The Concert For Lost Voices – Sunday, 8/24/08, Whitmore Lake, MI

The decision to attend this show was rather last minute on my part.  I’d been planning to see Kitty Donohoe perform outdoors at Fountain Square Park in East Lansing a couple of nights prior, but that show had gotten rained out.  I’d been planning to accomplish some things in Ann Arbor the day before, but hadn’t gotten there due to a change in plans.  So on Sunday morning, I decided I could kill three birds with one stone – head down to Ann Arbor and accomplish the desired tasks, stop in Whitmore Lake on my way home to see Kitty perform as part of this concert, and contribute to a cause very close to my heart by attending this fundraising concert for the Lost Voices program.

I say Lost Voices is close to my heart because I’ve always loved writing and believed it to be a powerful -- and often healing -- form of expression.  Put simply, the Lost Voices program brings the talent and compassion of several songwriters together with incarcerated youth.  The songwriters teach the young men and women how to find their voice and express their thoughts through writing, and they set some of the words the participants write to music.  I can’t speak firsthand to the difference this program must make in the lives of both the young participants and the songwriters alike, but I can imagine its significance just knowing what a significant role writing has played in my own life, and I haven’t endured even a small percentage of what many of these youths have likely experienced at too young an age.  Participating songwriters include founder Mike Ball, Josh White Jr., Kitty Donohoe, Peter “Madcat” Ruth, and Robert Jones.  The Lost  Voices website provides much more information about the program than I can, so I encourage folks to go to www.lostvoices.org to learn more abut the program and how you can help.

Never having been to Whitmore Lake before other than to drive past it on the highway, I had no idea what to expect in terms of the area or the concert venue.  It turned out the concert took place in Mike Ball’s backyard – literally!  His house is built on a hill, and the balcony in the backyard served as the stage.  It was one floor up from the grass level where chairs were set up that ran the length of the yard and out onto the dock on the lake.  I’d never been that far below performers on a stage before, and it took me a while to get comfortable with the unusual vantage point.  I couldn’t even see the folks on the stage from the first chair I chose and decided to move to another one further back.  Once I’d found a place where I was comfortable and could see, though, I was able to appreciate what a delightful setting this was for an outdoor show.  There were plenty of chairs set up, the sun was out, a breeze was blowing, and having the
 beautiful lake in the background was the perfect compliment to it all.  There were even some listeners out on the water in boats.  Whitmore Lake felt very much like the kind of town where everyone knows everyone else, and there were times I felt certain folks knew I’d never been there before, but people I spoke with were friendly, and I never felt unwelcome. 

Performers in this year’s concert included Cliff Gracey, Guys With Guitars, Unity Of Ann Arbor Women’s Ensemble, Peter “Madcat” Ruth, Kitty Donohoe, Josh White Jr. and Master of Ceremonies Mike Ball.  I left Ann Arbor later than I should have when my purpose for going took longer than I thought it would, so I was a little late arriving at the concert, and Cliff Gracey was already performing by the time I purchased my ticket and found my way to first one seat and then another.  I enjoyed his voice, but I was a bit distracted during much of his performance with arriving late, chair hopping, putting on sunscreen when I realized the sun would be hitting me directly for a couple of hours, trying to find an out-of-the-way place to tuck the bag I’d brought, trying to decide if I wanted food from the vendor (Zingerman’s Delicatessen), etc., and it didn’t stay with me as much as it might have had I given him my full attention.  Guys With Guitars
 (Jack Kerwin, Dave Budzinski, Mike Ball, and Willie Wheezewell) were fun, and you could tell these guys really enjoy playing music when they have the opportunity. 

Having sung in multiple choral ensembles for several years previously, I was particularly drawn to the Unity Of Ann Arbor Women’s Ensemble (Nancy Ball, Betsy King, Carla Margolis, and Sue Stribley; with Emery Stephens and Aaron Drummond).  Their arrangements and harmonies were beautiful, and listening to them brought back fond memories and made me wonder if I might want to start singing again somewhere. One of their members even bore a strong resemblance to one of my former musical directors in high school (who also sang beautifully), enough to cause me to double take from a distance and wonder if said musical director might have a sister living in Ann Arbor.  I definitely enjoyed this group’s contribution to the afternoon, as I did that of Peter “Madcat” Ruth.  Half of the duo Madcat and Kane, I’d seen Shari Kane perform with her husband Dave Steele in the past, but this was my first time seeing Madcat.  I found the nickname immediately appropriate, as this guy can play the heck out of a harmonica.  He has speed, precision, rhythm, and an obvious love of music.  One couldn’t help but have fun listening.

Everyone played one average-length set, and Kitty’s featured several songs from her new Northern Border release and a couple from her previous albums.  Favorites for me included When I Was The Queen (a song I fell in love with upon first listen live several months before the CD was ever released) and 100% Chance Of The Blues (even more powerful live than on the CD).  What made this concert particularly special, though, was to hear Kitty do a couple of the songs that had come out of previous workshops with the Lost Voices youth.  One of them, called I Asked God, had such a profound impact on me that I can still remember every word Kitty sang.  The young girl’s words were moving, Kitty’s melody to accompany them was gentle and yearning, and the combination was enough to make me weep openly in front of a yard full of total strangers (who, granted, were paying scant attention to me).  I’ll likely never hear it again, but it’s even more likely I’ll never forget it. 

By the time Kitty’s set finished and Josh White Jr. began his, I’d been sitting enjoying the music for about three hours and was ready to get up and stretch my legs, so I left my seat and walked around a bit and listened to him from different vantage points in both the front (where there was a speaker set up carrying the sound from the other side of the house) and back yards.  He was a tremendous entertainer, and he also did a couple of workshop songs that could break your heart.  Having come primarily to hear Kitty, though, and with it now pushing 9:00 on a Sunday night and suddenly getting very cool by the water with the sun setting, I opted to leave a couple of songs before the end of the concert and get on my way home.  All in all, it was quite an enjoyable experience, and I would definitely attend this concert again if given the opportunity.

As always, thanks for reading, and I hope I’ve inspired you to learn more about Lost Voices and the wonderful work they do.