The Leelanau School is a unique place that gives its students special opportunities. Whether it’s studying biology on location at beautiful Glen Lake, or having English class on the beach, things happen at our school that are truly extraordinary. One of those things happened this past Friday, February 20.
At a fabulous school assembly, the Leelanau community was treated to a performance by a new music education project called On Stage 4 Kids. This program brings some of the top musicians and songwriters in Michigan to elementary, middle, and high schools across the state.

The goal of On Stage 4 Kids is to educate K-12 students about the songwriting, history, and culture of American music. During their programs, a rotating trio of On Stage 4 Kids musicians not only performs traditional folk, blues, rock, and Americana music; they also talk to the students about their lives as working musicians and the joy of music.

For their performance at Leelanau, we were privileged to have three amazing On Stage 4 Kids musicians grace us with their presence: World renowned percussionist Mike Shimmin (percussion & vocals); blues and roots master Mike Lynch (keyboards and accordion); and Traverse City native Joshua Davis (guitars & vocals), one of the founding members of On Stage 4 Kids. This trio of incredibly talented Michigan musicians has appeared together at some of the top festivals and performing arts centers in the Midwest, and Joshua Davis might just be on his way to stardom.

On Monday, February 23, Davis gave an absolutely stunning performance during the blind auditions on the Season 8 premiere of NBC-TV’s singing competition show, The Voice. His stunning rendition of “I Shall Be Released,” a Bob Dylan composition first performed by The Band, got two judges to turn their chairs around, and Joshua chose to go with country singer Blake Shelton’s team. Among Shelton’s compliments to Davis: “It’s crazy the way that you’ve developed this sound. It’s so different than anything else we’ve seen come across this stage, dude. I’d love to have the chance to work with you.” (You can see Josuha Davis perform on The Voice at this link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_IRqLjdh8o)

The On Stage 4 Kids performance combined live music, storytelling, and humor. In keeping with the Leelanau School’s experiential learning theme, students also got involved by singing along, asking questions, and performing with the band. From start to finish, the assembly was nothing short of spectacular.

Our sincere thanks go out to Joshua Davis, Mike Lynch, Mike Shimmin, and the entire On Stage 4 Kids organization for dropping by our school and sharing their remarkable talents with us.

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