.png){kind=small}
According to our records, we have spent six of the last seven years at the same place during the first weekend of June. On June 2nd it’ll become seven for eight as we return to the Redwood Mountain Faire in Felton at Roaring Camp. This festival has seemingly become a staple in our calendar, and whether we’re on stage under our own name, or backing friends like Henry Chadwick, the Redwood Mountain Faire is a weekend we look forward to every year so we were very excited to be asked to headline Saturday June 2nd this year.
Last year we wrote about our history with the faire going back to its original site at Highlands Park in the 90’s (http://www.coffisbrothers.com/redwood-mountain-faire-2017/) so this year I thought I’d share some of our most memorable experiences at the Redwood Mountain Faire from this last decade.
Redwood Mountain Faire, 2017. Photo by Steve Kuehl.
In 2011 we had just recorded our first album, and with only a handful of gigs under our belts we were pretty damn excited that we were going to be playing the Redwood Mountain Faire that Summer. I hesitate in even bringing up this story for fear that it will happen again, but for a proper and accurate history of the Coffis Brothers at the RMF, the storm year needs to be included. You know those Summer days in Santa Cruz when it’s cloudy and cold and just dumps rain incessantly all day? Of course you don’t! That never happens! Anyway, I’m sure you can predict how this story ends. If you can’t, here’s how it ended. It rained all day and we played outside in the rain. It goes without saying that 2011 wasn’t our most enjoyable experience at the faire but the years that followed have more than made up for the storm of 2011.
In 2012 and 2013 we were back at the faire on sunny Saturday’s playing on the Meadow Stage. Over those two years we got to enjoy sets from friend’s bands including the Brothers Comatose and Wooster as well as discover bands we didn’t know at the time but would eventually share the stage with like The Soft White Sixties.
In 2014 we played as My Stupid Brother, led by Henry Chadwick. A couple days earlier, under the Coffis Brothers title, we were in San Luis Obispo opening for Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real who would be headlining the faire on that Saturday. We ran into Lukas that day and he asked us to sing some backups for him on an Al Green tune. We didn’t really know what we were doing but our nerves were calmed after receiving some kind words from Lukas’ bass player as we walked on stage saying, “the singing is less important. It’s all about the backup dancing.” We surely did not nail that aspect, but nonetheless we had a great time.
In 2015 we spent that Saturday driving back from Portland so we could close out the Creekside Stage on Sunday. Somewhere along that drive Kyle got violently sick and spent most of that Sunday morning with his head near a toilet bowl. Kyle was a trooper though and played the whole set like a champ. We never could identify exactly what caused the illness but the leading suspect was a less than ideal Round Table Pizza in Yreka, California and their ranch dressing.
2016 was our one year away from the RMF but we were back on the bill in 2017. As memorable as our Meadow Stage set was on Saturday (for not exactly all the right reasons,) getting to play in an impromptu set with our friend, Taylor Rae, where we traded songs back and forth on an acoustic guitar on Sunday was certainly a highlight of that weekend for us.
It’s hard to believe that we’ve been involved with the RMF for so many years now. We feel really lucky to be involved in an event like this in the town where we grew up. We are very excited for this year’s faire and we feel honored to have been asked to close out the Meadow Stage on Saturday June 2nd. We want to thank all the good people who help make this weekend happen every year, as well as the the San Lorenzo Valley community as a whole for being such a supportive audience to us for these last eight years. We can’t wait to see you all Saturday at Roaring Camp.
https://www.redwoodmountainfaire.com/
https://www.redwoodmountainfaire.com/tickets/
RMF 2016. Photo by Michael Pegram
Redwood Mountain Faire 2014 with Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real.
Redwood Mountain Faire 2013
Redwood Mountain Faire 2012.
