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Dear Doe Bay Fest
2010 Friends,
I promise, this
will be the last Doe Bay Fest 2010 e-mail you will receive.
The other ones were more important because they were to
help you get prepared. This one is purely optional. No Quiz!
What I really want to say is Thanks.
Thank you
for defying all the odds and being part of a crowd in excess
of 1,000 people that never acted like a crowd.
As one review said, “people were picking up their
own beer cans and cigarette butts”. Once again, we
got through a weekend with a lot of people and a fair amount
of alcohol and no serious incidents. Even more, people didn’t
just tolerate one another, but chose to really embrace and
have fun with others, whether they knew them or not. We
invited you to our property, just like we would to our home,
and you acted like old friends (except you didn’t
try to borrow money.)
I. Thank
you to my Doe Bay Resort & Retreat Crew.
The list is long.
However, Jami Mitchell, Abigael Birrell, Keith Graham,
Freddy Tincher, Danielle Sigler and Heather Watts deserve
a special mention. When you come back to Doe Bay, thank
them again. Bringing so many people to the property stresses
our operations, our staff and our infrastructure. Our Managers
and the people working directly for them kept everything
functioning the whole weekend. It was amazing.
Chad and Joe (Not sure what was in Chad's
mouth) .......... Kev & Joe Singing
II. Thank
you again to the Doe Bay Fest Team. Kevin
Sur, from artisthomebookings.com
and Chad Clibborn from ThinPigBranding.com
put together a great support team for all of the artists
and brought us the music makers. The fact that virtually
every artist who has ever played Doe Bay Fest
has asked to play again is testament to what a cool scene
it is and how good a job Chad and Kevin do keeping people
happy. So, thank you to my brothers, Chad and Kevin.
In addition, we had an unbelievable group of volunteers.
I won’t name them all but our Retreat House staff
headed by Amy and our music and stage production
staff led by Jake were standout. Amy
is also the mother of three remarkably talented children.
Here is a photo of the two Moms (Amy & Maureen) comparing
notes.
Amy
& Maureen - Two cool Moms
III. Sponsors.
I assume you noticed that Doe Bay Fest,
like Doe Bay, is decidedly “un-corporate”. That
is intentional. We have figured out how to produce a hugely
successful festival and make less money doing it than any
of our competitors. However, we have really tried to not
compromise our values. I don’t think you’ll
ever see a big BP logo behind the stage at Doe Bay Fest.
I do want to thank some sponsors specifically Green
Home Solutions, City Arts and Sonic Boom. In addition,
we thank Georgetown Pub & Brewery who
helped with the beer. Please support Doe Bay Fest by asking
for their brand every time you’d like a beer. Did
you notice that DBF beer was cheaper than Sasquatch and
tasted better?
Joe & Maureen including one from the
First Doe Bay Fest (Left Hand Smoke in background)
Same grandchild (Ashley) in both... another
3 time attendee!
IV. Thank
you to my Family. I already had the chance to thank
my wife, Maureen, from the stage. Unfortunately she was
down working in the lower field and I can’t remember
what I said but I’m sure I mentioned we have an anniversary
on September 5th and we will have completed
35 years of marriage. It hasn’t
been dull, not even for a moment. Our five kids
are all part of the birth of Doe Bay Fest and they continue
to help, as do their spouses. I especially want to thank
my two son-in-laws Chris Heim, who provided
the power that allowed the music to be played and Stosh
Jackson who took charge of all things alcohol related
and did a great job.
Doe
Bay Marching Band
V. Thank
you to the Artists. Again this year, the musicians
made the festival. To all of the Artists who performed for
less than they deserve and less than they normally charge,
I thank you. Even so, most of them supplemented
their stage time with a variety of spontaneous performances
around the property. I really can’t thank each of
them enough for making the hottest music
on the hottest days of the year at Doe
Bay. From Thursday through Monday, there was definitely
no place on the planet I would rather have been.
People Arrived by air, land
& sea .................. We were ready!
VI. Doe
Bay Fest 2011. (Tentatively scheduled
for August 11th through the 16th.)Even after a
week to come back down to earth, most of us are still a
little dazed, but many of you are trying to figure out how
to plan next year’s festival into your calendars.
I promise you that as we figure it out, you will be the
first to know. I am pretty sure that the first tickets and
packages for cabins, yurts and reserved
camping sites will be available in person, at the Doe
Bay Store, in mid-October, exclusively to guests
who are staying at Doe Bay during the Fall. (Come see Jake
Hemming at the Doe Bay Cafe on October 14th & 15th.)I’m
guessing most all of the cabins, etc... will end up reserved
through that process, but any that are left will be made
available to you and our group of regular fans. We will
be fine tuning the process and packaging to avoid the mix-ups
of people buying tickets but not having a camping spot.
The Doe Bay Fest 2011 plan will be announced in the newsletter.
You may sign up here: NEWSLETTER
and follow Doe Bay Retreat on FaceBook.
Who is this? Do they know they are on a
sacred spot at Doe Bay? The Lion's Den!
VII. 36
Links - Reviews and Photos and Videos
- (DON'T MISS THIS SECTION!)Most
have you have already seen these, but here are some links
to some incredible reviews of the weekend. There are also
some incredible photos and videos and there will be more
to come. Our friend, Nick Simmons will produce a 5-7 minute
DVD and you will continue to see videos circulating on the
web. By the time you are reading this, Sound on the Sound
will have released the first of The DOE BAY SESSIONS
videos (The Maldives at Doe Bay). Abbey
just wrote saying they are incredible. Here are three
dozen links I have received so far. If you have
photos or videos, please let me know and we will figure
out how to use them and share them. CLICK AWAY:
1.) Phil's
review in Sound on the Sound - Doe Bay Fest Virgin tells
all.
2.) Dylan
Priest's videos
3.) Jonathan
tries to describe Doe Bay Fest in Seismic Sound
4.) Official
facebook but only 4 photos (we were kind of busy
5.) The
Seattle PI's Review
6.)
Sunshine Music and Good Vibes - Examiner
7.) Genestout
Doe-bay-fest-brings-indie-music-crowds-to-idyllic-orcas-island-resort
8.) Drake
Lane blog - Bliss on Doe Bay
9.) Seattle
Subsonic says Doe-bay-fest-should-just-be-called-heaven
10.) The
Seattle Weekly Review -Music is the Difference
11.) Dylan
Priest's Portraits from Doe Bay Fest
12.) Dylan's
Facebook photos
13.) Seattle
Weekly - Best weekend Ever... at Doe Bay Fest
14.) A
short funny Juli blog
15.) Jason
Neureberg's great photos
16.) Vimeo
of Drew Grow and the Pastor's Wives
17.)
Youtube of Jake & Steve
18.) Dylan
Priest's photos on Facebook
19.) Do
you even remember the original doebayfest.com site?
20.) Youtube
video of Kaylee
21.) Youtube
video of Kimo Muraki
22.) Michael
Compton tells the story of Doe Bay Fest 2020 beautifully
in words and pictures
23.) Jesse
Bonn's photos - a view from the maldive's perspective
24.) Sound
on the Sound's Flickr photos
25.) Carissa
Morris - a "walk On" at open mic plays ukele and
sings
26.) Kris
plays the two string washtub abd Drew sings video
27.) Robertsen's
flickrs
28.) Some
in-house Doe Bay Fest photos on Facebook
29.) Hey
Marseille's cool video about Doe Bay Fest 2009
30.) QP's
photos, Thank you Quinn
31.) Doe
Bay Fight Club Video
32.) Artist's
Breakfast photos
33.) Nan's
Facebook photo's
34.) Ravenna
Woods in Studio - A great show
35.) Drew
Grow in the Studio - a great video
36.) Jonathan
Zwickel gave doe bay fest 1st place last year... wonder
how we did this year?
37.) New
- Meg Schaper's photos
38.) New
Melissa Fenno's photos
39.) Hillary
Harris' Unbelievable photos from Doe Bay Fest
40.) The
1st of The Doe Bay Sessions - The Maldives videos
41.) Deborah
Malarek's Flickr's of Doe Bay Fest
42.) My
favorite because it is local to the islands... The Sounder
sums it up!
43.) Sharzad's
cool Fest photos and great website.
44.) City
Arts's cool video photo montage.... Music by the Fruit Bats.
45.) Video
of Kimo, facing the Disaster at Doe Bay Fest
46.) Doe
Bay Fest After Hours
47.) Drew
Grow's Amazing Performance as part of The Doe Bay Sessions
48.) Josh
summarizes his Doe Bay experience in Sound on the Sound
49.) Kaylee
Cole singing in the woods at Doe Bay Fest
50.) Fruit
Bats perform on Meditation Point
There are
a bunch more links but I promised to quit at 50. Search
for Doe Bay on Vimeo or YouTube and you will find others!!!
VIII. High
Points.
a. Thursday
afternoon on The Point. Usually we have music breaking
out Sunday morning as people or recovering from Saturday
night. This year it started early. Here is a clip of aThursday
afternoon warm-ups.Click
here to see Johnny Clary of the Dimes singing with the youngest
baby at Doe Bay Fest
b. Open Mic Thursday Night. As expected,
it was incredible. Unexpected was a walk-on guest who pulled
out a ukelally and sang with a gorgeous voice. Click
to see Carissa Morris
And
we look so professional!
c. Friday Morning, Getting Ready. It was so cool
to watch how organized we were. We had been thinking about
the details for so long that we were prepared for most every
event. Fortunately, virtually none of those events happened
and everything went smoothly. By noon on Friday, most of
us who are used to running around like crazy at that point,
were trying to decide whether to have a beer or go for a
hike.
d. Friday Night – the Main Stage Took-Off.
The Black Whales, Fences, Portland Cello Project and Hey
Marseilles would have been easily worth the trip to Orcas
Island to see. At the same time, the café stage was
irresistible. I will admit that it’s unfair to have
to choose between missing the last part of Jake Hemming’s
sets on the café stage or missing the first part
of Black Whales on the main stage. A good problem to have.
e. The Yoga Studio. As always, it was crowded
and hot and this year, hotter than ever, partly thanks to
the weather and also thanks to the performances. I had never
seen Ravenna Woods before and I’m
really disappointed that I didn’t get to hang out
with them much on the weekend because I was blown away.
f. The Head and the Heart - I could have
lumped The Head and the Heart in with Ravenna Woods, because
they played back to back, but it was actually a separate
high point of the weekend for me. I am usually kind of amused
when I see a, relatively new band, performing, and everyone
in the audience knows all of the words to their tunes. Kind
of cultish/faddish/ creepy. In the case of The Head
and the Heart, it is no fluke. Their album is an
instant classic and I expect I will be listening to it many
years just as I listen to Sly Stone's or Tom Waits' early
albums now. An added treat is that the individuals in this
band are amongst the nicest I have encountered.
g. Zoe Muth and the Lost Highrollers and The Fruit
Bats. I mention these two together because in both
cases I was surprised, no shocked, that the voices were
coming from those singers. When I met Zoe earlier that day,
I never would have predicted the voice that commanded the
entire festival field. The same thing is of course true
of The Fruit Bats lead singer.
h. The Maldives. I’m not sure which
was the higher point for me, seeing The Maldives perform
on stage and getting to help introduce them or running into
them on the porch of the hostel and being greeted by old
friends. As most of you know, The Maldives have the only
invitation for life to Doe bay Fest.
i. Saturday’s Patio Stage. I didn’t
see all the acts I wanted to, but I did see Kimo
Muraki and it was wonderful. I only caught one
tune by Tomo Nakayama and I won’t
ever let that happen again. My most memorable point though
may be Matt Garrity singing for the first
time on stage with his 12 year old daughter, Lily.
I have a feeling she will long hold the title of the youngest
artist to perform at Doe Bay Fest.
Young
& Old Enjoyed Doe Bay!
Tucker
asleep in his new sweatshirt --- Megan teaching Yoga to
her grandmother.
j. Cutest Moment. Youngest or Oldest?
Maureen's Mom, Nancy, has attended
all three Doe Bay Fests, but I loved watching her
taking yoga from our daughter Megan. She passed 80 while
many of you were in high school and can still outdownwarddog
most. Speaking of youngest, who was the youngest attendee?
We had a virtual tie of two 8 week olds who did not know
each other, but were born on the same day. The mother said,
I guess the other kid (that would be Kevin's kid Tucker)
won because he was born at 6 in the morning and ours (I
think Johnny Clary from the DIMES) was born at
6 at night. I pointed out that someone born at 6 at night
was in fact younger than someone born at 6 that morning
and therefore the title was hers. Was Doe Bay Fest the most
kid-friendly festival you have attended?
k. Funniest Moment. The slip &
slide created some amusing moments. Clearly it
was designed by musicians and not engineers so that the
steepest point was the point where the plastic ran out and
grass began. I’m not really sure whose idea it was
to line it up directly with the out houses but, fortunately,
while they were touched, they were not tipped. However,
I would have to give the funniest moment award
to the Donald Duck argument. It is hard
to explain if you didn’t see it, but we will try to
get the participants to create a video. Usually, there is
some relationship between how much alcohol you have consumed
and how hard you laugh at something. I had drunk less alcohol
per pound of laughter, so I know this was really funny.
I will never believe that Daniel Williams has any voice
other than Donald's.
Runner-up
funny moment - Seth shows how to open champagne with a butcher
knife
l. Kelli Schaefer. Kelli got things started
on the closing night in the Yoga Studio. For me, I was waiting
and hoping for her to sing a song which for some reason,
haunts me. She performed on the café stage last year
and it was no less incredible in the hot sweaty confines
of the yoga studio. Here’s a short video I took of
her on the stage I took of her at Doe Bay Fest 2. Kelli
doing "that
song that haunts me."
m. Drew Grow's Show. I really didn’t
want to miss this one and I’m so glad I didn’t.
I happened to be standing in the front and the show was
off the charts. As I was listening to Drew Grows and the
Pastors Wives, it was clear that there were more voices
than there were mouths singing. I then realized that Kelli
Schaefer was behind me on one side and The
Head and the Heart were behind me on the other
side and all were harmonizing at full force. It was a stereo
experience.
n. THEESatisfaction closed out the official festival
schedule in the Yoga Studio with a killer set. Again, these
young ladies are so sweet that they are welcome at Doe Bay
forever!
The
Front Porch The Head and the Heart Midnight Concert ------------
Joe & Kenny (Joseph) H.
o. Unscripted Moment. As I came out of
THEESatisfaction show, somebody said, “have you seen
what’s going on on the front porch of the store?”
I went over and The Head and the Heart had
200+ people gathered around listening to an impromptu concert.
That was one of those unscripted moments that you pray will
happen. I can’t thank them enough. During the process
of having their feet, they put a hole in the front porch.
We had it repaired in moments, even though this was after
midnight. Testament to how sweet this band is, they contacted
me yesterday asking to be able to pay for the repairs. I
declined. I am inclined to leave the temporary patch there
for awhile, as it reminds me of a very special moment at
Doe Bay Fest.
p. Sunday - Artist's Brunch - A lot of
people followed our advice and stayed over through Monday,
avoiding traffic and getting a chance to relax. Doe Bay
was calmer, though not its normal level of calm; the music
didn’t stop. We always host all of the artists for
a champagne brunch on Sunday of Doe Bay Fest to thank them.
When I asked Kris to play a little on my two string wash
tub bass, Drew’s ears perked up and he came around
the corner singing “I Want You to Come Home Now”.
As it always does, that song made the entire brunch group
stop and sing. When a group of all the Doe Bay Fest artists
start singing together, it is pretty unique.
I
was as dazed as I look, but when Kevin sang his slow dancing
song, I cried. You don't know how much progress I have made
that I can admit that.
OKAY
- it is over and, even I, am sick of all the reliving. One
thing I ask you to do is to come back to Doe Bay during
calmer times. Please come play a Friday night in the cafe
in January. Bring 25 of your friends and I promise you everyone
will love it. Get married here or come up to write music
or poems. Thanks again and please keep in touch....
JOE
JOE@DoeBay.com
Papa &
Kiera
Post-script - Did you figure out the Doe
Bay Fest 2010 logo (The Lady of the Fest) and specifically
the colored boxes?
