air artist Brian Stewart and an exhibit in the Founder’s Hall at the Art Colony Sept. 3.

Betsy Bowen’s newest book, “Big Belching Bog,”  which she illustrated, is on its way from the printer “on a slow boat from China,” Bowen said this week. But she has received one copy of the finished book, which can be seen and ordered at her studio.

So that’s it for this week! Oh, and this song has been posted before, but it just seems appropriate today. To hear, click here.

Enjoy!