Bringing the North Bay sound to the world
When Josh Windmiller first started his band, The Crux, in 2007, he was working on his masters at Sonoma State University. While there, he designed curricula for outdoor education programs, including one for the university’s nature preserve. But it was music that truly held his heart.
Eight years later, he’s made his mark in the local music scene and beyond—and not just with the lyrical, humorous, old-timey folk/punk sounds of his multi-piece band’s music, but by promoting and celebrating music in our community.
“When it comes to music scenes, people think of New York, Los Angeles and New Orleans—not really the North Bay or Santa Rosa. They think this is where artists go to retire,” he says. “My idea is to help make the North Bay the kind of place where I want to be. To bring music into places it isn’t normally found and to expand engagement—to make the North Bay a hub for entertainment. I see it as a cultural production.”
Windmiller started his production company, North Bay Hootenanny, with a few friends in 2010. The first show was at Arlene Francis Center. “It was a huge success,” he says. “People discovered bands, and new bands started because of it. We did events for the next couple years and then started doing things monthly and more often.”
Do what you love, right? And if you aren’t familiar with what the company does, here’s a quick taste: It booked the music at The Great Handcar Regatta (2010-2011) and still books the bands for Petaluma’s Rivertown Revival (2012-present); and a stage at the Far West Fest in West Marin County (2014-present); among several others. On Sundays, it hosts a stage at the West End Farmers Market in Santa Rosa (mid-March through mid-December). North Bay Hootenanny also is starting to work with the SoMo Concerts at Sonoma Mountain Village and the first event there featured the Rebirth Brass Band, El Radio Fantastique and The Dixie Giants on September 6 (www.somoconcerts.com).
In June, it produced the Railroad Square Music Festival, which is set to become an annual event. “There were about 3,000 people throughout the course of the day,” he says of the free event that included two main music stages (featuring The Brothers Comatose, T Sisters, The Sam Chase, Marty O’Reilly & the Old Soul Orchestra, Frankie Boots and the County Line, John Courage, Rainbow Girls, Barrio Manouche, Bad Apple String Band and The Hubbub Club); a circus tent; a busking area (where artists performed for tips); The Shop Party, where a team of local crafters set up a merchant area with tinctures, ’zines, DIY products and more; a family area with kids’ activities; food and drinks; and the Luddart Drawing Rally, which featured four rounds of local artists drawing onsite, which, in effect, created a pop-up art gallery with its items auctioned to support the festival.
“I felt like [the Railroad Square Music Festival] was a culmination of five years of promoting music in the community. As Santa Rosa and Railroad Square grow, the festival will be the soundtrack,” he says.
If you visit the North Bay Hootenanny website (www.northbayhootenanny.com), you’ll be right in the middle of all the action. You can sign up for its mailing list and become the go-to person for entertainment ideas among your friends, family and colleagues. You can also follow it on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The company strives to work with local businesses to grow the music and arts community in all sorts of ways, including festivals and other events, social media outreach, transportation to music events, promoting collaboration of equipment and space, and much more. “When I first started with this, social media played a big part in making it happen. It went viral in a small town kind of way.”
Windmiller’s given surname is Stithem, but he goes by Windmiller as his “stage” name “because it’s easier to spell and pronounce. Plus a lot of what I want to do is social, and tasty words are important for that: ‘hootenanny’ and ‘Windmiller’ are fun to say.
“My passion is to bring music to more areas of the community,” he says, citing his enthusiasm for companies like Oliver’s Markets, which has a “real music” project where the markets play and sell local music in the store. “That sort of support is of utmost importance,” he says. “Arts and culture run on love and appreciation. Their success is built on networks and passion.
“And it’s not just the artists,” he continues. “It’s the public and businesses. I think you can bring music to all sorts of things. The community loves it and pays attention. And you can’t underestimate music and art’s role in the business community,” he says. “People understand how important the arts are not only for enjoyment, but in generating economic success for communities and retaining and drawing young people to the area. Whatever I can do to excite people about that, and to encourage collaboration, I’ll do.” This includes an artist residency in San Francisco, where he’s working to book bands and other artists, all the while ensuring everyone’s aware of what’s happening North of the Golden Gate.
