{"id":1430,"date":"2012-11-04T13:22:07","date_gmt":"2012-11-04T20:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traveltattler.com\/?p=1430"},"modified":"2012-11-04T13:22:07","modified_gmt":"2012-11-04T20:22:07","slug":"the-great-lakes-troubadour-still-cruising-at-72","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/library\/1430\/the-great-lakes-troubadour-still-cruising-at-72","title":{"rendered":"The Great Lakes Troubadour Still Cruising At 72"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Pat Dailey in the sunshine at his island rental cottages at Put In Bay on South Bass Island in Lake Erie.<\/p><\/div>\n

The infamous \u201cgales of November\u201d howl through the\u00a0Great Lakes\u00a0and evoke a sense of foreboding deep in the stomachs of seaman and sailors each autumn. But beer- bellied boaters simply swig suds and sing the songs of their legendary folk hero Pat Dailey, known concurrently as the \u201cGreat Lakes Troubadour\u201d and \u201cThe Coolest S.O.B. in the World.\u201d Even landlubbers grin when they hear Dailey\u2019s concerts are intended for \u201cmature adults\u2026and boaters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Strumming from beneath his fishing cap and behind his white beard – reminiscent of Ernest Hemingway – the 72-year-old\u2019s \u201cGreat Lakes Song\u201d is a ballad schoolteachers use to help children learn the names of the lakes; while kids\u2019 ears should be covered during his \u201cNever Lie to you about Fish.\u201d The rascally coot performs all summer at Put-In-Bay, the island resort in the middle of Lake Erie, and all winter at Hemingway\u2019s hangout Sloppy Joe\u2019s in\u00a0Key West. He will make a rare appearance in Mid-Michigan, performing a free concert at\u00a0Reno\u2019s East, on\u00a0Abbot Rd.\u00a0inEast Lansing, Saturday, Nov. 10, at 8 p.m. The doors open to the public for a \u201cPre-Pat-Party\u201d at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

Dailey\u2019s appearance is being held on the anniversary of the \u201cWreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,\u201d the ore freighter which went down in stormy\u00a0Lake Superior\u00a0in 1975. In tribute, Great Lakes Brewing Company\u2019s \u201cEdmund Fitzgerald Porter\u201d will be offered.<\/p>\n

While Dailey seems to have lived his life on vacation \u2013 Hawaii, Steamboat Springs, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Shipwreck Kelly\u2019s in Chicago – it was a Great Lakes trip aboard a ship that inspired his best songwriting, such as his ballad and convinced him to settle in what he calls America\u2019s \u201cNorth Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI looked out from the topside of that freighter and the lake looked like an ocean but the air was fresh. The sun was setting on the waves, it was peaceful, and I was moved,\u201d said Dailey. Rougher waters had him penning the lyric \u201cDon\u2019t take these lakes for granted; They\u2019ll go from calm to 100 knots so fast they seem enchanted,\u201d in his ballad \u201cWhite Squall.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fireworks and fun followed fast, though, when Dailey began singing at Put in Bay in 1978, playing cheeky songs like \u201cJust How Drunk Are We Going to Get?,\u201d \u201cBig Money Walleye,\u201d and \u201cLegend of the Lake\u201d for up to 3,500 people a night. Though there are comparisons, don\u2019t ask him to sing a Jimmy Buffett song. \u201cWhen Jimmy starts playing Pat Dailey songs, I\u2019ll start playing his,\u201d he barks with a twinkle.<\/p>\n

Dailey jokes that he\u2019ll be traveling via his 15-foot motorboat to perform at\u00a0Reno\u2019s in\u00a0East Lansing, a fish tale of baloney that would certainly draw the catcalls and heckles he loves provoking from his audience. Dailey\u2019s watery travels, played out in his songs and lyrics, will provoke tears and laughter, too.<\/p>\n

For more information and his tour schedule, visit\u00a0www.PatDailey.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Patrick Shiels, a Lansing-based travel writer, may be contacted at\u00a0InviteYourself@aol.com<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or via\u00a0www.TravelTattler.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The infamous \u201cgales of November\u201d howl through the\u00a0Great Lakes\u00a0and evoke a sense of foreboding deep in the stomachs of seaman… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":1431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3665],"tags":[658821,656335,619380,656492,656841,657214,657544,657905,655429,658278,655602,753,655898,658429,656065],"class_list":["post-1430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-library","tag-great-lakes-troubadour","tag-sloppy-joes","tag-key-west","tag-renos-east","tag-north-coast","tag-white-squall","tag-just-how-drunk-are-we-going-to-get","tag-big-money-walleye","tag-pat-dailey","tag-legend-of-the-lake","tag-put-in-bay","tag-music","tag-great-lakes-song","tag-live-music","tag-never-lie-to-you-about-fish"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2012\/11\/PutInBay09-023.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1430"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1489,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1430\/revisions\/1489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}