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This Midland society works to let traditional music soar - Midland Daily News

As music trends continue to change every day, one Midland group works to celebrate the styles of old.

Since the 1990s, the Folk Music Society of Midland has worked to promote folk music and traditional dancing to the Midland community. Whether it is through concerts or classes, the Folk Music Society promotes traditional folk throughout Michigan, mainly focusing on the Tri-City area.

“(The society is) very open,” Hunt said. “Different people have different sub interests and (we) try to include anybody that have the same interests.”

The society promotes music from the American frontier, to the days of Tin Pan Alley, to the folk revival and social movement of the 1960s. Hunt said folk music is eclectic in sound but is typically simple and is music for the common person.

Hunt said there are three subgroups within the society: Traditional Dancers, Jolly Hammers and Strings, and Saginaw Ukulele Gurus and Rookies (SUGAR). Hunt himself created SUGAR 10 years ago, which plays events and holds classes.

The Jolly Hammers group specializes in acoustic instruments that include dulcimers, autoharps, banjos, bass fiddles, guitars, harmonicas, mandolins and more. This group meets for monthly jam sessions at the Chippewa Nature Center, according to the society’s website.

Traditional dancing is another significant part of the Folk Music Society. Cilla Jones, who helps run the Midland Traditional Dancers, said they host dance session and classes at the Midland Community Center. The group practices a range of dance styles from English dancing, to square dancing, to line dancing.

The board meets once a month, with the typical general membership size ranging between 150 and 200 people. The group’s membership took a hit with the COVID-19 pandemic, Hunt said, with SUAGR recently starting to perform shows in person again. Jones said she hopes the dancing group will get back together in-person soon but is waiting to see how members feel about it first.

One way the society promotes itself and the music they celebrate is through concerts a couple times a year and taking bookings for shows. Hunt said the Folk Music Society mainly promotes itself through word of mouth and try to introduce folk music to a younger generation.

Soon the general public will have a chance to enjoy this music live from Aug. 26-29 at the Midland County Fairgrounds during the Midland Folk Music Festival. Festival coordinator Bell Atwater said this festival has been going on for about 30 years, only skipping last year due to the pandemic.

The festival will feature a concert, open mic night, and jam sessions around the fairgrounds. There will also be workshops for people to learn more about playing instruments, songwriting, and singing.

Hunt said people can use folk music to express feelings and beliefs and to raise one’s voice.

“Not everybody can be in a rock band that's world famous or in an orchestra that is tremendously talented,” Hunt said. “(Folk music) gives people a chance to express their lives and their experiences to tell their own story.”

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