Festival becomes sought-after destination for regional performers

• Roe Family Singers

The Roe Family Singers last performed at the Unvarnished Music Festival in June 2009. They will return to the Worthington stage from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

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• Listen to the The Trishas.
• More on Heatherlyn.
• More on the Roe Family Singers.
• Listen to Atomic Flea.
• Listen to Sheltered Reality.

WORTHINGTON — Most people don’t come to the Worthington’s Windsurfing Regatta and Unvarnished Music Festival to watch the competition on the lake.

They come for the music.

Bands performing at this year’s event include Atomic Flea, Heatherlyn, Ride, The Roe Family Singers, Sheltered Reality, The Stallions and The Trishas.

“There are five or six of us on the music committee that pick which bands play,” said Marc Gustafson, a committee member. “I stumbled into this position from living one house away from Sailboard Beach. I was asked, and said yes.”

Over the past few years, however, Gustafson has had to say no many times.

“We get emails and CDs from all over. It’s hard to just pick a few bands,” Gustafson lamented. “But the committee gets together, and we vote on who’s going to play.”

The Unvarnished Music Festival has been going on for several years, and some performances have proven to be so popular that the musicians are asked to make a return engagement.

“It’s sort of an unwritten rule (not anymore) that we don’t want the same group year after year,” Gustafson explained. “Even if a band puts on a good show, we’ll still wait a couple years before we invite them back.”

“One band in particular that I’m looking forward to is Ride. They come back every few years for a performance, and they’re always a crowd favorite,” Gustafson noted. “Another band myself and many others are looking forward to is The Trishas.”

The bands selected for the music festival have to fit the “unvarnished’”genre that has become a hallmark of the festival.

“I describe the type of music played at the festival as being more original — not your Top 40, pop-rock songs — more folk than anything,” Gustafson went on to explain. “It’s a lot more unique.”

Gustafson and his fellow music committee comrades will set up the Unvarnished Music Festival stage for the opening band, Sheltered Reality, which will kick things off at 5 p.m. on Friday.

“We always look forward to having a big crowd and everyone having fun,” Gustafson said.

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