Pump up the jams

Saturday, June 6

Posted
Live music will be on tap at East Lansing’s Bailey Park Saturday as the sixth annual Pumpstock American roots festival takes over the park. The event is hosted by East Lansing’s popular Pump House Concerts series. Geraldine and Dudley “Smitty” Smith, founders of Pump House Concerts, started hosting the intimate music series in 2009.

“After living in Nashville for a year, my wife and I started hosting concerts at the Orchard Street Pump House,” said Dudley Smith. “We would bring in singer/ songwriters from Nashville and Austin to have a concert once a month.”

The idea for an outdoor festival was born a year later, when the duo was looking for a way to bring in bands too big to play the Pumphouse space.

“We thought it would be kind of fun to bring in some bands, so we had an idea to do a festival the first Saturday in June and we called it Pumpstock,” Smith said.

The festival’s main stage features a lineup of local and national performing groups. Lansing super-duo Hatchet Man and the Frog will kick off this year’s festival with some acoustic blues. The group comprises Dave Matchette on harmonica and vocals and S.J. “Frog” Forgey (of Frog & the Beeftones) on guitar and vocals.

Second on the main stage is Stella, an all-female singer/songwriter super group featuring three-part vocal harmonies and three distinct songwriting voices. The band is a part of Michigan-based music collective Earthwork Music. Jo Serrapere, founding member of Uncle Earl, first conceived the band and recruited the groups other two members, multi-instrumentalists Jen Sygit and Laura Ann Bates.

Up next is Nathan Bell and the New Bootlicking Weasels. Bell is a songwriter who was first inspired in 1972 when he bought his first album, “Harvest,” by Neil Young. In 1991, Bell moved to Nashville and became a part of the Bootlicking Weasels.

Main stage performer Rachel & the Beatnik Playboys is a band specializing in roots/Americana, blues, country, rock, jazz and swing music. Vocalist Rachel Brown holds a masters in music education with a classical piano/choral emphasis and has been performing professionally since the age of 12. The Beatniks Playboys comprises of guitarist Dave Huddleston, bassist Bill Watson and drummer Roy King.

Headliners Missy Raines & the New Hip will close out Pumpstock with a folk- Americana bang. Missy Raines, bassist and vocalist, is a seven-time recipient of the Bass Player of the Year Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association and a former member of the Grammy nominated Claire Lynch Band. Missy Raines and the New Hip will travel from Nashville to hit the stage at Pumpstock.

The festival also includes a second stage, featuring local musicians Jackalope, Punch Drunk, Brendan Doherty, and Hall & Morgan.

Family-friendly activities include face painting by All-of-us Express Children’s Theatre, art activities with the Broad Art Museum staff and wildlife education with Animals Encountered.

Sweet Lorraine’s Mac and Cheese, the Sinclair Grill (featuring MSU Dairy Store Ice Cream) and Clint’s Hot Dogs will be selling snacks and food throughout the festival. Free parking is available at the Bailey subdivision and the Bailey Community Center. Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs and blankets. The festival will run rain or shine, with plans in place to move the festivities in to the Bailey Community Center if inclement weather strikes.

—MICHELAI A. GRAHAM

Pumpstock 2015

2 p.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, June 6 $10 suggested donation/ FREE for kids Bailey Park 300 Bailey St., East Lansing (517) 927-2100, facebook.com/ pumphouseconcerts


FRIDAY, JUNE 5 >> ‘FORWARD MOVING FIRE’ OPENING RECEPTION

Old Town’s MICA Gallery kicks off its June exhibition with a Friday night reception. “Moving Forward by Fire” will be on display today through June 28 and features sculptures by Chicago-based artist Katie Short. Short’s works use destruction as a means of creation, and she often utilizes found objects and detritus. The artist will be in attendance at the reception and refreshments will be served. 6-9 p.m. FREE. MICA Gallery, 1210 Turner St., Lansing. (517) 371-4600, micagallery.org.

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 >> MAYOR’S FAMILY RIVERWALK

Summertime is here. But don’t worry if you haven’t gotten the summer body you’ve wanted, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero has found a way for you to have fun while getting fit. He is hosting a 3-mile walk for you and your entire family. The walk starts at Potter Park Zoo and ends at Old Town’s Turner Dodge House. The first 1,000 walkers to register receive free t-shirts. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., and a free shuttle service is available to take walkers back to the zoo. New this year: boaters can get in on the fun with canoes and kayaks provided for free by River Town Adventures. 8:30 a.m.-noon. FREE. Potter Park Zoo, 1301 S. Pennsylvania Ave., Lansing. (517) 483-4277, lansingmi.gov/parks.

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 >> OLD TOWN GENERAL STORE TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Who doesn’t love anniversaries? Get your taste buds ready for the Old Town General Store’s two-year anniversary celebration. There will be live music and outdoor art, and Michigan food companies will offer sample tastings of their products. The event will also include a wine tasting, a $50 gift certificate giveaway and free reusable shopping bags to the first 30 customers. Noon-5 p.m. FREE. Old Town General Store, 408 E. Grand River Ave., Lansing. (517) 487-6847, oldtown-generalstore.com.

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 >> PAY IT FORWARD FOR PETE

The Green Door has lined up nine hours of live entertainment to benefit Pete Ryan and his family. Ryan, who runs Capital City Collectibles out of the neighboring Everybody Reads, recently suffered complications from Crohn’s disease which have left him bedridden and unable to work. Musical acts slated to perform include the Twyla Birdsong Band, the Hot Mess, the Rotations, Tell Yo Mama, and Spoonful. The event will also include a silent auction and raffles, and the night will conclude with an adults-only comedy show. All ages 2 p.m.-9 p.m., adult-only comedy show 9 p.m. $10. The Green Door Bar & Grill, 2005 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing. (517) 482- 6376, greendoorlive.com.

TUESDAY, JUNE 9 >> TALK/SIGNING WITH EVA MOZES KOR

The Greater Lansing Jewish Welfare Federation presents a talk/book signing by Eva Mozes Kor, Holocaust survivor and author of “Surviving the Angel of Death.” Kor, with her twin sister, was subjected to human experimentation under Josef Mengele at Auschwitz. She was recently featured as one of “Voices of Auschwitz” on a CNN special and testified at the trial of former Auschwitz camp guard Oskar Groening. 6 p.m. FREE. Congregation Shaarey Zedek, 1924 Coolidge Road, East Lansing. (517) 351-3570, jewishlansing.org.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10-13 >> ‘MR. BURNS’ AT SUMMER CIRCLE THEATRE

Theater MSU’s Summer Circle Theatre kicks off its 55th season with “Mr. Burns, a post-electric play.” The unconventional “Mr. Burns” imagines a post-apocalyptic world where a group of survivors bond over a shared memory of TV show “The Simpsons.” This play is appropriate for ages 12 and up. 8 p.m. FREE. Summer Circle Courtyard (between Fairchild Theatre and Kresge Art Center), MSU campus, East Lansing. theatre.msu.edu.

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