By SHERYL HUNTER

For the Recorder

Phil Simon of Warwick has been in the music business for over 30 years. He operates Simon Says Booking and Publicity based in Orange, and last year he assumed the role of Program Consultant at the Shea Theater Arts Center in Turners Falls. He also now books shows at that venue under the banner of The Shea Presents, and in addition, he performs regionally with his own band, rice: an American Band.

However, one of his most significant accomplishments is that he and his family hosted the Old 78 Farm Fall Festival at his farm in Warwick for the past ten years. Unfortunately the festival is no more, but because so many people have such great memories of the event, Simon is bringing the Old 78 Farm Fall Festival Reunion to the Shea Theater on Saturday, January 21, at 7 p.m.

Woody & the Rebel Alliance, rice: An America Band, and Whalom Park are the bands performing at the show. Force (Garrick Perry), the rapper from the Alchemystics, will be the Master of Ceremonies for the evening.

Because of his involvement in the music business, Simon had long thought about hosting a music festival and was always looking for potential locations. Then, one day when he and his wife, Angel, were out doing yard work, it dawned on him that he was standing in the perfect spot for a music festival – his own farm in Warwick.

Angel Simon was immediately on board and ready to move forward. Since Phil Simon was a booking agent, he could easily pull together a lineup, and from there the two tapped into the talents of other family members. Simon’s brother is a barbecue chef, his sister a lighting designer and his wife and mother-in-law are great cooks who provided some of the food that became a festival staple.

“It was my turn,” said Simon about his decision to start the festival. “I go to festivals, I sell my band to festivals, I’m involved with a million events, so in a way hosting the festival was my turn to give back to the community.”

The first Old 78 Farm Fall Festival was held in 2004. It started small and grew every year, and by the time of its final year, 2019, it was attracting nearly 500 people. The festival was always a family-friendly event, full of craft vendors, food and music. Some bands that performed over the years included Bella’s Bartok, the Adam Ezra Band, Start Making Sense, DeadBeat, LoveWhip, Wildcat O’Halloran, and so many more. All types of music were played, and each festival was a mix of local and nationally known acts.

Looking back, was there a particular year that stood out as a favorite?

“Well that’s a whole Sophie’s choice thing,” said Simon with a laugh. “I have to say that I felt like every single year we continued to raise the level of what we were doing up to the final year when we brought in a stage from outside and we had great lights. We were starting to throw a major-level event toward the end, and I couldn’t believe we were doing it out in the middle of the woods.”

But all things come to an end, and 2019 was the last festival. It’s natural to think that it ended because of COVID, but that was not the case. The decision to stop came about well before the pandemic hit. It occurred when many of the crew members announced that, for various reasons, 2019 would be the last year that they would be able to work at the festival.

“You can replace people one or two at a time, but the idea of replacing half of the crew all at once was rather daunting, so we had made that call. And it was like that was perfect,” said Simon of the decision to end the festival.

It was an excellent ten-year run, and the memory lives on in many of those who attended.

“People always come up to me all the time to tell me what a good time they had at the fest, and we are really proud of it and are happy it’s something that we did,” he said.

To give people a place to share those memories, Simon decided to hold the Old 78 Farm Fall Festival Reunion this January.

“In the year that I had been putting shows on at that Shea, so many people have asked me about the festival. I thought it was a good reason for us to come together and revive the concept, at least a little bit. The fact that it’s January and the Shea schedule is light, plus it’s a good time of year to pull people together, also factored into the decision to do this show now.”

Simon had no problem assembling a lineup. “I wanted three bands, and they all said yes. Rebel Alliance played the last five or six festivals. My band, rice, has not played at the Shea, so we wanted to do that,” he said. “And Whalom Park is from Athol, so they are a real local band.”

All three bands play the kind of rockin’ music that will get the crowd moving, and all three play original material that draws from various influences. Woody & the Rebel Alliance have a strong reggae and jam band background, Whalom Park calls their music ‘funkadelic rock,’ and rice lives up to its name and sums up their music as good ol’ American rock music.

And to capture some of the elements of the festival, there will be vendors and some food available.

“If we have 25 or 50 people hanging out at the Shea for the night, that’s great,” said Simon about his expectations for the night. “And if it turns out that there are a couple of hundred people that want to remember the festival, that’s great too.”

Tickets are $15 in advance and available at sheatheater.org, or $20 the day of the show. Doors open at 6:30 p.m and all ages are welcome to attend.

Shea Theater launches ‘Foyeur Enjoyment’ concert series

Also happening at the Shea Theater, on Friday, January 27, will be the launch the Foyer Enjoyment concert series, which will feature up-and-coming talent playing in the theater’s lobby. Opel, a band from Springfield, is the debut band of this new series, and they say their sound consists of “driving bass, complex percussion, dark melodic keyboards, and intense electric guitar leads.”

“Part of the challenge of running the Shea is it has to be worthwhile to open it. So hosting small shows in the lobby is a way to utilize the building on nights you don’t expect a couple of hundred people to show up,” said Phil Simon about the series. “This trend is happening all over the country – even the Kennedy Center is doing it.”

These small shows allow the theater to operate without brining in the full staff (lighting, sound, etc.) that they require when presenting shows on the main stage.

As Simon said, it allows the bands “a Shea experience,” while the audience can discover new talent in an intimate, relaxed setting. All the shows will be acoustic or use a small sound system and are expected to draw 25 to 50 people.

The show is at 7 p.m., all ages are welcome, and admission is pay-what-you-want. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds.

Sheryl Hunter is a freelance writer who resides in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national publications. She can be reached at Soundslocal@yahoo.com.

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