Traverse City Record-Eagle

Emmet County

July 3, 2008

Annual Blissfest is a state of mind

'Positive vibe' at music festival

By CAROL SOUTH

CROSS VILLAGE -- Got bliss?

In just a few weeks, more than 5,000 people a day will share some bliss at the 28th Annual Blissfest, living into the music festival's come-hither slogan for a weekend.

The 2008 event is scheduled for July 11-13 at a farm near Cross Village in Emmet County, on the map as a premier destination for alternative music aficionados.

Whether visitors camp for the weekend on the 120-acre grounds or stop by for a day, Blissfest is a state of mind as much as an immersion in an eclectic melange of roots music.

"Blissfest is a very positive vibe," said Marc Alderman of Interlochen.

Alderman and his wife, Dede, are musicians and co-founders of Rhythmic Adventures. They have attended Blissfest over the last decade or so, as performers and drum circle facilitators for the past five or six years. Seeing the festival from both perspectives -- attendees and artists -- has helped them better appreciate the event's spirit, organization and fun.

"Especially as we've traveled to music festivals around the state, one of the things we like about Blissfest is the family culture," said Alderman. "Also, as a performer, you just realize even more how unique and positive the whole Blissfest staff of volunteers are."

The multigenerational gathering is essentially a big reunion of music lovers, some who only see each other once a year at the festival. Many people have been coming for years; now the second generation is coming as young adults or parents. Performers such as Seth Bernard are included in the second generation at Blissfest.

"I see people I don't see otherwise up in Blissfest and that's fun," said Eric Bartell of Traverse City, who has attended an estimated 15 Blissfests since the 1980s. "The music is the most diverse of all the festivals in Michigan."

Blissfest founder Jim Gillespie hardly dreamed that a laid-back music gathering he launched in 1981 would be still going, not to mention growing, nearly three decades later.

In the early 1970s the Petoskey native was involved in starting the Wheatland Music Festival based in Remus, which will hold its 35th annual gathering this year. After college, Gillespie moved back north and decided to create something similar in the region.

Now the weekend arts camp becomes a small city for 72 hours, swelling the population of the rural county and drawing visitors and musicians from around the country.

"I didn't think it would last this long, not at all," said Gillespie, a full-time staff member since 2003. "I didn't think I would last this long doing it."

As for the music, the three stages and four workshop areas showcase a range of styles, from jazz, bluegrass and Cajun to world music and everything else -- comprising what Gillespie calls "everything that is not commercial."

This out-of-the-box blend is an underlying raison d'être for Blissfest: This year's lineup includes 36 performers presenting music and dancing.

"What we try to do is market and bring a huge diversity of music styles and genres in one place for one weekend," Gillespie said. "There are lots of different people making their own music, which is part of our mission -- to get people to entertain themselves. It's not hard to learn an instrument."

Gillespie starts booking the musicians in October, tapping sources ranging from agents to other festivals.

"That's the fun part of my job, I get to pick the best and bring them to Blissfest," he noted.

There's always something to do at Blissfest for every age, from children's crafts, drumming for all ages, a song tree and a shuttle to the beach to after-hours jam sessions, workshops and a juried art show this year featuring 47 artists.

As for Gillespie, the weekend zooms by after a year of planning, though he usually carves out time to jam with other musicians after hours.

"I'm running pretty hard and fast but I do take time to look at the artists and enjoy it," said Gillespie.

From its humble roots, Blissfest is now a year-round organization with the weekend main program serving as a fundraiser for other cultural happenings.

"We have a dance program, a concert program and community outreach. We're very active in the community during the year," said Gillespie, who believes that Blissfest has made a big impact on the local music scene in Petoskey.

For more information about the 28th Annual Blissfest Music Festival, which runs July 11-13 near Cross Village, go to www.blissfest.org.

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