It seems to me that so much of our lives are leading up to something. During the week, many of us are looking forward to the weekend, waiting to be finished with work, to be off the bus or whatever else it is we are currently doing. It could be that some of us spend most of our lives waiting; looking forward to a point when in all reality we will likely be, well, waiting.

Samapalooza is a big deal to those of us that put it on. It’s like Christmas to a child for us, our magical time of year. This makes it all to easy for us to spend the months waiting, looking forward. This doesn’t happen, however. The months leading to the show have become, for us, as important as the event itself. What transpires on the transforming landscape of 575 Atherton inspires me to reevaluate my life. A camp (or commune if you choose) sprouts in the basin. Makeshift in nature, it all makes sense. We have grass, lounges, food pantries, tents, bathrooms, a kitchen, running water and pretty much anything else we need to basically live out there. It’s a simple existence and that simplicity is beautiful.

The period of time before Samapalooza has begun to define our summers, calling back stowed memories of the last school-bell. We work, no doubt, but it’s work we believe in and at the end of each day we can sit back with a beer and enjoy what we have created, relishing the effects of the fading light. We are together, we are tired and we are likely a little buzzed but more than anything else we are locked into that moment. We are not waiting.

Seventeen days left. That’s it, just seventeen days remain to get the property Samapalooza-ready and we have done it again; challenged ourselves with enough work to make completion difficult. We have reevaluated the stage and how we provide shade to it. I’m sure anyone that attended last year remembers our iconic parachute that we raised to not only provide shade to the audience but also to the performers. It turned out that even that huge, military parachute couldn’t fill those big shoes. So, we are now creating a shade structure built onto the stage that should not only protect the musicians but adds a lot of character to the venue. Once again, when I look at the property I am amazed at what our crew can imagine and build. Major props go out to Andrew, Ryan, Shawn, Jon Bush (yes, of Judgement Day), Dave Kluger and others for improving an already awesome structure.

With stage shade under control, we can develop a new strategy for protecting the crowd. We have struggled the last few years to get people up to the stage and we know that it’s because it’s hot. We can now use the parachute to try to fix this and we will call on everyone to get up there and give back some of the energy that our musicians will be putting out. Live music, and especially a community-based event like Samapalooza is a give and take relationship. We need you.

So when you all come out this year, take a few moments to check out what pure heart and soul can put together and what a handful of dedicated people can create.

Serendipity. That is the only word I can think of that describes my world right now. I do not believe in fate, if I did I would probably substitute it here. I look at the opportunities I have been given, circumstances I have found myself in and I just have to smile. I consider the friends I have surrounded myself with and I feel proud. When I was younger, even as young as grade school, I dreamed of being where I am today. I recently found and watched my 8th grade graduation video in which we were asked to announce our hopes for our future. I said, “I want to be a director of photography.” In a few weeks I will be flying out to the midwest, as a director of photography, to film a rock show in a barn.

This will be my third trip to this barn in Iowa, known as Codfish Hollow and I will be heading out with Dave Kluger and Andrew Keating. We have formed ourselves into a crew that has become an integral part of Daytrotter’s Barnstormer tours, a relationship we highly value and hope to expand upon. These tours pair incredible indie bands with some of the midwest’s most impressive and historic barns, a seemingly unlikely relationship that, in reality, is anything but. It can feel as though the two were made for each other. Our role is to light the shows as well as film them and capture audio. Beyond that we shoot B-roll and acoustic performances of each band. Throughout these tours we have developed strong relationships with many people that will benefit not only our souls but our art.

Before we were even invited on these tours we have talked about and dreamed of involving ourselves with great bands. Andrew has been recording since we were in 8th grade and both his studio and his skills have grown exponentially since. Both Dave and I have honed our video prowess both independently and occasionally together. It seems that our development has been leading us here, but I don’t believe in fate. Right?

Then there is Samapalooza, the property and the barn. I played my first show in that barn, a kind of barnstorming of my own. I was 14 then. While we no longer use the barn for parties or performances, we have developed the upper flat of the property into a far superior venue where we host what we hope will be a staple of the local scene. This years lineup is amazing and our stock is clearly on the rise. It’s all fitting into place. By no means are Andrew, Dave and I alone here. Our cast is fully diversified to a scale that is truly remarkable. Merideth Aleandri, Dave’s lady friend, books and manages bands for a living, Ryan Reyfeld is a handyman and electrician, we have a civil engineer, a few lawyers, amazing artists, a web developer and just about every other profession and skill in our toolbag, all willing and eager to help.

I can’t wait to see what happens next and I’m even more excited for the eventual further amalgamation of all these skills, talents, events and groups. My life rules.

Right now I am wearing a dressy shirt, shiny shoes and a tie. I am surrounded by others dressed much the same, speaking politely in jargon I barely understand. The air on the 11th floor is stale and recycled, the walls are plain and the few windows offer views of countless other rooms just like this one. I stare out one of these windows and dream of being outdoors. A picture hangs by four pushpins next to my list of company extensions in my cubicle. It is an image of trees and grass, blue skies and hundreds of people. A stage occupies the bottom third and on top of that stage, Faith in Phantoms is rocking out. It is a picture of Samapalooza 2009 and I am at work.

Twenty-five miles to the north the land beckons. There is so much work to be done, weeds to mow, wood-chips to spread and I am stuck here. I’m not complaining, I earn a decent wage and am thankful to have this job but that does not stop my mind from drifting. Like so many others in the corporate world, my job is not my passion and I show up merely for a paycheck. My passion is up there, transforming the land into my future.

Hundreds of olive saplings struggle to survive the seasons, fighting off the nature of the place. This is the time of year when white flowers bud on the branches, eventually giving way to the green fruit. I swivel in my chair and dream of the day we press this fruit and bring its oil to the market.

Right now, the stage, sound booth and bar are empty. They stand above the weeds and grass as monuments to our vision. In two months the weeds will be cleared out, the stage piled high with musical equipment and the bar will be stocked. We will be ready for the Fourth Samapalooza, guaranteed to be the biggest and best to date.

This is my passion and I am fortunate enough to share it with a dedicated and talented group of people. We live for this. We look at the land and see possibility, we see improvements to be made and ideas to be fulfilled. We are steadily marching towards what we all know this place can be. We believe that this land is an extension of ourselves and in it is unlimited value and potential. It starts with Samapalooza, it starts with planting an olive tree, it starts with pulling a weed.

I am interrupted by a telephone call. I have forgotten to enter the tracking number of the package I sent to the corporate office in Atlanta into our database. I am a patient man.

Recently I was given the opportunity to take part in one of my favorite traditions, The Great American Roadtrip. Now, anyone that knows me well knows that this is not a new experience for me, I’ve logged hundreds of thousands of miles road-tripping through this country. It is not new for me to hop in a car -loaded with gear- alongside close friends and cross a few state lines. It is not new to drink terrible gas station coffee, to spend hours watching the lines of the highway pass by or daydream about those we leave in our wake. What was new, however, was belonging to something larger, much larger. Larger, in fact, than the ghosts of those that came West on Highway 66 or the entire history of American highway travel.

We tapped into a tradition as old as civilization itself, the traveling musician. Throughout nine beautiful spring days, Andrew Keating, Dave Kluger and I caravanned with the Daytrotter crew on the 3rd Barnstormer Tour. For those of you that aren’t aware, Daytrotter (daytrotter.com) is a leading site for Indie Music, recording hundreds of bands a year as they pass through Rock Island, IL -Daytrotter’s home- on tour. Barnstormer is a tour, organized my Sean Mueller (Daytrotter’s #1 man), that travels through the Midwest occupying traditionally non-venue locations and transforming them into hot spots of Indie Music. Most of the spots are barns, some as old as the 1880’s, and all unique. Mainly focusing on tiny towns, this tour is often the only show in town… possibly ever. Our job on this tour was twofold.  First, we were there to document the shows and try to film unique ‘acoustic’ performances with the bands along the way. That was our primary focus.

Dave and I have worked together on shoots many times and we quickly slipped back into the zone. Andrew captured audio with a couple of mics attached to our homemade camera crane that we used to get a wide camera angle high over the crowd. In order to do this duty properly, however, we needed lighting as many of these spots were lit solely for the functions of a barn. That is where Andrew stepped it up. The newest addition to our crew, he took the reigns and with a largely homemade lighting kit, lit the shows with amazing results.

This was the 3rd installment of this ephemeral tour, the first two being held in July and October of 2009. With each incarnation, Barnstormer has grown in popularity and sophistication, the latter of which we are proud to lay claim to some responsibility. There have been amazing acts each show:

BSI: Local Natives, Catfish Haven, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltzin, Mac Lethal, Snowblink, Paleo, Dri, Caleb Engstrom and Stranger Waves

BSII:  Dawes, Chris Denny and the Natives, The Suckers, Maritime, Snowblink, Paleo and Brooks Strausse

This years lineup was clearly the strongest yet. Headlining the bill was Delta Spirit, a blow-you-away live show and the darlings of last year’s South by Southwest. Supporting and occasionally stealing the show were: Ra Ra Riot, Nathaniel Rateliff, Free Energy and Pearly Gate Music. The vibe was amazing; culminating in a finale that featured so many cross-band appearances that, at times, it could be hard to determine which band was on.

It’s hard to deny that this is what music is supposed to be. These musicians played for basically no money and almost every one of them said it was one of the best times they had ever had on tour. We were all proud at the end of each night, accomplishing something that crews of hundreds or even thousands couldn’t, we put on a grassroots show in a matter of a few hours. We sweat, we bled, we scrambled and every night we were in pain. Still delirious from the night before we woke up every morning and did it again. Every night was packed with people and every one of them satisfied beyond their expectations. Thanks to the bands, to Daytrotter and especially to two members of OUR crew, Dave and Andrew. Bring on Samapalooza!