MIDDLETOWN >> While Indio hosted GeezerFest this weekend, Middletown hosted its own music festival where most of the performers, in contrast, were young, fresh and diverse.
Although the crowds were small at the three-day Unity Festival at the Middletown Mansion Event Center, the atmosphere was big on peace, love and rock and roll…along with reggae, blues, country and several performers that defy music genre stereotyping.
Sure, Indio had the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney but Unity had Northern California Indie favorites the South Bay Dub All-Stars, the T Sisters and the Acoustic Embers along with David Gideon of Hidden Valley Lake, the neo-British invasion duo of Joseph Rose and Jasmin Kia of swinging England and the headliners, Big Mountain.
Unity Festival has held events in other Northern California cities but last weekend’s event was its first foray into Lake County. While the crowds were small — a few hundred over three days — the event’s promoter said he was pleased with it.
“We wanted to keep it small,” said Joseph “Josey” Roland, CEO of Unity Festival. He added he was so happy with the local event that he plans to bring it back to Lake County next year.
Larger Unity Festivals are held in Lake Havasu, Arizona (Spring), and Boulder, Colorado (Summer).
The Unity Festival is a family-friendly event designed to inspire a growing community of people coming together to promote conservation, stewardship and restoration of the planet. It focuses on interacting with others and celebrating unity through diversity.
Proceeds from the festival will be donated to St. Jude Research Hospital, South Lake County Fire Protection District and various local youth charities, promoters said.
It was a beautiful weekend for an outdoor music festival, with afternoon temperatures in the upper 70s, clear skies and only an occasional breeze just strong enough to shake the orange and brown leaves off oak and other trees at the Mansion.
To the right of the stage, on the horse ranch adjoining the Mansion property, riders demonstrated their abilities Saturday afternoon, often stopping to talk with festival guests. Beyond the horse ranch stands a large grove of blackened tree trunks, a reminder of last year’s Valley Fire.
“I was here yesterday but decided that today was the day to be here,” Janelle Moco of Hidden Valley Lake said on Saturday. “I wish there were more people here but the atmosphere is very relaxed.”
Moco came to see a friend, David Gideon, perform at the festival.
“It’s nice to have this in my home town rather than having to drive out of the county,” she added.
Erika Tietjen of Oakland, one-third of the T Sisters — yes, they really are sisters — said the festival’s promoters contacted them about playing at the event because, “They wanted some more female energy in the festival.”
The Sisters certainly added some of that energy, performing what Tietjen calls “American-roots music” with just vocals and guitar. Their new album, The Road, is scheduled for release on Friday.
Tietjen said of of the Middletown venue, “It’s a lovely place, a nice little oasis of shade. I know the community has had a lot of challenges with the fire. I hope we can lend a little bit of healing to the festival.”
She described the Unity Festival as, “A coming together of people in the community.”
Rachelle Ramm is half of the Alameda-based duo Acoustic Embers and were among the 17 or so performers at the festival. Acoustic Embers played some wicked acoustic Led Zeppelin along with the Rolling Sones’ “Wild Horses” and Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee.”
Vocalist Ramm is joined by partner Dermot Erwin on guitar.
“We’re here to support the community,” Ramm said Saturday after the duo’s afternoon set. “It’s for a great cause and it was a beautiful drive from Alameda. We wish the best for the people of Lake County.”
The young duo of Joseph Rose on guitar and Jasmin Kia on vocals received the Most Frequent Flyer Miles Award, traveling here from their hometown of Devon, England.
The couple are in the midst of an eight-month tour of the U.S., Mexico and South America while also recording an album of original songs.
“It’s nice to be at a low-key festival,” Kia said Saturday afternoon following the duo’s well-received acoustic performance.
She said the couple’s sound is “journey music, for people on a journey.”
Both Kia and Rose said they enjoy being in America, with Kia adding, “We find Americans to be very friendly, much more so than the English.” Rose nodded his agreement.
Saturday’s festival closed with Big Mountain, who had Top 100 songs in the late 1980s and 1990s. Their first song to hit the music charts was “Touch My Light” in 1993 from their first album, Wake Up.
They had a Top 10 single in the United States and Britain in the 1990s with, “Baby, I Love Your Way.” In May, the band released, Perfect Summer, their first album in 14 years.
The festival included a few vendor and food booths, along with the Lake County Eco Market, a local collective of artisans and healers that have an outdoor market every Friday in Middletown.
