Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Something shakin’ on Shakedown Street?

Organizers see a future with festival

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By JENNIFER LIEBRUM
Express Staff Writer

     The south valley has the Northern Rockies Folk Festival and the reggae lovers have Marley in the Mountains. In the course of a year in the WoodRiverValley, there is symphony, the Jazz Fest, Ketch’em Alive and Back Alley Parties, bars booked months out with almost nightly live acts and appearances by big stars such as Bonnie Raitt.

     But valley resident Jason Fry thinks there’s room for at least one more event. And that’s what he envisions being the Sun Valley Shakedown.

     “We’re not quite weird enough to create a Coachella,” organizer Fry said of the now famous two-week showcase in the Southern California desert. “But I think we can be funky enough to support a signature music festival for Sun Valley.”

     Last year, the Shakedown hosted nearly 2,400 people for Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers and Bela Fleck and the Original Flecktones.

     This year’s lineup is coordinated with this summer’s Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival, a weeklong showcase of the area's 400-plus miles of continuous single-track trails with U.S.A. Cycling’s Cross Country Mountain Bike National Championship.

     On July 7, riders, spectators, visitors, locals and music lovers can congregate in Festival Meadows on Sun Valley Road and dance the evening away to D.J. Logic, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and headliner J.J. Grey and the MoFros.

     Fry, who is collaborating with Ride Sun Valley hosts, the Sun Valley Marketing Alliance and others to pull off the event, said there is always room for more concerts in a valley that “craves good music.”

     “We have a lot of one-off events and we have the symphony, where you can enjoy the beautiful music and surroundings with your wine and cheese,” he said. “But we lack a high-energy festival in Sun Valley. For all the events there are, there is no real signature festival for this town.”

     Working with Ride Sun Valley just makes good sense, he said.

     “As proper hosts, it is our duty to show them the best time we can and this is just another way to round out the offerings.”

     Guests will be served by vendors with food and beverages and the show will end early enough in the evening to carryover to area hotspots such as Whiskey Jacques’, where D.J. Logic will make another appearance. Festival ticket holders and bike festival participants will get special tickets deals, Fry said.

     Fry said he believes working with Ride Sun Valley will boost revenue and attendance for both events. He hopes festival attendance could reach 3,000 this year.

     “Ideally, I would like it to become a festival strong enough to lure people from all over the West by providing a little different, very diverse festival that Sun Valley can become known for.”   

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Early bird special

Tickets: Available now. Until June 1, a general admission ticket is $29. After, it increases to $34.

How: Visit www.sunvalleyshakedown.com.

When and where: July 7 at Sun Valley Festival Meadows.

Who: D.J. Logic, funk, jazz, hip/hop, at 6 p.m. Hear him spin at www.djlogic.com.

Dirty Dozen Brass Band, from New Orleans, at 7:15 p.m. Sample them at www.dirtydozenbrass.com.

J.J. Grey and MoFro, rhythm and blues/roots rock 'n' roll, 8:45 p.m. Try them at www. jjgrey.com.

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