Bluegrass by the Bay

Pennsylvania Park | Wednesday, September 4 | 7:30PM

This is a FREE event hosted by Crooked Tree Arts Center, Blissfest Music Organization, Great Lakes Center for the Arts, Lavender Hill Farm, Downtown Petoskey, and Petoskey Area Visitors Bureau.

Join us on the Bidwell Plaza at Crooked Tree Arts Center starting at 6:30PM for a drink and inspired bites before the FREE performance in Pennsylvania Park. Cash bar and free popcorn available. You are welcome to take your drink to-go and enjoy during the concert.

Founded nearly two decades ago with the simple desire to play original and powerful bluegrass, this quartet now finds themselves at the intersection of performance, diplomacy and education.

Onstage, the group's enthralling performances give audiences a sense of how much they love what they do. On record – including their latest offering, 2023’s Lead and Iron, released via Dark Shadow Recording – the band explores their collective life experiences through songwriting and intricate instrumentation. While bluegrass is the undeniable foundation of the Prowlers’ music, the band bends and squeezes the traditional form into a keenly developed sound all their own.

The Prowlers have now been to more than 25 countries across the globe, working with the U.S. State Department and under their own nonprofit, Bluegrass Ambassadors, and incorporating music from Africa, Asia, the Middle East & more into their already robust repertoire of unique traditional American music.

Crooked Tree Arts Center | Thursday, September 5 | 7:30PM

Presented by Crooked Tree Arts Center & Blissfest Music Organization

Wilson Thicket has the acoustic soul of an Appalachian string band, but there is more to this Thicket than just a patch of bluegrass! Wilson Thicket combines a hand-picked group of the top singers, instrumentalists, and songwriters that Michigan has to offer, with decades of performing experience under their collective belts. Old school favorites, creative covers, and dynamic original songs are all delivered with strong doses of vocal harmony and creative instrumental mastery. This music has plenty of roots and lots of grass. There may be some thorns, but also some flowers. Welcome to the thicket!

Lavender Hill Farm | Friday, September 6 | 7:30PM

Sierra Hull is widely regarded to be a as a master of her instrument; A two-time Grammy Nominated artist and songwriter, recognized for both her most recent projects, 25 Trips (2020) and Weighted Mind (2016), she is also the 4x recipient of IBMA's Mandolin Player of the Year, the first woman to ever receive this distinction. A pioneer for acoustic music throughout her already impressive multi-decade career, she has graced the country's most iconic stages, including Carnegie Hall, the Grand Ole Opry, and the White House. Her virtuosic abilities have garnered respect from genre-defining trailblazers, friends, and collaborators such as Alison Krauss, Sturgill Simpson, Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Bela Fleck, Bobby McFerrin, and Brandi Carlile. Originally hailing from Byrdstown, Tennessee, her unique sound is rooted in bluegrass, and she is widely considered one of acoustic music's most inventive artists. 

Great Lakes Center for the Arts | Saturday, September 7, 7:30PM

Tickets for An Evening with the Del McCoury Band are currently only available with a Bluegrass by the Bay All Access Pass. Single tickets for this event will go on sale July 1. 

Even among the pantheon of music’s finest artists, Del McCoury stands alone . From the nascent sound of bluegrass that charmed hardscrabble hillbilly honkytonks, rural schoolhouse stages, and the crowning glory of the Grand Ole Opry to the present-day culture-buzz of viral videos and digital streams, Del is the living link.

On primetime and late-night television talk shows, there is Del. From headlining sold-out concerts to music festivals of all genres, including one carrying his namesake, there is Del. Where audiences number in the tens of thousands and admirers as diverse as country-rock icon Steve Earle and jamband royalty Phish count as two among hundreds, there is Del.

Pennsylvania Park | Saturday, September 7 | 1:00PM - 3:00PM

Open to players and listeners of all levels!
Hosted by Blissfest Music Organization