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Mountain Music: Local bands hook up for a rock fest in the great outdoors
Carissa Wolf
It started small, really small: Just a handful of friends, one band and one very friendly patrol officer. Or so the legend of Rock the Mountain goes.
“The first year we did it, there were about 20 people. This year we’re at 15 bands instead of people,” said Rock the Mountain co-organizer and Question Authority’s Chris Trull of the rock fest’s humble beginnings.
But word quickly spreads about an event that fuses two of our favorite things: mountains and music.
“You’re sitting there, surrounded by the trees and mountains, but we have the same sound system you can get at any club,” Trull said.
Those original 15 campers told a few of their friends about the harmonious 1998 camp out near Crouch and by the next year, attendance swelled. Then those friends told their friends and their friends told their friends and well, you get the picture. Trull guesses about 500 campers took to the mountain to bask in the wilderness and rock ‘n’ roll during last year’s annual musical camp-out.
But according to legend, the original music-spiked camp-out almost never happened.
“We actually went up to Boiling Springs campground in the first place. We weren’t planning to play until Saturday, but we did the whole camping, partying, having a good time thing. But we were too loud for (other campers) so they called the rangers.”
Trull said the rangers discovered a loot of amps and guitars and figured the camp-out was only going to get louder.
The campers expected the boot, but Patrol Prevention Officer Francis White did just the opposite. He directed the high decibel, music-hungry revelers to a more secluded camp spot down the road.
Trull said White explained to the campers that they too had the right to use the mountain, and thus a legend and annual festival was born.
“The kids have grown up hearing about White. He’s become a kind of folk hero to them for hooking us up,” Trull said.
But large-scale camp-outs that turn patrol officers into folk heroes and campgrounds into amphitheaters demand more responsibility than relaxation for some, Trull said.
Just take the volume of trash and waste 500-plus campers create. It’s a responsibility the musicians who make Rock the Mountain happen gladly accept.
“We have to plan for waste. It got to the point that all of the sudden we had a festival on our hands. We didn’t just have a camp-out.”
Trull said campers and organizers leave the camp area spotless, which he says has earned the fest-goers respect from forest rangers and patrol officers.
Plus, the camp-out is as much about respecting and celebrating the land as it is about music, Trull said.
But unlike many outdoor music festivals, the bands pay to keep the forest clean so campers can enjoy rock in the wild for free.
“Every band pays to play because it takes money to put it on.”
While you enjoy the sights and sounds for free, you might want to thank the bands for paying for those Porta-Potties, lights and generators.
But the investments are totally worth it, Trull said.
For starters, the festival brings not only fans and bands but bands and bands together.
“It seems like it’s been positive for the local band scene. These bands are now playing gigs together and they haven’t before.”
And a nice network never hurts when your amps have their limits, Trull said.
“The more bands and the more musicians who know each other, the more resources everyone has because you may know a band who knows a band who knows a band. We all have new contact lists now. We’ve had situations where equipment has failed. But because we’ve known other musicians, we’ve been able to call them up and say, ‘Hey my amp died.’ They know what it’s like to be at a show with no amp.”
The other rewards for negotiating Porta-pottie contracts, organizing shuttle rides, and hauling generators in the woods are less tangible, Trull said.
“You see people on stage who have never played (outdoors) before ... People that come out just have a lot of fun and want to come back.”
Edition Date: 07-14-2003
Mountain Music: Local bands hook up for a rock fest in the great outdoors
Carissa Wolf
It started small, really small: Just a handful of friends, one band and one very friendly patrol officer. Or so the legend of Rock the Mountain goes.
“The first year we did it, there were about 20 people. This year we’re at 15 bands instead of people,” said Rock the Mountain co-organizer and Question Authority’s Chris Trull of the rock fest’s humble beginnings.
But word quickly spreads about an event that fuses two of our favorite things: mountains and music.
“You’re sitting there, surrounded by the trees and mountains, but we have the same sound system you can get at any club,” Trull said.
Those original 15 campers told a few of their friends about the harmonious 1998 camp out near Crouch and by the next year, attendance swelled. Then those friends told their friends and their friends told their friends and well, you get the picture. Trull guesses about 500 campers took to the mountain to bask in the wilderness and rock ‘n’ roll during last year’s annual musical camp-out.
But according to legend, the original music-spiked camp-out almost never happened.
“We actually went up to Boiling Springs campground in the first place. We weren’t planning to play until Saturday, but we did the whole camping, partying, having a good time thing. But we were too loud for (other campers) so they called the rangers.”
Trull said the rangers discovered a loot of amps and guitars and figured the camp-out was only going to get louder.
The campers expected the boot, but Patrol Prevention Officer Francis White did just the opposite. He directed the high decibel, music-hungry revelers to a more secluded camp spot down the road.
Trull said White explained to the campers that they too had the right to use the mountain, and thus a legend and annual festival was born.
“The kids have grown up hearing about White. He’s become a kind of folk hero to them for hooking us up,” Trull said.
But large-scale camp-outs that turn patrol officers into folk heroes and campgrounds into amphitheaters demand more responsibility than relaxation for some, Trull said.
Just take the volume of trash and waste 500-plus campers create. It’s a responsibility the musicians who make Rock the Mountain happen gladly accept.
“We have to plan for waste. It got to the point that all of the sudden we had a festival on our hands. We didn’t just have a camp-out.”
Trull said campers and organizers leave the camp area spotless, which he says has earned the fest-goers respect from forest rangers and patrol officers.
Plus, the camp-out is as much about respecting and celebrating the land as it is about music, Trull said.
But unlike many outdoor music festivals, the bands pay to keep the forest clean so campers can enjoy rock in the wild for free.
“Every band pays to play because it takes money to put it on.”
While you enjoy the sights and sounds for free, you might want to thank the bands for paying for those Porta-Potties, lights and generators.
But the investments are totally worth it, Trull said.
For starters, the festival brings not only fans and bands but bands and bands together.
“It seems like it’s been positive for the local band scene. These bands are now playing gigs together and they haven’t before.”
And a nice network never hurts when your amps have their limits, Trull said.
“The more bands and the more musicians who know each other, the more resources everyone has because you may know a band who knows a band who knows a band. We all have new contact lists now. We’ve had situations where equipment has failed. But because we’ve known other musicians, we’ve been able to call them up and say, ‘Hey my amp died.’ They know what it’s like to be at a show with no amp.”
The other rewards for negotiating Porta-pottie contracts, organizing shuttle rides, and hauling generators in the woods are less tangible, Trull said.
“You see people on stage who have never played (outdoors) before ... People that come out just have a lot of fun and want to come back.”
Edition Date: 07-14-2003
