In the thick pines of Cisco Grove just beyond the majestic granite peaks of Donner Summit lies one of Tahoe’s most fabulous and funkiest festival events of the year. Guitarfish Festival is not your average festival. It’s intimate. It’s easy to get to. And the vibes, well, they are totally Tahoe; filled with a deep sense of community, love of the environment, and the opportunity to relax and let go. An openhearted feeling reverberates throughout the four-day festival that starts July 28 and offers a lineup of talent that keeps music lovers dancing for days.
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[blockquote3]
“Guitarfish Festival is not your average festival.
It’s intimate. It’s easy to get to. And the vibes, well,
they are totally Tahoe; filled with a deep sense of community,
love of the environment, and the opportunity to relax and let go.”
[/blockquote3]
Founder Brent Dana talks about all things new at this year’s festival: “We’ve added more production, more activities and more bands. We’ve also added the Starfish Stage in the family camp area, the Illuminous Zone featuring art cars, interactive art pieces, as well as the Cuddlefish Station with performance art, stilt walkers and theatrics. There are also more craft and food vendors this year, as well. We handpicked quite a few vendors with good energy, earth-centered products from around the world that are in line with our theme.”
Musician and business partner Jimmy Leslie is passionate about the environment and leads the charge of the Guitarfish mission of sustainability and the Blue Program.
The overall theme and mission of Guitarfish, Deep Blue Ocean, is to raise awareness of overfishing, pollution of the ocean and preserving the watershed, rivers and streams.
“In keeping with the theme, Saturday night is about deep blue grooves, dress up in your blue and white. Think sky and ocean. ALO headlines that night,” Dana explains.
The family friendly event hosts a camp area for families with music and activities for children of all ages including interactive arts and crafts hosted by Kindred Art & Folk Institute. Need to stretch before dancing? Morning yoga is available. There is also a free mountain bike shuttle that drops folks off at the top of Hole in the Ground for a ride down to the campground.
In the heat of it all participants can swim in the nearby waters and cool off after dancing. “The Guitarfish swimming hole looks like it will be fantastic with the water low this year,” says Dana.
It may be challenging to pull away from any of the four stages offering stellar sounds. Some performers will rock out by the river and offer drum circles during the event.
When night descends, the Jankysaurus art car featuring the Jankytown Orchestra will light up the night with lasers, art cars and performances of all kinds offering a taste of the Burning Man spirit.
“The energy of the festival is family by day, Burning Man by night, and it’s all sexy. They’ll be lots of lasers and lights,” says Dana.
The festival features many powerhouses of female vocalists, leading Dana to add the late night “Starfish and Guitarfish Diva Ball” featuring all female singers.
Universal sounds
One of the bands to participate this year is the Doobie Decibel System with veteran musicians Roger McNamee, Jay Lane, Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz, Pete Sears and Jason Crosby.
Doobie Decibel System
“The band’s set list is very universal,” explains McNamee. “We have acoustic instruments and look like we’re going to play some Simon and Garfunkel and then we come out and play British psychedelic music like the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Jimmy Hendrix. We also play a bit of American protest music and our own originals.” Their first album, yet to be named, is set to be released soon.
“I suspect we’ll play some of them,” adds McNamee. The band covers songs like Neil Young’s “Ohio” and often plays their theme song, “A Couple of Puffs.”
“There is a long line of Bay Area bands whose approach is to recognize music is the soundtrack of your life. There is a community of musicians and bands, like ALO, and dozens of other bands playing for the sake of music. Guitarfish has tapped into the same scene,” says McNamee.
Cool California soul
Also performing is the eight-piece band Orgone. Veterans of Guitarfish, they rock a cool California soul sound. Co-founded by guitarist Sergio Rios who started the band with keyboardist Dan Hastie, they began as a four-piece instrumental band and evolved into their current incarnation through an evolution of changes.
Orgone
“The band writes and does everything as a collective,” explains Rios. They just released a new single last month entitled, “Do What you Came to Do.”
“The band is big on vinyl,” Rios adds. They recently re-released their latest album “Beyond the Sun” on vinyl. “Playing music is about sharing the moment with the audience and elevating the energy. It’s all love,” Rios says.
“Orgone is about soul music, it’s about losing yourself, it’s about sweating and completely giving in,” says Rios of their sound. Adding that lead vocalist Adryon de León is a powerhouse. Orgone will perform Sunday night before Afrolicious to help close out the festival.
Spreading positive change
Have you heard Midtown Social? The nine-piece Bay Area band makes their debut at Guitarfish this year. Midtown’s mission is to spread positive change.
Midtown Social
“The people in our band are unique and care deeply about what’s happening in the Bay Area and in our community. Our influences are diverse and eclectic,” explains “RJ” aka Richard Julia.
Drawing their sound from greats like the Isley Brothers and Funkadelic, the band incorporates soul, funk, blues, jazz, rock and afro beats to create their vibe.
“There are many genres and influences and all the elements come together creating a direct reflection of who we are. We are influenced by both past and present and pay homage to different musicians to tie it all up,” says Julia. “We come from all walks of life and our music reflects that.”
Dubbed “The Year of the Campout,” the festival’s theme on Friday night is a magical forest theme. If you feel so inclined, pull out the fairy costumes and be part of the magic or just wear your jeans, as far as dress code there isn’t one except to be comfortable and come as you are. This event is not to be missed.
For more information, visit guitarfishfestival.com.
July 28-31 | Cisco Grove | $75-$200 | Camping available
