Storyhill Fest 2022

 

After seeing 23 shows in 7 days at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, I headed Up North to see 10 concerts in 2 days at Storyhill Fest, the best little folk music festival in Minnesota. I attended Storyhill Fest every year from 2010-2014 (I think I just missed one in 2009), after which it went on hiatus for a few years. Storyhill Fest was scheduled to come back in 2020, but we know how that story goes. Finally, in 2021, I returned to Clearwater Forest Camp in the Brainerd Lakes area for two glorious days of music, and it was like the past 7 years slipped away. It was such a welcome return to a favorite place and event, especially after the many long months without any performing arts in 2020-2021. This year was the second year of this second incarnation of the Minnesota Storyhill Fest (similar fests have also been held in Storyhill's native Montana in the past), and once again it was a joyous celebration of music and community. There was vague mention of "next time" without any firm details, but follow Storyhill on Facebook or sign up for their newsletter for the latest information about the next Fest, and other upcoming Storyhill concerts. Read on for photos and info about the 8 additional artists who performed, all beautifully unique variations of the folk singer/songwriter genre, and click on their names to be taken to their website where you can listen to and/or buy their music, and find out about upcoming performances. Several of them are Minnesota-based, and if not, they'll come around again soon.

Storyhill Fest 2021

On the Monday of Labor Day Weekend of 2014, I drove away from Storyhill Fest at Clearwater Forest Camp, as I had the previous four years, but this time not knowing when I would return. What used to be an annual festival was no longer going to be a regular event. It took seven years (including one pandemic postponement), but this year we finally returned to the idyllic folk music festival in the Brainerd Lakes area of Minnesota. And in the weird way that time and memory work, it felt like I had never left. Settling into my dorm-like room in the lodge, walking the beautiful hiking trails on the grounds, going for a swim, sitting around the campfire (faux this year, because drought), and most of all sitting in a camp chair on a warm (or cool, because Minnesota) late summer day listening to an array of incredibly talented singer/songwriter/storytellers, it all felt so familiar, so real, so right. It felt like coming home, like coming out of a long drought, not of rain but of performing arts. As one of the performers said, we're not out of the woods of this pandemic yet, but for a few days, in this one place, we all came together (with appropriate safety protocols) to share and celebrate music and humanity.