Steady as she goes

Aug. 9, 2006

For many their word is their bond. When they say they are going to do something they are going to do it; they have given you their word. That is seldom the case in the business of music, where promises and fast-talkers are a dime a dozen.
Eight years ago, musician Stacy Jo Schiller of Johannesburg (near Gaylord) launched FarmFest and gave her word that proceeds would go to benefit kids who needed musical instruments as well as scholarships for summer music camps. That first FarmFest in 1998 lost a lot of money, but Schiller didn’t make excuses. Instead she had a fundraiser that fall to pay off the bills and, more importantly to her, provide the instruments and scholarships she and other organizers had promised.
FarmFest kicks off yet another year this weekend with a lifetime member reception on Thursday, August 10, and concludes with a jam session organized by Seth Barnard Sunday, August 13. In between it all the weekend is packed with an assortment of musicians from around Michigan, including artists like Rachael Davis, an internationally recognized singer/songwriter formerly of Cadillac and now living in Boston.
For Stacy Jo this festival has been about celebrating the land and the musical artists of Michigan.
 
STORIES TO TELL
“FarmFest has so many stories to tell. Rachael Davis as a child performing here. There is Leo Dombroski who started his band Electric Violet here and has moved on to become Ike Turner’s keyboard player and he also tours with Ravi Shankar,” said Schiller. “From the beginning I always looked for that humble, hard-working, devoted young Michigan band that deserve a break and we help nurture them. This year’s band is Freshwater from Mt. Pleasant. They are this fabulous Celtic band with the whole package including step dancing.”
Schiller is proud of the 150 volunteers and the 1,500 to 2,000 people that turn out the second weekend of August to make FarmFest happen. As a result they have been able to give back, but that future is uncertain.
“We have given many instru-ments to worthy people, sent many young people to music camps each summer, sponsored adults to John Lamb’s Retreat Weekends, helped to fund music classrooms in schools, created an opportunity for talented artists to network and become known in the industry, and focused on promoting Michigan artists throughout the state,” said Schiller.  “It has come to a point, due to funding cuts for the arts, the price of gasoline and the general economic struggles in this country that I have to make some hard decisions about the future. I believe that you get what you give in this world, and I keep hoping that the goodness that has been given to so many will start to come back in attendance, benefactors and lifetime memberships, for without them, I fear we will not survive.”
 
SPIRIT STRUGGLES
But Schiller turns her thoughts to the land where the festival is held, her home for the past 30 years. She looks out over the festival grounds and feels the spirit of Ma McKelvy who settled the farmstead over 100 years ago. She reminisces over the struggles of this woman and realizes that the land is calling her to forge on with the festival.
“Ma McKelvy was widowed with eight children when she traveled from Pennsylvania in 1901 to make a new life for her and her family. She depended on the community around her and they delivered for her in tough times,” said Schiller. “Well, times have been tough for FarmFest and we have been so fortunate that many from the community (FarmFest) have come forward over the years to help. As some have left because they have burned out or moved on, I am looking for others to help share with this vision and keep the spirit alive.”
Her vision for the festival started when at the age of 24 she loaded up her pick-up truck and moved to the farm from Colorado. Her parents who lived in nearby Atlanta (Michigan) told her of the property and she bought it sight unseen. Schiller attended other festivals in the area from Wheatland to Bliss; then one day during the Wheatland as the Uppity Blues Women were performing it hit her that she had the perfect land with an natural amphitheater to host a festival.
“It was in 1996, so the next year on the second weekend of August I invited several friends for music and fun and shared my vision,” said Schiller. “A year later in 1998 FarmFest was born.”
Schiller considers the financial hardships and the struggles that go into putting on FarmFest each year worth it. Each festival she looks out over the crowd and is inspired by what she sees.
“They play music until dawn and the children learn and live with no video games or TV or radio,” said Schiller. “The energy they all bring vibrates in the trees and the wind and the foliage. When they break down their camps and leave, the energy stays. Every year it builds and grows. It’s like love lives in the land from the inspiration and creative flow of the people. It is quite amazing to live on such land. It humbles me and gives me a deep sense of awe.”
 
WAIT BY THE GATE
Schiller is not sure what is in store for her this year. As with previous years she has put together a talented line-up of musicians. In addition to Rachael Davis, Freshwater and Seth Bernard, bands like Steppin In It and Madcat Ruth have huge followings in the north. So Schiller and her volunteers will wait by the gate hoping the crowds will return and the festival will continue for years to come promoting Michigan musicians and providing instruments to students who would otherwise be unable to afford them.
“When I went to my attorney in 1999 to lease the land to the Farm Music Organiza-tion, he asked me ‘how long I wanted the lease to be for,’ I told him 200 years,” said Schiller. “He wouldn’t let me do that, but I remain hopeful that 200 years from now that the old growth trees will continue to reverberate the sounds and the spirit we created in 1998 and continue to do so every year.”
While the future of FarmFest remains uncertain there is a certainty that this year the weekend will be filled with a lot of great music. By the festival’s end, regardless of the gate, a certainty will be that Schiller and the Farm House Music Board will see to it that kids who need instruments will get them and that some kid -- who knows? maybe the next Bob Dylan -- will get a chance to go to music camp next summer.
There is something about Stacy Jo Schiller that says no matter what, the FarmFest will be around for its 10th birthday next summer. She probably has looked over the land numerous times and told Ma McKelvy that if you could make it work so can I.
 
To learn more about this weekend’s FarmFest visit www.farmhousemusic.org for a complete line up of entertainment or to learn how to help with mission of the organization. For additional information or to purchase tickets call 989-786-3273.