Performing rock tunes in a Longview park is the perfect way to spend a summer weekend for an Okotoks musician.
Southern rock band Apache Moon is one of 16 acts to play the Longstock Music and Arts Festival in Smith-Fuller Centennial Park this weekend and the band’s vocalist and bass player John Stalgitis is excited to rock the stage for another year.
The festival runs Aug. 19 from noon to 9:30 p.m. and Aug. 20 from noon to 7 p.m. Apache Moon plays Saturday at 5 p.m.
“To me it’s always the highlight of the summer,” said Stalgitis. “I look forward to it every year. It’s a really big social event. One thing it doesn’t lose is the country feel and I feel that’s super important.”
This is the second year Apache Moon will play Longstock, but Stalgitis performed in the festival previously with the band Black Sheep.
“I feel really fortunate to be able to do this every year,” she said. “It’s getting a little bit bigger as it grows but that’s par for the course.”
Stalgitis said he couldn’t image a summer without the musicianship and friendliness that Longstock offers.
“The small town community really shows in this,” he said. “You get to see people you haven’t seen in a while. All these people come together and you make new friends. It’s the small town feel all the way across the board.”
Apache Moon will entertain its audience with iconic by The Rolling Stones and Steve Earle.
“We’re a good party band,” Stalgitis said. “We seem to be more eclectic than the rest of the bands that do country rock. Our Tom Petty is one of the strongest out there along with some Lynryd Skynyrd. It’s a good cross section of music.”
Event founder and organizer Eva Levesque said the there are a variety of genres. Grammy Award-winning rhythm and blues artist Donald Ray Johnson headlines on Aug. 19 at 8 p.m.
A different band will play every hour throughout the two days including The Blonde and the Bluesmen, Bronca Billy, Magnolia Buckskins, The Travelling Mabels, Over the Moon and Wine Soaked Preachers.
Levesque said she has no problem finding bands to perform at Longstock. In some cases, it’s the bands calling her.
“They love outdoor shows, outdoor festivals,” she said. “They love playing outside because the sound is so much better. It carries throughout the whole village.”
Most of the music played is cover tunes, ranging from blues and country to folk and rock, said Levesque.
Last year’s crowds exceeded more than 1,000 people each day, she said.
“It’s growing every year,” she said. “The same people come back and they bring their family and friends. It’s the ambiance. It’s the ultimate beautiful little community location for this event.”
More than 40 vendors will be selling wares and offering face-painting and henna tattooing, an abundance of food and the work of 17 local artists featuring paintings, prints, photographs and sculptures.
Longview painter Deanna Lavoie Sinton has been displaying her art in the festival for about five years.
“It’s a good venue just to show off what Longview has to offer with local artists,” she said. “It’s a great way to get into the community and show visitors what we’ve got here. We’ve got some really amazing artists and photographers who are there.”
Among the benefits of featuring her art at Longstock is getting exposure, meeting new people and networking with other artists in the region, said Lavoie Sinton.
“We’ve got a lot of artists that have been coming for years and they really love the atmosphere in the artist tent,” she said. “There’s some great talent.”
Lavoie Sinton will showcase a selection of her limited edition prints and her award-winning Journey to Remembrance painting.
“I will have a variety of price points for people and just show a cross section of my work to show what I’ve been doing for the last year,” she said.
The cost to attend Longstock is a minimum $10 donation.
For more details about the festival go to longstock.org
