MARQUETTE, Mich.—Randy Seppala, also known as “Da Bones Man,” will present a rhythm bones workshop on Saturday, Oct. 22, at Northern Michigan University. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Beaumier Upper Peninsula Heritage Center in 105 Cohodas Hall. The fee is $5 for adults and $2 for students.  The workshop will be formatted in two parts: one to show participants how to make their own rhythm bones; and a second to show them how to play the bones they have made.

Seppala is one of the leading players of the rhythm bones in the United States and is a native of the Upper Peninsula. Rhythm bones are one of the oldest folk instruments and are commonly played throughout North America by traditional music groups. Seppala has played with dozens of groups in the region and is renowned for the bones he makes and plays across the country. He will be joined at the workshop by his partner, Jim Lohman, who is a carpenter and master of the rhythm bone himself.

The workshop is part of the Upper Peninsula Folklife Festival. All festival events are sponsored by the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.

To register, call 227-3212 or e-mail heritage@nmu.edu.