The Grand Marais Public Library is pleased to host “Going to Bartalina: Songs & Stories of Commercial Sailing on the Great Lakes,” a folk concert by COMPAS songwriter and performer Charlie Maguire. This free show will take place on Wednesday, May 21, from 6-7 PM. 

With remarkable authenticity, Charlie performs songs and recounts stories to mark two important maritime anniversaries occurring in 2025: the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and the 120th anniversary of the Mataafa wreck off Duluth’s Canal Park on Lake Superior. 

Charlie Maguire is the only songwriter ever granted passage to write about two working vessels: the Nordic Trader and the William Clay Ford. Charlie Maguire also served as an embedded crew member on USCG Sundew. From these unique opportunities, Charlie Maguire turned experience into songs with insightful narratives behind each one in time for these important anniversaries. 

Additionally, Maguire’s show includes stirring renditions of Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and Woody Guthrie’s “Merchant Marine” to evoke the peril and adventure of ship life.

“If you have ever seen a big ship entering a harbor, or glimpsed one out on the horizon and wondered what it must be like to be onboard, then this program is for you,” says Davis Helberg, Director (Ret.) of the Seaway Port Authority of Duluth. “Charlie’s songs and stories make it as real as the wind in your face, the comradeship of the crew, and the movement of the deck under your feet.” After listening to Maguire’s songs, Pete Seeger once remarked, “Your songs are damn good and so are you.”

This program is one hour long and is appropriate for all audiences. 

This program, sponsored by Arrowhead Library System, was funded in part or in whole with money from Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund (ACHF).