Dancing Rabbit Music Festival 'a hopping good time'

Jun. 26—Organizers of the Dancing Rabbit Music Festival are hopeful they're hopping down the path to making McAlester a major musical destination once again.

Blake Lynch, one of the festival organizers, says he and the others who put the festival together were pleased at how the festival's initial event worked out during the May 8 event featuring Charlie Parr and special guest Jake Simpson, with more scheduled through the summer.

"It exceeded our expectations," Lynch said. "There were more people than we anticipated."

Organizers and event sponsors joined together to offer the Dancing Rabbit Music festival concerts free of charge to the public, except those who opt for one of the VIP tailgating packages. Food trucks, coffee shops and bars along Choctaw Avenue between Third Street and Fifth Street make sure there's plenty available to eat and drink during the festival events, with a special beer garden set up outside under a tent. Musicians perform on an outdoor stage stretched across Choctaw Avenue near the Third Street intersection, with Choctaw also closed at Fifth Street for the event.

It was one of the first major public events in McAlester as the COVID-19 restrictions began to lift, preceded by the Armed Forces Day Parade and related activities the previous weekend.

Those who worked together to present the Dancing Rabbit Musical Festival concert series say they're so pleased with the initial result they're already talking about plans for next year.

"We got all this together in a couple of months," Lynch said of this year's festival, thinking of the possibilities with an entire year to plan it.

Parr proved especially popular as the headliner for McAlester's first-ever Dancing Rabbit Music Festival. For the last song of his set, he did something unexpected.

"For his finale he put all his guitars down and he goes a cappella," Lynch said, of Parr's unaccompanied performance.

"I knew he could sing. I knew he could play. I knew he could tell stories," Lynch said — but he hadn't expected Parr to deliver a song with no accompaniment from his musical instruments.

To conclude his set, Parr performed a rousing version of "Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down," with the only musical backing coming from the percussive effects of his hand-clapping and foot-stomping.

The Jake Simpson Band, Parr's opening act for the inaugural night of the Dancing Rabbit Festival, got the crowd going.

"They were very high-energy," Lynch said, adding that Simpson is a fiddle player for the band Lil Smokies.

The Dancing Rabbit Festival's first concert doesn't have an official attendance count since tickets were not sold — but organizers estimated about 600 people attended.

Public response to the first Dancing Rabbit Festival event featuring Parr's and Simpson's performances led to some changes for the next show.

"One of the cool things about John Fullbright's show is we added a 5 o'clock show," Lynch said.

Response to the opening set in the three-concert festival led organizers to add a third act to the June 12 show, the second in the Dancing Rabbit series. In addition to headliner Fulbright, who is from Okemah, and opening act Stephen Speaks, also from Oklahoma, organizers added Taylor Atkinson, who is described as a singer of songs with a Red Dirt and Americana vibe. They scheduled Atkinson to open the trio of performances at 5 p.m., followed by Speaks at 7 p.m. and headliner Fullbright at 8:30 p.m.

Lynch and the other organizers are looking forward to the final show in the summer series, the July 3 show headlined by the Band of Heathens, a Texas band with a devoted following. The group shared billing with Elvis Costello during an appearance of Public Television's iconic, long-running iconic series, "Austin City Limits."'

Josh Hass is the opening act for the Band of Heathens, something he is looking forward to already. He said he will be joined by Joey Clark on lead guitar, with Clark's son, Conner, and Micky Lloyd rounding out the band for the evening. Asked what he'll be playing, Hass said "Anything from Bob Seeger to Jason Isbell to Midland."

Dancing Rabbit Music Festival is the result of a collaborative effort by a disparate group of individuals who may have political and other differences but who have at least one thing on which they all agree — their love for live music.

Lynch, a McAlester attorney with the Wagner & Lynch Law Firm, teamed up with Hass, of Hass Insurance; Adam Gronwald, of Spaceship Earth; Kyle Spruce, of Wav 11, and local musician Joey Clark. They started talking about the possibilities of a music festival while meeting at Gronwald's coffee shop.

It began when they were recalling musical performances they've attended in the past. Clark noted that between them, they've attended lots of shows.

Hass said those discussions led them to decide to do a festival of their own in McAlester. They were sitting at a table drinking coffee when Lynch pitched the idea, Hass said. Others at the table readily agreed.

"We went from arguing about politics to agreeing on something," Lynch said. He's glad they were able to come together for the project, even if they might move in different circles in other areas.

"The defense attorney and the Hass family's going to run in different circles," Lynch chuckled.

In addition to working together, they decided to seek other sponsors as well.

While the Dancing Rabbit Music Festival concerts are offered free to the public, those who want can opt to purchase a VIP package featuring a tailgating experience for up to six individuals in each truck, along with drinks and a cooler. Sam Wampler's Freedom Ford agreed to supply pickup trucks for the tailgating event, which sold out for the Charlie Parr performance.

Special ticket information for the VIP offerings is available on the Dancing Rabbit Festival Facebook page or at the dancingrabbit.live website.

Spruce said he and he others who've put together this year's Dancing Rabbit Festival hope this is just the beginning of a concert series that will continue to grow.

Not only did the original six organizers and sponsors come together for the project, they sought other sponsors as well. They began making contacts with a goal of having sponsors represent different businesses and industries in the McAlester area, with an encouraging response.

"Nobody turned us down," said Lynch.

Dancing Rabbit Festival sponsors for the inaugural events include:

Prairie Artisan Ales, Wagner and Lynch law firm, Auld Family Dentistry, The Yardbird at 1896, Sam Wampler Freedom Ford, First Realty, Bud's Craft Cannabis, Happy Design Co., First National Bank, AmericInn, Kennedy Eye Care, Josh Hash Insurance, Wav 11, Vyve Broadband, K101 Rock 105.1 McAlester Radio, and Oklahoma Shirt Co.

For the first event, even the cleanup proved non-problematic.

"The cleanup went well," said Lynch. "People did a pretty good job of picking up their trash."

Other changes discussed following the first concerts included moving the food trucks forward to so they would be closer to the stage area and increasing the number of trucks for the event.

"We had the food trucks all the way back to Fifth Street," Lynch said. Organizers also planned to move the beer tent closer to the stage. With a warm evening for the May 8 show with Parr and Simpson, They didn't necessarily need the tent for the first event.

"It was beautiful weather, Lynch noted. He figured the shade the tent provides will be needed more as the concert series continues in the summer when the weather is is likely to be warmer.

"We will need it in June and July," Lynch predicted.

What's Lynch's main impression now that the Dancing Rabbit Musical Festival concert series has started?

"The main impression I got is McAlester can support a music festival," Lynch said. He noted that Wold, of Spaceship Earth in downtown McAlester, has started bringing back live performances during the weekends between the festival performances.

"We can support the festival," said Lynch. "We can attract some large names to McAlester."

Hass hopes other concerts in the series go as well as the early ones.

"People were friendly and happy to be there," Hass said. "People were really appreciative.

"I just want to see people turning out and having a good time."

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.