Poe Road Music Sanctuary is the backyard venue that brings festivals to Grand Rapids

Sep. 26—GRAND RAPIDS, Ohio — It's only four acres of land, but that's proved plenty of space for festival-goers who spend their days and nights at the Poe Road Music Sanctuary.

The venue sits in the backyard of Wayne Barger, a local musician, who purchased the property in 2003. He likes to describe himself as the "caretaker," rather than the owner, of the property that's made its mark on the music scene of Grand Rapids.

"The land and I have a mutual relationship," Barger said. "It found me, and I just take care of it. I'm thankful I was placed here."

The four acres were originally a part of an 80-track parcel of land that was owned by a Revolutionary War soldier. The land's rich history attracted many bidders, however, Barger said it was "fate" that brought him to the property.

"The very first thing I noticed about the property was it had a good feel to it. I felt like I was meant to be here for some reason and I didn't know why," he said.

Barger said he now believes the mysterious reason was to contribute to the region's music scene by creating the outdoor venue.

"I've been playing music in the Grand Rapids area all my life. Since a child, I've played in various bands over the years. Around the time I purchased the house, I thought about getting some festivals together and having gatherings for musicians in the area," he said.

The idea started with his first festival, Waynestock, in 2011. It's approaching its 10th anniversary in October.

"I wanted to bring back the tradition of live music in this area. Back in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, we always had one concert that was put on by a local resident that's since passed. I wanted to keep that tradition alive because what a beautiful thing being able to attend outdoor concerts and festivals. It seems like in the late '80s, '90s and early 2000s, it became nonexistent," he said.

He partnered with friend Kyle Frantz, also of Grand Rapids, who handled the landscaping of the property and built the stage. They ultimately constructed what is now the Poe Road Music Sanctuary.

Frantz, who is both a musician and lumberman, conceptualized the design for the backyard venue.

"The general intimacy his backyard has, the way it's bowl-shaped and wrapped around woods — the name sanctuary came to me. That was the way it should have been labeled to me, and he agreed and named it Poe Road Music Sanctuary," Frantz said.

He added it took nearly three months to morph the overgrown backyard into a venue ready to stage Barger's first show in 2011.

Frantz said the music sanctuary has contributed to what he believes is the start of a new wave for the northwest Ohio music scene.

"Live music is kind of stuck in the bar scene, which limits the audience. With live music only being in the bar scene, huge venues, or large festivals, you lose the connection between the band and the crowd. Poe Road Music Sanctuary is a place where logistically the crowd cannot be that large. It's nestled in this backyard just outside historic Grand Rapids. It's a close-knit and relaxing venue. The acoustic of the backyard resembles a small amphitheater, the sound quality is beautiful," Frantz said.

The venue can hold nearly 500 attendees.

Frantz credits the Sacred Harvest Music Festival — one of the venue's largest festivals — for the music sanctuary's growth throughout the years. It's set this year for Thursday through Saturday. Tickets are available for purchase through the festival's Facebook page.

Andrew Price, the festival's organizer, said there are no digital tickets this year. All tickets can be purchased through direct messaging.

"The Sacred Harvest Festival brings in a lot of bands from around Ohio to play, and people from Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan come to see the festival. It's become its own scene, and it's just a matter of time before it becomes more known in the community," Frantz said.

Price, of Toledo, founded the music festival five years ago.

Price said the festival has grown to a multi-night music fest that includes camping.

"It's a multi-day, full camping music festival. We do have live artists including fire spinners and live painters. We have a lot of local artists that collaborate with each other and we also have food trucks. Camping is included in the ticket. It's primitive camping, and it's not a huge venue but we do have the space to accommodate a couple of hundred people and most of the crowd does camp out for the weekend," Price said.

This year's lineup includes Cheezcake, Baccano, Subterranean, Tangled Roots, and several others. Headlining is Octave Cat, of Philadelphia, and Left Lane Cruiser, of Fort Wayne, Ind. Octave Cat's music floats in between jazz and funk, while Left Lane Cruiser is known for performing American blues and rock.

"We try to get as many different genres as we can, and we always focus on original music. There's a lot of really awesome bands that write all of their own music here in Toledo and we wanted to give them a platform to play. There's a couple of bands from Michigan, but the majority are from Toledo or northwest Ohio," Price said.

He added that the special feature of the festival is its jam band quality.

"Jam band means there's a lot of improvisation. These bands don't ever play the same show more than once. With some bands, if you see their concert so many times, you'll see the same set over and over, but with jam bands, you'll see musicians play in a different way than they've done in the past. It creates something different for the audience," he said.

Barger said he limits bookings to one show per month to ensure the maintenance of the property — after all, it is his home.

To date, the venue has hosted the annual Waynestock, Tomato Fest, and Sacred Harvest Music Festival, as well as several weddings.

He registered the venue as a nonprofit in August and is hoping to open the venue for all performing arts.

"The bottom line is I just hope this place will be here for many years to continue to make music. I think I was placed here to propel it into the future to keep that positive musical vibration going on. I really want to get live artists out here, provide workshops for children. I want to offer all performing arts aspects and present a broader horizon," Barger said.