Strange Creek Campout 2005
BY BETH CUTLER
May 2005 - On Memorial Day weekend, jam bands and their fans will
flock to Camp Kee- Wanee in Greenfield, Massachusetts for Wormtown Trading’s
Strange Creek Campout.
The organizers are Wormtown Trading Co. owners Mark Blanchette and Gabrielle
Fugere. For the third year in a row, they have worked together to build
the festival from the bottom up. Completely immersing themselves in the
jam scene network, Blanchette and Fugere have their fingers on the pulse
of both the fans and the bands. The organizers stay in constant communication
with the fans, listening to their feedback about line-ups and their requests
for new bands.
As a result, the festival meshes tried-and-true bands with new up-and-coming
acts. This year, the music encompasses everything from the Black Rebels’
world reggae to rane’s indie rock to the Juggling Suns’ cosmic
dance music.
Pulling everything together is “a big process that’s very
complicated,” says Fugere, perhaps even more so since both Fugere
and Blanchette have dedicated themselves to taking each e-mail and call
personally as well as to sending a hand-written note to each band along
with their tickets. It is this personal attention that sets the festival’s
tone.
Fugere stresses that the festival is “not just quantity, but also
the quality of the people coming - nice people.” The festival becomes
one big family with its sense of camaraderie and charity. Each year, Camp
Kee-Wanee fundraises to better the campsite and prepare for the visitors.
Stranger Helping Strangers will again be at the festival collecting canned
food donations.
The good karmic vibe makes the festival very family-friendly. Fugere points
out how the festival is huge for kids. “We have an awesome kids’
cabin. They make their own instruments and at the end of the weekend they
get on stage and do their own kids’ set,” she says excitedly.
Fans and parents alike get to watch the birth of future rock stars.
When the festival started, Blanchette knew two bands he definitely wanted
- Strangefolk and Max Creek, thus giving the festival its name, Strange
Creek. This year, however, Strangefolk will be playing under a different
name, The Windfalls, because lead singer Jon Trafton was diagnosed with
cancer at the end of February.
Even in difficult times, the fans pull together like a family. Fugere
says that the news has been “very devastating to fans...and definitely
changes the whole thing,” but emphasizes that “Trafton will
be okay.” His stage presence during the festival will be missed,
but he will certainly be in the thoughts and prayers of the people present.
Visit www.strangefolk.com/jonsroom
for more information and health updates.
The full line-up of the festival includes: Max Creek, Windfalls, Percy
Hill, Reid Genauer & the Assembly of Dust, The Breakfast, Brothers
Past, Jiggle, The Knot, Juggling Suns, Zen Tricksters, rane, Depth Quartet,
Black Rebels, Fungus Amungus, Ryan Montbleau Band, Primary Others, Jounce,
Rev. Tor Band, Catfish Jam, Ed n Da Ve with T, Shortness, U-Melt, Moon
Boot Lover, Low Dogs, Scarecrow Collection, Uncle Billy’s Smokehouse,
Domino Theory, Turbine, The Brew, and Jon Short.
So pack up your tents, sleeping bags and canned food and head out to Greenfield
for May 28 and 29! There is no better way to start the summer than to
be surrounded by good friends and good music.
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