Welcome to the
Pepsi – Verizon Wireless
Bay Side Entertainment Stage
Presented by
Blue Cross Blue Shield & Blue Care Network of Michigan

ENJOY NIGHTLY ENTERTAINMENT
Main stage entertainment begins at 9:00 p.m.

The National Cherry Festival is proud to welcome to the
Bay Side Entertainment Stage...

Saturday, July 5 – The Lost Trailers
Ryder Lee and Stokes Nielson met in a church band as teenagers, and they’ve been making records together ever since. Their high school friendship begat a country band of five called The Lost Trailers, who have blazed their way through hundreds of honkytonks, joints, roadhouses, night clubs and concert halls, building a firewall of fiercely loyal fans. They are a band that came together naturally, matured creatively, perform explosively and have poured all of that into Holler Back, their new album on BNA Records.

"Anyone who has ever seen us live is going to hear the first 15 seconds of "Holler Back" and say ‘There’s The Lost Trailers. Those are the guys I saw open for Chesney or open for Sugarland’," says Stokes, tagged on the band’s website as The Writer.

Julianne Hough
Every country artist once had a "day job" that commonly used music business term for an occupation that pays the bills and fills the void between hopeful aspiration and bonafide success. However, never in the history of country music has someone taken a more celebrated path on the road to their country music dream than Julianne Hough (pronounced "Huff").

A triple threat as a singer, actress and dancer, Julianne is already known to millions of fans as the two-time professional dance champion on ABC-TV's top-rated Dancing with the Stars (DWTS). The show, which pairs professional dancers with music, sports, film and television celebrities, has become a cultural phenomenon and Julianne its top star.

The debut single, "That Song In My Head," is a buoyant effort that is incredibly infectious. The song captures the rapturous joy of a burgeoning relationship and celebrates the way a song can become the soundtrack for those emotions. Julianne's voice perfectly conveys the sense of delicious expectation in the lyric.

Julianne Hough's debut is a compelling collection of songs about the joys and challenges of everyday life delivered by an evocative young voice. It's the perfect vehicle to carry her from her successful day job to the realization of a dream come true.

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Sunday, July 6 – A Celebration of Faith
A Celebration of Faith will take center stage with Jared Anderson, Chris Sligh, and Krissy Nordoff.

Desperation Band member Jared Anderson steps away from congregational worship and sits down behind the piano for a new set of songs that takes his artistry in a surprisingly different direction. Anderson, who has penned CCLI standards "Amazed" and "Rescue," engages his singer-songwriter side on Where to Begin. The result sounds, he says, like Ben Folds leading worship, or the church-going offspring of Billy Joel and Joni Mitchell.

Chris Sligh was a top ten finalist on the sixth season of American Idol and began singing during high school and now resides in Franklin, Tennessee. His debut album "Running Back To You" will be released May 16th. The first song 'Empty Me' has already been released to AC and Christian Radio stations nationally.

Also appearing with Chris is Krissy Nordhoff, originally a Michigan native who now resides in Nashville, Tennessee. Her sophomore CD called "Downpour" features her current Top 10 single 'Outrageous Love' on Christian radio nationally.

Opening the Celebration of Faith day will be the return of the TC Worship Project, performing some of today’s most popular and inspirational Christian music. Accompanying the TC Worship Project will be the TC Community Choir, made up of some of the best worship ministry vocalist from the Grand Traverse region.

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Monday, July 7 - Twisted Finster
Twisted Finster has been riding the rock and roll express since their inception last July. Their popularity landed them as the Express readers choice for the "best new band" of last year. The band is made up of bassist Finster, Pounding Paul on drums, Zimmy 6-String on guitar and Ninja Dave on lead vocals.

Last June the guys didn't know each other; all four had pretty much resigned themselves to never play in a band again. That all changed when they collectively refer to the "magical moment." "I walked into Union Street Station last June and saw this sign that said 'Kenny Olson Stage.' I went to the cute gal at the door (Union Kate who is now part of the morning show) and told her that I wanted to book my band here," said Finster. "She asked who my band was. I told her that I didn't have one, but just give me 100 days and I would find three guys and we will put together three 55-minute sets and blow the roof off of this joint."

The next morning when Finster went on the air he told the people what he wanted to do. "I started taking auditions at a local studio in town and I randomly put a drummer, guitar player and vocalist together. One of those auditions was the group that would become Twisted Finster," said Finster. "When Dave, Paul and Zimmy came in it was just a fluke or maybe it was destiny. None of us knew each other. Four notes into the first song we all looked at each other and I knew this was the band. It was a magical moment."

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Tuesday, July 8 – James Otto
Country music's James Otto will wow fans on stage. A country singer and songwriter with a Southern rock heart, James Otto was born into a military family at the Fort Lewis Army Base in Washington and grew up all over the U.S., including extended stays in North Dakota and Alabama. He started singing when he was only four years old, and learned both violin and saxophone before getting his first guitar at the age of 13. Both his father and grandfather were part-time musicians who played gigs in local bars, so music was hardly a foreign thing to Otto, but it wasn't until he spent time with his mother in Sand Mountain, AL, that he really discovered the joys of country music.

After graduating from high school, Otto did a two-year stint in the U.S. Navy and, following his release from active service, he moved to Nashville in 1998, attending various songwriting nights at the clubs there, soon falling in with the so-called MuzikMafia, a feisty group of writers and musicians that included Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson, who became the central players in a CMT reality show called MuzikMafia TV.

The exposure landed Otto a record deal with Mercury Nashville and he released a handful of singles and an album, 2002's Days of Our Lives, before being dropped by the label in 2004. Following a small screen role in Road House 2, he rebounded by signing with Raybaw Records, a Warner Bros. imprint, and releasing a second album, Sunset Man, produced by his brother-in-law (and Rascal Flatts member) Jay DeMarcus, in 2008. James Otto is currently "pushing towards" a CMT number one single.

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Wednesday, July 9 – 1964 The Tribute
Back by popular demand is 1964 The Tribute, presented by Netlink Business Solutions, performing tunes reminiscent of the Beatles era, such as, "I Saw Her Standing There", "Love Me Do", "I Want To Hold Her Hand" and many more! Come and enjoy an evening packed with fun for the entire family on one of the most popular Bay Side evenings!

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Thursday, July 10 – Gin Blossoms
Thursday will be a "not to be missed" evening of music as the Gin Blossoms take to the stage. The Gin Blossoms are an alternative rock band formed in 1987, in Tempe, Arizona. They took their name from a photo of W.C. Fields which bore the caption "W.C. Fields with gin blossoms," referring to the actor's gin-ravaged nose. The band, whose members were musically weaned on The Byrds and Tom Petty, released three albums and had several hits in the mid-1990's, before breaking up in 1997. Five years later in 2002, the band reunited, released a DVD, resumed touring, and has a show that will be as vibrant as the first concert performed in hometown Tempe, Arizona.

Down The Line is opening for the Gin Blossoms at 7:30 p.m. with their unique acoustic mix and unparalleled vocals. Chicago's Down The Line continues to demonstrate that you don't need electricity to generate real power. Their music delivers mighty hooks and harmonies within smart songcraft and truly shining vocals.

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Friday, July 11 – WAR
An American original, WAR was the first and most successful musical crossover phenomenon that forever fused rock, jazz, Latin, and Rhythm and Blues, while transcending racial and cultural barriers with a multi-ethnic line-up; a musical melting pot and an enduring influence that has sold over 50 million records to date. Festival goers will enjoy all time rock and roll favorites "Low Rider" and Why Can't We Be Friends."

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Saturday, July 12 – Think Floyd
"THINK Floyd USA" - a tribute to Pink Floyd will set the stage for one last fun-filled night of Festival musical entertainment. "THINK Floyd USA" celebrates material from Pink Floyd's beginnings to the present day. The band will take festival-goers on a musical and visual flight through the Pink Floyd galaxy. Recognized as America's #1 Pink Floyd show, the band will perform all of Pink Floyd's classic hits.

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Festival-goers will enjoy entertainment along the shores of West Grand Traverse Bay every Festival day from 1 p.m. – 11 p.m. The headline performances featured on this page begin at 9 p.m. at the Festival Open Space Park at Grandview Parkway and Union Street. After 6 p.m., admission into the Bay Side Entertainment Area requires a Bay Side V-Pass! Each Festival attendee needs to purchase just one $10 Bay Side V-Pass! for all concerts during the Festival. V-Passes are available at the Festival office, online at www.cherryfestival.org, The Cherry Stop in downtown Traverse City and the National Guard office at the Grand Traverse Mall. For more information call the National Cherry Festival Office at (231) 947-4230 or 1-800-968-3380.