Three Shows for the Weekend

Aug. 21, 2015

Looking for something different to do this weekend? Whether you prefer funk, folk or flying through the air, these shows are sure to keep you entertained.

NESSA

Aug. 26 at InsideOut Gallery, Traverse City, facebook.com/insideoutgallerytc or 231-929- 3254; Aug. 27 at Summer Concerts at the Bandshell, Charlevoix; and Aug. 28 at Red Sky Stage, Petoskey, redskystage.com or 231-487-0000; nessamusic.com.

Led by Detroit flutist and singer Kelly McDermott, who worked for years as an orchestral and chamber musician with not one, but three, flute degrees to her credit, Nessa is an unusual and colorful hybrid band that combines Celtic, classical, jazz and world music, creating a pop-folk fusion.

In addition to McDermott, the band includes players on fiddle, mandolin, tabla, bass and percussion. The real surprise is when the familiarity kicks in, as you’ll often hear a Nessa song that seems like you’ve heard it before, somewhere, but it’s actually an old European folk song that McDermott has painstakingly rearranged into something more contemporary.

The group is hard at work on an album called The Ancient Song Discovery Project, on which they're recording a series of ancient Celtic songs, primarily ballads that McDermott is reconfiguring into a more unique sound.

They’ve been headquartered all summer at Big Sky Recording in Ann Arbor and are nearing completion on the tracklisting, so you may get to hear a few previews from the new album at their live performances, too.

Arriving Up North as part of the Blissfest Folk and Roots Mini Series, Nessa’s upcoming shows are threefold: a gallery show, an outdoor event and a concert at Petoskey’s newest folk music venue, Red Sky Stage. If you like folk, pop, Celtic music or all of the above, this is one you won’t want to miss.

FREEKBASS

Aug. 28–29 at Union Street Station, Traverse City, unionstreetstationtc.net or 231- 941-1930; freekbass.com.

With a new album in the pipeline as the follow up to his 2014 set, Everybody’s Feelin’ Real, funky bass player and performer Freekbass (aka Chris Sherman) is just back from a California coast tour and ready to jam in the Midwest with his trio, including drummer Big Bamn and a whole host of loops and electronic gadgetry.

“I played Traverse City when I first started touring back in 2000,” Freek said. “This will be my first time back since then.”

Newly signed to Ropeadope Records, which also plays host to such artists as DJ Logic, Big Fun Three and MK Orchestra, Freekbass said his latest, as-yet-untitled album (“which isn't quite done yet”) is a bit different than … Real.

“That album was more ’70s, more heavy,” he explained. “This one is more James Brown meets the music from a Quentin Tarantino movie – more like that mid- ’60s, soul-funk thing.”

Freek and his trio are playing about half of the new album tracks live already, so expect to hear a few of those at his upcoming Union Street Station show; in the meantime, we had to ask: how’d he get that name?

“I met [legendary funk musician] Bootsy Collins through a studio project I was working on, a tribute album to Jimi Hendrix.

Mudbone asked me if I’d play bass on his song. I said sure. Then he casually said, ‘oh, yeah, we’re recording at Bootsy’s place and he's going to produce it.’ I said, whoa!” Freek showed up at Collins' studio and started hooking up his gear.

“I was messing around with some guitar effects pedals and Bootsy walked in and said, ‘man, you’re doing some freaky stuff with that bass. That’s some freekbass!’ People in the studio didn’t know me that well yet — I was new to them — so that's who I became. They started calling me Freekbass and it stuck.”

GOLDEN DRAGON ACROBATS

Aug. 29 at Kirtland Center for the Performing Arts, kirtlandcenter.com or 989-275-6777; goldendragonacrobats.com.

Hailing from the Hebei and Henan provinces of China, The Golden Dragon Acrobats have quite literally been on tour since 1978, although the people involved have changed, of course.

Featuring two-dozen actor-artist-athlete hybrids, the troupe averages 200 performances a year at places like the John F. Kennedy Center, Princeton University and Detroit's own Music Hall Center. The company has its roots in the original Golden Dragon Acrobats, founded in 1949 by Lien Chi Chang, whose son, Danny Chang, started his own acrobat career at seven years old, inherited the company after more than 17 years of apprenticeship under his father, and now runs it as artistic director along with his wife, choreographer Angela Chang.

Blending the old and the new is the troupe’s strength, as they take traditional movements and add modern elements.

The New York Times said, "A visit from the Golden Dragon Acrobats is something special" and they're right; from the ornate costumes and lighting to the performances themselves, this show is a real spectacle.

The Thousand Hands Dance features several women fanning their gold-bedecked hands so quickly you'd swear there were far more of them; the balancing acts recollect games of Jenga, but with human beings instead of wooden blocks; and the juggling has to be seen to be believed.

One of the most fun things about the Golden Dragon troupe is how many of the props are things you probably have at home, such as balls, umbrellas, hats, glassware and chairs. But, we’re pretty sure you don't turn those things into gravity-defying artistic statements like these talented acrobats.