John Bommarito: That is music from April Varner's new album, Ella. You can see her as she finally returns to Ann Arbor and not where you'd expect to see her. She's on the O&W Acoustic Stage at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival on Friday, June 12th. And speaking of the festival, joining me is Michael Michelon, Executive Director of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival. Welcome back, Michael, how are you?
Michael Michelon: Thanks for having me! Great to see you!
John Bommarito: It's great to see you too! One of the four on staff making this tradition in Ann Arbor possible. I'm sure that's a lot of work for you guys to put this festival on.
Michael Michelon: It is, but it's great work. We're glad to do it. And it's to be a part of something that brings so many people so much joy.
John Bommarito: It sure does bring me joy. Well, not every event is recognized easily by its acronym, but I think most people listening would know that if I said A2SF, since it's been a community tradition since 1984, I think A2SF is…they've seen the logo, right? So they would go, “Oh, I know what that is!” But there's also TOTP, which is probably less used. That's kind of, for us, a shorthand for Top of the Park. It's just one of those multifaceted, acronym events!
Michael Michelon: We couldn't get rid of that name if we wanted to. People have a strong association with Top of the Park being on the parking structure and now top of the park on Ingalls Mall.
John Bommarito: It's not exactly a park, but kind of, and it's not a mall either. I confuse people when I ask people from out of the area, like a friend that lives near me: “Have you ever been to Top of the Park at Ingalls Mall?” “Oh, where's the mall?” “Well, it's not really a mall. It's the space between these buildings and it is in front of this building.”
Michael Michelon: Yeah, I'm going to bring you to this special space that creates so much magic and joy for a month and then it goes away.
John Bommarito: Yeah, right! Well, let's start with what's happening tomorrow. Debut is happening tomorrow, so let's talk about that a little bit.
Michael Michelon: Thanks for bringing that up. Debut is our season kickoff and fundraiser that we present every year and tomorrow Friday May 15th at HOMES Campus off Jackson. It's really what the Summer Festival does best. It's a collection of really wonderful performances, community, all there for a great cause which is to support our 43rd season.
John Bommarito: Well, when I saw HOMES Campus, that didn't jump out at me as a place that I knew what it was. In fact, my reaction was, “What's that?” So, of course, I looked it up. I Googled it. I'm like, “Oh, it's that area, Jackson and Wagner area over by Suburban Chevrolet. That thing. Oh, yeah. I've been there.” Very cool. And a very cool lineup as well. Besides Cabaret Boreale, who we're about to play, who else is going to be there?
Michael Michelon: Ki5 will be there. There's some great illusionist and street performance happening, a number of surprise performances throughout the evening that people will discover in the many different spaces on HOMES campus.
John Bommarito: I saw there's going to be some Burlesque there, a singer- songwriter/ violinist who has an interesting description of her sound, a former opera singer who's now a self-taught life sketch artist. What an interesting variety of sounds and sites to be seen! Well, I've got a little taste of Cabaret Boreale. I want people to hear them because I just had them on the podcast that I do outside of the realm of this world. And they're just so entertaining. So much fun!. So, here's some music from Cabaret Boreale on 89.1 WEMU.
John Bommarito: Cabaret Boreale on 89.1 WEMU. You're listening to The Song Break. I'm joined by Michael Michelon of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival. So, the actual purpose of this first event is…is this the fundraising that kind of fills in the holes for what you didn't raise from sponsors? Is that essentially what Debut is?
Michael Michelon: Kind of. There's a theme every year, and this year, the focus is really on raising funds to replace the giant inflatable movie screen at the Top of the Park.
John Bommarito: Oh!
Michael Michelon: It outlived its useful life. Came a little bit sooner than we thought, but we got a great 15 years out of it, time to replace it. And that's what's bringing this group of people together.
John Bommarito: And what is the cost to a listener who might be joining us in this conversation right now to attend the event.
Michael Michelon: $125 gets you in the door, and that's food, drink and all the performances that you could take in.
John Bommarito: A2SF.org for information on how to find their way into that. Is that right?
Michael Michelon: Yes, sir! That's correct!
John Bommarito: All right! Well, they can also, there, see the lineup. Really the purpose of our visit is to talk about the upcoming schedule for the Ann Arbor Summer Festival. First question, before we do that. What is your particular role in booking the acts that we see on the stage? Do you have input on it?
Michael Michelon: I have input, but I think luckily for Summer Festival audiences, it's not Mike Michelon that's driving our program. We have a great team. JD Carter, our Associate Director, leads our programming process. A lot of inputs. A lot of great partners. You'll see across all the events at Top of the Park and the shows that we produce at indoor venues on campus. A lot partners, co-presenters that are brought into this work. And there's so much great in Washtenaw County it's just a matter of lifting up all those things that we can in that month
John Bommarito: Well, from a personal perspective, if this were a, “I'm going to pick the things I want to see and I'm Michael”, what things are you most excited about? Obviously not shading anybody who you...like, “I don't know them.” Just as a human being, you're going to look at this list and go, “Oh, I'm excited about X, Y, and Z.” That's the question.
Michael Michelon: I don't want to single out too many favorites, but I'll say today's favorites and I'm pointing out a few. On June 16, we have this incredible group called Country Gongbang coming through.
John Bommarito: I don't know them.
Michael Michelon: They say at least it’s South Korea's first and only bluegrass band
John Bommarito: South Korea has a bluegrass band?
Michael Michelon: And they'll be at the Top of the Park, June 16th. We're excited about them joining us. We have My Brightest Diamond, Shara Nova returning for the first time since 2019. And June 27th, I think that's the night that WEMU will be out in force.
John Bommarito: Yes, we'll be at the tent.
Michael Michelon: The Army, The Navy, that same night, an indie pop duo that'll be joining us, are just a few of the favorites.
John Bommarito: Well, things that, as a WEMU host, that make the most sense of a fan of both jazz and blues and what WEMU’s listeners might notice if they look at the lineup. They might see George Beddard and the Kingpins, as we often do at the closing night. I mentioned April Varner at the top of the show. She's had a couple of records that have had a very heavy rotation on our radio station. Pretty excited to see her on the lineup. Of course, some bluesy sounds from Lady Sunshine of the X-Bands, some jazz from Kenji Lee. The Gabriel Brass Band, Peter Madcat Ruth's CARMa Quartet. Of course, Peter, a longtime friend of the station as well. Gwyneth Hayes, Salamagundi, The RITMO Project, John E Lawrence, Djangophonique, who are tangential to the band I just played a little bit ago, Cabaret Boreale. In fact, let's hear some music from Djangophonique. I really love their Django inspired music. It's Djangophonique on The Song Break on 89.1 WEMU.
John Bommarito: Djangophonique on 89.1 WEMU. I'm John Bomarito here with Michael Michelon, the Executive Director of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival. I don't make any assumptions that WEMUs listeners only like those two kinds of music, the jazz and the blues that I've kind of highlighted. Like I said, some of that lineup I just rattled off, the standouts for me personally, if you were asking me the opposite question, I'd just asked you about what were your highlights. Like I said, when I saw April Varner on the lineup, I've just been excited about her from the moment I heard her voice. I'm like, “she's really cool. I hope she comes through and plays.” And I had already missed her at the Blue LLama by the time I discovered her. So, I'm so glad you guys are bringing her back to town. I just played Djangophonique. Obviously, a fan of theirs as well. But you have a couple of my favorite local voices that are not part of WEMU standard music fair. Kylee Phillips. I’m a longtime fan of Kylee who is playing your stage. I've been supporting her since she was 18 in high school. I discovered her through one of her mutual friends, saying to me, “Oh, my friend's friend' is a singer. I think you'd like her.” It's been this long time supporting her. I DJ-ed her first wedding. She is just fantastic. And her partner, Chris DuPont, not playing necessarily as DuPont Phillips, because they do that sometimes. He's got a slot elsewhere, and he's an absolute treasure of the formerly Ypsilanti music scene. He doesn't live in Ypsilanti anymore, but another great choice, because he's very entertaining.
Another one you have coming up that I met as a 10th grader in Roper High School when she sang the national anthem at the Tigers game, Alison Albrecht is going to be back, coming in from California to play for the hometown crowd. She went to school at the University of Michigan. This is since her appearing on The Voice, on Reba's team, I believe, if I remember correctly. Another voice that'll stop you dead in your tracks if you hear her, Rochelle Clark is going to be there with her band. Jess Merritt, same thing, you hear that voice. I remember the first time I heard her voice at The Ark with the E-bird and Friends lineup. I didn't know who she was, and I had to find her after the show and go, “I don't know you are, but I need to know who you are. Let's talk”. And we've been in touch many times since that. So. she's another great addition to your lineup. I see you have Al Bettis on the lineup as well. Another fantastic performer. He's got that great thing going on there. And for a rocker, Patty Pershala, former member of The Accidentals, who's also been doing her own thing before and after that. She just rocks, and she's so good. And Annie Bacon, a really cool person who I've had the pleasure of visiting with in an interview format as well. So those are just the ones that I've heard. And I know other people, a lot of folks are into Jive Colossus, which are a great fun band. So, I don’t know.
Michael Michelon: I think the takeaway for people that aren't tracking or following along exactly, I think that you've named almost the whole calendar, which is great. I've been checking.
John Bommarito Almost!
Michael Michelon: There's little checkmarks. We have a few in there. I know those are also groups that you like.
John Bommarito: So, we've talked a bit about the outdoor festival part. What's going on in the indoor stages, Michael?
Michael Michelon: There's a great lineup inside, four shows. Avett Brothers kicks off the indoor series on Friday, June 19th, and this is a show with Mike Patton. Avett Brothers with Mike Patton, Mike Patton of Faith No More. June 20th, we have Ira Glass returning.
John Bommarito: Heard of him, isn't he…
Michael Michelon: Yeah, that would that might be familiar to those listening here.
John Bommarito: NPR listeners love Ira!
Michael Michelon: Ira returns for his fourth appearance under A2SF auspices with his show, Stories for a Saturday Night, and we're looking forward to that. And then on the 18th through the 21st, we have a couple of shows at the Mendelsohn Theater that we're producing with the Ann Arbor District Library. On the 18th, we have The Crossword Show. The best way to describe this is a couple comedians leading the audience to help solve a crossword. If that's not compelling, go on our website and check out more, I think it's going to be a great time. On the 20th, we have The Kif-Kif Sisters, who are this duo from Montreal that is returning for the second season, and they have a show called The Returns Department. Family show, a lot of fun, and they have just a wonderful, you know, physical theater or clowning show that I think people are going to enjoy. And those are both free, the Crossword and Kif-Kif Sisters.
John Bommarito: And tickets are on sale now for these shows, and you can find info at A2SF.org.
Michael Michelon: That's right!
John Bommarito: It's a good-looking year, Michael!
Michael Michelon: Yeah, it is! And I think people think of Top of the Park, certainly the multi-generational audiences, the kind of casualness and community are special, but like you pointed out, homecoming for a lot of Ann Arbor-based, Washington County-based Ypsi-based artists and all the different formats and people playing on each other's sets and the long-time connection to Top of The Park, growing up on the Grove stage, playing the Rackham stage. In some cases, coming back to a ticketed show, you know, it's really special.
John Bommarito: Is there anything new this year that we have not seen in years past?
Michael Michelon: Things are always changing, always evolving. I don't want to pick out too many favorites here, but I'll say that on the food lineup world, we are welcoming Blimpy Burger to the lineup, so great Ann Arbor brand that is under new ownership and joining the Summer Festival. On the performance side, this is really everyone's summer home base. And so 4 p.m. start now on Sundays for families, that's relatively new. The After Dark DJ series returned last year after kind of a hiatus, so Friday and Saturday nights in the Grove at 10 p.m. Those are all things. The movie lineup this year, John, has got a theme, which is unique holidays in June.
John Bommarito: I didn't notice that.
Michael Michelon: And I'd have to say that some of these films are a bit of a stretch in terms of calling them a holiday movie, but everything from Elf to Sleepless in Seattle, Groundhog Day to Coco, that's kind of the overriding theme of the year, Holidays in June. So, that is something for the movie fans at the top of the park.
John Bommarito: No Die Hard though. Not exactly family-friendly.
Michael Michelon: We wanted to stay away from the controversy of is that a Christmas movie? Exactly.
John Bommarito: Well, that sounds great.
Michael Michelon: Another thing that's returning this year is our tasting series, which brings these great breweries and food purveyors in town on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 5:30, so there's a great lineup of events on that series.
John Bommarito: Well, I think people should start making their plans now. Look at the schedule, block out your evenings and your afternoons, depending on what you want to see. A2SF.org for all of the information. I'll put the link in the story. This conversation ends up on our webpage, wemu.org at some point and I'll have all the links in there as well. Well done!. Thank you for giving us all here in Washtenaw County, something to look forward to all summer long!
Michael Michelon: Our pleasure1
John Bommarito: And I'm just going to throw this out there as a final note, because I don't know if you know this, I've been a mobile disc jockey for over 40 years. I mean, maybe, maybe one year I'll get to do the nighttime DJ thing. I mean I'm not one of those guys who beat mixes and makes things all blend together but just like to keep a party going. I've done that for years.
Michael Michelon: Note taken. Absolutely.
John Bommarito: Well, thanks Michael Michelon, the Executive Director of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival! And we look forward to seeing you out there at the festival!
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