MILWAUKEE - Hours before Ari Herstand took to the Chipotle stage at Summerfest, the Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter was wandering the festival grounds with a reporter. His thick shock of curly hair and dark glasses along with the television camera pointed at him gave him the look of the rock star surrounded by an entourage. But Herstand isn’t about glam-rock.

“My tour bus is a Toyota Corolla,” he quipped as some passersby strained to get a better look at the man being followed by a television camera. “That car took me all over the East Coast.”

Herstand’s unique sets on the Chipotle stage have become the buzz here at Summerfest. Though he takes the stage each night alone, he uses a technology called “looping” to create a much larger sound.

“I’m able to play guitar, keyboard, trumpet and sing,” he says describing all of the contributions to the looping sound. “Then I kind of mold it all together within the loop station.”

The result is a very big sound indeed. Herstand is also a master of the stage. As passersby stop to watch for a moment, Herstand urges them to come down front and take a seat. Most do. The sound and the charismatic man on stage are enough to keep them around.

Herstand spent his formative years in Madison and now writes in Minneapolis. But he was once a little Shorewood boy attending Lake Bluff Elementary. So, playing Summerfest represents a thrilling homecoming for this artist.

“This is a dream come true for me,” he says as he looks up at the new Harley stage adjacent to the smaller Chipotle stage where he will headline Friday night.

For more about Ari Herstand, you can visit his Web site www.AriHerstand.com.