A quirky summer solstice celebration launched two local performers toward an unlikely national stage.
Visit Keweenaw announced that Drew Cramer and Archmages Tony Wallets, both from the Upper Peninsula, advanced from the Michigan Air Guitar Exhibition and will travel to San Francisco this week for the U.S. Air Guitar Championship. The event serves as the final qualifying competition before an international air guitar championship in Finland.
The pair held a final practice session before their departure. Wolf’s Head Film has organized a crowdfunding campaign to support the performers’ journey to the national competition.
For more information about the campaign and the competitors’ trip to San Francisco below. Support the pair headed to San Francisco here.
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Upper Peninsula Competitors Invited to U.S. Air Guitar Nationals Following Michigan Air Guitar Exhibition (MAGE)
HOUGHTON, Mich. — What began as an evening of joyful absurdity in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has turned into an opportunity to compete on the national stage.
Following the inaugural Michigan Air Guitar Exhibition in Hancock, MI, established by Wolf’s Head Film, the event’s top competitors have been invited to compete in the Dark Horse Competition in San Francisco on July 31. The Dark Horse Competition serves as a final qualifying opportunity for the U.S. Air Guitar Championships, taking place on August 1.
Representing the Keweenaw will be first-place champion Drew Cramer (a Keweenaw-based farmer) and second-place finalist froim Marquette Archmagus Tony Wallets, accompanied by his “human handler,” Allison Maple.
The invitation came after the event recap video caught the attention of organizers with the U.S. Air Guitar Championships, creating an unexpected pathway from a community arts event in the Upper Peninsula to the country’s premier air guitar competition. Competitors who advance from the Dark Horse Competition will earn a place in the U.S. National Championship, where the winner receives an all-expenses-paid trip to Oulu, Finland, to compete in the Air Guitar World Championships.
The Michigan Air Guitar Exhibition was created by Wolf’s Head Film, a Keweenaw-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to strengthening community through film, arts, and memorable cultural experiences. The event was produced entirely without sponsorship, relying on volunteers and community enthusiasm to bring the idea to life.
To help support this unexpected opportunity, Wolf’s Head Film has launched a crowdfunding campaign to offset travel expenses and provide a food stipend for the competitors as they represent the Keweenaw and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in San Francisco. If fundraising exceeds the initial goal, additional funds will help offset travel costs for Wolf’s Head Film board members attending to support the competitors while documenting the competitor’s journey and networking with organizers to explore bringing an official U.S. Air Guitar qualifying event—or potentially a regional competition—to the Keweenaw next year.
Wolf’s Head Film founding board member Amanda Makela says, “Air Guitar itself is a complete committment by both the shredder and the audience to give themselves over to wild joy, abandon ego, and embrace the revolutionary concept that being silly and carefree is a stand against aparthy, darkness, and solitude. This endeavor from start to finish was a knowingly goofy and absurd thing, but airness prevailed – we packed the Orpheum and the rafters rocked with laughter, music, and applause. Supporting this in a financial way shows that you too believe that in these trying times we as a community are allowed to believe there’s space for pure optimism.”
Community members who would like to support Team MAGE can contribute through Wolf’s Head Film’s Zeffy crowdfunding campaign and follow the competitors’ journey on the organization’s social media channels.
