Multigenerational audience packs second Flye Point music festival

BROOKLIN – The idyllic setting was a subject that old and young folkies and fans and musicians kept returning to Saturday at the Flye Point Music and Crafts Festival on the grounds of the Lookout Inn.

The festival, which featured folk stalwarts Don McLean, Richie Havens, Jonathan Edwards and others, drew nearly 4,000 people, nearly double last year’s attendance, according to Lookout Inn owner Butch Smith.

During last year’s Flye Point festival – the first – Smith had to cancel the Saturday schedule when thunderstorms rolled through, but he was able to persuade musicians and fans to return Sunday.

This year it was hot – as high as the 90s in nearby inland towns – but the closer one got to the stage, the more one could feel the cool breeze coming off Blue Hill Bay.

A field gently sloping toward the shore from the inn provided the setting, and most attending brought portable chairs or blankets. There also were plenty of food and drink vendors.

Festival volunteers directed cars to two fields for parking, and school buses shuttled people to and from the festival grounds less than a mile away.

Mike and Elaine Hewes of Sedgwick looked comfortable in the sun, relaxing between performances.

“It’s a nice place to be,” said Mike Hewes, 56, who attended last year’s event. Gordon Bok and Richie Havens were the draws for him this year.

“Richie Havens has been a longtime favorite,” he said.

Elaine Hewes, 54, said the festival succeeded in creating “a local gathering with a good spirit.” Folk music continues to be vital, she said, “especially now. There’s an honesty about it, and right now it’s critical to counteract all the other voices.”

Sue Comins of Bangor, her son James Comins and their friend Nancy Grimes of Winterport did not attend last year, but wanted to hear the music this time.

“I was interested in Gordon Bok and Richie Havens,” said Sue Comins, who is in her 50s.

Grimes, 63, said the Comins family treated her to the festival, and she described it as “wonderful.”

“We all liked the Cuban song,” Grimes said of “Chan Chan,” a song performed by the Mammals. “They were really hot.”

Jeff Lindel, 40, and his wife, Tracey, 35, of Swanville and their children, Lake, 19 months, and Jett, 2 months, enjoyed the shade of an umbrella along with the music.

The couple heard about the festival on the radio and were interested in hearing Sarah Lee Guthrie and Don McLean.

With the children getting antsy, Jeff predicted: “I don’t think we’ll make Don McLean,” who was scheduled to perform last.

Sarah Tilton, 36, of Unity, attending for the first time, was interested in hearing Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, The Mammals and Jonathan Edwards. The Mammals were “fabulous,” she said, a sentiment repeated by many around the festival grounds.

About two-thirds of the audience was over 50 – and some well into their 70s – but the festival wasn’t completely tilted toward baby boomers.

The Mammals and the husband-and-wife team of Guthrie and Irion represented the next generation of folkies. Sarah Lee Guthrie is the daughter of Arlo Guthrie and the granddaughter of folk icon Woody Guthrie.

The Mammals includes Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, the grandson of Pete Seeger, and Ruthie Ungar, the daughter of Jay Ungar, whose “Ashokan Farewell” was the theme of Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary.

Both The Mammals and Guthrie and Irion joined each other onstage at times, incorporating fuzzed-up electric guitar solos, drums and bass, and – at least once – banjo feedback distortion. If purists were offended, they didn’t show it, as both bands had the audience on its feet at times.

ReenAnn Downing, 18, and Polly Hyde, 19, both of Midland, Texas, were visiting friends in the Blue Hill area.

“We both loved The Mammals,” Downing said. She and her friends had just returned to their blanket from buying an armload of CDs by The Mammals and Guthrie and Irion.

Smith seemed pleased with the turnout Saturday. He said last year’s rain meant an extra expense of about $6,000 for leasing equipment an extra day. He said next year might be the first time the festival makes a profit.

On Saturday, the only problem posed by a cloudless, hot summer day was the demand for ice.

“We’re probably going to use every bag of ice in Brooklin before the night is over,” Smith said.