Ninth annual Porcupine Mountains Music Festival set for Aug. 23-25

SILVER CITY — The Friends of the Porkies will present the ninth annual Porcupine Mountains Music Festival Friday through Sunday, Aug. 23-25, at the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park winter recreation area near Silver City.

The festival features 41 international, national, regional and local acts performing on three stages. Organizers place their focus on music rather than one dominating style, offering a wide variety of sounds throughout the event, a news release said.

“We are unique,” festival director Linda Kermeen said. “We have a little something for everyone: bluegrass, folk, country, blues, rock, world music and more. We mix it up well.”

Saturday night’s headlining act is blues artist Shemekia Copeland. She has opened for the Rolling Stones, headlined at the Chicago Blues Festival, shared the stage with B.B. King, Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton and performed at the White House for President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. Copeland was presented with Koko Taylor’s crown in June 2011 at the Chicago Blues Festival, given the honor of the new “Queen of the Blues,” the release said.

Other headliners include bluegrass act Audie Blaylock and Redline, and The Grand Slambovians, also known as Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams.

New to the festival this year is the Boe Harbison Tribute Jam, which will kick off each day of music in the Busking Barn. Harbison, a local songwriter and musician, passed away in 2004, the year before the festival began.

Other festival activities include performer workshops and a children’s tent with activities and crafts.

The festival is supported by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts. It began in 2005 and was the first music festival to be held in a Michigan state park.

For more information, call 906-884-7663 or visit porkiesfestival.org.