Whorled is Keala Venema, Thom Jayne, and Mariko Venema, an acoustic trio that features hefty doses of celtic, gypsy jazz, classical and often a mash-up of these styles.

Performer website
      

Author Maryann Lesert will share excerpts from her book Land Marks: A Novel.

Maryann Lesert writes about people and place in equal measure. Her first novel, Base Ten (Feminist Press, 2009) featured an astrophysicist’s quest for self, aided by Lake Michigan’s forested dunes. Land Marks grew from two years of boots-on-well-sites research on fracking. Her plays have been published by New Issues (2008) and in Smith & Kraus’s Best Ten Minute series. Her articles have appeared in EcoWatch and In These Times, and she is a regular presenter on art and activism. Maryann lives in west Michigan, where she teaches creative writing and writes by the big lake.

Author’s website

Music has been a lifelong passion of J Hobbs. In 2006, he joined his brother’s band and began dedicating more time to music, as a percussion player, rapper, and hype man. From 2009 to 2013, he played in Funktion, a 7pc Funk Soul Groove Band from Kalamazoo, and played over 600 shows through 26 states. In late 2013, he moved to Austin, Texas, and started playing shows under his long-time stage name brotha James.

In 2016, he started combining motivational speaking with music, and in 2017, began combining speaking, facilitation and music. In 2022, he shed the alias ‘brotha James’ and became ‘J Hobbs’ in 2022, honoring his family’s roots. He makes music that empowers people to be at their best.

Performer Website

As a singer/songwriter and an award-winning musician, Bruce Ling is a student and keeper of the history of the timeless musical genre of time-savored traditional folk music, and paints musical portraits celebrating the colorful history of the music through an extraordinary repertoire of tunes, songs, and stories. He performs with equal flair and skill on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, cello, and slide guitar. He is backed by his wife, world class old-time rhythm guitarist Becca. Be prepared to take an enjoyable ride through a river of music and stories as presented by this band of skilled musicians.

Performer Website