Second annual Berkshire Music Festival
(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., May 1, 1998) -- In putting together this year's Berkshire Music Festival, the folks at the National Music Foundation had a working model to pattern it by: last year's inaugural festival, generally considered to have been an unqualified success. "I think we wanted to duplicate last year's festival before expanding it," said Thomas J. Heany, program director, in a recent phone interview from the foundation's headquarters in Lenox. "I've got things that I would like to happen next year that will involve more work for us throughout the year," said Heany. "We're looking at next year's festival as bigger -- maybe two weekends. But we're trying this year not to bite off more than we can chew by sort of duplicating last year." This isn't to say that this year's festival, the second, is a carbon- copy of last year's affair. For one, the kickoff event is new. Tonight at 7, the foundation will host a live auction of music-related antiques, memorabilia, goods and services. The highlight of the auction is expected to be a rare Rolling Stones tour jacket, signed by long-time members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood and Charlie Watts. Also included in the auction are several unique musical instruments, including an antique church organ and an Indonesian gong. Other items include a lamp made from a French horn, Elton John concert tickets, a trip to London and autographed celebrity items by Reba McEntire, R.E.M. and Travis Tritt. Services being auctioned include dinner for four at Blantyre and a luxury suite at the Rookwood Inn. A one-hour guest DJ spot will also be sold to the highest bidder. Heany said that he hopes that items like the Rolling Stones jacket will attract members of the general public to the auction instead of just the antiques crowd he initially thought would make up the bulk of attendees. "There's really a broad selection, more of a community-appeal type thing," said Heany of the items being auctioned. This weekend's festival will also be marked by the official opening of the center's Little Theater, which will be used as a performing space for shows with a capacity of about 300. Foundation chairman Dick Clark will be on hand at the invitation-only reception and ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5:30, and again at 8 at the foundation's Berkshire Performing Arts Theatre to introduce Grammy Award-winning, country-folk singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith, the festival's headline performer. This will mark Clark's first visit to the campus in nearly five years. As it did last year, the festival will culminate on Sunday with an all-day showcase of Berkshire musicians. Featuring local artists (see accompanying chart) including rock bands, funk groups, singer- songwriters, barbershop choirs, jazz musicians, an old-time fiddle band and a Klezmer ensemble, the showcase will begin at 11 am and is scheduled to run until 11 pm. Admission to the showcase is free to anyone wearing a 1998 "Believe In Music" button. Buttons are available from any of the participating "Friends of the Festival." Admission without a button is $10 for adults and $5 for children and seniors. Heany said that the foundation received so many worthy applications to this year's showcase -- there were 75 applicants in all -- that the organization has decided to host a second showcase later this summer for those not selected to be in Sunday's event. Of the 43 performers selected for Sunday's showcase, 14 were in last year's showcase and 29 are new. This year's showcase will include performers familiar to local audiences, such as the Berkshire Hillsmen, the Big Six Jazz Band, Lord Hill and JoAnne Spies, as well as introducing some new faces, including jam-rock band Flipper Dave and Class D, the self-styled "Italian rap phenomenon." The showcase will reintroduce some performers who haven't been heard around the area for a while, including Dalton native Michael Haynes and Arlo Guthrie's old sidekick, Rick Robbins, who released his first CD a few months ago. The showcase will also be a homecoming of sorts for a few performers who have made it big outside the area, including Kristin Gray, the Lenox native who will be fronting her New York City-based funk outfit Groovalicious (also performing on Saturday night at Bogie's in Great Barrington at 10), and Adam Rothberg, the singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and record producer who now calls Nashville home. In addition to the events at the foundation's campus, various musical events at venues around the county this weekend are included under the festival's umbrella. (See accompanying chart.) Heany said that planning for this year's festival was made easier having already been through it once before. "Having already done it once there's a lot we can anticipate," he said. "For example, with the showcase, we know the jobs we need to fill with volunteers, so we just pull up the lists from last year, whereas last year we were making it up as we were doing it. It's such a big load for us, we want to try and get it right a couple of times." Heany said that his wishes for the festival are for "everybody to hear a lot of music all over the place." "That's the best thing," he said. "We have a lot of stuff happening here, but if I could have my way there'd be cool stuff happening all over the county. "The sooner this becomes less associated so much with the foundation and more with the entire county, that's the direction we're going in. We'll always do a lot of stuff but it'd be great to think that everybody else was preparing all year for the music festival the way we are." For more information about the festival call 637-1800. SUNDAY SHOWCASE The Berkshire Music Festival Showcase on Sunday at the Berkshire Performing Arts Theatre will feature 43 performers chosen by committee from 75 applicants. (The remaining applicants have all been invited to perform in another showcase to be held sometime this summer). Doors open at 10:30 am, and music is scheduled to begin at 11. Admission is free to those wearing a 1998 "Believe In Music" button; otherwise, the cost is $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and children. Most of the descriptions following the artist's names below were supplied to the foundation by the performers themselves -- some have been edited for space or style reasons.
AROUND THE COUNTY Friday, May 1
Saturday, May 2
Sunday, May 3
[This article originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Friday, May 1, 1998. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1998. All rights reserved.]
Seth Rogovoy rogovoy@berkshire.net music news, interviews, reviews, et al.
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