The New York Pawpaw Festival was held September 26 and 27 at Magic Forest Farm in Coeymans Hollow. #981KZE spent the weekend there with the KZE Kamper, recording performances and covering a festival that brought together live music, agriculture, permaculture, food, workshops and the pawpaw itself.
More Than a Music Festival
George Adler put a tremendous amount of work into the festival, and his idea for the event went well beyond simply putting bands on a stage for a weekend. George has talked about wanting his events to be places where people can meet, learn and grow, and the Pawpaw Festival reflected that throughout the property.
The music existed alongside growers, vendors, workshops and discussions about agriculture and permaculture. Some people were there because they were interested in pawpaws and farming, some came for the music, and there was plenty of overlap between the two.
Magic Forest Farm Sets the Scene
Magic Forest Farm was an important part of the weekend. The property in Coeymans Hollow covers more than 200 acres of woods, fields, trails, agricultural areas and camping. You were walking through an actual farm during the festival, which gave the agricultural side of the event a very different context than it would have had at a conventional concert site.
Rain, Mud and a Weekend on the Farm
The weather was difficult for much of the weekend, with steady rain creating muddy conditions across the property. That presented plenty of challenges for everyone producing an outdoor festival, but the music, workshops and other activities continued throughout the weekend. The rain also gave Magic Forest Farm a completely different appearance, particularly in the wooded areas, and there was something particularly appropriate about attending an agricultural festival while experiencing the farm in actual fall weather.
Trying a Pawpaw for the First Time
I had also never tried a pawpaw before this weekend.
The pawpaw, Asimina triloba, is the largest edible fruit native to North America. It grows naturally through much of the eastern United States, yet many people living within its range have never tasted one. The fruit has a soft texture and a flavor frequently compared with banana, mango and other tropical fruits.
My introduction to the pawpaw came in the form of a milkshake, which was excellent. The flavor was much more tropical than I expected from a fruit growing in this part of the country, and it was unlike anything I had tried before.
Ghosts of Jupiter, Spooklights and Laura Leigh Stand Out
Nate Wilson’s Ghosts of Jupiter was one of the highlights. Nate is an exceptional musician, and the band has the ability to open up the arrangements and improvise while still maintaining the structure and direction of the songs. Their performance was one of the sets I most enjoyed recording during the festival.
Spooklights was another standout and brought a completely different musical approach to the weekend. Their set added another dimension to a lineup that covered a lot of ground stylistically.
Laura Leigh was also excellent. We have had the opportunity to hear and record a large number of artists throughout the region this year, and she continues to be one of the musicians whose work stands out.
George did a particularly good job with the musical programming. The artists were different enough from one another that the weekend never settled into one sound, and the music was treated as an important part of the festival rather than something happening in the background while the agricultural programming took place.
Recording the Festival With the KZE Kamper
The KZE Kamper gave us the ability to record those performances directly from the festival. We have spent much of this year taking the Kamper to concerts, festivals, farms and independent venues throughout the region, building an archive of live music while also giving #981KZE the ability to cover these events from the location.
That has become an important part of what we are doing with the station. A significant amount of the best live music in this region does not take place in traditional concert halls. It happens on farms, at small festivals, in outdoor spaces and at independent venues. The Kamper allows us to bring a complete audio and video production operation into those environments and document performances that might otherwise disappear when the weekend is over.
Where Music, Agriculture and Community Meet
The New York Pawpaw Festival was another example of how much interesting work is happening at the intersection of music, agriculture and independent events in this region.
George Adler and everyone involved in producing the festival did an amazing job, particularly considering the weather they were dealing with. The event managed to bring together musicians, growers, farmers, vendors and people interested in learning more about pawpaws and permaculture without any one part of the festival overwhelming the others.
Despite the rain, Magic Forest Farm remained a beautiful setting throughout the weekend, the music was excellent, and George succeeded in creating the kind of event he described from the beginning: a place where people could come together, hear music, learn something and spend some time on the farm.
I also now understand why people get excited about pawpaws.
The milkshake was that good.
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