Charlie Allen Martin, original drummer in rock icon Bob Seger’s Silver Bullet Band, is joining humorist-singer-
“The words and music produced in these programs shout out to the world that these young lives are worth saving,” Ball says. “I help these kids take a look into their hearts, and write original roots music, then share their feelings by performing in front of their peers in a professional concert situation.
“Every group we've worked with has experienced tremendous personal growth and healing, not just among the direct program participants, but also among the other at-risk kids who see their peers exploring some of their most difficult thoughts and feelings on stage,” Ball says.
Mike Ball started working with incarcerated juveniles at W.J. Maxey Boys Training School near Whitmore Lake in 2006, meeting teens weekly for eight weeks, helping the youths write their own creative stories. The program attracted funding from the state of Michigan, which led to a 15-minute Michigan-sponsored documentary, “Young Poet Incarcerated,”
Ball, with Josh White Jr., folk artists Matt Watroba and Kitty Donohoe, and Madcat Ruth, have worked with multiple groups of incarcerated teens since 2006 at Maxey, the Renaissance Alternative School in Howell, and the now-defunct Adrian Training School for girls, giving voices back to the teens who lost them when they made the poor choices that landed them in detention centers and diversion programs.
The program is being streamlined to make it portable – with the musicians working morning to night with the kids for an entire weekend, then putting the kids onstage on Sunday. Ball has run Lost Voices-concept workshops for juvenile justice professionals in Pennsylvania and Utah to positive response.
The musicians’ efforts, however, rely on tax deductible donations, mainly raised at the annual concerts in Ball’s backyard on Whitmore Lake, where up to 500 people can be accommodated on the lawn and on pontoon boats moored at Ball’s dock. (9548 Main Street, Whitmore Lake, MI 48189) Zingerman’s Deli will, as usual, sell refreshments, with proceeds going to Lost Voices.
Concert tickets are $15 in advance, and $20 at the door.
A new program aimed at finding donors who are willing to give $50 or more is intended to help Ball take the Lost Voices retreats to new locations across the state and the country. Donations may be made at www.lostvoices.org.
“If we can get 2,000 people to give just $50 a year, that’s $100,000 that can get us going,” said Ball. “These kids are coming out of these facilities one way or another. This is about how you want them to be when they come out. It comes down to, how much you want to change the world.”
“If we can help some of these kids find constructive alternatives to the attitudes and behaviors that shaped their earlier lives, then all our efforts will have been well worth it,” Ball says.
Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 at the door, are also available at http://www.lostvoices.org herb David Guitar Studio in Ann Arbor, and locations in Whitmore Lake including National City Bank of Whitmore Lake, Main Street Hair Salon, and Peaberry Bean Coffee Shop. In the event of rain, the event will move to the nearby Whitmore Lake High School. For more information contact Mike Ball, at 734-449-5700 and mike@lostvoices.org.
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Media Contact: Scott Lorenz, Westwind Communications Public Relations, 734-667-2090 cell: 248-705-2214 or scottlorenz@
