Blissfest and Great Lakes Center for the Arts to co-present Watkins Family Hour
BAY HARBOR — The Great Lakes Center for the Arts in Bay Harbor and Blissfest Music Organization in Petoskey will collaborate to bring the Watkins Family Hour and special guest Margaret Glaspy to Northern Michigan on Sept. 23.
Watkins Family Hour is a collaborative musical project founded by musicians and siblings Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins and traditionally held at Los Angeles club Largo.
Since the first Watkins Family Hour show in 2002, the duo has released three studio albums, debuting with their self-titled album in 2015, following with Brother Sister in 2020 and, most recently, releasing Vol. II in August of this year. Sean and Sara recorded Vol. II at Los Angeles’s East West Studios in early 2022 alongside a stacked roster of longtime and new Family Hour collaborators, including Fiona Apple, Jackson Browne, Madison Cunningham, Lucius, Jon Brion and more. As with their debut, the band will tour in support of Vol. II, bringing the Watkins Family Hour experiences to stages far and wide.
Joining Watkins Family Hour is Margaret Glaspy, a singer-songwriter who has toured throughout the U.S. and across the world with such artists as Wilco and the Lumineers, and appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk, CBS Saturday Morning, and Conan.
“We can’t wait to welcome these iconic American roots artists to Northern Michigan. We are lucky to partner with Great Lakes Center for the Arts to bring music of this caliber to the stage,” said Caroline Barlow, talent buyer for Blissfest Music Organization. “Don’t miss your chance to see the work of Sara and Sean Watkins live! They are true masters of their craft, and it is not very often that we get to present this kind of act outside of our annual festival. We are also excited to see the addition of Margaret Glaspy to the bill. She is known for her excellent guitar work and unique vocal arrangements.”
Matthew Kacergis, the Great Lakes Center for the Arts’ director of programming, added “As the premiere presenter of folk and Americana in the Midwest, we couldn’t think of a better partner than Blissfest to help us all welcome autumn to Northern Michigan. When the opportunity to bring Watkins Family Hour arose, they were our first call. We hope this will be the first of many collaborations.”
Watkins Family Hour and Margaret Glaspy take the Great Lakes Center stage at 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 23 with tickets starting at $25. For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit www.GreatLakesCFA.org, call the box office at (231) 439.2610, or email [email protected].
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Watkins Family Hour to perform Sept. 23 at Great Lakes Center
