Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette An Evening of UP Songs by UP Musicians will be held Friday at the Orpheum.

HOUGHTON — The Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw will be hosting a music event featuring Yooper musicians at the Orpheum Theater on Friday. An Evening of UP Songs by UP Musicians is an event put together by the Carnegie Museum board that showcases music artists of various levels of experience from the area performing their pieces about the region of Copper Country or the Upper Peninsula in general. The event is funded through a grant from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council which seeks to fund occasions that advance and promote cultural aspects regarding music.

Pasi Lautala is a board member of the Carnegie Museum and one of the main handlers of putting the event together. He believes that this experience will be something special to celebrate with the area due to the connection between geography and people through music.

“We live in a special place in which the environment inspires the spirit whether you’re a poet or musician,” Lautala said. “You’re turning the environment into art whether it is a painting or music. When you live in an environment you like you involve it in your art and express an appreciation for it.”

Lautala expressed that it is not just nature that is normally incorporated into the work Yooper musicians practice, but also its history. He said the imprint of copper mining is not just felt in the present but can be revisited in the past.

The main performer and draw of the event will be Erik Koskinen. Koskinen is a successful musician who had grown up partially in Houghton and exhibits music within and mixtures of the genres of blues, country, rock and folk. He is a current Minnesota resident but reflects his influences and themes from the Copper Country in some of his songs. Other performances will come from Clint and Trent Maki who are a father-son duo along with other musicians playing works about the Keweenaw region and the Upper Peninsula.

The doors to the Orpheum, at 426 Quincy St., Hancock, open at 6:30 p.m. with music beginning at 7 p.m. The suggested donation for admittance is $10 but attendees may donate more if desired. Refreshments will be available for purchase.