| A little more than 20 years ago, on a cold November evening, a small group of Door County visitors and residents gathered at a local inn, enjoying the first of what has become a popular tradition: monthly winter folk concerts. During this time, more than 55 talented folk singers and songwriters from all over the country have performed at the White Gull Inn.
The concerts were conceived by the Innkeeper Andy Coulson, a banjo player himself and lover of traditional and contemporary folk music. Coulson was frustrated by the lack of live entertainment during the long quiet Door County winters. The first concerts were loosely based on the "house concert" concept, in which traveling folk musicians, often on tight budgets and in need of work, are invited into the homes of fans along the route of their travels. The fans provide the musician with food and lodging in return for a concert to a small group of friends, often right in their living rooms. A collection at the door goes to the artist to help defray expenses.
The house concert circuit has provided work and travel expenses for generations of singers and brought folk music to many rural areas that are too small to otherwise provide such entertainment. "I wasn't sure who would come to a concert on a weekday in winter in Fish Creek," Coulson recalls thinking in the beginning. "But we had plenty of room and board , and figured that we had nothing to lose. At the very least, we'd have some quality folk music in Fish Creek."
In the beginning, it was not easy finding artists willing to come so far for such a small turnout. However, as word got around, more and more musicians decided that a "working holiday" in the quiet beauty of the Door Peninsula was worth the trek to the north country. The series has gradually been able to attract in more and more well known performers, such as Anne Hills, Chris Smither, Tom Paxton and Cheryl Wheeler, many of whom normally play in much larger halls.
The pre-concert dinners, now almost as popular as the concerts, were added in recent years at the request of local residents. White Gull chefs responded by offering an optional fixed price dinner, served at 6 pm for each concert.
Concert tickets are $14.00-$16.00 and can be purchased at the door, although most concerts are sold out, so advance ticket purchase and reservations for the pre-concert dinners are recommended. You may purchase tickets at the White Gull front desk, or you can do it by phone, using a credit card.
Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Every Monday night, musical history is made as the Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour begins its regular radio and television broadcast at the Kentucky Theatre. The house is packed as stage lights dim. Michael Johnathon comes onstage and introduces himself as a folksinger, songwriter and tree hugger. What he doesn’t say is he’s also a playwright, producer author and touring artist. Johnathon has a worldwide radio audience exceeding a million listeners each week. Woodsongs is a showcase for grass-roots musicians who, like Johnathon, make their living writing and playing folk music.
Despite his busy schedule, Johnathon continues to tour, spreading his music and songs, accompanying himself on guitar and banjo. He has performed two thousand Earth Concerts plus benefits for the homeless, farm families, and shelters helping battered women and children. In all, he sang to over two million people in one four-year stretch. Billboard Magazine headlined him as an "Unsung Hero." He has been featured on CNN, TNN, CMT, AP, Headline News, NPR, Bravo and the BBC. “Take the inventiveness of Bob Dylan, the melodic voice of John Denver, add the showmanship of Garrison Keillor, and that’s Michael Johnathan,” wrote Bob Spear, Publisher of the Heartland Review. Tickets: $15
Optional Pre-concert dinner served at 6 PM. Menu: Balsamic braised pork loin chop, apple cranberry compote, herbed pilaf, mixed greens salad with roasted shallot vinaigrette, pumpkin pie with brandied whip cream for dessert. $18.95
Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Michigan has, for some time now, been a deep resource for songwriters and roots musicians. Two favorites, Seth Bernard and Daisy May Erlewine, have been traveling and performing for most of their lives. What were great single acts are even stronger as a duo, and you can just feel the synergy as they perform throughout the country. Their playing is fun and heartfelt, their songwriting imaginative and insightful.
May Erlewine has been playing music all her life. She learned to sing and play piano at an early age, and her acoustic guitar is seldom far from her side. She paid her singer-songwriter dues in her late teens with several years of hitchhiking back and forth across the U.S., even riding freight trains, and always writing songs and playing her music. Now with four CD’s to her name, May works a variety of venues coast to coast, focusing on the Midwest and her home state of Michigan. Her inspired songs and powerful clear voice have a sweetness that delights audiences.
Daisy May is joined by Michigan singer-songwriter Seth Bernard, whose excellent guitar work and soaring harmonies are seamlessly woven into their song-stories. Tickets: $15.
Optional Pre-concert dinner served at 6 PM. Menu: Beef burgundy over horse radish mashed potatoes, foccacia, mixed greens salad with champagne pomegranate vinaigrette, cranberry pie for dessert. $18.95
Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2009
What can we say about the Berrymans that we haven’t already, other than they have been regulars on our series since the beginning, kicking off their first national tour of each year with a White Gull performance, and who: • “Had our first band (a folky band) in high school in 1964. • Had our second band (a jug band) in college in 1966. • Had our brief third and fourth bands in 1969 and 1971. • Were married to each other in 1967. • Had a five year honeymoon in Canada. • Got a divorce in 1974. • Started playing weekly at the Club de Wash in Madison in 1977. • Became a full-time musical duo in 1977. • Finished playing weekly at the Club de Wash in 1987. • Recorded our first of twelve original albums in 1980.”
To which we’ll add: amazing songwriters, insightful, funny and very entertaining. Oh, and the only group we’re featuring this year (or any year for that matter) that accompanies themselves on the 12-string guitar and piano accordion. Tickets: $15
Optional Pre-concert Dinner served at 6 PM. January 7, 2009: Menu: Vegetable Lasagna, Garlic Parmesan Foccasia, fried mozzarella, Proscuitto and Arugula salad with balsamic vinaigrette. Chocolate Gelato for dessert. $18.95
Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Hailed by the Boston Globe as a "charismatic performer and singer", Garnet is a man with a powerful physical presence - close to six and a half feet tall - with a voice to match. With his smooth, dark baritone, his incredible range, and thoughtful, dramatic phrasing, Garnet is widely considered by fans and critics alike to be one of the finest singers anywhere. His music, like the man himself, is literate, passionate, highly sensitive, and deeply purposeful. An optimist at heart, Garnet sings extraordinary songs about people who are not obvious heroes and of the small victories of the everyday. As memorable as his songs, his over-the-top humor and lightning-quick wit move his audience from tears to laughter and back again. Tickets: $15
Optional Pre-Concert Dinner served at 6 PM. Menu: Havarti Stuffed Meatloaf, buttermilk mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean shitake sauté, spinach salad with apples, gorgonzola with a warmed cider bacon vinaigrette. Rum raisin bread pudding for dessert. $18.95
Date: Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Peter Mulvey began as a self-described "city kid" from Milwaukee. After graduating from college, he traveled to Ireland, where he learned the trade of busker on the streets of Dublin. Returning to the U.S., he settled in Boston, building an audience through street and subway performing, while also immersing himself in the thriving musical community.
Since his 2000 release The Trouble with Poets, Mulvey has found a home with the venerable indie label Signature Sounds Recordings. Traveling from Ireland to Anchorage and all points in between, whether playing solo, duo, or with a full-on rock band, live performance is what defines his work and is where he shines. Most recently, his touring career took an interesting turn, when Mulvey decided to embark on the "Look Ma, No Gasoline Tour" - a ten day, 300 mile concert tour of southern Wisconsin, to which he rode entirely on his bicycle.
Opening for Peter will be acoustic/folk/indie singer-songwirter Krista Detor Tickets: $15
Optional Pre-Concert Dinner served at 6 PM. Menu: Hunter Style Chicken, truffle scented mashed potatoes, pear walnut salad with blue cheese dressing. Triple chocolate pie with cappuccino cream for dessert. $18.95
Date: Wednesday, April 1, 2008
An award winning songwriter and accomplished guitarist, Jonathan Byrd has appeared on television shows, live radio and nearly 200 live dates per year (including Fish Stock at Camp David here in Door County last summer) since beginning a full time singing career in 2000. Jonathan is a magical live performer, “a songwriter of exceptional talent…with the stark storytelling of the finest traditional balladeers,” according to Sing Out Magazine. One critic in Austin called Jonathan “the Allison Krauss of the male gender” for his soaring neo-traditional sounds. Tickets: $15
Optional Pre-concert dinner served at 6 PM. Menu: Fettuccine with Italian Sausage, tomatoes, basil and parmigiano-reggiano, toasted onion foccacia, Fennel orange salad with red onion and olices in a citrus vinaigrette. Gelato for dessert. $18.95
Folk Musicians Previously Featured at the White Gull
Date: 1985-2007
Musicians who have appeared in the White Gull folk concert series in the 22 seasons since its inception in 1985: Tom Paxton, Cheryl Wheeler, John McCuen, Bob Gibson, Chris Smither, Michael Smith, Bill Miller, Fred Alley, Vance Gilbert, Neal & Leandra, Lou and Peter Berryman, Michael Johnson, Garnet Rogers, Pat Donohue, Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum, Joel Mabus, David Mallett, Suzzy and Maggie Roche, Cindy Mangsen and Steve Gillette, Bill Staines, Buddy Mondlock, Bryan Bowers, Peter Keane, David Roth, Mark Dvorak, Anne Hills, Willy Porter, Michael Miles, Bob Bovee and Gail Heil, Jim Hurst and Missy Raines, Dave Moore, Cathie Ryan, Small Potatoes, Matt Watroba, Peter Mayer, Kenny White, Natalia Zukerman, Eric Lewis, Tommy Burroughs, Andy Ratliff, Hans Christian, David Roth, Brooks Williams, Steppin In It with Rachel Davis, James Keelaghan, Chuck Pyle, L. J. Booth, John Smith, Tom Pease, Louise Taylor, Christopher Shaw and Bridget Ball, Mark Dvorak, Priscilla Herdman, Claudia Schmidt, Moe Dixon, Susan Smentek, Cosy Sheridan, Becky Schlegel, Don Stiernberg, Victoria Vox, Wil Maring and Robert Bowlin, Jerry Rau, Phil Passen and Highland Road.
The concerts are held approximately once a month, November through April, beginning at 8 pm, after an optional dinner served at 6 pm .
Phone 920-868-3517 or Toll Free 888-364-9542
E-mail innkeeper@whitegullinn.com
PO Box, 160, Fish Creek, WI 54212
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