How to go
What: The Nowhere Else Festival
When: Starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 28, and Sunday, May 29; a VIP-only opening is Friday, May 27, starting at 4 p.m.
Where: 190 Townsend Road, Martinsville
Cost: $100 (single day), $150 (two days), $500 (three-day VIP)
More info: http://overtherhine.com
The married couple behind the nationally acclaimed, Ohio-based folk rock band Over the Rhine decided about a decade ago to buy a fixer-upper farm in Martinsville, Ohio, population 457, as a place of artistic and spiritual retreat.
This weekend they are hosting the inaugural Nowhere Else Festival, which they hope will become an annual music, arts, and educational event, on a 20-acre corner of their property in Clinton County.
The couple, Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler, will use the proceeds to continue their renovation of a 140-year-old barn into a performing arts center that will serve as a concert venue, recording studio and workshop space for aspiring artists.
“We began to ask ourselves about the sustainability of a music career in 2016,” Detweiler said. “If we could be more selective in our touring, maybe play a concert and then just walk across the yard and sleep in our own beds. Luckily, even though the way people consume music has changed so much, we have a core group of fans who found our music and stuck around. We have a close connection to them. It’s like an extended family.”
Berquist and Detweiler have indeed put down roots in Martinsville. Several of their farming neighbors have volunteered to bring flowers and freshly grown produce for the festival.
“When we first moved out here, we kept to ourselves, because it was more like a retreat,” Detweiler said. “Our neighbors were curious about us. We weren’t the typical country folk. But we’ve gotten to know people. Our time here inspired (the 2013 album) ‘Meet Me at the Edge of the World,’ and people want to hear the music that grew out of that chapter.”
Although anyone is welcome to come, Detweiler said that, outside of a couple of media giveaways and a collaboration with the local chamber of commerce, news of the festival has been spread largely by word of mouth through the Over the Rhine fan community. Detweiler also hopes that Nowhere Else will have a completely opposite vibe to something like, say, Bonnaroo.
“We didn’t want to get too big too quickly,” he said. “Hopefully, it will grow next year, and we’ll work more on publicity. We want it to be relaxed and groovy, give people an opportunity to get out of the city and do something unique.”
The multifaceted festival will primarily consist of live music, workshops and panel discussions about drawing, songwriting and other arts.
“A lot of the people invited are songwriters and artists who’ve had a direct influence on Karin and I,” Detweiler said. “Some of our close friends that we weren’t able to invite we’d like to bring next time.”
But the festival also includes events and opportunities, such as nature walks around the grounds with a professional naturalist and what Bergquist dubbed as a “healing-impaired workshop,” where people will discuss the grief process.
“We’re all at a point where we’ve laid loved ones to rest,” Detweiler said. “One friend and his wife lost their daughter to cancer. Another couple is dealing with a chronic illness. My sister has Lyme disease and has lost years of her life figuring out to deal with that. We’re interested in post-traumatic growth. Some people have found help in our music to help navigate this terrain. We all have more questions than answers.”
Detweiler and Bergquist have held fundraisers and jam sessions on their property before, but he said the festival is a whole different animal. There is a lot of information about hotels and campsites on the festival website (camping on the property might be an option in the future, but not yet). He also doesn’t pretend to have a timetable on when the barn will be finished.
“There are a lot of moving pieces when expanding to the festival format,” Detweiler said. “It has been more challenging than we anticipated. Hopefully, people will be patient with us. The barn is a work in progress. Every time I make a pronouncement on it, I can hear God belly-laughing.”
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