Byfield Music and Arts Festival This Saturday
Saturday June 24th will be the fourth installment of the Byfield Music & Arts Festival at Manter Field in the Village of Byfield in Newbury, MA. This annual event is fast becoming one of North Shore Boston's premier festivals. The festival is put on by Fusion Blue Productions and the Byfield Community Arts Center. You are hard pressed to attend an indie music festival in New England and see Ryan Montbleau playing there. For the fourth consecutive year, the Ryan Montbleau Band will be performing at this event. Saturday will be their third appearance as the headliner, after taking a back seat to Zac Duputy last year.
This festival has three stages, two main stages side by side and a smaller third stage near the food and vending areas. This ensures very little downtime and the maximum number of bands can play in a single day.
BANDS ON MY RADAR:
Soul Rebel Project - The only other group to play at Manter Field for all four festivals is this Boston based reggae band from Gloucester. In November SRP was named High Times Magazine's Un-signed band of the month. This band has played Warped Tour in the past and are steadily moving up to a later time slot in Byfield and this year will be the second to last performance on the River Stage, just prior to Ryan Montbleau.
Cold Engines - The 2016 New England Music Award's Best Rock Band has a can't miss raw blues sound. For those traditional rock fans that aren't necessarily into the typical jam or funk vibes that are found at most festivals, this is the performance that you aren't going to want to miss. Cold Engines will be playing for the third straight year at Byfield. This New Hampshire band has played at big festivals such as Gathering of the Vibes and Mountain Jam in the past.
FESTIVAL FACTOID: Geoff Pilkington is the drummer for both bands.
Follow Jesse L. Medford on Twitter @JesseMedford or facebook.com/JesseLMedford Follow Vokuhila @VokuhilaLLC or facebook.com/VokuhilaLLC
About the author: In addition to Vokuhila, LLC, Jesse L. Medford is the owner of Pour at the Shore, LLC and a member of the Massachusetts Army National Guard. He also has a full-time telecommunications management job, volunteers with a few charities and also owns a handful of other businesses. Jesse lives in Lakeville, MA with his wife and two teenage children. As a journalist, Jesse has been published in many publications. Mostly for sports writing, with a heavy emphasis towards NASCAR articles. Jesse also has a passion for the music industry. He worked at his first concert in 1999 at Marilyn Manson's Beautiful Monsters Tour. The highlight of that night was not frisking the male ticket holders entering the former Patriot Center at George Mason University. It was getting to see the entire Manson performance without interruption. In addition to security, Jesse has been a vendor at numerous music festivals and has moved up into an executive ownership role and talent buyer. Jesse holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from Bridgewater State University.
