The 13th “Homegrown Art & Music Festival” takes place noon-10 p.m. Saturday at Oaklawn Park in Sturgis.
Six bands perform on the main stage. Other musicians are featured at the beer garden throughout the day.
About 10 artists and artisans will be present, along with a farmers market participants. Youth activities are offered. Sturgis High School all-class reunion is an additional attraction.
There is no admission fee. For the first time in the festival’s history, QR codes will be posted at the site, to allow contributions via Venmo. All donations go toward the festival.
Music headliner is Phins Up (8-10 p.m.). Also performing are Renaser Norteño (noon-1 p.m.), Rebel Pride (1:15-2:30 p.m.), Spork Fight (2:45-4 p.m.), The Hipposonics (4:15-5:30 p.m.) and After Midnight (6-7:30 p.m.). Featured at the beer garden, and occasionally between sets on the main stage, is music by Issac Harper, Jim Knisley, Mick Kolassa and Delbert Walling.
Phins Up was formed in 2010 as a duo of Eric Wynes and Scott Swihart. Current members are Wynes (vocals and guitar), Kyle Dury (bass, vocals), BJ Groff (harmonica, vocals), Zach Handyside (lead guitar, vocals) and Steve Klingler (drums).
Wynes is festival co-founder and part of the committee that also includes bandmates, their family and friends.
In advance of the weekend event, Wynes took part in a Q&A with the Sentinel. He discusses highlights of this year’s festival, how the event was conceived and ways it has evolved.
Sturgis Sentinel: What excites you most about this year’s festival?
Eric Wynes: From a band member perspective, it is the chance to perform. This date is always on our radar and the one we look forward to the most. As a member the community, it is watching it all come together on the day of the festival. Watching the park come to life as the sun rises, the sounds and smells as it starts to take shape and the smiles on all the faces as people fill the park to enjoy a day full of music, art and fun.
Sentinel: Take us back to the beginning. How was the festival envisioned and developed? Did you draw inspiration from similar events you had attended or at which you performed?
Wynes: Early on, Scott (Swihart) and I had a desire to bring people to Oaklawn Park to watch them play and the idea for the festival was born. Fourteen years later, the festival is still growing and going strong.
Sentinel: Was there a point or year when you realized, we can continue this annually? What features have helped to establish longevity?
Wynes: Because we always think big and to give the festival some early credibility, we put “First Annual” on the first sign and logo. At the end of that first day, a community favorite who is no longer with us, Gene Curnow, approached us and said, “You two have started a legacy.” We didn’t start out with that in mind, and whether we did or not can be left to others to decide. But at the very least, we knew at the end of that first day we would do it again the following year.
Sentinel: How is the music lineup chosen each year? Is there a type of application process for performers, or do you find acts you like and contact them?
Wynes: We know a lot of the local musicians and early on we would reach out to them. These days, many reach out to us and ask to be included. We try to mix up the bands and genres to keep the day and event interesting, but there are always a few local favorites that always make the cut. Twice, we have brought in acts from outside the local community to try to expand the reach and publicity of the festival. That has worked well and we will do it again, but the primary focus will always be to celebrate all the talent we have right here.
Sentinel: This season’s lineup has a lot of variety, genre-wise: classic rock, country, blues, pop and hard rock, and I think that has been the case in most years. Is it a deliberate goal to get as wide of a mix as possible?
Wynes: Yes, it is deliberate. Nobody wants to hear six versions of “Brown Eyed Girl.” We are excited that we will have a Mexican folk band playing this year for the first time. We have included various local “praise” bands in many of the years.
Sentinel: Name some of the musical influences of Phins Up members, both personally and from a performance standpoint.
Wynes: Our influences are across the board. From Kiss to country. From Metallica to Marley. From Snoop Dogg to Spinal Tap. From Tone Loc to Tanya Tucker. From Billy Joel to Gin Blossoms. And of course, Phins Up finds it original roots in Jimmy Buffett. When we consider playing a song, we say “Can we ‘Phins Up’ it?” and we have 100-plus songs where we found the answer was “yes.” It is probably the reason we often hear, “We like your version better than the original artist.” In a Phins Up song, we hope you hear the original artist, but enjoy the twist that comes from each of our individual influences.
Sentinel: Are there notable bands frequently in the lineup that couldn’t perform at the 2024 festival?
Wynes: For sure — that happens every year. Everyone knows the date by now and many save it for us Others book out so far in advance that we can’t always make it work. We try to accommodate times during the day so bands can still play an evening gig elsewhere in some cases. Also, 14 years is a long time in the life of a band, so some favorites don’t exist anymore. Others we try to talk into reforming if only to play one last time at the Festival (You hear me, SonaKofa?!)
Sentinel: What feedback about the festival have you received through the years from performers and attendees?
Wynes: Some people would like to see bigger, national acts, but others like it best when it is 100% local. The cost of a well-known, national act is very cost-prohibitive, especially when you consider that attendance is free. We are very grateful to all of our sponsors that allow us to make it that way and still keep it growing. We have turned down a few bands over the years that we felt were a little too “aggressive” for the vibe of the event. But overall, we can honestly say that the feedback has been nothing but positive since the beginning. I’m sure there have been a complaint or two along the way. But more than anything we hear “Thank you!” and “See you next year!”
Sentinel: How did the all-class reunion tradition come into the mix?
Wynes: The festival organically had a reunion feel, right from the start. You could watch it happen as friends and neighbors came out to see what was happening. I think it was in the second or third year of the festival that the past-employees of Kirsch Company held their reunion at the festival. In 2014, Scott Swihart came up with the idea to make the festival the official site of the all-class reunion. That has been a fun addition ever since, as classes battle to see who can have the most people in attendance. The class of 1980 has a commanding lead over all others, with five titles since inception of the competition. Every year, there usually are a few tents for specific classes that choose to use the festival for their reunion.
Wynes extended a thank-you to numerous sponsors of Homegrown, notably Kiwanis Club of Sturgis (beer garden) and United Way of St. Joseph County (food court) for their continued support. The festival serves as a fundraiser for those organizations and in turn helps to keep Homegrown thriving. “These two organization complete the festival in ways we never could and help us make it a success,” Wynes said.
