Traverse City Gets an Anthem of Its Own: "Take Me There"
Traverse City, MI (PRWEB) July 13, 2014 -- Traverse City Tourism has announced the winner of its “Traverse City Tourism Song Search” and a new anthem for this popular Michigan resort community -- “Take Me There” by The Hacky Turtles. -- “Take Me There” by The Hacky Turtles.
The four-member band – all young Traverse City natives – had their song selected from 18 entries submitted in this summer’s Song Search contest. They and three other finalists performed their music before a panel of judges representing a wide range of community groups. Traverse City Tourism, the community's destination marketing organization, organized the contest to find an inspiring song for this Lake Michigan resort town.
The Hacky Turtles consist of vocalist Marc Kanitz, Austin Spencer on guitar, Alex Rushlow on guitar/vocals and Erik Krueger on drums. They described themselves as a “funk/reggae fusion band with strong folk roots,” and their song is a wistful celebration of the things they love best about their hometown:
Sunrise paints these cherry-colored clouds,
Wakes the earth, shining rays out on the ground,
Brings to life our town below the bays.
Great food, better people, everyone’s a friend;
All are welcome where the compass ends.
So raise a toast to one more day!
Take me there, take me where it’s pushing, pulling me along…
Days move slow, my heart is full, everything to right from wrong…
Smiles, dancing, sun or snow, nothing ever looked so pretty.
Oh my, my No. MI, take me there to Traverse City!
“We wrote it about the feeling we have every time we are away from Traverse and Northern Michigan in general, and how we always love coming back home,” said vocalist Mark Kanitz. “Everything about Traverse City is welcoming and we felt that we could write about that feeling and express it to anyone and everyone who should come up and visit our wonderful town.”
The band performed their winning song on July 12 during Traverse City's annual National Cherry Festival while riding the Traverse City Tourism float in the Cherry Royale Parade.
Traverse City Tourism is working with local videographer Andy Wakeman to produce a music video for the winning song, which will be released later this summer. It will include shots of the band performing “Take Me There” at the Cherry Royale Parade, and footage of iconic places and activities around the Traverse City area. The finished product will be highlighted on the Pure Michigan Facebook page and Traverse City Tourism’s website, http://www.TraverseCity.com.
Mike Norton, Traverse City Tourism, http://www.traversecity.com, +1 (231) 995-3909, [email protected]
Share this article