columns & stuff

A Guitar Spawned by a Great Storm

Pyramid Point Custom Guitars has made an instrument that has the incredible force of an historic storm in its bones.

The guitar is made from a chunk of wood salvaged from a tree fallen by the great storm of Aug. 2, 2015, and donated to Bob Dekorne, Pyramid’s owner and luthier.

“It’s the 5-year anniversary of the “Big Blow” storm that ripped through Glen Arbor — thought it would be timely to introduce a guitar that is built out of that destruction,” DeKorne said on the company’s Facebook page. “This tree grew near the Crystal River, on the site of Harriet Fischer’s cottage, near the sawmill her husband ran.”

The guitar is on sale for $899. Of that, DeKorne said $200 will be donated to the Glen Lake Association for their efforts to keep the Glen Lake watershed clean.

Make Like a Bird and Get to a Sanctuary

While stuck in traffic on an Atlanta highway in 2018, Frankfort artist Ellie Harold had a revelation: “I suddenly realized how the political rancor that was dividing families across the U.S. was like one huge gridlock filled with roadraged people on both sides. What would it be like if there was a place, like a bird sanctuary, where humans could take a time-out for rest and reflection?” That place she envisioned is set to open Aug. 7 at the Oliver Art Center. Called BIRDS FLY IN: A Human Refuge Project, the installation is a merging of art, music, poetry, and architecture crafted by artists from the U.S., Mexico, Germany, and the U.K. Viewers will see 16 of Ellie’s large-format oil paintings displayed on a “refuge structure” designed by local architect Wilfried Schley. On and around its chain link fencing: Mylar blankets and shoes worn by migrants from Mexico, banners with poems related to the refugee experience, a ceiling fabricated by fiber artist Elizabeth Rodgers, and more. Take a seat at the center of the refuge and do some “slow looking and deep listening” to the music of Mexican composer/ violinist David Mendoza — you’ve found your sanctuary. BIRDS FLY IN runs through Sept. 11 at OAC. For more information, see www.BirdsFlyIn.com.

Stuff we love Local Boy Making Good, Doing Good

Did you catch Jimmy Kimmel Live! July 20? If so, you witnessed adopted Northern Michigan son (and hyper-ascending bluegrass star) Billie Strings making his first appearance on national television. (If not, Google it.) Word is, he was originally scheduled to appear and play for the show in March, but well … you know. We couldn’t be prouder of his performance, but what really made our hearts soar was that the former Traverse City busker and longtime Lil’ Bo-stage celeb used his moment in the national spotlight to bring attention to the country’s struggling independent music venues — 90 percent of which are facing closure because of the pandemic, according to the National Independent Venue Association. Before guest host Joel McHale introduced Strings and his band, who played “Taking Water” from one of those struggling spots, Nashville’s Station Inn, and “Watch It Fall” from Strings’ own living room, he asked viewers to go to www.SaveOurStages.com to petition legislators for assistance to preserve independent live music venues that gave rise to talent like Strings … and, we don’t mind noting, just about every musician featured in this issue. Hint, hint.

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The House of Good Taste!

Downtown Alden • Open 7 days 10am-5pm May thru Dec (231) 331-4711 • (800) 226-5481 Visit us all year long at www.aldenmillhouse.com

bottoms up Shady Lane Cellars’ Brio

We’ve been appreciating Kasey Wierzba’s work at Shady Lane Cellars since she took over as head winemaker in 2016. Working entirely from 100-percent estate-grown grapes, her commitment to the quality of her vineyard’s fruits is obvious (especially, we think, in her exceptional Pinor Noir Rosé, a strawberry beauty in both hue and forward flavors). So color us ecstatic when we discovered Shady Lane had the foresight to go beyond the bottle this summer to create Brio, in which they’re canning some of Wierzba’s magic in not one but three on-the-go options: the bright and vivacious Bubbly Vibes, heritage-apple Cider, and Rosé (table wine; not the noir we adore but an equally worthwhile all-day-rosé that also brings fresh berries and tangerine to the taste buds). We highly recommend trying all three at their tasting room’s covered outdoor bar or vast park-like backyard, then picking up a four-pack ($26) of your favorite to take home. Can’t make it there this summer? The outdoor patio, with fireplace, is just as lovely in fall. Find the trio of Brios at local retailers and their winery and tasting room at 9580 E. Shady Lane, south of Suttons Bay.