While rolling a cigarette, Brian Johnson reminisced on one of the first live music performances he attended when he was 16.
It was eight years ago that Brian Johnson, a guitarist for Gainesville band Locochino, attended the Farm to Family Full Moon Festival at the Don Appelbaum property. He’s gone to it every since,and this year he and his band will finally get to play at it.
Locochino's members want it to become a music festival band and after playing together for about two years, the band is making their dreams a reality. In March, they landed a spot to play at Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival in south Florida, which was a sold out show with over 30,000 attendees.
“Gainesville pulled through and was kind of what made that [Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival] happen,” Brian Johnson explained.
They had to win a Battle of the Bands contest to land a spot in the festival. About 40 Gainesville fans followed the band to Jacksonville to hear their 15-minute set and cast a vote in support of their music, according to the band’s manager Dave Johnson.
“A huge element of my musical inspiration is just festivals,” Brian Johnson said. “Playing Farm to Family is also a good opportunity because it’s a local festival.”
The festival will be celebrating its 11th anniversary at their new spot on the grounds of the All-Tech Raceway Park, located in Lake City. It will hopefully be the festivals permanent home, said Lainer Smith, one of the festival’s partners who manages the property.
“The stage and festival village will be nestled in the trees on the south end of the park,” Don Appelbaum, the festival’s organizer, said. “We all feel that this location is where we will set roots and grow.”
The festival first took place in 2005, with five or six bands and about 70 attendees. The bands used a trailer as their stage and the moon as their light.
In the first four years there was a show every 28 days, every time there was a full moon, Appelbaum said. It quickly developed into the three day, once-a-year festival it is today.
This year will also showcase a wide range of genres, in hopes of bringing people together who normally may not have crossed paths, Appelbaum said.
“We went from a farm to a family,” Appelbaum said. “The vibe I feel is family, probably because we have different genres of music. It brings different genres of people.”
Appelbaum said that no money has ever been made doing the shows. When asked about why he does it he said, “I guess the only reason could be that we love it.”
“Don is a good dude,” Brian Johnson said.
This year the festival will be April 22 through the 24, and Locochino will be playing on Saturday night. Farm to Family Full Moon Festival tickets can be purchased online at http://farmtofamily.com/music/buynow.html