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Performers, fans share as music spills off festival stages

In its fourth year, the Riverhawk Rhythm Festival draws its largest audience to an event where the musicians aren't the only performers.

By LOGAN NEILL
Published November 14, 2005

	[Times photos: Edmund Fountain]
	Casey Deutsch, 5, shows off his Flash costume while dancing with his mother, Jalane Ferrara, of Asheville, N.C., during a performance Saturday at the Riverhawk Rhythm Festival at the Sertoma Youth Ranch, southeast of Brooksville.
	Mandolinist Ben Winship smiles at his bandmate, fiddle player Jason Thomas, while their band Kane's River performs Same River Twice on Saturday at the Riverhawk Music Festival. Bassist Eric Thorin, background, plays along. This year's event saw 24 artists play on three stages.
	Cars, RVs and people fill the Sertoma Youth Ranch on Saturday. Over four days, audiences gathered to hear artists play bluegrass, Americana, folk and country music. More than 3,000 people attended festival. Organizers say it was the largest attendance in the event's four-year history.
	Larry Campbell, left, and Morgan Hamblen, center, sit by the campfire while Bob Green, second from right, and Toby Hamblen, right, share a laugh Saturday evening at the Riverhawk festival.

SPRING LAKE - For Bonnie Schraefel, an oak log fire offered a warm and inviting setting in which to strum her acoustic guitar. Perched on a folding chair she quietly chorded the instrument while her friend, Joel Murray, tended to their campsite hearth beneath a canopy of hardwood trees on the southern edge of the Sertoma Youth Ranch.

After a weekend spent in the midst of fellow music fans at the Riverhawk Rhythm Festival, packing up to go home to Sarasota was something neither Schraefel nor Murray was looking forward to Sunday.

"We love coming here," Schraefel said. "It's so relaxing. The music's great and the people are very nice. I'm already looking forward to next year."

Such sentiments were shared by the more than 3,000 people who turned out for the four-day music festival that boasted a lineup that included 24 acts performing on three stages. According to festival promoter Mitch Lind, the crowd was the largest in the event's four-year history.

"By Saturday afternoon our overflow parking was completely full," said Lind. "We lucked out. We had good weather and a lot of acts that people wanted to see."

The festival featured several national acts from the genre known as Americana and included bluegrass, folk and old-time country artists as well.

The most popular act of the weekend was the Texas singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen, who held court on the main stage Saturday night. Keen and his four-piece band hammered out many of his well-known songs including The Road Goes On Forever and Merry Christmas From the Family .

At the Cafe Stage, festivalgoers were treated to more intimate performances such as Mississippi singer-songwriter Paul Thorn who regaled the crowd with humorous stories and songs, and The Waybacks, whose musical offerings mixed bluegrass with elements of jazz, Celtic and folk rock music.

Outside the building, a vendors row offered everything from vegetarian cuisine to handmade soaps and candles.

After the stage shows ended, the music went on long into the night as campers gathered informally around RVs and tents with guitars, fiddles, mandolins and other stringed instruments.

"The real fun for me is going around and jamming with people," said Scott Dill, a mandolin player from Lakeland. "Music is something you share and this is such a great place to do that."

[Last modified November 14, 2005, 01:03:13]