WMEAC and GRCC to celebrate Earth Day with Earthwork Music

The West Michigan Environmental Action Council and Grand Rapids Community College are celebrating Earth Day with a special concert featuring top acts from Earthwork Music at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids on Friday, April 22. Proceeds benefit the Grand River Water Festival and WMEAC’s work to protect water and build sustainable communities in West Michigan.

Headlining the event are Seth Bernard and “Daisy” May Erlewine, two of Michigan’s most popular solo roots music artists that have recently come together to create a captivating sound with rich vocal and instrumental harmonies. The duo has played at festivals countrywide and been heard on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion.  In February, Bernard was honored at WYCE Jammies in the best pop/rock record category for his album Is This You? Erlewine’s Golden was named best Americana album.

Also performing is Earthwork Music duo Rachael Davis and Dominic Davis. Rachael began singing on stage at two years old and has been singing ever since. In her long solo career she has released four albums. Her husband, Dominic, is an accomplished bassist and a member of another popular Earthwork Music group, Steppin’ In It. 

Opening act Hawks and Owls string band is the husband/wife duo Bruce and Becca Ling.  Bruce is an award-winning musician on fiddle, mandolin, and guitar and pairs his musical talents with lead vocals and storytelling. Becca is known as one of the finest old-time rhythm guitarists in West Michigan, and sings harmony. They are the acoustic evolution of rural American music.

“In the midst of ongoing, global environmental crisis, Earth Day 2011 is an opportunity for our community to come together, renew and inspire each other to keep making everyday Earth Day,” said WMEAC Executive Director Rachel Hood. “There is no set of musicians better suited for this purpose than Seth, May, Rachel and Dominic and Hawks & Owls.  We’re honored to put on this show and hope it fuels our community’s passion for environmental action.”

The 2011 Earth Day Celebration will begin at 6 pm with environmental exhibits, food vendors and a cash bar.  Music starts at 7 pm.  Tickets are $15 ($10 for students and unemployed) and now available at Schuler Book Stores and online at liveatthefountain.org.   Free admission for all Grand Rapids Community College students and staff.

Additional sponsors include Essence Restaurant Group, Yesterdog, WYCE-FM and Natural Awakenings.

The West Michigan Environmental Action Council has been West Michigan’s preeminent resource for environmental education and advocacy since 1968.  Founded by a diverse group of concerned citizens and organizational stakeholders, WMEAC is a non-profit, 501C3 organization uniquely positioned to respond to emerging issues and new threats to West Michigan’s natural and human ecologies, strategically focused on Building Sustainable Communities and Protecting Water Resources. 

Grand Rapids Community College values sustainability as a crucial form of innovation as it provides a framework by which we can improve the well-being of all living things and the health of the planet through education, modeling best practices, collaborating with other organizations focused on sustainability, while also discovering and developing new methods to elevate sustainability. Grand Rapids Community College is the recepient of a Silver 2011 Edison Award for the Keller Futures Center, which leverages community assets to help provide innovative and sustainable solutions to our community's greatest challenges.

Implemented by a grass roots team of entertainers and activists, the Grand River Water Festival engages hundreds of families and thousands of voices in West Michigan in direct action — be it via hands-on workshops about building rain barrels and rain gardens, signing a petition or writing a letter on the spot — to protect our water resources. This year’s festival is scheduled for June 25 and 26 at the Kent County Youth Fairgrounds in Lowell, Michigan.