Basin Summer Sounds draws crowd to Ephrata

EPHRATA - A crowd of people gathered around noon in front of the Grant County Courthouse to listen to Ian McFeron perform.

One of the attendees was 17-month-old Trevor Dietrich, who was attending his first concert. His father watched him as he moved down the bleachers.

The Ephrata resident said they come to the annual music festival every year. He enjoys visiting people he knows at the event.

"I think (Trevor) is (having a good time.) We let him do what he wants to," Dietrich joked.

The 2012 Basin Summer Sounds Festival was held in Ephrata Friday and Saturday, and featured a range of music from country to jazz to rock. The Saturday attendees were met with temperatures in the low and mid-80s, but the festival got off to a stormy start as thunderstorms hit the area Friday afternoon.

Janice Moore, a festival organizer, said volunteers were setting up the stage when the storms struck.

"Basically, we were set and it hit and everybody was holding onto tents. The tops of tents were flying," she said. "We basically tore back down and once it passed and we felt like it was safe again, we had everybody making calls (telling people,) 'No the storm cells are all gone. None of them are coming our way."

Even with one band getting stuck in traffic because of a fire, all three bands made it and performed Friday evening. Moore said the performances were fantastic.

"It was awesome," she said. "All three bands were fantastic. It was such a treat to have Vicci Martinez back."

Moore said it is nice to see Martinez progress. The Friday night headliner had attended the festival twice before. In the time between performances, Martinez became a finalist on the reality television show, "The Voice."

"We had a great Friday night. There were a lot of people out here as well as the beer garden," she said. "Lots of people around the vendors, so we were really thrilled."

Moore said Saturday was going well. She expected a large crowd for Saturday's headliner, Bowling for Soup. The festival added a car show along with a 3-on-3 basketball tournament and children's activities.

"What a fantastic new addition. We're really excited about it," she said. "We always had the kids activities down there and the idea behind that was to bring the parents downtown. Their kids could go do these things and then the parents could go shop. Well the parents weren't going shopping ... because we always want to keep the festival fresh and we're open to change and doing things that are positive for downtown ... so someone had the idea, 'What about a car show?' (We said,) 'Sounds great. Go for it.'"

Moore thanked the sponsors, volunteers, committee members and attendees for supporting the festival. She was hoping for a good attendance leading up to the headline act.

Pearl Django was preparing on stage while Kennewick resident Terry Andre spoke to attendees about a Richland music festival. She came in Friday night and was enjoying Basin Summer Sounds.

"I saw some advertising for the Basin Summer Sounds. I went and looked at their website and thought it sounded awesome," she said. "My son and I came down and we're staying locally. We've very much enjoyed the music, the atmosphere, the people. It's just been a good time."

Andre commented she was interested in seeing what Pearl Django would sound like, commenting on the varied instruments the band brought out.

As the headliner neared, the festival's seats started to fill. Linda Blair and her husband came to the festival from Gig Harbor to see The Sweetback Sisters. Blair had attended a New Hampshire music camp with Zara Bode, a member of the group.

"She's amazing," Blair said. "We got here right about noon. It took us about three-and-a-half hours to drive here, so we drove over and I've been looking forward to this all day."

The seats were filled and a crowd gathered around the stage as Bowling for Soup took the stage. A crowd filled the area as the final act of the 2012 festival took the stage.