LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906!!)

Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 have announced their summer concert slate via their Facebook page, which is the sole topic today! No word on where they've been since their last date in February, but they have multiple dates around the E.U.P. scheduled in July and August, while also announcing solo dates from frontman Billy Bernier in Mackinac Island (which is outside of our coverage range) and at The Islander Bar in Hessel tomorrow night. I'm not sure if Billy's solo show is basically Project 906 unplugged or if he explores less hard rock in his sets, so I won't cover that show on here just in case, but keep it in mind if you're in Hessel! If you want to see the full splendour with Joe, Dustin, and Jason too, they have two private bookings next month, but their first public date in five months will see them rock the aforementioned Islander Bar on Friday, July 5th with a return planned for Saturday, August 10th!

The former show is a normal affair, but the latter will be a special matinee set during the Les Cheneaux Islands Antique Wooden Boat Show, an event that 906 did play last year as well, albeit at a normal nighttime timeslot then. It's too soon yet to know what possible changes could be in store on August 10th, but last year, The Islander Bar had four nights of live music from different nightly acts the week of the boat show. Stay tuned for any updates! On Saturday, July 13th, Project 906 will return to The Well Diggers Watering Hole & Feed Lot in nearby Kinross for an outdoor concert, and their first show at this venue since last summer. Should be a good time in a relatively unique setting, so keep their Well Diggers return in mind also! Then on Friday, July 26th, the guys will return to the Soo for a concert at The Merchant's Bar alongside "special guests" The City Lines, so who are they?

As best as I can tell, 906 are actually opening for The City Lines, a power pop trio from Ann Arbor whose frontman is Sault Ste. Marie native and Sault Tribe member Patrick Deneau. Not the heaviest band going, but fans of indie rock and midwest emo (let alone more recent material by The Northwest) will take to The City Lines, and it's cool to see Patrick play a show at home like this, let alone the rare sight of Project 906 opening for a touring band! Moving ahead to August for another festival set, Project 906 will make their debut at Pickford Hay Days on Friday, August 2nd, and while they didn't specify the locale beyond saying that it'd be outdoors, the festival's Facebook event page confirms that they're playing at Pickford Township Park (no word on extra bands). Click here for full non-musical details on Hay Days, but food trucks will be nearby for festival and/or concert attendees, and you are encouraged to bring lawn chairs.

The last of the newly announced Project 906 shows will see them play in Cedarville on Saturday, August 3rd for this year's tenth annual Government Bay Barge Bash, which I am pretty sure is returning to its literal location on a floating barge in Government Bay in front of Bumpas at 74 East Hodeck Street. Promotion for this year's Barge Bash has not begun that I've seen, but this event has featured multiple bands in recent years, and how unique is it to see bands playing literally on the water? Note that one of the bands that played last year's Barge Bash (which didn't have known-to-me hard rock bands at the time) was Dirty Musky, a new band featuring 415E alumni Dave Menard and Brett Blackwood alongside Brett's dad Fran (of Clownsack fame). Despite that lineup, Dirty Musky have given no indication of their set/sound on social media, so I won't rush them into our coverage, but keep them in mind!

Most of these shows have 8:00 PM start times, but the Pickford show is at 7:00 PM, the Cedarville show is to be announced (remember, multiple bands play that), and the Hessel boat show gig in August is a 4:00 PM matinee. The Islander Bar, Well Diggers, and Merch shows are all 21+ while the rest are all ages, and while none have a stated cover charge, do inquire within as far as the annual festivals go. It's great to see Project 906 back (even without Strongs Tavern returns booked, surprisingly), so look for their hard rocking cover slate at multiple E.U.P. venues in the coming months, and stay tuned for more news on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!