W.W.&F. Discussion Forum
WW&F Railway Museum Discussion => Museum Discussion => Topic started by: Pete "Cosmo" Barrington on September 30, 2014, 11:24:01 PM
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I have been saying for a while now we should consider a weekend long music festival of some kind. Let's hope this event continues and someday grows to the point where we'll need to use Albee's Field to host it. ;)
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That sounds like a great idea! Several years ago I helped to organize a few music festivals at my college. They were the day-long, multiple band variety. There are lots of logistics to consider, but the end result was always worthwhile.
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I split this topic early in case it goes somewhere.
I happen to know one of the brothers who did the sound at the first real music festival... Woodstock. He is still in the pro audio business and does concert sound. I doubt he would do a festival for free, but he would probably give us a good price.
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This has been actively talked about at the railroad lately and, in fact, the bluegrass music component of Fall Festival was considered the groundwork for it. We had talked about making it its own event but decided its be better to tack it to an existing event first. Again, it's a matter of being close to and understanding our market and what we can get away with.
See ya
Jason
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Just have Phish play... 60,000 fans over one weekend at Loring AFB in Limestone, Maine.
All kidding aside, I wish folks the best in developing this idea.
I think it might be fun to have people post groups they like or would like to share on this page. I'll get us started with a great local (to Maine) group:
Velocipede (You have to love the name!)http://www.velocipedemusic.com/bio (http://www.velocipedemusic.com/bio)
Two other great groups, though not quite as local:
-Le Vent du Nord http://www.leventdunord.com/en (http://www.leventdunord.com/en)
-David Wax Museum http://www.davidwaxmuseum.com/ (http://www.davidwaxmuseum.com/)
I was just teaching my Arts Appreciation class about ancient music. The word "music" and "museum" share the same root word from Greek, "mousa", which as a verb means to muse or think. As a noun it refers to the 9 goddesses of the arts and sciences. The earliest Greek museums were considered temples to the these 9 muses, so there is good precedence for a music festivals at museums. Both museums and music are considered to ignite creativity and the spirit in each of us. ;D
Steve
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Speaking as a musician, a festival or regular jam session would seem to be a good idea.
But a venue of some sort will be necessary to make this a practical suggestion. Instruments (and musicians for that matter) don't like rain or snow.
I don't know if using Harry's house would work. It might, but if not, an open, barn type structure, with a generous roof overhang, a platform built off the ground, and some way to provide a little bit of heat or wind-proofing is called for.
Best Regards,
Glenn
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Once the car storage barn is done, and Loco 9 is done, we can empty out the original car shed and use that for concerts. No wind, large open space. Not much heat either...
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If the pictures are any guide, Woodstock had lots of mud. We can provide that in season. ;D
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HA! You're right about that John! Booking Hendrix for a reprise will be tough though.
Best Regards,
Glenn
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Start small, expect it to take 5 years or so to gain credibility, before expanding very much. Expect to lose money for several years at the outset. Do it rain or shine. Rent a big tent and hold it in the field at Alna Center. Make sure there are enough Porta-johns and some food vendors. Advertise, advertise, advertise!
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Sounds like a fun idea! I actually work for a production service company and own a lot of sound gear myself. I've got experience in the production end of things, not so much advertising or booking. I'm happy to help out in any way I can.
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One more thing -- start planning right now!
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I think James had the right idea to start. Use the shop building for the venue after the car shed (et als) are built.
At the same time, work with our existing musical contacts to begin a series of acoustic, "open mic"/jam sessions, on some regular schedule (say every third Saturday) depending on the feedback/suggestions of our musician friends. I would ask the musicians to run the event themselves and pay a stipend to the person who does the advertising, scheduling of acts, and planning or coordinating. Usually participating musicians are not paid for events of this type unless a "name act" is invited and booked, say for a special event. The regular guys just bring their instruments and sit in and maybe get a free pass or something for their participation.
I wouldn't try hosting a large musical event until we've had a couple years of experience holding the jam sessions. But I agree with Wayne that we should begin our discussions immediately if we want to start doing something next year.
Best Regards,
Glenn
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Except the whole idea is to have people ride the train to get to the music. And the shop will be filled with the construction of coach No. 2, the turntable, etc.
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Greetings,
As a lurker in the weeds from the west coast, my suggestion for this kind of event, is look into buying a tent that can be set up. Kind of like the ones that you would see at an outdoor wedding. Have some one or a group of some ones build a temporary stage that can be set up or stored as needed, strike that idea, figure out where you can put a flat car and build a removable set of back and side walls with a canvas awning on top. This would do several things at once, give you a railroad theme, a wood floored stage, and wind protection for the musicians. The getting of a tent would still be a good idea as when you have a function it can be set up so the public has some place to get out of the rain and if the tent has sides the wind also.
Out here in the Great Pacific North Wet we have several small music events that are well attended and looked forward to each year, defiantly this is a good idea. May look into partnering up with a local town's chamber of commerce or similar organization to help spread out the work of organizing something like this, because if this takes off other local bossiness such as restaurants, bed and breakfast's and so on will benefit also from it.
I don't know what kind of road access there is up the line but trying to move a lot of people back and forth on the railroad might try or over whelm the capacity of the railroad and if that happens and people can not get to the event or more importantly home from the event they will not come back, so try to find a place where they can park close to the event. In fact now that I think about this parking might be the biggest problem. Is there a church close by that you can use their parking lot and then use school buses to move people to the event is one idea that might be worth looking into.
Alright that is my two cents worth well maybe three cents worth, you can now get out the forks and knives and dice me up for my crazy ideas! ;D
Andre
Portland Oregon ::)
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There's lots of good ideas in this thread. I think the goal should be to have moderate-sized festivals on a regular basis (monthly?) as that's something we can manage without "the tail wagging the dog." While Sheepscot has the disadvantage of not requiring train rides, festival attendees will probably want train rides at some time during their visit, and the location has several advantages: 1) we own the land, 2) road access is good, 3) there's lots of parking, and 4) there's lots of restroom capacity. Like the recent Fall Festival, people should have smiles on their faces throughout and after the event, and the word "people" should include the residents of Alna.
-John
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If it were the type of festival that grew in size one consideration might be having some small performances at Sheepscot and a stage at Alna Center or another location with the larger acts.
These people might be an excellent organization to partner with: http://www.deffa.org/index.php (http://www.deffa.org/index.php)
Also the bluegrass organization was great to have at the fall festival
In keeping with the theme there is a contradance on Saturday October 10 in Topsham. If anyone is interested maybe we can carpool!
Topsham Contradance with music by Twisted Strings and Caller Maggie Robinson. 2nd Saturday Contradance, formerly in North Yarmouth, now at the Topsham Grange! Located at 47 Pleasant St. Take 295 Exit 31 to 196 East, go 1 mile, turn Right on 201/Maine St, go 1/2 mile to a left turn on Pleasant St, and there it is. Contras and more, most dances taught. Bring clean shoes for dancing! Bring water! Family Dance 6pm ($3/$12), Finger-Food Potluck 7:00, Beginner session 7:30, Dance 8:00-11:30. $10/$7 Students & Srs. Info: 233-4325, fiddle103@yahoo.com.
Steve
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(NOTE: A I was composing this, another post was made with some thoughts echoing my own... all groovy, man!)
Wow! :o I can't believe how much feedback I've gotten so fast from my one tiny idea! ;D
My original musings n this are now at least five or six years old at east. I suppose my inspirations were drawn from folk-jam events I've seen over the years, as well as an old PBS show centered around the bluegrass fests at Ashokan, NY and Woodstock, VT. The central idea being for a daytime event, possibly featuring a headliner act or two at a main stage for the crowds, but with enough accommodations for musicians and the hardiest of patrons to remain overnight, thus facilitating a (STRICTLY acoustic} "campfire jam" that would last as long into the night as the bravest could handle.
Of course, as this vision solidified, the concept of taking the train to the music quickly followed. After reading the thoughts expressed above, as well as my own applied reality, I now see that as a far-term goal after several (5 or so) years of "seeding" the event.
I can now easily envision a twofold event with the main focus starting at Sheepscot, (at least to start with) and including some augmentation of entertainment at Alna Ctr for those taking the train- much as many of the current events do now. This has one advantage in particular, it gives folks another place to go and hang out, thus keeping crowds from getting too crazy in either one location.
So my suggestion for now is to allow for overnight/camping on RR property at A.C for musicians (mostly) and a campfire event there, like the ones at Christmas time. (Perhaps some of the musicians can be recruited to return for that event as well! ;) ) Then there follows the idea that musicians camping there can take an early shuttle train down to Sheepscot for the event there while others are "warming up" at AC. If the musicians all, mostly camp at AC, this frees up parking for more guests at Sheepscot.
I would suggest to begin with a one day event with some limited camping allowed (on about the level of our current work weekends) to see how well it works, and to implement other ideas on small scale basisies over the interim with the ultimate goal being for a two-day event with fully half the action at Sheepscot and half at AC, and with somewhat modest accommodations for camping, mostly for musicians and volunteers, but for some patrons as well (although I'd suggest keeping patron camping limited- if only to keep the event from exploding out of of control.)
Whatever happens and however it unfolds, I am confident that the human and material resources to make it happen are already present in our organization, and that the right frame of mind exists to make it, as Maude Lebowski says: "...a natural and zesty experience." :)
To end with anther movie quote, this time from Kelly's Heroes: "Hey, so many positive waves, maybe we can't loose!" :D
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I don't think anyone has the energy to devote to a monthly festival, as mentioned above. These things take a lot of time and energy to put on. If this is going to happen, it should be one of several special events that take place perhaps one day per month during the operating season. This avoids burnout. Think about how many people it takes to do Victorian Christmas. Remember, too, there is a very limited pool of qualified engine crew and train crew, and they are limited to no more than 12 hours on duty.
The concept of using the shop as a performance venue is iffy for a host of reasons from my perspective, though I do like the idea of having some activities at Sheepscot and others at Alna Center. Camping? I don't think so. Maybe we can throw in nature walks or bird watching at Top of the Mountain. As I said earlier today, we'd better start small and work our way up. Almost all the folks participating in this discussion, including me, are only occasional visitors/volunteers at Sheepscot. We're not hearing from the regulars much at all. This whole idea needs a whole lot of thought and planning and buy-in by a lot of people to make it happen successfully.
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Wayne,
Couldn't have said it better myself ;)
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Gee! Why not a Clam Bake or Lobster Dinner at AC? Meal and train ride sold as a package and in advance ONLY. The music would sweeten the deal. Spencer's could cater it. Maybe around July 4th. Start advertising and selling tickets in April. Good Food and Good Music sell!
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Ok, I would suggest the music festival as a yearly event in a month that does not already have an event.
We could also add music to existing events on a smaller scale.
I would still hang on to the idea of tenting/RV space at or near AC for event performers and volunteers only (at least until we see how that goes,) in order to free up what parking and in-town hotel space for event guests/attendees.
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If you don't mind having a lot of locals, a good show consisting of amateurs can get people out for a night's entertainment. At least that seems to work down here in Georgia. Make sure the tv stations, newspapers and magazines like Yankee know about it to feed you both musicians and fans.
I think music and trains make wonderful partners.
At some point the museum is going to need a full time employee or several part timers who have the talent and experience in areas like this to make it grow more meaningful and relevant.
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If you don't mind having a lot of locals, a good show consisting of amateurs can get people out for a night's entertainment. At least that seems to work down here in Georgia. Make sure the tv stations, newspapers and magazines like Yankee know about it to feed you both musicians and fans.
I think music and trains make wonderful partners.
At some point the museum is going to need a full time employee or several part timers who have the talent and experience in areas like this to make it grow more meaningful and relevant.