Alpena MI – Thunder Bay Arts Council presents the 6th annual Guitar Summit at the Stanley Beck Auditorium located on the campus of Alpena High School. Don’t miss the chance to see some of Alpena’s exceptional musical acts on Saturday January 23rd, 2010.

Start the New Year out right by coming to Alpena’s 6th annual Guitar Summit to experience some of Northeastern Michigan’s finest musicians. Headlining the Summit is 7 Million Jigawatts (7MJ) who have recently been making quite a name for themselves. Their unique style of music is infused with rock and soul and has caught the attention of Ford Motor Company; their song “I’ve Got You Covered,” is featured on the 360 view of the 2010 Mustang on www.the2010mustang.com. They’ve also had a successful release their new CD ‘Taking Flight’ which is available online at ITunes, Last FM, Digstation, and CD Baby.

Two of the band members are Alpena natives; Melissa Behring and Nathan Montgomery. They both graduated from Alpena High school but ironically didn’t know each other until they relocated to Metro-Detroit. Melissa Behring is the front woman of this rockin music ensemble; after graduation she studied at Central Michigan University where she acquired a Bachelor’s degree in voice performance and is currently pursuing her masters at Berklee College of Music. Nathan Montgomery plays guitar as well as bass and keyboards for the band. After high school, Nathan went to Wayne State University where he graduated with a degree in jazz performance. On top of being in 7MJ he has also released two solo instrumental CDs. To complete 7MJ these two are perfectly complemented by Jake Tobias on guitar/bass and Jon Vidal on Drums.

For more info visit http://www.7millionjigawatts.com

Another great addition to this year’s summit is the band Bobbing for Piranhas. They are an Alpena rock band that has a lot of soul. This fantastic three-piece features front man Ethan O’Brien; he plays guitar and sings lead vocals. O’Brien has a voice that might have come straight out of the 70s; his expressive voice is pure talent. On bass and vocals as well is Conor Larkin and coming in to bring the tempo together is James Daoust on drums and backing vocals.

For more info visit http://www.myspace.com/bfprocks

Kicking off the summit will be the doctor duo HouseCall who sing and play guitars in a Simon and Garfunkelesque style. Also to be featured will be local guitarists’; Wayne Kendjiorski, Pete VanVlera, and Larry Daoust.

Guitar Summit VI will take place at the Stanley Beck Auditorium at 3303 South Third St., Alpena MI 49707 on Saturday, January 23rd at 7pm. Tickets are $12 at the door. For more info call 989-356-6678 or email mtbarts@freeway.net