'You Can't Help But Root For Him:' Dune Bird Regular Hits The Big Time

Before he was making Carrie Underwood cry on national television, Slater Nalley was just a (very) young man turning heads and drawing crowds at Dune Bird Winery near Leland.

Bekah Bell, who has worked at Dune Bird since it opened in late 2021, recalls people being thoroughly puzzled by Nalley. How is that voice coming out of that kid?

“Here he was at 15 years old, singing with the soul and the pain of someone like Chris Stapleton,” Bell tells The Ticker. “He has a lot of maturity in his voice…and there’s this juxtaposition between this young, polite ‘Yes ma’am’ kid and a tortured artist storyteller who can devastate you with a song.”

Nalley played at Dune Bird at least 20 times over the last three summers, drawing consistently larger crowds as word spread about his talents. Bell and the others at Dune Bird loved to watch people discover the young man with the golden voice.

“I think people loved being surprised,” she says. “And he is so genuine, authentic and kind that you can't help but root for him.”

Dune Bird on Sunday is welcoming everyone in the community to root for Nalley as he appears on the 23rd season premiere of American Idol, the long-running smash hit vocal competion show. Producers of the show made his particularly emotional audition available in advance to promote the premiere, and it’s gone viral.

“They love the story and they love the song, and apparently they like my voice,” Nalley tells The Ticker. “So they called me and said they were going to post my audition on all platforms, and to get ready because it was going to blow up. I didn’t believe them. And then I woke up the next morning and it was just going ballistic.”

Nalley, now 18, is an Atlanta native who grew up coming to Leland in the summer, the latest in several generations of his family to do so. Leland and Leelanau at large have a special place in his heart and soul, he says, particularly because he’s always been able to find peace here.

“I love Leelanau because it makes me feel at home,” he says. “There’s so much bad stuff that goes on in the world, and it can be so disappointing and so concerning and so overwhelming, and I think Leland is a come-to-Jesus (place)…that makes you realize that life is a lot bigger than all of those problems going on. I think there’s not a better spot in the world than Leland to realize that.”

He’s played at other venues, of course, but Dune Bird has always been one of his favorites.

“It’s like family, and everybody at Dune Bird has the biggest heart. I’ve always felt so welcomed there, so loved and so prioritized,” he says. “My music is a vessel, and I want to share that with the world. And as a 14-year-old kid, when someone asks you to play at their very successful winery, for people of all different ages to hear, it was really special for me.”

As for that now-viral audition footage, Slater views it as affirmation of his hard work over the years.

“I’ve always put passion into my music, and I expect everyone to feel the passion I put into my music, because I work my butt off on it,” he says. “When someone like Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie come together and tear up at my song, it shows me I’m doing something right.”

Nalley is honored and pleased to know his supporters are gathering at Dune Bird to watch the Idol premiere, and he can’t wait to get back up north.

“Everyone in Leland is so tight. I couldn’t feel more grateful,” he says. “It’s going to feel great when I get to finally go back up there to my little escape from all of this and live there for a little bit, with joy in my heart that everyone there’s been supporting me since day one.”

Emily Marbury is the assistant manager at Dune Bird. She says the entire community is behind Nalley, whom they’ve embraced as one of their own.

“We often joke about it being hard in a small town because everybody knows everybody, but this is a case where it’s a great blessing,” she tells The Ticker. “We all know and love Slater, so you can’t help but be excited about that Leelanau connection, and you realize it’s what makes living in a place like this so special. Everybody does feel like family, and so when you have an opportunity to celebrate the successes of those people, it just feels good.”

While they might not continue to send people to national television shows, Dune Bird will continue to lean heavily into live music performances througout the year.

“(Founders Bo and Nicole White's) whole vision was that this would be more than just a winery. They really wanted this to be a community space, and we can always look to the arts to be a thing that creates community and brings people together,” Bell says. “We want people to gather, and we want people to have a connection, and music is an incredible conduit for that.”

Click here for more information about the Sunday watch party at Dune Bird.