Protest Song from pat mAcdonald

Reminiscent of a famous fight to save its historic steel bridge, Sturgeon Bay’s downtown waterfront has become the site of another standoff.

The rift over a proposed waterfront hotel has pitted city officials against Sturgeon Bay residents who say the structure will block views of the waterfront, clash with the character of the city, risk city tax revenues, and threaten an already over-saturated lodging industry.

The city council voted unanimously to approve a zoning change that will enable the hotel project to move forward. Those in opposition continue to challenge the decision on many fronts.

One such resident, pat mAcdonald (creative director of Steel Bridge Songfest and the Holiday Music Motel, best known for writing Timbuk3’s hit, “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta wear Shades”), decided to use his songwriting skills to draw wider attention to what he calls “a newsworthy abuse of power by local officials.”

The result is a protest song titled “The Big Dumb Hotel.” While working out the musical arrangement, he recruited some friends in The Tambourine Collaboratory to help record and produce the nine-verse “anti-anthem.” He then created the song’s visual counterpart, an eight-minute mini-documentary that includes the song and a newsreel-style intro.

“We have such great people here. Aside from the old guard, it’s a smart little community, and this amount of local awareness is encouraging, but we’re trying to get the word out there farther,” says mAcdonald.

To hear the song and see the video, visit BigDumbHotel.com.