Welcome to July…and at least this coming week, Saraha-like heat waves. June was an incredible month for music for me. Two festivals and a local show for a total of close to a thousand miles…and it was worth every single one.
First up was the Fifth annual Rock On The Hill Music Festival in Hanover. This is a great festival that raises money for the Hanover Area Jaycees, brought to us by it’s founder Brenden Starr. One single day, two stages, 18 bands including locals like Project 9 (a new favorite for me!), Hate Grenade, Lives Lost, Defiant, Lyndhurst and Brenden Starr. As the name suggests, it’s primarily a “rock” festival, but it’s really a much wider set of genre’s over the course of the day from Nu-Metal to Metal to Classic Hard Rock to Pop-Rock and everything in between. One moment that sticks in my mind was when I was talking to Project 9’s lead singer Rebecca before their set and she was nervous as she wasn’t sure their brand of Alt-Rock would be a good fit. I assured them that the crowd was awesome and had varied tastes and I thought they’d be just fine. I gotta say…I do love it when I’m right. Rebecca and her bandmates simply OWNED that stage, and turned the crowd in to instant fans. They played with an awesome energy that I really enjoyed and look forward to hearing again in the future. All of the bands were incredible in my opinion: special shout to Reign Of Z for suffering through & pausing their set for a little bit while an apparent monsoon rolled through…but as soon as they were cleared to hit the stage again, they didn’t skip a beat and neither did the crowd. The two headliners of the evening, Wind Walkers and 12 Stones were both pretty new to me, but they both put on great performances. A lot of fans were there for both bands and it showed as they sang & danced along to all of their songs. Overall, it was just a great day of music with a ton of great people and friends.
Four days after ROTH, Wendy & I headed south for our annual trip to Fayetteville, West Virginia for my favorite time of the year: Waynestock. This has been a yearly tradition for me for a number of years now, for three years now for Wendy, and has been going on I believe for twenty-six years. The amount of growth within this festival just in the time I’ve been going has been unbelievable. Once again, Wayne brought a mix of PA acts like Hank The Buffalo, Coltt Winter Lepley, the Dead Bangers, Rivers, The Dr Nyce Band & The Roof to play on stage along side bands like Widely Grown, The Firewater Tent Revival, and Stone Throwers. Mix in a few others like Forrester Grey, Skye Burkett & Amico Demuzio, & Mimicking Mars (a young, relatively new band that blew the crowd away)…all over the course of a few days, and you’ve got an awesome few days of music. During the day there was all sorts of local things to do like hiking, horseback riding, white-water rafting, disc-golf and more which is why it’s billed as an Outdoor Adventure and Music Festival. If you’re looking for an awesome couple days away from the area next year, I really suggest looking this one up!
My last trip out was a guys-only trip (meaning myself and my assistant Preston LOL) to Crossroads Wine Shop just on the other side of Carlisle. I reached out ahead to find out that it was dog-friendly, and was assured that Preston was more than welcome…so we headed over to see my pals in Six Whiskey Revival. I have to say, every single one of the staff there was awesome, even making Preston his own chicken to have as a snack! 😊 The last few weeks, Mark Sr had been laid up after a motorcycle accident…I didn’t know until I’d gotten there that this would be Mark’s first show back with the band which was an awesome bonus! Kicking out songs like Are You Gonna Go My Way & Change In My Pocket, the guys had a bunch of people up & dancing with their powerful & raw takes on rock & blues tunes. It was great to see Mark back with the guys and I know they’re looking forward to playing shows in the future that they’ve got lined up like Gettysburg Bike Fest and OC Rock & Ride Bikefest.
As this month’s issue is out and being delivered, my good friend Doug will be celebrating his new store’s Grand Opening: Doug’s Boutique. Doug is offering a full service guitar shop featuring new, used and consignment sales. I actually stopped in to check out the new store today and was impressed at how beautiful it is already. He already has an impressive inventory and the large store is setup very well. If you’re looking for some new gear, you should definitely hit him up!
So there it is, my month of music through my eyes and ears. I want to once again thank all the bands, venues, and everyone else involved in our incredible local music scene for everything they do. Just a reminder: if you’ve got a show coming up that I should see; make sure to send me an invite, shoot me an email or a message, let me know about it. Venues: please don’t hesitate to reach out to me as well. The majority of the shows that I go and shoot I find out about through invites from all of you or your friends. Hit me up on facebook: @chrisriderphotography or email: chrisriderphotography@gmail.com, stop me if you see me out & around and say hi. Until next month…go find some live music and give them and the venue your support, they truly need it more now than they ever did.
