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Michaela Amato of Chasing Pedestrians performed last summer at Barnstock. They’ll be back this year, on Saturday night. (Julia Brown photo)

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Organizers of the regional music festival Barnstock are hoping to attract as many as a thousand people to the Brown family farm off Black Farms Road in Huntersville on July 27-28 for an event that will raise money for several local causes. And they’ve announced a music lineup that includes the nationally-known folk-rock roots band Donna the Buffalo along with other local favorites ranging from rockers Chasing Pedestrians to Billy Jones and The Pocket to hip-hop house-party rock duo Brody and Choch.

The fourth annual festival will be bigger than ever, according to organizer and founder Miles Brown, 20, of Davidson. A total of 23 bands are booked over the two days, beginning with an 18+ show on Friday night and an all-ages show Saturday.

Hip Hop duo Brody and Choch plays Saturday night at Barnstock.

“We’re going to have 23 bands this year, which is six times the amount we usually have,” Mr. Brown said in an interview. A band-photo contest recent weeks on the Barnstock Facebook site helped pick six bands that will open on Friday.

The two-day festival is both a showcase for local bands and a fundraiser. The newly organized Barnstock Charities Fund will again donate proceeds from the event to help the Davidson Fire Department buy new equipment. This year, they’ll also contribute to Second Harvest Food Band of Metrolina, and the American Red Cross, expanding the event’s charitable focus regionally. Over the previous three years, Barnstock donated a total of $12,000 to the fire department.

This year’s event also will include a Saturday sand volleyball tournament, to help raise money for a Queens University volleyball player who battling Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

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Rusty Knox Band plays Barnstock on Friday night.

Mr. Brown, who is a business administration student at N.C. State University, organizes the festival with his older brother, Daniel, who recently graduated from Presbyterian College, and sister Julia, a rising junior at W.A. Hough High School, with perhaps more than a little help from dad Tony Brown.

The festival started in 2009 when Miles was looking for a way to attract an audience for his band and other local musicians, and 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.

The event now has evolved well beyond its modest beginnings into this year’s two-regional festival. “It’s something my friends, my family, the bands … we’re all pretty passionate about, and we’re excited to see the growth happen. We’re really looking forward to see where it can go,” Miles Brown said.

BLACKSTOCK 2012

The festival happens in and out of the old barn at the Browns’ farm, on 4 acres on Black Farms Road, off N.C. 73 in Huntersville. Camping is available for the weekend, at $65.

It runs Friday-Saturday, July 27-28, noon to midnight. Tickets are $25 for Friday night and $5 for Saturday. More information is can be found on the event’s website, MyBarnstock.com ^[3] and Facebook (facebook.com/barnstock). You can also follow Barnstock on Twitter, (@BARNSTOCK) for updates on the event.

FRIDAY: The lineup includes six bands chosen through a Facebook photo contest. Friday night’s featured bands are the Rusty Knox Band (7 p.m.), Billy Jones and The Pocket (8 p.m.) and Donna the Buffalo (10 p.m.)

SATURDAY: Saturday night’s featured groups include War Hands, Sugar Glyder, Chasing Pedestrians, Brody and Choch and MasterJaxx.

Barnstock also is still seeking sponsors. You can find more information on the website. DavidsonNews.net and CorneliusNews.net are pleased to be sponsors of Barnstock 2012

RELATED LINKS AND COVERAGE

The official website, MyBarnstock.com ^[3], has the full schedule and other details.

Oct. 12, 2011, DavidsonNews.net, “Barnstock raises $6,500 for Davidson Fire Department.” ^[4]

Aug. 8, 2011, DavidsonNews.net, “At Barnstock 2011, a feast of local music” ^[5] – story and photos from the 2011 festival.