Loose Leaf Notes

-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on July 16, 2015

Every Saturday night through the months of April and May regional bands competed at the Phoenix, a new music venue in Roanoke owned by Floydfest founders Kris Hodges and Erika Johnson. The fan-voted Battle of the Bands was designed to foster the regional music scene and to build momentum for this year’s 14th Floydfest, Fire on the Mountain. Bands competed for the chance to open for festival headliner Emmylou Harris at Floydfest, scheduled for July 22 to 26.

Following April’s band competitions, promoted as Fan the Fire, Johnson posted on Facebook and the Floydfest webpage, “It was an honor and a privilege to have been able to flush out FloydFest’s much-anticipated On the Rise (OTR) roster through the live audition process.” She was referring to Floydfest’s longstanding band competition that also produces an audience-voted winner who receives a package of prizes, including main stage performance time. This year, Floyd’s Deer Run Drifters is one of the OTR competing bands.

May’s roster of bands battling it out at the Phoenix was billed as Band on Fire and featured local bands from Roanoke and one from Floyd, BigMama Joy. Morgan Wade, a Floyd native currently living in Roanoke, competed against Welcome to Hoonah. The lively band performances cumulated with an inaugural Showdown Throwdown that took place on the festival site (Blue Ridge Parkway milepost 170.5) on Summer Solstice, June 20th. Floyd’s Bigmama Joy was among the four performing acts that went on to compete. Also competing were Sharayah Spears, Relacksachian and Welcome to Hoonah.

Afternoon showers periodically threatened the Showdown, but the show went on with Bigmama Joy taking second place and Welcome to Hoonah winning first place. Presented by Floydfest, Across-The-Way Productions and the Roanoke Community Garden Association, The Showdown – set to be a regular part of the festival lead-up – included onsite camping, children’s activities, food trucks and regional brews, a Disc Golf Tournament and a Mountain Cross Bike Race.

Hodges introduced the bands, playing on the Streamline Hill Holler Stage, while Johnson cheered on the bicyclists coming in the from the three mile mountain course. She explained that her family recently moved from Floyd County to Roanoke (where Hodges grew up) because their two children go to North Cross School in Roanoke.

Johnson, who writes most of the content for Floydfest’s webpage and marketing, is studying for a Master’s Degree in Arts and Liberal Studies at Hollins University and has taken creative writing classes there. She described the Phoenix (located on 5th Street and closed until September) as a speakeasy and part of a neighborhood revitalization. The Showdown event was a grassroots effort and, in part, a fundraiser for one of the Phoenix’s neighbors, The Roanoke Community Garden Association, who Johnson said is “doing great things” in Roanoke.

Excited about the 14th annual Floydfest, Johnson spoke about some of the planned changes, which are a continuation of 2014’s renewed focus on logistics and honing of the festival’s limited occupancy, boutique style. “It’s not about as many people as possible having the Floydfest experience – although it was like that for a couple of years because we wanted to share it with as many people as we could – it’s about people having the best possible Floydfest experience,” she said.

Responding to patron feedback, Johnson and Hodges have done some redesigning to make more room for onsite parking, adding a HOV (high occupancy vehicle) EZ pass package, in which 4 adult tickets, 2 kid tickets, 2 tent tags and 1 onsite parking pass can be purchased in a savings package for vehicles with a minimum of four people in them. “We realized that one of the
things people wanted at Floydfest was the ability to park onsite. As we grew that was one of the things that was lost to make room for more people. We wanted to work out something that would also fit with our core values of greening, community and families,” Johnson said.

Changes in the Global Village have been made with onsite camping and patron comfort in mind.  “We heard loud and clear that our campers don’t want to listen to a drum circle all night,” said Johnson, explaining that the drum circle has been relocated to the main field. The redesigned Global

Village will feature theater, puppetry, campfire s’mores, stargazing, storytelling and acoustic music. Three “glamcamping” providers, who provide or set up campsites, will be based in the Global Village, as well as the Teen Scene Lounge and a Village Café run by the Red Rooster Coffee Roaster crew.

Billed as “Old Skool,” and based on patron feedback, this year’s music line-up has a Bluegrass leaning and is heavy on songwriting, strings and stomp. Americana and Rock and Roll are also well represented. Some returning favorites include Grace Potter, Brandie Caryl, Drive by Truckers, The Sam Bush Band and Peter Rowan. New to Floydfest are Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, The Chris Robinson (formerly of the Black Crowes) Brotherhood playing psychedelic rock, and many more. With eight stages to perform on, the best OTR local/regional bands, many of which performed at the Phoenix’s Battle of the Bands, will also be featured.Festival Healing Arts, fire and circus performances, the Children’s Universe, Outdoor Adventure, spectacular views, eco-workshops, gourmet regional food and more than 100 unique artisans and craft vending booths continue to be some of Floydfest’s signature offerings.

In recent years, off-site parking and shuttles have been miles from the festival site. Johnson was happy to report another new development for 2015: the original Alpha shuttle parking lot at Chateau Morrisette Winery (practically next door to the festival) has been re-secured. “It’s a throwback year!” she said.   – Colleen Redman

Photos: 1. Floydfest co-founder Erika Johnson (right) with her mother (left), Sharon Morley of Blue Ridge Yurts, her daughter Chole (in blue) and Chole’s friend.  2. Sharayah Spears of Roanoke was the first of four competing acts. 3. Dancer grooving to Welcome to Hoonah, the band that took first place. 4. Enjoying the show.
5. Bigmama Joy, who took second place in the Showdown finale competition, was accompanied by Tree Gigante, Emily Williamson and FM Turner. Her set also included some solo songs and song with guitarist John Wilson. 6. A line of Floyd Countians showed their support for Bigmama Joy. 7. An afternoon scene of the Showdown viewed from the crest of the main field. 8. Floyd Countian Kim O’Donnell (in pink shirt) strikes a pose with family members who were visiting from California.  9. Cheering on the mountain bike racers. 10. This is the start of something,” said Paul Sullivan of Floyd Outdoors, an upcoming “hike, bike and run” retailer. Sullivan heads up the Moonstomper bike club that sponsored the Showdown Throwdown’s mountain cross bike race. Twenty bikers had one hour to do as many as laps on the 3-mile course as they could, with some making it around three times. Winners took home valuable prizes that included Floydfest tickets, an Eno hammock and an Osprey backpack. Plus, a couple more scenes from the day.

Check out some video clips of performances HERE.   Check out the 2015 Floydfest line-up and more HERE.