Inaugural LexFest a success

By Keith Halladay

On Saturday, October 9, I attended the first annual Lexfest, held at HomeGrown HideAways, a delightful patch of farmland and forest located in a holler about eight miles east of Berea. The festival was the brainchild of Jon Imeson, also (and perhaps better) known to Lexingtonians as DJ Selektro and a familiar face to local club-goers.

Now, eight miles east of Berea is a good ways away from Lexington, but when I met him at the festival grounds a little after noon, shortly before the music was to begin, I decided against asking him why he’d chosen such a geographically imprecise name for his first foray out of the DJ booth and into festival promotion; I figured he had enough on his plate already. Instead, he showed me the music stage—not large, but atmospheric, and well equipped with quality equipment and sound guys who knew how to use it. Beyond the stage lay three open fields for parking and camping, and in the middle a concession stand with pulled-pork sandwiches and veggie soup.

Throw in the unseasonably warm and sunny weather, and Lexfest 2010 was shaping up to be the perfect festival on the perfect day. Except then the first band, Lipstick Pistol, played most of its set in front of an audience of exactly three: Imeson, the sound guy, and a goat name of Dottie.

I know this for a fact because I’m in the first band. We’ve played, like most acts working the bar scene, in near-empty rooms before, but the goat was new. And while the sound guy and Jon had to be there, Dottie stayed, voluntarily, the whole time.

“Man, that is one cool-ass goat,” our guitarist, Bruce, whispered to me as we packed our gear after the set. So cool, in fact that the goat stayed for every band’s set, and was joined as the afternoon progressed by a slow-but-steady stream of humans, and by early evening more than 100 of them dotted the grounds, with plenty more to follow. Every festival promoter’s worst nightmare was thus averted. Not bad for a first try.

But was it a “success?” Imeson: “[Lexfest 2010) was me sacrificing everything I had just so this event could happen. When it did finally happen, it was quite a relief. And enough people showed up to make it somewhat break even. So I’m completely satisfied for my first throwing of a festival.”

So will there be a Lexfest 2011, and will this year’s strong lineup of musicians be still improved? “Yes,” says Imeson. “Next year, as far as lineup goes, I want more variety and more time, most likely a two-day festival. I want to feature more genres, such as jazz and bluegrass. I want to have more vendors both food and art, with a focus on local businesses and artists. And I still want to have a complete local lineup for the event.”

So more jazz and bluegrass, though the full lineup, headlined by master DJ Milyoo, was already pretty diverse (and too long to list here; surf to www.lex-fest.com to check it out). But here’s hoping Imeson doesn’t change the venue: despite the distance from Lexington and the need for a bit more signage on the approach roads, HomeGrown HideAways, an ecological and sustainable development workshop facility when not hosting festivals, is an idyllic spot for Lexfest.

And keep the goat, too. That was a cool-ass goat.