Attendants dance and hula-hoop during Boot Juice's performance on Saturday evening at the Bob Marshall Music Festival.
Headliner Casey Donahew plays with his band late on Friday night.
Amanda Stewart singing during her performance on Saturday evening.
Attendees compete in the adult potato sack race for free beer on Saturday evening.
Brett Worley, also known as the "Bass Wizard," riffs on his bass guitar during Boot Juice's performance on Saturday night
Percussionist Josh Keehr of El Wencho rocking out on the congas during their performance Friday evening.
SEELEY LAKE - Raised on a rugged ranch in Northwestern Montana, Bozeman-based artist Amanda Stewart discovered the way Montana's unique landscape inspired her music from a young age. Her vivid memories of Country Fair karaoke contests with her mom and singing ballads in her dad's Silverado are part of the reason she signed onto the sixth annual Bob Marshall Music Festival - to experience the talent of Montana-based artists in a place close to the country.
"The experiences Montana has are just so special compared to a city," Stewart said. "I live on an acre out of town and it's so cool to walk out my door and hear the birds sing and nothing else. I can sit there and I can just strum my guitar and be inspired by nature and my thoughts."
An American folk, country and pop artist, Stewart has over 15 years of performing under her belt. This is Stewart's second year attending the Bob Marshall Music Festival alongside a diverse lineup of nine different bands and artists from Montana and beyond. Max Pigman, Lewis and Clark Brewing Company and CEO, said this is one of the biggest festivals they've hosted in the three years he's been managing the Bob Marshall.
Attendance was capped at 1,500 people, with an expected attendance of around 1,000 to 1,200 people. Pigman said he expects the festival will continue to grow as the years go on, but that he plans to keep it at a "manageable" capacity.
"I don't have any grandiose dream of turning it into something massive," Pigman said. "This last year was the first time we actually did a little better than breaking even. We hope we can make a little bit of money in the event that we can put towards trying to get bigger artists for the next year."
This year's headliners included Casey Donahew, a favorite among the Texas country scene, and Deer Tick, a popular alternative rock-folk band from Providence, Rhode Island. Other artists included Sterling Drake, El Wencho, Josh Meloy, Stewart and Cruz Contreras.
This is Contreras' third year performing at the Bob Marshall Music Festival. A multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter and producer, Contreras said he's stubborn when classifying his music under any type of "genre."
"I studied classical and jazz piano and grew up playing bluegrass and country and my music is kind of an accumulation of all of that," Contreras said.
While Contreras has Tennessee roots, he said he enjoys returning to Montana to explore. He most recently visited Glacier National Park and said he's made friends with Pigman and other people in Seeley Lake over the years. Out of all the artists playing at the Bob Marshall Music Festival, he said he was most excited to see Deer Tick perform because of their unique mix of alternative rock and folk.
"I've been familiar with them and we played some festivals together," Contreras said. "Coincidentally, we stayed in the same hotel rooms on the road. Last night was the first time I really gotta catch their entire set and I thought they were really cool."
While Deer Tick is not a Montana band, other Montana-based singers got their time in the limelight, including El Wencho and Matt Strachan. Stewart's mom even got to sing alongside her for part of her performance.
"I grew up singing with my mom," Stewart said. "She kind of took a step back when she had me but she's always been so supportive and she knows all my songs. Just recently I've been trying to get her to sing with me again. She's been kind of hesitant and nervous but I finally convinced her."
Stewart said she hoped to return next year for the Bob Marshall Festival and is excited to see what lies in the future of Montana-based artists receiving more recognition for their music.
"I'm pretty excited about what's happening with music in Montana," Stewart said. "In Montana, in general, I think there's a lot of people starting to see there's a lot of talent here."
To learn more about Stewart's music and her upcoming releases visit https://amandastewartmusic.com. A full list of Louis and Clark Brewing's live music events can be found at https://www.lewisandclarkbrewing.com/music-events.
Reader Comments(0)