Michaela Amato, of Chasing Pedestrians, and Choch, of the duo Brody and Choch, sang together Saturday night on the Barnstock stage. More photos below. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

HUNTERSVILLE – Organizers promised an expanded Barnstock music festival this year, and in the end they came through. This weekend’s two-day showcase of local music at the Brown family barn off Black Farms Road in Huntersville attracted nearly 1,200 fans and raised $10,000 for local charities.

This festival, which included a headline performance Friday by nationally-known rockers Donna the Buffalo, raised money for Davidson’s volunteer fire department, Second Harvest Food Bank, American Red Cross, Cannon School in Concord and W.A. Hough High School in Cornelius. The charities will share the $10,000 equally.

Daniel (left) and Miles Brown of Davidson were organizers of Barnstock 2012. They sat on the stage as local band Chasing Pedestrians played Saturday night. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

The fund-raising total came from ticket sales and from a wider-than-ever lineup of sponsors this year. It was easily the largest in Barnstock’s four-year history. The festival raised a total of $12,000 in its first three years.

Thunderstorms threatened, but didn’t halt Donna the Buffalo’s show Friday night. The band’s appearance was a big leap for organizers, as they expanded this year’s event. About 300 people braved the weather, and were treated to a 2 1/2-hour show by the popular band.

“Everyone wanted to see how far we could stretch. With Donna and the other bands, we believed Barnstock’12 could be our best fund-raising year,” Julia Brown, a Hough High student and director of Barnstock Charities said in a press release (below). “Barnstock fans, bands and sponsors are awesome! Thank you very much.”

Barnstock started in in 2009 when Ms. Brown’s brother, Miles, was looking for a way to attract an audience for his band and other local musicians. He also wanted to help raise money for Davidson Volunteer Fire Department. He chose that cause in part because he grew up on South Street in Davidson, next door to Wilson Sadler, a longtime local volunteer who once served as fire chief.

Besides Julia and Miles Brown, the festival organizers include older brother, Daniel, who recently graduated from Presbyterian College, as well as parents Tony and Kathy Brown.

RELATED COVERAGE

July 23, 2012, “Browns betting on a bigger, better Barnstock” – Our preview of this year’s event.

Read a full description of the event below.

The Barnstock stage was busy all weekend. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Brody, of the hip-hop duo Brody & Choch. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Michaela Amato of Cornelius fronts Chasing Pedestrians at Saturday night’s show. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

BARNSTOCK PRESS RELEASE

Barnstock 12 Festival raises $10K for local schools and charities

Donna the Buffalo takes BARNSTOCK’12 to record setting attendance of almost 1,200 fans during the two day music festival. Despite intense summer heat and epic thunderstorms on Friday evening, the much expanded Barnstock brought more music and entertainment to the rustic Huntersville venue.

Barnstock producer, Miles Brown took a huge risk this year signing internationally-known Donna the Buffalo to headline on Friday night. The big winners were Second Harvest Food Bank, Davidson Fire Department, Cannon School, Hough High School, and the American Red Cross who will share equally the $10k. Director of Barnstock Charities, Julia Brown stated, “Everyone wanted to see how far we could stretch. With Donna and the other bands, we believed Barnstock’12 could be our best fund-raising year. Barnstock fans, bands and sponsors are awesome! Thank you very much.”

Donna the Buffalo

After an extended mic check and sound setup by Charlotte Sound & Stage to make things just right, the members of Donna the Buffalo took the Barnstock stage just after 10pm. For the next two and half hours, just over 300 people enjoyed a semi-private Donna show that would rival performances at big time festivals like Merlefest or Shikori Hills. The weather was perfect, the night was peaceful, and the folksy tunes danced over the small patch of farm land wedged between Davidson and Concord. Not wanting to leave, the Donna crew, members of the Herd, and several new Barnstock friends shared the last remaining chicken and veggie tacos from the Chef & Friends truck. “Hey – the music, friends, and tacos can’t get better than this! Barnstock breakfast,” celebrated Mike Patton who drove to his fourth Barnstock from Asheville, NC.

Bigger and Better Talent in 2012

Barnstock organizers made a move to evolve from a local event to a full-blown music festival. Music started on Friday at noon and continued until 11:59 on Saturday night with 22 band performances. Daniel Brown, Director of Stage & Talent added, “It is really great that so many high-quality bands played Barnstock’12. Whether a thousand kids jammed in front of the stage or 6 folks were sitting in lawn chairs, each band played their hearts out.”

Even during the most extreme thunderstorms on Friday afternoon, the Brett Morton Project (Cannon School) played with tarps blocking the heavy rainfall to a happy and hardcore gathering of fans. Atlas Road Crew (Columbia, SC) covered a wide-variety of country tunes from Zac Brown, Jason Aldean, and Kip Moore.

Morning Brigade (Chapel Hill, NC) played a full sound and with classic energy on the Barnstock stage. The good-looking Keaton Lange performed his original music to the delight of Barnstock women from ages 15 to 50. Vanished Frontier, two Williams brothers from Concord, brought more heat to already steaming weekend of performances.

The highlight of the weekend festival was the impromptu sharing of the stage with Chasing Pedestrian and Brody & Choch singing the crowd-pleasing cover “Ms. Jackson” by Outkast. For both bands, Barnstock’12 was their third performance at the local grass roots festival. “Barnstock just keeps growing and getting better every year because of the fans – they love this place!,” explains Brody during Thursday night’s rehearsal.

The show was concluded with an outdoor rave by MasterJaxx that ended in traditional Barnstock style abruptly at 11:59pm. The full lineup for Barnstock’12 can be found at www.mybarnstock.com

Music & Much More

An all day beach volleyball tournament, excellent food vendors, and a predictable showing from the Herd (Donna’s fan club) certainly made for entertaining people watching. Hippies hoola hooped pretty much the entire weekend while Frat Bros played endless corn hole matches. Miles Brown offers, “The all day beach volleyball tournament on Saturday was clutch. Kids played from 11am to 6pm. Along with great music and food, everyone got into the beach volleyball which was a new addition to the Barnstock experience. Congrats to Block Party Team! ”

Barnstock fans traveled from local Hough High to as far away as Melbourne, Australia. Aussie turned Barnstocker, Elyse Kingston offered in her sweet down-under accent, “My mates and I have been watching Barnstock on Facebook and Twitter all year long. Five of us made the trip, and we had a lovely time. We’ll be back next year!”

Another nice addition to Barnstock’12 was a full array of excellent quality food vendors, including: Chef & Friends, Hogman, Kona Ice, Maki Taco, Ron’s Pig Palace, and Napolitanos.

Volunteers Handle Record Setting Crowd

Over 50 parent and student volunteers wearing barn red tie-dyed BARNSTOCK STAFF shirts worked both days in the 90+ degree heat and a monster rain storm. Monty Coggins, Cannon School Biology Teacher turned Front Gate Manager had a staff of a dozen who took money, checked id’s, directed parking, and handed out wrists bands. “Barnstock is a very special thing to many people. Our family knew Donna (the Buffalo) would make this year’s festival something to build upon in the future. Everyone, including the members of Donna, left Barnstock 2012 very happy but a little sad it was over.”

The crowd of 850 on Saturday night consisted of many local students who have attended Barnstock for the past four years. But with up and coming bands from Chapel Hill, Wilmington, Richmond, Columbia, the Barnstock fan base continues to expand. Miles Brown explains, “There is a growing group of great fans and bands out there that are totally into what we are trying to do at Barnstock. Good music from all genres, community service, and having a good time. Everyone is so chill, yet they get so pumped up. We are blessed that it keeps growing.”

Officer Oliver with Mecklenburg Sheriff’s Department stated, “The fans at Barnstock are good kids and pretty well behaved. All the volunteers and staff work really hard to keep things organized and safe. There were no issues.”

This year, Barnstock leverage the talents of many local residents that attend schools all across America, including,

Executive Producer – Miles Brown, NCSU
Director of Barnstock Charities – Julia Brown, Hough High
Director of Operations – Roy Goode, Denver University
Director of Stage & Talent – Daniel Brown, Presby College

Parking – Bryce Tharrington, ASU; Mike Lopez, NCSU
Security – Chandler Short, ASU; Sean Kane, NCSU
Volunteers – Phil Poley, Duke
Front Gate – Monty Coggins, Cannon School
Back Gate – Denise Poley, UNC-A
Beach Volleyball – Emily Cararra, Davidson College
Hospitality – Kathy Brown, NCSU
Video – Tommy Campbell, UNC School of the Arts
Photography – Wes Harkins, ASU

The list of supporters and corporate friends is as varied as the music and as important as the history of Barnstock, including:

Stock Car Steel & Aluminum
Sunn Enterprises
Altamont
The Birdsnest
CannonSchool.com
Charlotte Sound & Stage
CM Knights Fine Home Building
CorneliusNews.net
DavidMerckStudio.com
DavidsonNews.net
Denise & Phil Poley
DixiesSeating.com
Goode Properties
Gould Killian CPA
P&P Hennigans
HMS
Holiday Marina
Hughes Cleaning Service
Jobes Solo Investment Group
LeonardsAutoMart.com
LobbyGuard.com
Mecklenburg Sheriff Department
MountaineerConstruction.com
McLeodCorporation.com
PawnWorld
PCG
PhyllisPatton.com
SummitCoffee.com
Wadsworth Group
WesHarkinsPhotography.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION: contact Miles Brown at mbrown@mybarnstock.com or 704-778-2876. Barnstock is a Miles Brown Production.

Nearly 1,200 came to the two day event, held at the Brown family barn in Huntersville. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)