By MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS
mdrahos@record-eagle.com
TRAVERSE CITY — Back when Michael Sullivan started recruiting musicians for the Traverse City Film Festival, he had to fill many empty slots himself.
"The first year or two I was relying on a lot of my friends, people I knew. It was kind of the gang of regulars," he said. "One year my band opened 12 movies just to fill in."
This year Sullivan's band, The Turtlenecks, is opening for just three films. And his "gang of regulars" — acts like Ron Getz, New Third Coast, Angelo Meli and Glenn Wolff — has been joined by musicians from all over the country.
"There's been an outpouring of people wanting to get involved with this," said Sullivan, who put out an open invitation for musicians on the band-and-promoter matchmaking website Sonicbids.
Some 150 musicians — more than 50 acts — are performing at this year's festival, from parties to screenings to panel discussions. Free concerts also take place daily from noon to 7 p.m. at Lay Park and from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Open Space.
Sullivan said the Lay Park concerts were experimental last year, but because they weren't heavily advertised, crowds were thin. This year's film forums at the park could change all that. The informal gatherings to discuss select films are expected to draw audiences hoping to hear from the filmmakers — audiences who may stay after just for the music.
This year's entertainment lineup has an international flavor and features everything from the blues to bluegrass, Cuban to Cajun to Celtic. There's even an Italian accordionist to open "Mid-August Lunch," an Italian comedy about the joys and regrets of old age.
"We have everything from mellow, easy-listening jazz to quirky, unusual, never-to-be-anywhere-else acts," like the two local attorneys who have a following at Lil' Bo, Sullivan said. And for the first time, musicians are coming from as far away as Canada and England.
Sullivan said he recruited one of the bands, Fresh Cut Collective, at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf during an unexpected layover in the city.
"This was some completely off-the-plan (moment), and it turns into the best thing ever," he said.
The seven classically trained musicians from Milwaukee will perform their blend of klezmer, hip-hop and roots music before tonight's screening of "Raising Arizona" at the Open Space.
Although it's usually considered rude for audiences to talk over live music, Sullivan said performers at the festival expect to take a back seat to film.
"We ride this tight line where the music is more like an atmosphere rather than a concert," he said. "We don't want to interrupt people from talking about (the films) they've seen. The music sort of enhances that and foreshadows what they're about to experience."
Ann Arbor singer-songwriter Jetty Rae is taking the whole week off to perform at the festival. A Charlevoix native, she appeared at the event two years ago and was invited back.
"I made a lot of fans, a lot of good connections. And the fans in Traverse City are really receptive to me," said Rae, whose songs of love, loss and freedom have been featured on MTV.com and ourstage.com. "Plus I get to see the films I play for."
Sullivan said Rae, who recently performed at the Lilith Fair concert in Detroit, is representative of the acts he hopes to attract to the festival.
"She's somebody who's going to be famous, if she's not already," he said. "She's doing probably more openings than anybody. I think she's doing something every day."
A compilation CD of some of the acts is available at all film venues. Individual artists are selling their own CDs at venues where they play.
