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With so much raw, pure local talent, it’s a wonder this hasn’t happened sooner. With the loyalty the Oxford and Ole Miss community give their local bands, I’m surprised people didn‘t jump on the bandwagon sooner.
But, yes, the dreams of audiophiles have finally come true: The Oxford Music Festival has officially made it from an abstract idea to a tangible reality. And after much anticipation, fundraising and a recent change of venue, a line-up of over 20 local acts are slated to hit the stage tonight at 8 p.m.
Through the vision of three everyday (yet no doubt ambitious) guys – Nathan Robbins, Daniel Morrow and Austin Marshall – the Oxford Music Festival has been in the works for six months, and now that it’s coming down to the wire, the momentum is starting to multiply.
When Robbins, Marshall and Morrow all sat down to start planning the festival, they were astounded by the amount of talent Oxford really housed.
“Just between us, we named 25 bands in Oxford that could do it,” said Marshall, who plays in two of the local bands (Dickie Do and the Don’ts and Telefunken U-47) on the line-up this weekend. “Some are on the road, so they couldn’t do it – but the idea of us just talking about it, off the top of our heads, that was wild."
“We have more than enough local talent, and all the bands are excited about doing it. It was a joint effort that made all this possible.”
Robbins, also one of Marshall’s Dickie band mates, echoed the same sentiments. “Our goal was to showcase talent, and it was a joint idea among us,” said Robbins, who plays in Rocket-88 as well.
This joint effort is out of pure love for music because as any musician will attest, it is not a high-paying job. And that’s where the cover charge and merch sales come in. (It’s a pain in the ass, I know, but at least this time you’ll know exactly where your money is going.)
The first initiative for the incoming funds from the cover charge is to pay the bands, and except for the headliner, “The bands are doing it for almost free,” Marshall said. OK, fair enough, right? But the guys are taking it even farther: They’re attempting to donate any leftover funds to charity – an in-state charity, no less.
Although Hurricane Gustav did not directly affect the Mississippi Gulf Coast as badly as the weathermen were anticipating, the guys are still planning to give back to the Coast. “I imagine they could still use it,” Marshall said, even though at the time of the interview he had yet to hear back from anyone on the Coast. Marshall is hoping to place the rest of the funds in the bank for next year’s festival.
According to Marshall, the festival was originally scheduled at The Barn off Hwy 7 North, but due to Hurricane Gustav and the resulting weeklong torrential rain, the coordinators decided Monday to move the event to The Lyric. “Even if it didn’t rain on Saturday, it would still be a mess,” he said.
Although the coordinators are expected to take care of their own expenses like advertising and security, the festival has caused so much anticipation that it’s gathered a veritable amount of sponsors. For example, Lazy Magnolia is donating beer for the festival and other businesses are donating food. And with sponsors like The Local Voice, Purple Haze, The Blind Pig and the Oxford Tourism Council, this music medley actually looks pretty legit.
Along with the hard work came the advertising and the name recognition of the newly conceived Oxford Music Festival.
“The Internet has been our main thing – mainly Facebook and MySpace. We wanted to advertise as much as we could, we spent as much as we could,” Marshall said. But if the blues festival or Double Decker come to mind, you might as well forget that notion.
“We want to do something a little different from Double Decker, and we want (Oxonians) to have one spot to see the local bands,” said Robbins, who also works in the Ole Miss IT department for his 9-to-5 job.
“We want (everyone) to come out Friday night for sure,” Marshall said. “Get there early Saturday, too. There’s a Bloody Mary and Mimosa drink special, and at 2:30 p.m. we’re going to watch the Ole Miss/Wake Forest game (in The Lyric).”
Special to this specific occasion: The show is all ages, and those under 18 and 21 are welcome to attend both days. “Even if the underage kids wanted to come see the football game, they could,” Marshall reiterated.
“This is something we thought everybody could come to – even something for adults to go to – we see people of all ages coming. We want all the younger kids – even the incoming freshman who don’t know about all the local music.”
Another plus is the networking between the bands for future shows and festivals, Marshall said. “It’s something for all of us to get together – that’s the easy part,” he said.
My only question left was why it hasn’t happened sooner, but Marshall had an answer for that, too.
“I think it’s something that had been tried before but it really just now came together,” he said. “It’s a lot of hard work.”
Admission is $10 Friday night, $15 Saturday and $20 for a 2-day pass. The festival will run from noon to midnight Saturday.
For more information about Oxford Music Festival, visit the official Web site at www.oxfordmusicfest.com.
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