Festivals In Focus: Pert Near Sandstone’s Nate Sipe Discusses Blue Ox Music Festival’s 10th Anniversary & More

Live music festivals continue to grow in popularity and diversity as the landscape shifts and responds to trends and technological changes. JamBase reached out to several independent organizers of music festivals for insights into the challenges and rewards of hosting memorable events. This installment presents a Q&A with Pert Near Sandstone‘s Nate Sipe about the Blue Ox Music Festival.

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Pert Near Sandstone will co-host the three-day Blue Ox Music Festival 2024 starting tomorrow at The Pines Music Park in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. This year is a milestone for the sold-out, independent festival as it marks the 10th anniversary of the annual event.

Over the past decade, Blue Ox has presented a family-friendly environment where fans gather to experience live music in a scenic Midwest setting. Blue Ox lineups typically pull from top-tier bluegrass artists, Americana favorites and other adjacent scenes and this year’s roster is no different.

Those who secured tickets to Blue Ox 2024 will get to see performances by the Del McCoury Band, Sam Bush, Leftover Salmon, Band of Horses, The Devil Makes Three, Sierra Ferrell, Daniel Donato, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Lindsay Lou, Watchhouse, The High Hawks, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades and many others. As always, Pert Near Sandstone are also part of this year’s music lineup, performing twice over the weekend.

Local Eau Claire radio station Converge Media will be streaming live audio of all Blue Ox 2024 Saloon Stage acts and the majority of Main Stage performances. Listen on 101.9 FM or visit Tunein.com to hear the live audio stream.

On the eve of the sold-out, 10th anniversary Blue Ox, JamBase spoke to Pert Near Sandstone mandolin/fiddle player Nate Sipe about a decade of success organizing an annual independent music festival.

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10 years is quite an impressive feat for any festival these days, let alone an independent one. What aspects unique to Blue Ox have played a role in its decade-long success?

I think our independence is a key aspect, along with the varied strengths of the teams that share a dedication to this event. Pert Near Sandstone long held an ambition to produce an event that could uplift the Midwest roots music scene by providing a platform that included local and nationally touring acts that we’ve become familiar with. This vision was fully realized when approached by the Bischell Family, whose involvement with Country Jam provided the beautiful land, pre-existing infrastructure, and logistical save to what has become The Pines Music Park.

Pert Near’s manager, Mark Gehring, recognized the potential of this partnership and books our dream lineups, as well as bringing in his Periscope Management team to help in handling artist relations and behind-the-curtain wizardry. It is simply a great collaboration with so much genuine interest in producing a solid weekend of music and entertainment for all attendees without malarkey.

We certainly knew that a festival of this nature might help fill the space left by the 10,000 Lakes Festival, and selecting the weekend after the Telluride Bluegrass Festival might allow us to book many of our favorite artists as they headed back to points east.

Still, I will forever credit the local community of live music supporters and festivarians for embracing this event and bringing their great energy and welcoming vibes to Blue Ox. It’s truly they who have brought the culture of a uniquely north-country bluegrass and roots music audience to Blue Ox. Pert Near is with those folks in spirit and ambition.

What are some of the biggest differences between the first Blue Ox and the event planned for this weekend?

It’s hard to recall exactly the pre-festival anxiety that I had going into the first annual Blue Ox. There was a lot of nervous internal dialog going on, such as: Are people going to attend? Can we pull off an event without any incidents? Will the artists find this a hospitable event? Could the weather shut us down before we get off the ground?

The rain did come, the puddles formed and I was immediately heartbroken. What occurred after that storm has perpetually given me confidence in this event. The people did not abandon camp and go home – they came out and stomped through the mud to the front of the stage! I should not have been surprised but that mostly Midwest audience pulled through and the community bonds were forged that continue unto year 10.

The culture of this festival was born during that first year and has grown to an extensively loyal following. Now we rest assured, after much effort to anticipate variables, and lengthy maintenance to the grounds, we have the confidence that these Blue Ox friends and family eagerly attend and tell their distant friends to join; the artists we love remembered the incredible support and inclusivity found of our audience and artist forward festival in the heart of the heartland.

What is your favorite thing about getting to present Blue Ox each summer?

For me, the best part about helping to produce this event is dreaming about who we might get to perform, what friends and fans we will connect with in the audience, and the general summertime festival bliss that occurs when I witness what comes from all the energy and effort spent planning this three-day weekend by our team of organizers. It’s certainly a holiday that becomes reality when it’s finally shared with our faithful Blue Ox festivarians and also the annual batch of newcomers.

What is your relationship with the local community and what impact has Blue Ox had over the last 10 years?

There has been a uniquely acoustic/hybrid-Americana music scene that’s developed in the northland and that rivals other major music centers. I believe the region was ripe for a festival like this, with a gap left between previous events such as 10KLF and many other localized events. I think that Blue Ox was instrumental in focusing what was already vibrant in the north country and aided in the growth and continuation of the development.

As stewards of live acoustic music, this is Pert Near’s wildest dream now going on 10 years strong! We have carved as much space for our local music friends as we realistically can while also supporting local vendors, visual artists, and even collaborations with other music festivals such as Boats and Bluegrass and Beaver Creek Reserve to curate the family campground stage. It is truly as local as we can get!

How important has providing a family-friendly environment been to the success of Blue Ox?

Extremely important.

If not for family there would not be a Blue Ox Music Festival. The original idea occurred because the Bischell Family approached Pert Near and psyched with a vision of creating a regional event, an environment supporting families and the continuation of music stewardship in the region.

This has resulted in the annual schedule of family campground stage events and also the encouragement of youth in the convert bowl. Being family-friendly is a large part of what makes the BOMF so great.

Blue Ox is known for its lineup of top-notch bluegrass musicians along with others from adjacent scenes … What are some of the characteristics you look for in musicians when putting together the Blue Ox lineup?

We always want to bring the fire, both in established touring artists of the genre and also the local up-and-comers. The team working to select artists all have great suggestions. It’s of importance to include jamgrass, traditional bluegrass, newgrass and Americana, modern Nash-grass-county, whatcha-call-it-folk, and the other artists that thrive in the locality.

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[JamBase is a media partner of Blue Ox Music Festival.]