‘We’re excited to be putting our efforts together.’ Local musicians team up to help showcase talented artists
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RIRIE — Organizers of a local music festival are trying to help regional bands, and touring artists gain exposure not only through the festival but also online.
Colter Wilson, Caleb Brown, and Derek Parry organized The South Fork Music Fest, which took place in August. It was the festival’s first year open to the public, as, during the past two years, the event was an artist showcase only for friends and families of the musicians performing. The multi-day festival featured two stages and a variety of different music genres.
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“We had over 360 people show up,” Wilson explained. “We had a really good turnout and had over 20 bands that performed.”
Wilson said something they are wanting to do with the event is turn it into an ‘Austin City Limits‘ style festival where they video and record the audio of the performers. The Austin City Limits Music Festival is held in Texas and is aired on PBS, according to Wilson.
“We’re trying to move in a trajectory that is more in line with what they are doing and have it be an exposure for the artists to perform at the festival each year,” he said.
They hired professional audio recording engineers and cinematographers to capture performances at the South Fork Music Festival this year. They hope to one day be connected with a network like PBS to broadcast the festival.
Community members are encouraged to subscribe to the South Fork Arts Foundation, Inc., YouTube channel — which is the nonprofit organization that puts on the music festival — where they can watch past performances. A new video from the festival will be released every Sunday. To watch the videos already shared, click here.
“People (can) check out our channel, and that way, if they missed the festival, they can see if it’s anything they’re interested in coming to for 2025,” Wilson stated. “Because it was a successful event we are preparing for 2025, (which will take place) Aug. 15 and Aug. 16.”
Wilson said he, Brown, and Parry are all musicians who are passionate about the music community, which influenced them to start the festival and inspired them to make it a popular event.
“We grew up in this town, and we’ve seen the lacking side of the music scene in Idaho. We’re trying to make a difference there,” Wilson explained. “There’s more things happening now that the community is growing and we feel like the time is right to have a successful music festival in the area. We’re excited to be putting our efforts together.”
Wilson said if there are outlets that want to help showcase the artists that performed at this year’s or next year’s event, they’d be interested in discussing how to collaborate with them.
They are also beginning to look for sponsors for next year. For more information on the festival, to become a sponsor or to contact the organizers, visit the event’s website, Facebook page or email them at info@southforkfest.com.
