Musicians of Northeast Michigan

    Local guitar player and vocalist Dan Ager began playing regular gigs at the age of 15. He attended the music program at Olivet College for two years, recorde in Nashville, and has performed throughou

    The first time Wayne Bates played guitar in a bar he was around 12 years old, and the bar was The Bolton Bar. Wayne learned to play fiddle at the age of 10, then Hawaiian and Spanish guitar. He likes

    Local session bass guitarist, Al Zdan, first began playing professionally in the 1953.He built his own double-neck guitar which can be seen in the photo of the group The Monarchs. Al has played with

    Carole Cadarette began playing music at the age of 14 with The Cadarette Family Band. Starting out on keyboards, she took up the autoharp in 1979 and performed with Carol Witherbee and Diane Madsen t

    Mary Ann Hubbard talks about her role as an music educator and performer. She has taught music at ACC, Blue Lakes Fine Art Camp, Resurrection Lutheran Church School of Music and privately. MaryAnn pe

    A.K. and Jan Best moved to Alpena from Iowa in 1963. A.K.'s work in the music department of Alpena County Schools, including curriculum development, is legendary. In this interview, A.K. recounts his

    Carol Witherbee is a vocalist, music educator, choir director, plays the dulcimer and has directed local theatrical productions. She began her career in the Alpena Public Schools teaching music in th

    The music and words of local country music artist, Ernest Walker.

    Trinity Episcopal Church organist Bill Kaltrider's story begins as a lad in Owosso, Michigan who was fascinated with organs. In this interview, Bill and his wife Pat recount his career in music- from

    'Way Out Wayne' Kendziorski has been entertaining audiences and influencing other musicians for decades. Wayne started forming bands in high school- the likes of Pendulum and The Rutt. He later movin

    At age 10, Clint Kirchoff received his first accordion from a Norwegian family in Leer, MI. He studied piano with Mrs. Douville while he was in high school. Clint played local dances and weddings in

    Not to be confused with two other musicians of the same name, Richard N. Kosloski began playing banjo with his father at the age of eight. He later picked up the accordion, and his expertise with tha

    Butch Lyon got his start in music in East Jordan, Michigan playing with his dad's band, The Bundy Mountain Jamboree. The band was featured on a Saturday morning radio show on WATZ hosted by Ralph Die

    Born in 1907, Sid Pugh led and played in Alpena area dance bands for over half a century. Sid's early training included violin lessons with Professor William Burgard. His first gig was at The German

    A lifelong musician, Greg Altman has been playing guitar for twenty years. For most of that time he has played as a solo artist and with numerous local artists, in a variety of venues throughout Nort

    Bonnie Bartz is the lead vocalist of Alpena's Wild Rose, a group that offers a mix of blues, classic R & B, and Rock. She is also a founding member of the Thunder Bay Folk Society and president of it

    Area piano teacher and performer, Loretta Beyer talks about her roles in the Alpena music scene as well as her own music education in Zimbabwe.

    Guitar player Glenn Anderson talks about playing music in the Alpena area, in Texas and recording in Nashville.Glenn plays country music primarily and some polka music as well. He started out with lo

    Guitarist John Marzean began taking lessons from Alvin Ash at age 6. At the age of 19, he played with Wickes and Company, a country band from Hillman, Michigan. These days, you can hear John play in

    Jerry Ruczynski got his start filling in for Bob LaMarre's drummer when he was in grade school. Initially inspired by Bobby Rigg's sparkle blue snare drum, Jerry's first drum set consisted of sand fi