You will find olcott park filled with some of the most quality musicians you will ever encounter anywhere!
Preston Gunderson is a singer songwriter based out of Minneapolis, MN. With his powerful voice, and catchy melodies, Gunderson has been bringing in listeners of all ages and capturing major attention.
Preston's full length album "While I was Gone" cracked the top #200 on the iTunes pop charts. Roughly a year later, his sophomore record "The Recluse - EP" peaked at #25 in the world on the iTunes Singer Songwriter charts, just behind The Civil Wars, and ahead of legendary singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. He also had a stint as a casting finalist on NBC's "The Voice" and more recently Fox's "American Idol." He has since released his 2nd full length album, "Getting Good at Starting Over," due to an incredible Kickstarter campaign, made possible with the love and support of his friends, family, and fans. The record was completed The Terrarium recording studio. His latest record "Face Yourself, Then The World" is was release late summer in 2016.
Preston has since toured nationally, and overseas (2011) making a name for himself. Opening up for acts such as Brandie Carlile, The Guess Who, Jeremy Messersmith, Trampled by Turtles, Nicholas David, Live, and Everclear.
Samuel "Sammo" Paul Miltich was born March 12th, 1985. He grew up in in northern Minnesota. His family is musical, and gatherings in the Miltich home bring family and friends together in a circle playing music and singing. Sam has played music from a young age starting on the piano, learning to read and write music, than playing bass and tuba for the school bands. At age 14, Sam began to study the guitar seriously. Exposed to many styles of music, Sam's greatest musical influences are Django Reinhardt, Duke Ellington, Jimi Hendrix, Andres Segovia, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Maurice Ravel, Stevie Wonder, Stochelo Rosenberg, and Bireli Lagrene. Sam is a lover of all musical styles, from jazz, to rock, to classical, to tamburitzan, to Brazilian bossa nova.
Paddy O'Brien and Friends
Paddy O'Brien - has been a serious player and collector of Irish traditional music for more than fifty years, and during that span he has collected more than 3,000 compositions, jigs, reels, hornpipes, airs, and marches, including many rare and unusual tunes. He tells the stories behind each piece, helping audiences to grasp the tunes better by understanding their historical and cultural context.Sue Spencer comes by her Irish roots through Newfoundland, off the East Coast of Canada. She has performed internationally as part of such well-known groups as Willowgreen and McInnis' Kitchen. Her vocals have a Newfoundland feel, and her driving guitar style and signature smile will lift your spirits.
Liesel Wilson: Growing up in Wisconsin, Liesel was raised on music from an early age. Celtic fiddle is her true passion. She began performing as an erhu soloist after studying abroad in China. Liesel often combines her love of singing with her linguistic fascination. She specializes in singing in languages besides English, including Gàidhlig, Irish, Early Scots, Welsh, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Hindi and Japanese.
Fun and laughs happen fast when comic magician, Jerry Frasier, comes back to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Land of the Loon Festival. A jolt of energy and amazement, this national entertainer wows audiences all over the country, from New York to L. A. and everywhere in between. Described as a comedy Houdini, Jerry's distinctively energetic magic is fun for the whole family! Everyone will be involved in the craziness!
The Derrell Syria Project is a musical group that features a floating cast of quality musicians that varies in size ( 2-4) depending on the performance venue. They are also members of the Finnish Reggae group (Conga Se Menne). Their home base lies in Marquette Michigan. From there they travel throughout the Great Lakes states, entertaining audiences with their unique style of original music (Finnish Reggae) along with a large variety of re-arranged cover tunes, mixing their performances with guitars, bass, percussion, congas, keyboards and vocals, playing Reggae, Latin, Southern Country Rock, Contemporary and Alternative music. The bands energetic music has pleased audiences, both young and old, at concerts, festivals and many other events and you can be sure that once they start playing, you'll be moving to the rhythm.
Cole Howard - just graduated high school this May and has been playing his music around Virginia at many venues and has awed many audiences with his raw talent. Having the high school leads in quite a few musicals has been a great spot for his performances! Catch him strolling around Olcott Park during THE LAND OF THE LOON—2018
Sheltered Reality - Founded in 1996, Sheltered Reality (SR) is a nonprofit musical organization whose performing membership spans all ages (currently as young as 4 and as old as 76!!). However, the majority of the members are youth aged 7-18 who come from practice sites located in Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming (with more sites and states to come). SR believes that Music can have Meaning, yet be a blast at the same time! SR performances use the power of percussion set to music, as well as high energy choreography, to engage and then motivate audiences to realize that any person, at any age in life, can dream and succeed. Success is first demonstrated through audience drum lessons followed by one or more audience participation songs; these always prove to be fun for audience members of all ages. However, SR then uses stories of hardship and triumph, as well as a sequence of Steps of Success to teach personal empowerment, character building, and ultimately translate the drum-playing success into something much more important: success in changing the world, and especially helping advocate for youth in crisis...the ultimate mission of Sheltered Reality.
Northern Twistars Cheer - New instructor Chloe Schechinger is excited to introduce our Cheer Performance team. This team just launched this year. But they have big plans for the future. Next year, this team will become competitive. With hard work and foundation building, this squad has become a show stopper. They tumble, stunt and dance and would like to introduce themselves to our community at the Land of the Loon.
Pastor Mickey Olson - is the pastor at Peace United Methodist Church in Virginia. She is beginning her 7th year in ministry at Peace. Mickey is married to Kim; They have three sons Dustin, Brady, Travis and Bailey and granddaughter Belle. Join her on Sundays at 10:00 am
Terrance Smith - is an all time favorite of the children's area at Land of the Loon. His music and maypole dancing have the children excited and happy to be a part of all the summer excitement!
| 11:00 | Derrell Syria Project | Lively Finnish Reggae |
| 11:45 | Sheltered Reality | Vivid Percussion Line |
| 12:30 | Paddy O'Brien and Friends | Traditional Irish Musicians |
| 1:00 | Jerry Frasier | Comedic Magician |
| 1:30 | Preston Gunderson | Singer/Songwriter |
| 2:00 | Northern Twistars | Tumblers and Added Cheerleading Skills |
| 2:30 | Sam Militich ~ Clearwater Hot Club | Gypsy Jazz |
| 3:00 | Jerry Frasier | Comedic Magician |
| 3:30 | Derrell Syria Project | Lively Finnish Reggae |
| 4:00 | Sheltered Reality | Vivid Percussion Line |
| 4:30 | Paddy O'Brien and Friends | Traditional Irish Musicians |
| 5:00 | Sam Militich ~ Clearwater Hot Club | Gypsy Jazz |
| 11:00 | Ecumenical Service | Pastor Mickey Olson Officiant |
| 12:00 | Derrell Syria Project | Lively Finnish Reggae |
| 12:30 | Jerry Fraiser | Comedic Magician |
| 1:00 | Paddy O'Brien | Irish Musicians |
| 1:30 | Sheltered Reality | Vivid Drum Line |
| 2:00 | Sam Militich ~ Clearwater Hot Club | Gypsy Jazz |
| 2:30 | Preston Gunderson | Singer Songwriter |
| 3:00 | Northern Twistars | Tumblers and Added Cheerleading Skills |
| 3:30 | Sam Militich ~ Clearwater Hot Club | Gypsy Jazz |
| 4:00 | Sheltered Reality | Vivid Percussion Line |
| 4:30 | Paddy O'Brien and Friends | Traditional Irish Musicians |
