Many longtime festival goers will remember legendary free form radio pioneer and co-founder of Strawberry’s groundbreaking pirate FM station Hog Ranch Radio, Thom O’Hair. And some too, will remember reading, and then re-reading, his riveting reports from Camp Mather while the 1996 Ackerson Meadow fire burned nearby, leading up to the subsequently postponed Fall ’96 Festival. The complete chronicle is now published in its original form for you to read, re-read, or re-re-re read, on our website at https://strawberrymusic.com/hog-ranch-radio/mrfire/.
At that time, Thom used used a dial-up modem to upload a series of fire camp reports to our webmaster John Pierce, who relayed them via Strawberry’s popular pre-social media email “bungi-list.” The actual events, reported live (or as live as one could be at that time) from on the ground and embedded within the camp, come to us in monospaced Courier font, complete with critical information, wry jargon, classic O’hair-isms, brilliant insights, misspellings, and fractured punctuation.
We had not seen the complete printed or digital archive of those chronicles for decades, until last year, when Thom’s dear friend, longtime festival manager, and most beloved Strawberrian of all, Mitch Third decided to clean out his storage unit. There it was, the entire printout in a three ring binder, 25 years after the events were originally recounted, and 20 years since the passing of Thom O’hair. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
ONE NIGHT ONLY January 29th, 2022 The Fallon House Theater in Columbia State Historic Park Tickets on sale HERE or Rockinroad.org
A Winter Night’s Yeow starring DooDooWah’s Dave Cavanagh, What Cheer (Cactus Bob, Prairie Flower & Peg Reza), Sourdough Slim & Robert Armstrong, Old Soles Masha & Geff Crawford, and Honey Run– Kat Baker & Owen Ragland, PLUS Master of Ceremonies, Steve LaVine, in a music and comedy extravaganza, will return to the Fallon House Theatre in Columbia State Historic Park on January 29th, 2022, for One Night Only!
This year’s event will be a fundraiser for Tuolumne County school music programs. Bandstand–Standing up for Youth Music*, has been working to provide instruments for school music programs since 2017, and has raised thousands of dollars to purchase two sousaphones, a marimba, 5 flutes, 12 drums, amplifiers, and many other essential supplies to keep the music flowing!
A Winter Night’s Yeow began as a one-night stand in 1995 at the Sutter Creek Theatre, and the next year began touring the Mother Lode and Central Valley, performing to packed houses and sellout crowds for over a decade. The show was last performed in 2014, as a tribute to the late Ron DeLacy, a member of Doodoo Wah, and a driving force behind the tour. The songs changed from year to year but the format remains the same- three main bands play short sets throughout the night, sometimes joined by guest musicians, then the whole case gets together for the closing “Yeow!” set.
All seats are $35 in advance, or $40 at the door (if any are left, which seems unlikely). Covid protocols will require vaccination proof or a negative test within 72 hours, and audience members will wear masks during the duration of the performance.
We are incredibly sad to share that longtime Strawberrian, Kristina Rice, died peacefully in her home on Wednesday, December 15th, after a recent diagnosis of advanced metastatic cancer. Kristina is the wife of Strawberry’s festival electrician, and well known KVMR radio host, Eric Rice, but is more likely to be known at Strawberry as the hostess of the couple’s famous T Party and camp jam on Friday afternoons. Eric and Kristina have been coming to Strawberry as long as anyone can remember, raising their children along the way, and now having shared those same camp traditions with their grown daughters, son n’ laws, and grandchildren. Kristina’s immense joy, love, and pride for her family was deeply evident from her brightly beaming smile when they were together or spoken of. She was a strong, wise, creative, thoughtful, humorous, confident, capable, beautiful, and loving woman who will be dearly missed in the community and at the festival. A memorial benefit will take place on Sunday, December 19, 2021 at the Miners Foundry, in Nevada City from 1-5pm, and a fundraiser has been set up to help the family with mounting expense. We offer our deepest condolences to her whole family.
Phil Salazar & the Kin Folk is long time favorite at Strawberry, as well as at many other festivals up and down the West Coast. Phil was born a performer and began playing violin at age 5. As a young teen, he rebelled from his classical roots and began to play blues and rock fiddle. By his late teens, the young instrumentalist had already cultivated a diverse repertoire of styles. That musical agility has been a central theme throughout Phil’s career as well as in the forming of his band in 1984, originally called The Phil Salazar Band. Now, called Phil Salazar and the Kin Folk, this group of talented players has evolved into a family, and a well honed musical machine, over 38 years time, countless performances, and through the recording of 7 albums.
We are so pleased to share that Phil Salazar & the Kin Folk is scheduled to perform at next year’s festival. The Main Stage lineup for the Spring 2022 Strawberry Music Festival is now complete. Please stay tuned for so much more festival news and side stage lineup announcements to come!
We are pleased to share that Sam Bush, David Bromberg, Watkins Family Hour, Small Glories, Steve Poltz, David Jacobs-Strain & Bob Beach, Mumbo Gumbo, and The Risky Biscuits are all confirmed to perform at the Spring 2022 Strawberry Music Festival.
Next year’s lineup features a majority of the performers who were previously scheduled to play in 2020, as well as some exciting new additions. Many of these artists have been busy during the pandemic, and have released new material, achieved new recognition, and/or dove deeper into their own well of musical expression. All of them have a precious gift that they are willing to share with us. We are so excited to welcome this incredibly talented group of performers to the Strawberry stage and into our festival heart! In the meantime, we hope you will enjoy reading bios, watching videos, and listening to songs, as a sample of what you can expect to hear, live at Spring Strawberry.
Happy Monday Morning Strawberrians! We hope this notification finds you well.
Tickets to the Spring 2022 Strawberry Music Festival go on sale at 10am today. Please visit our Tickets page to see ticket types, prices, and details. Tickets are available 24/7 online and by phone during office hours. We are available to answer questions M-W, 10-2 at (209) 984-8630 and info@strawberrymusic.com. Please also visit our Terms page to see important new policy for Spring 2022, including Strawberry’s COVID-19 requirements.
Please visit our Lineup page to see who is confirmed and to learn more about each of the performers confirmed for the Spring 2022 Strawberry Music Festival and stay tuned for more lineup announcements coming soon!
We are so happy to be looking forward to an epic reunion at next year’s Spring Festival and 40th Anniversary celebration. Our office staff is so happy to be able to re-connect with the festival community, after such a long break. The first day of ticket sales is always exciting and today is an especially momentous occasion. Thank you so much for your continued support. We hope to see you there!
We hope you are well! Thank you for taking the time today to read this update about new office hours, Spring 2022 ticket sales, and our message to Spring 2020 ticket holders. Our staff is so glad to be back together again part-time, and preparing for next year’s 40th Anniversary festival.
The Spring 2022 Strawberry Music Festival will take place at the Nevada County Fairgrounds over the Memorial Day weekend. Camping tickets are scheduled to go on sale at 10am on Monday, November 22nd, 2021. Details, including prices and available ticket types, will be published on our website, in advance .This is truly a momentous occasion!
We owe Strawberry’s survival to Spring 2020 ticket holders. Among other options available, those tickets will be good for a straight across exchange for the same ticket types to the Spring 2022, 2023, 2024, or 2025 Strawberry Music Festival. The exchange process will officially begin at 10am on Monday, November 15th and a letter will be sent, in advance, to Spring 2020 ticket holders clearly outlining all of the options available and how to redeem the credit.
Our current office hours are Monday – Wednesday, 10am – 2pm and we can be reached at (209) 984-8630 and info@strawberrymusic.com. Please let us know if your email and/or mailing address has changed, and keep up on news about the Spring 2022 Strawberry Music Festival by signing up for email announcements at https://mailchi.mp/25cffac94c0b/strawberrymusicfestivalsannouncementslist. We are so grateful for your continued support and look forward to seeing many of you next year!
Today is the day that Strawberry’s Fall Festival would normally begin. With the heat, smoke, fire evacuations, and forest closures, on top of the COVID-19 surge that is taking place right now, it is hard to imagine holding our outdoor gathering/celebration, at this time. And yet, there is a gathering of the Strawberry spirit already underway. Many of you are sharing photos and stories of Strawberry past and others are making plans to gather in smaller pods and for backyard jams. All the while, our collective heart holds space for those who are currently being affected by wildfire burning across the state and region.
We also wanted to let you know that the Strawberry office will reopen on a part-time basis in October. At that time notices will be sent to all Spring 2020 ticket and RV site holders explaining how to exchange for another festival. The remainder of camping tickets to the Spring 2022 Strawberry Music Festival will go on sale on Monday, November 1,2021, at 9:00am. We are very excited to get back to the business of making festival and will be genuinely elated to offer the Strawberry standard of customer care. Thank you all so much for your incredible patience, support, and kindness during this long closure. We cannot wait to hear from you and begin the long process of catching up. In the meantime, we hope you are staying healthy and safe during this difficult time, and look forward to seeing you next May!
Last Thursday, we lost fellow Board member, community icon, and dear friend, Al O’Brien. Al has been a friend to the Strawberry Music Festival community since the early days, and had just joined Rock In Road’s Board of Directors in 2019. Besides being an incredibly kind and wonderful person, Al O’Brien is widely known for having the knowhow and the drive to get stuff done. He got a lot of good stuff done for this community during his time here, and the impact of his work here will continue to benefit others for generations to come. Al was particularly involved in our annual Band Stand fundraiser and in 2019, he helped Rock In Road to raise over $22,000 towards instrument purchases for local school band programs, by helping to obtain a matching grant from the Sonora Area Foundation. He also helped the Band Stand event find its home at the Sheriff Posse Grounds and forge a partnership between our two organizations. Even though, Al was on sabbatical from active Board duty, he still managed to reserve the grounds for our date this year, as well as securing Posse sponsorship of the event.
Long before Rock In Road, Al O’Brien’s involvement with the Strawberry Music Festival dates back to the beginning and spans a range of capacities, over many years time. In the early 80’s he helped to procure new coin operated washing machines when Strawberry was managing the laundry facilities at Camp Mather, along with the General Store. Many years later Strawberry had the good fortune of working with Al at Westside as the liaison to the Tuolumne Economic Development Authority (TEDA). After he had retired from TEDA, Al helped manage marketing for the festival and eventually became Strawberry’s Fire Marshall Liaison at the Nevada County Fairgrounds. Over this past two years, everyone involved in the Strawberry Music Festival and Rock In Road organizations were heartily looking forward to returning to the work with Al, as well as just being able to visit with our dear friend.
This year instead, we will have to look to the legacy of a man that was larger than life itself and try to live by the example he set for us. Al O’Brien was, and is, so very respected and loved by so many people, and so many different kinds of people. He will be deeply missed on our Board and in our community. We offer our deepest condolences to his beautiful wife and daughters, to the rest of his family, and to his many, many friends. Rest in peace Al <3
Because of your support, the Hog Ranch Radio broadcast “Keep Tuned and Berry On” was a re-sounding success! Thousands tuned in over the course of the four day broadcast, many listeners requested a free QSL card to commemorate the occasion, and 55 charitable donations were made to Rock in Road to help offset the cost of the special Strawberry retrospective. A lot of positive feedback came in throughout the event, even though there were a few glitches along the way. The stories and songs that were contributed by listeners and performers really made the moment, and we especially appreciate the wide level of community participation. This project has been deeply meaningful to everybody involved and we are all so grateful for the opportunity.
THANK YOU BERRY ON SUPPORTERS, VOLUNTEERS, AND PARTICIPANTS
In particular, we would like to thank the small group of volunteers who imagined this broadcast, and made it a reality. We could not have done it without the enthusiastic participation of Hog Ranch Radio engineers, programmers, and DJs: Dave “Buzz” Barnett, Bix Beeman, Lisa “Sea Shanty” Bryant, Stu Grossman, Luke Hess, Margie Kay, Gregg McVicar, David Ogilvy, Tim Pozar, Felton Pruitt, and Christa Taylor. Rock In Road’s sponsorship was crucial, and Board members, Jodi Barnett, Mark Curfman, Tom Jepson, Tim McCaffrey, Becky Roberts, and Jessica Shapiro also donated their time. Strawberry Music Festival volunteers who helped to make the broadcast possible are Fred Carter, Charlie Cran, Kim Curbelo Roy Dohring, Steve Lavine, Jimmy Lipscomb, and Mitch Third. A big round of applause goes out to all of those who listened, performed remotely, submitted recorded messages and performances, told stories on the air, and sent feedback. Last but not least, we are eternally grateful to anyone and everyone who has ever been part of the Strawberry community, or practiced the Strawberry Way.
QSL CARD DELIVERY
Those who requested a commemorative QSL card can expect postal delivery in 1 to 2 weeks. QSL cards are traditionally used by HAM operators, shortwave, and some AM/FM radio broadcasters, to confirm the reception of signal or broadcast. Rock In Road thought it would be a fun promotion to do this for the 68th Hog Ranch Radio broadcast of “Keep Tuned and Berry On.” Board member and local graphic artist, Tim McCaffrey, donated custom artwork for the front of the card. There are still a limited number of collectible Hog 68 QSL cards available, so it is not too late to get one. Simply fill out our QSL card request form to verify what you heard during the broadcast. Thanks again to Rock In Road for making it happen.
SEE YOU THERE
We hope this past broadcast of Berry goodness can tide us all over until we can be together again in person for the Spring 2022 Strawberry Music Festival at the Nevada County Fairgrounds. Tickets to our 40th anniversary festival and celebratory return to live music, taking place May 26th – 30th, will go on sale at 9:00 am on November 1st of this year. Our staff is eager to get back to the work of making festival and we expect to return for regular fall/winter business hours in September. Thank you for your patience during this extraordinary time. We can hardly wait to see, you then and there. In the meantime, please Keep Tuned and Berry on!
