Events

Upper Peninsula Folklife Festival: May Coffee House Series Concert

The Flat Broke Blues Band

The Upper Peninsula Folklife Festival will feature The Flat Broke Blues Band in its May Coffee House Series concert.  The concert will be held in the Peter White Lounge in the Don H. Bottum University Center.  The event begins at 7pm on Saturday, March 19, and is free (donations are encouraged).  This concert is sponsored by the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center and by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs.

Marquette- based Flat Broke Blues Band has been playing clubs, festivals and concerts around the Upper Great Lakes region for well over a decade. The band currently features original members guitarist/vocalist Walt Lindala and bassist/vocalist Mark Johnson. Flat Broke's stellar lineup also includes guitarist/vocalist Mike Letts, drummer Jim Cohen and lead vocalist/harmonica player Lorrie Hayes. 

Flat Broke Blues Band takes the influences of blues, rock, soul and R&B and creates a sound that respects the tradition of the blues but also pushes it's contemporary bounds. The band's stage show is filled with an entertaining and danceable mix of blues and R&B classics along with a variety of original songs that showcase the talents of all of the band members. Over the years, Flat Broke Blues Band has shared the stage with several blues stars including Koko Taylor, Tab Benoit, Shemekia Copeland, and Lonnie Brooks to name a few.  Tom Hyslop, contributing writer at Blues Revue said, "This is the north-country blues, and the Flat Broke Blues Band is its most notable purveyor."