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Kent grad student puts on a show
By John Benson
By design, graduate projects are supposed to be convoluted ideas born out of years of education and study that come to fruition and mark your entry into the real world.
Perhaps on the surface, creating one’s own music festival may not appear to meet the above criteria; however, Kent State University graduate student Jodee Hammond has proved otherwise with her graduate project, the Rockin’ Country Festival, taking place Friday and Saturday in downtown Kent.
“Instead of doing a thesis to get my master’s degree, I decided to put together this festival,” said Hammond, a West Virginia native. “It all started when I attended the CMA Music Festival in Nashville last June. I thought it would be fun to bring a smaller version of that back to Kent. I know that a lot of music happens around here, but you don’t really hear country music too often, so I thought this would give people something different to do.”
Though the idea was conceived last summer, the wheels started turning slowly in the fall before Hammond dived headfirst into the project earlier this year. It’s been a grind, to say the least, but the public-relations major is enjoying every minute of wearing hats such as promoter, booker, publicist and peacekeeper.
“The time constraint has been my biggest challenge,” Hammond said. “I’m kind of coordinating everything between the bands and the establishments downtown. It takes a lot of effort, back-and-forth phone calls, to get everything organized. That’s actually taken a lot longer than I thought it would. I’ve actually become a little bit better at being more persistent.”
That persistence paid off early on when she attempted to find local country bands that play original music to fill out the bill. In fact, at first some people thought she was, well, joking about the entire festival.
“Whenever I was making phone calls asking people to participate, they were like, ‘Are you serious because it’s like April Fool’s Day,’” Hammond said. “They were just kind of messing with me.”
Hammond is getting the last laugh with the Rockin’ Country Festival all set. The two-day affair kicks off Friday with Akron’s The Carter Twins and Tony Rio at The Kent Stage. The second night of the festival is labeled “Walk of Fame,” featuring seven acts playing for free at various downtown Kent establishments.
“The Carter Twins are from the Akron area, but they moved to Nashville to pursue their career in music,” Hammond said. “They had a few songs in heavy rotation on Country Music Television [CMT]. They’re kind of up and coming; they’re making it in the industry.”
Hammond said she doesn’t expect to make any profit on the festival. Her reward is the experience of saying she put on her own mini Woodstock of sorts. The one question that remains is, what if the Rockin’ Country Festival proves successful? Will it be back next year?
“It would be awesome if it would,” Hammond said. “I’m not exactly sure of my plans after graduation. If I happen to get a job around here — and I’m still around — then I’d love to do it every year, especially if it turns out to be as successful and if people are interested in having it again. We’ll see how the first one goes.”
Perhaps in a few years Hammond can parlay her public-relations skills and communications charm to attract someone such as Kenny Chesney or Brad Paisley to headline the event.
“That would be awesome,” Hammond said, laughing. “Brad Paisley is actually from the town next to where I grew up. In fact, he went to the same high school as me, so I think I could work something out there. I’ll get some connections going and make it happen.”