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Earthwork Music

Earthwork Music is a Michigan-based music collective founded in 2001 by Seth Bernard.

The collective is comprised of more than 30 solo artists and ensembles, who often collaborate on recordings and in live performances.

Though Earthwork Music functions as a record label, the collective also uses its musical partnerships to support local communities and small farms, celebrate the cultures of the Great Lakes region and engage in community and charitable service.

History
Earthwork Music was founded in 2001 by songwriter and guitarist Seth Bernhard. Initially envisioned as an outlet for his own music projects, the collective quickly expanded in scope. It now features the music of dozens of artists, many of whom hail from northern Michigan.

Earthwork Music is named after Earthwork Farm, the Missaukee County farm where Bernard grew up.

The farm is linked to the collective in more ways than just serving as its namesake. Musicians who frequented the farm provided Bernard's early influences. The work that takes place on the land is a beacon of the community-building and educational principles that also drive the collective. The farm is also the home of the Earthwork Harvest Festival, an annual celebration of music, food and community.

In its evolution, Earthwork Music has become an organization that marries music--which often has only geographical origin in common--with community service, activism, experiential education and collaboration.

The collective has been described by Bernard as "…less like a record label, and more like an opportunity to do meaningful work with a large group of like-minded people."

Members
The Earthwork Music collective includes:


 * Airborne or Aquatic?
 * Big Dudee Roo
 * Chris Dorman
 * Daniel Kahn
 * Darlene DarlenYa
 * Dede Alder
 * Elizabeth Pixley-Fink
 * Gifts or Creatures
 * Hearth & Hymn
 * Jen Sygit
 * Joe Reilly
 * Joshua Davis
 * Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys
 * Mark Lavengood
 * Max Lockwood
 * May Erlewine
 * Micah Ling
 * Pat Carroll
 * Rachael Davis
 * Red Sea Pedestrians
 * Red Tail Ring
 * Seth & May
 * Seth Bernard
 * Stella!
 * Steppin In It
 * Steve Leaf & the Ex-Pats
 * Strawberry Heritage
 * The Appleseed Collective
 * The Go Rounds
 * The Lincoln County Process
 * The True Falsettos
 * Time & Luck

Service
Earthwork Music is well known for organizing and participating in benefit concerts and other community-building projects.

The many charitable concerts in which Earthwork Music members have been involved include a benefit for the Institute for Sustainable Living, Art & Natural Design, or ISLAND, a celebration of Earth Day in collaboration with the West Michigan Environmental Action Council and Grand Rapids Community College, and an effort to support the Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council.

In 2014, Seth Bernard directed a project called "The Quest--A Celebration of Community," which involves middle and high school students in creating new music through the examination of early 20th-century recordings Michigan music recorded by musical archivist Alan Lomax.

The project was conceived as a way for young people to give back to their communities in the form of creative works stemming from the study of history and culture.

Harvest Gathering
Earthwork Music organizes an annual music festival, called the Harvest Gathering.

The first Earthwork Harvest Gathering was held in 2001 at Earthwork Farm with fewer than 100 attendees. In the ensuing years the festival has grown, showcasing more than 100 musical acts, food vendors and artists.

More than 2,000 people attended the most recent Harvest Gathering. The weekend of music, food and art has become a favorite among Michigan's rich summer festival offerings because of its intimate, family-friendly nature, diversity of entertainment and espousal of old-country values.

National exposure
In 2015, Earthwork Music member Joshua Davis joined the NBC vocal competition show, "The Voice," and progressed to the final round.

On the May 4, 2015, episode of "The Voice," contestant Sawyer Fredericks performed "Shine On," a song penned by Earthwork Music member May Erlewine.