Geneseo Jam Fund presents the E Pluribus Music Festival
Photo Courtesy of Daisy Sheldon
On Saturday, Sept. 12 from 11 a.m. to 7:15 p.m., the Geneseo Jam Fund, a local “501(c)(3) registered non-profit [that] aims to promote a live music culture in Geneseo, NY,” presented the E Pluribus Music Festival and Arts Fair at the Geneseo Village Park. With free admission, anyone was able to browse the vendor booths while the various musicians the Geneseo Jam Fund secured for the lineup performed.
According to the Geneseo Jam Fund, the purpose of the “free, one-day music and arts festival” was to “bring people from all backgrounds together to connect and celebrate the beauty of our shared diversity.” The event purposefully shone a spotlight on how “America was built by people from every corner of the country and the world, and [how] our music and art reflect that rich tapestry” by creating a “melting pot” of music genres on the stage throughout the day.
Each of the bands represented a different part of this “tapestry” with Latin, Zydeco, Soul, Gospel, Old Time Americana, Hip Hop, Jazz/Soul, and Country/Western tunes heard throughout the day. The Nuyorican Project, Mo’ Mojo, Cinnamon Jones, and the Campbell Brothers presented on the Memorial Stage, while other bands—Geneseo String Band, Felix Free, Ellen Pieroni & the Encyclopedia of Soul, and Candy—performed at the Tent Stage. The audience bounced between the two stages as one set finished and another began; the setup of the two stages kept the music flowing while keeping performances on schedule.
Throughout the festival—no matter which stage or performer—the crowd enthusiastically cheered, swayed, and danced the day away. From young children with bubble machines to elderly couples sitting hand in hand, everyone enjoyed themselves in spite of the looming storm clouds.
While the music played, listeners were also able to visit various booths around the park’s perimeter. Many of the vendors had art and merchandise for sale, such as local store The Gallery, local artisan JES Designz, or Jazz House Designs. There were also organic sweets from Cattitude Cookies,straight-off-the-farm skincare products by Off Center Acres, and many other booths for people to shop through.
One of these booths featured a traveling art exhibition: “Hand Picked: Art Expression of Farmworkers Who Feed Us.” The artwork exhibition came from the Creative Artists Migrant Program Services or C.A.M.P.S., according to Visit LivCo. As CITY Magazine explains, the traveling exhibit is made up of 30 pieces of artwork made by migrant farmworkers, such as “mandalas made from traced hands, [and] charcoal portraits participants drew of one another”; though the project “is organized by Julia Stewart-Brittle, coordinator of the arts program at the Geneseo Migrant Center.”
Of course, the event also had food and drinks available for purchase through The Normal, which offered various barbeque items, and the Milk & Honey Cafe. Free drinks and snacks were also provided by the Avon Rotary Club if listeners were not in the mood for the brisket, hot dogs, or coffee purchasable from the aforementioned food trucks. After traveling through the vendor booths and purchasing something to eat, one would find that there was still plenty to do at the festival while listening to the music that flowed throughout the park, including chalk art, corn hole, badminton, and other games.
Akin to the Geneseo Jam Fund’s mission of creating a “melting pot” of music, the final and one of the most vital stops to make at the festival was a table where you could make a quilt square out of paper, decorate it to your liking, and tape it to the board. The point of the “melting pot” metaphor became physically realized in this sense, ringing true for the festival’s overall theme of E Pluribus, or “Out of many, one sound.”