November 25, 2023 • 38 mins
Did you know Wintergrass, a music festival committed to fostering young talent and offering unforgettable experiences, has an intriguing history and uniquely vibrant culture? Dive into this discussion with Wendy Tyner, the former director of Philanthropy and Publicity at Wintergrass and current Treasurer of the International Bluegrass Music Association Foundation, as she passionately shares with us the compelling aspects of this festival. From vibrant jamming sessions to a defining sense of community, Wendy helps us understand why Wintergrass has become a beacon of unity through music and the rare PNW festival that perpetually attracts bluegrass and Americana luminaries such as Jerry Douglas, Tim O'Brien, Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle and more.
Find out how the festival’s relocation from Tacoma to Bellevue has helped to reshape its new home city's arts and culture identity. Learn how Wintergrass remained financially solid in the wake of a global pandemic, and dive into the different revenue streams that keep the festival thriving, from ticket sales to sponsorships, and explore the significant role of charitable giving in these challenging times. Plus, get a sneak peek into the planning of a new music camp for children and why educational opportunities in music are so vital. Tune in as we celebrate the uplifting power of arts, the joy of music, and the unity it cultivates, particularly in times of adversity.
Wintergrass takes place annually at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue, WA.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Wendy (00:00):
Hi, this is Wendy Tyner.
You're listening to One Hour toDoors.
Jon (00:13):
This is One Hour to Doors, a podcast about the business and
soul of the festivals andevents industry.
I am your host, Jon Stone.
Every episode of One Hour toDoors explores the people,
issues, insights and trendsimpacting the enterprise of
bringing people and communitiestogether in common cause.
We are recording today at theWashington Festivals and Events
(00:37):
Association annual conference,this year taking place in
Issaquah Washington.
Our guest today is Wendy Tyner,former director of Philanthropy
and Publicity at WintergrassMusic Festival, which is an
annual Bluegrass and AmericanaFestival taking place in
Bellevue, Washington.
Welcome to the show, Wendy.
Wendy (00:56):
Thank you for having me, Jon, tell us about Wintergrass.
Wintergrass is a culture,Wintergrass is a community.
Wintergrass is a place wherepeople get together and it is an
indoor festival that is in its32nd year, starting in Tacoma
back in 1994.
(01:17):
And fast forward, it is anevent where people come to
listen to Bluegrass music,Americana music.
There's also a few countrybands and Irish bands, lots of
bands with young people and wehave four to five stages so
people can go from one indoorstage to another and all bands
(01:40):
play twice.
So you can come anytime betweenThursday and Sunday and see
bands that are nationally known,a lot of regional bands, and we
really prioritize new andemerging bands and love
supporting young people and partof that is our education
programs.
We have education programs thatare from preschool all the way
(02:03):
through adulthood.
What Wintergrass is is thesechildren.
You see them in their programs,you see them jamming in the
hallways, they perform on stageand there's so much energy at
Wintergrass.
You walk through the hallwaysand the lobbies and all the
suites and there's open rooms.
You can go upstairs to anysuite that has an open door and
(02:27):
wander in and sit down as ifthis is your living room and
listen to people jamming.
So jamming is a part of theculture of who we are, and
people come to Wintergrass tojust jam.
It's a little bit of thatconcept of same time next year.
They come from 32 states andseven countries and they play
(02:50):
banjo guitar bass.
Can you imagine flying with abass?
They bring fiddles, variouskinds of resophonic guitars, and
you've always heard aboutDobros, but Dobro is the brand,
so we're always careful just tosay resophonic guitars.
Jon (03:10):
I'm a musician and I did not know that Dobro is a brand.
Wendy (03:13):
Dobro is a brand and Eastman and Taylor and all kinds
of callings.
They make a lot of resophonicguitars.
Like any festival, we also havea lot of exhibitors and we're
very proud of our vendors.
Many of them are music oriented.
There's also a peril andjewelry and hats and some other
local foods.
But it's wonderful to wanderthrough Wintergrass and see
(03:38):
everyone picking up instrumentsand playing them.
And the artists in theBluegrass and Americana
community are very, veryaccessible.
They walk around Ricky Skagg'swalks around and people like if
you follow Bluegrass andAmericana music, we often have
the top 40.
They may not be household namesbut in this community they are.
(03:58):
So Tim O'Brien and JerryDouglas no form.
It's really wonderful.
Young people like IfaO'Sullivan, Sarah Gerose where
they came as children and grewup at Wintergrass and you see
them in the hallway sitting atvendor tables jamming.
We had Billy Strings.
If you haven't been followingBilly Strings, he is this young
(04:22):
adult that is now just sweepingthe nation with his amazing
guitar skills and Molly Tuttle.
They just hang out and I am alittle starstruck from in being
this business.
I love being around musicians,but at Wintergrass everyone is
equal, so it's a very accessiblecommunity which we're really
proud of.
Jon (04:43):
It's a community that shares a lot.
Wendy (04:46):
Yeah, people leave very happy.
There's a poem called OnBlackwater Pond by Mary Oliver
and one of the lines is what isthat beautiful thing that just
happened?
And that is something that Istrive for Whenever I produce or
create any kind of event.
I want people to walk away withthis feeling of wow, what was
(05:09):
that thing that just happened?
I can't believe we experiencedsuch a wonderful event.
So People come back year afteryear after year.
There's about 45 tickets thatare sold, or 45 people buy
tickets, but they stay for fourdays 4,500 people.
We have approximately 4,500people that buy tickets and they
(05:30):
stay for four days, so it'sabout 12 to 14 to 16,000 people
who attend Wintergrass.
Jon (05:38):
What was the genesis of the festival?
Wendy (05:41):
That's a great question.
If you go back east, in theearly 70s and 80s and 90s, there
were a lot of outdoor festivalsand there wasn't anything
happening here.
However, in Woodinville therewas a small event and Erla
Harding and Rob Folsom andPatrice O'Neill attended an
(06:02):
outdoor festival and fell inlove with this idea that you
could have bluegrass music inthe Pacific Northwest.
So they decided to talk to theSheraton Hotel in Tacoma.
It was the first ever indoorbluegrass festival in the United
States.
That was founded in 1994.
Jon (06:19):
I'll insert for the benefit of our listeners and other
regions and other parts of theworld.
The reason I presume it'sindoors is because this is
taking place in February, whichin the Pacific Northwest, is not
the time of year where youwould do much of anything
outdoors.
Wendy (06:34):
No, and that's correct, and think about this gig economy
.
It's a wonderful time forartists to come to the Pacific
Northwest because back eastthere's not a lot of work, so
artists love coming to us and wehave always paid our artists
well, so they love being atWintergrass.
We have to remember that peoplethat are musicians, that is
(06:56):
their profession.
We don't ask them to work forpennies.
We pay them market rate, wegive them accommodations and we
have a hospitality room that haslots of food that they can
enjoy.
Jon (07:11):
I was a touring musician in my late teens and early 20s and
food was just a glorious thingwhen we could come across it.
Wendy (07:23):
And when you have a hospitality room, it's where
people get together.
There's a musician named DaleAnn Bradley and another one
named Frank Sullivan, andthey're very social, so they
like coming to the hospitalityroom and they'll hang out and
talk to fans, and then whenother artists come in, they talk
to one another.
(07:43):
But the hospitality room isalso meant for the 300
volunteers, so volunteers whowork 12 hours or more over the
course of four days have accessto this hospitality room, and
that's the one benefit we couldgive to our valuable volunteers.
Jon (08:04):
Wendy, what I'm hearing you describe is family.
Wendy (08:08):
Family is absolutely who we are.
We talk about the Wintergrassfamily.
The volunteers come back.
Year after year they become keyvolunteers, so some of them
work year round.
There's about 20 people thatare volunteers that love doing
what they do.
It's part of their profession.
They're retired, they're young,they want to learn, they want
(08:28):
to understand how to become astage manager, they work
registration, they work the doorand they love the music.
These volunteers definitelycome for the music, but they
like to be part of that nucleusand you know this that it's just
a great experience to be partof the production of an event.
Jon (08:51):
Yeah, first of all, I'm feeling really bad right now
because I've not been toWintergrass and now I'm kind of
kicking myself because thissounds fantastic.
Forgive me if you already saidthis, but do the patrons that
come to the event, do some folks, bring their own instruments
and participate that way, or howdoes that work?
Wendy (09:09):
The jamming is what is the signature of Wintergrass.
Walk into the Hyatt on February22nd of 2024.
And there will be peoplejamming every 20 or 30 feet and
within a jamming session.
There are people that are brandnew, some are experienced, some
know one another or they don'tknow each other at all, and
(09:31):
they'll play their instrument.
They may sing and In a jammingcircle, people learn how to take
turns being the lead Right, andfor people that are learning
how to play, it's an experiencefor them to be able to play more
efficiently in a jam.
Those that know how to playoften teach them various songs.
(09:53):
Then you go upstairs, as Imentioned earlier, to these
sponsored suites.
They're large hotel suites, thedoors are left open and they're
often regional bands that areshowcasing.
Or you go into jam 24-7, john.
People are playing music until6 am and that's what they come
(10:14):
for.
Some of the folks don't go intothe shows.
They want to play and they wantto be with other people.
So there's options.
You can go to a show, you canjam.
There's lots of workshops,probably 60 to 70 workshops led
by the artists and othercommunity members.
Some people are tradinginstruments in their rooms.
(10:36):
They bring their wear and theysell them in their room, and
that's always okay with us.
We want people puttinginstruments in their hands.
Jon (10:46):
It started in Tacoma, now it's in Bellevue.
What was the switch about?
Wendy (10:53):
Good question.
We were at the Sheraton from1994 to 2010 and the hotel
changed ownership.
So the Sheraton turned into theMurano and they didn't believe
Wintergrass fit their values intheir marketing plan.
Yeah, sometimes that happens, Iget it and the Hyatt heard about
(11:13):
us.
Who would have thought youcould have bluegrass music in
Bellevue?
And in 2010 we moved over andwe sent out an all-call to our
members to see if someone wantedto write a song about music in
Bellevue.
So Kristen Granger, a performerdown in Oregon, wrote a song
(11:36):
and it's been recorded andperformed at Wintergrass.
I've played it at the City ofBellevue's City Council meeting.
The City of Bellevue loves thisfestival.
In the events business, all ofus believe in arts and culture,
humanities and whatever ourmission allows us to follow.
(11:56):
In Bellevue.
They also love the economicimpact of Wintergrass.
So we bring in $6.8 million invalue and people come to spend
money with accommodations andtravel and retail Recreation.
$128,000 is spent just onrecreation and, of course,
retail and food and beverages.
(12:18):
When we talk to people aboutWintergrass, you know that
they're coming from differentbackgrounds.
They're either coming from thecultural side or the economic
side.
Jon (12:29):
City of Bellevue is in the midst of a bit of a festivals
and events renaissance right now.
Wendy (12:35):
in my experience, they have a lot of events.
There's the arts festival atthe end of July it's called
Belle Red and over in theBellevue Redmond area there are
festivals over there.
At one point about seven yearsago or eight years ago, bellevue
expanded its boundaries, so itincludes another area towards
(12:57):
the east and that changed thedemographics of Bellevue and I
believe that has made adifference.
And now Bellevue is one of thecreative arts districts that
people can apply for throughArtsWa.
That allows differentorganizations to collaborate and
work together.
There's a number of newcreative arts districts and if
(13:18):
people are interested in that,contact Karen Hannon, the
director of ArtsWa, and she'llwalk you through the process.
I live on Bainbridge Island andwe have a creative arts
district and as a resident I amseeing the influx of educational
and cultural events that arepopping up because of this new
concept of true collaborationbetween various nonprofits and
(13:40):
for-profits.
Jon (13:42):
Is the Winter Grass Festival currently at capacity,
in terms of how many tickets canbe sold, or is it still looking
for more?
Wendy (13:50):
Well, we have to decide if we're talking about pre-COVID
or the one year after COVID.
Jon (13:57):
Let's start with 2019.
Wendy (13:59):
2019, we would call it a full house and we would stop
selling tickets on Saturdayafternoon.
And it's not necessarily bynumbers, but how it feels.
It's always been a value to usthat people can get into a venue
, they can walk around, andPatrice O'Neill is our executive
director, so she walks aroundand makes her executive decision
(14:21):
, along with Stephen Rufo, ourdirector of operations, to make
sure it's safe, for one thing,and that there's this nice flow.
Jon (14:29):
Well, that's what I was getting at, because, as I'm
sitting here processing thescene as you describe it it's, I
have a beautiful image in mymind, but I can also see where
it could get too crowded and allof a sudden not be so cool?
Wendy (14:43):
We don't let that happen.
When we were in Tacoma at theSheraton, we used a number of
outside venues duringWintergrass.
There was a Baptist church andthe Pantages and the Rialto and
the Sports Bar and people lovedwalking to these venues to
listen to music.
We have yet to do that atWintergrass, but we've done an
(15:04):
inventory of all the current andpotential sites that people can
go to.
That is on the back burner fornow, but it's something that we
think about all the time.
This past year we did use theWestin in 2023 and it's a short
walk over an overhead bridge andwe were able to have our
education programs and a largestage over there.
(15:25):
This year we're not going touse it, but it's an option for
us to continue to find new space.
The buildings are popping up inBellevue, where there's a lot
of potential.
Jon (15:37):
So then COVID happened.
Wendy (15:40):
COVID happened and we were one of the last festivals
at operation, february 2020.
We didn't know really much whatwas going on.
We heard a few people got sick.
We never got any stats on howmany people got COVID that year
as many people did.
We did not operate in 2021.
(16:02):
And then in 2022, we opened ourdoors following CDC regulations
, which required us to have 50%capacity.
But, Jon, you're in thebusiness of production.
You have to still have 100% ofthe people.
You have to provide 100% ofproduction registration, office
management, volunteers,hospitality everything that you
(16:26):
do for 100% of your guests youstill have to do it for 50%.
Jon (16:30):
There's a lot of functions that do not care if there's one
person in the audience or amillion people in the audience.
You still got to do what youhave to do.
Wendy (16:38):
All the rigging, the lighting, the stages, it was all
the same.
My job is seeking charitablefunds for Wintergrass and about
26% of our budget goes towardsit comes from charitable funding
.
I never worked harder those twoyears securing additional funds
from government grants andfoundations and donors, and we
(17:01):
did really, really well.
People do put down thegovernment for different reasons
, but the federal governmentprovided so much relief funds to
various states that came downto various arts organizations
like the ArtsWa, humanitieswa,artsfund, fourculture, Seattle
Arts and Culture and even more,and we applied for them.
(17:25):
There was another large onecalled SVOG, and we were able to
receive significant fundingthat kept the business running,
and in retrospect, I would haveoffered to submit grants for
other organizations.
They didn't know that theyexisted.
A lot of for-profit businessesdidn't know this funding existed
(17:46):
, nor did they know how to writeand submit a grant.
We have a dedicated personwithin the Wintergrass staff to
do this.
A lot of festivals andnonprofit organizations have
fewer staff and it's notsomething they could do, so that
kept the doors open.
And then in 2021, we created avirtual program called
(18:07):
Pocketgrass, and it was amonthly program that we did a
very light variety show that hadmusic and magic and other
entertainers and food.
It was 20, 30 minutes long Fullproduction.
You'd be proud of theproduction quality.
That kept our viewers coming inand it was free.
Our funders loved the fact thatwe kept people engaged during
(18:31):
the COVID era.
Jon (18:32):
I've been thinking recently about how, in late 2020 and
pretty much most of 2021,everybody we were all trying to
figure out how to do somethingvia video in response to COVID.
We got to do something and noneof us.
We were just making stuff upand most of it was of
questionable quality one way orthe other, but we were trying
right.
I've had to thought about likewhat if, for some reason in the
(18:54):
future, the only real data orinformation left about our era
was like the COVID, likeeverybody trying to make
something with video, notknowing what they're doing?
That would look really weird.
They would wonder what the heckwere these people doing back
then.
This doesn't make any sense.
Wendy (19:09):
Well, it will be that memory.
You go from generation togeneration and they will wonder
why we did that, why were theynot out?
That era was a silver.
That era I'm going to talk inpast tense we have to have our
cup half full.
We are moving forward.
Jon (19:26):
That's a great.
That's the best idea I've heardall week it's been.
We have to start talking in thepast tense about that.
Wendy (19:32):
Yeah, it was a silver lining for a lot of musicians
and people who sell instruments.
Luthiers that make instrumentsand other large companies were
selling them to the extreme.
People were home.
What am I going to do?
Oh, I might as well buy a newinstrument or I might learn to
play a new instrument.
So they're sales skyrocketed.
(19:53):
They did really well.
Then, as we were coming backinto the festival, some of them
questioned whether they evenneed a vendor table.
They learned that they don'tneed that for new customers or
existing customers.
One of our sponsors isNeckville Banjo, neckville
Instruments down in Sisters,oregon, and he was okay with the
(20:15):
sales but he came back toWintergrass because he really
believes in the culture and howwe affect children and believe
in education.
And another vendor gave us asponsorship value but because he
has young children he decidedto stay home.
So from the perspective of mysecuring additional funds, even
(20:37):
in 22 and 23, we did very well.
I have a crystal ball but Ican't really see through it.
I don't know what 24 will looklike.
We are hearing from people atthe conference in which we're
attending the WashingtonFestival and Events Association
that many people aren't sure ifthey're going to have full
capacity this upcoming year.
(20:58):
That worries us.
I talked to our director,Patrice O'Neill, and she feels
that we might not have fullcapacity.
We watch ticket sales everymonth and they're not at par
right now.
But if we're at 75% capacity,we're still going to have to run
the festival at 100%.
Jon (21:16):
So from 30,000 feet in 2019 , what's the rough breakdown of
your revenue?
You said I think you saidyou're around 25% contributed
revenue.
Wendy (21:26):
The budget was around $550, $550,000 in 2019.
Now it's closer to $775,000.
And Wintergrass has never beenan organization that makes a lot
of money.
If anyone is putting together afestival, it'd be wonderful if
we were paid more, if we hadmore investments and reserves,
(21:49):
but because we offer a lot offree opportunities for families
and kids, we don't really comeout with a high net gain at the
end of the year.
Jon (21:59):
So you've got contributed revenue, You've got donations,
whatnot?
I presume you sell sponsorshipticket sales.
Wendy (22:05):
And the earned revenue.
The ticket sales, the vendorsmerchandise.
We sell registration, educationregistration.
We also have something calledIntensives and they are part of
our education program.
Guests will pay a differentregistration for the Intensives
because they're intimate.
You can go to a banjo workshopand there's five to six people
(22:29):
there with a very well-knownbanjo artist.
Jon (22:33):
Well, it sounds like you've got a nice mix of revenue
sources, but maybe that needs toshift.
In the post-COVID era, theratios need to adjust.
Wendy (22:44):
We are really proud of our diversified income.
I presented at the conferenceyesterday about how to sustain
your nonprofit it could befor-profit too organization and
because we have donations comingfrom individuals, foundations,
securities corporations andgovernment agencies.
(23:06):
If any one of them should showany kind of decline, we still
have funds coming in from otherareas.
So for this past three years,if you throw an earned income of
the ticket sales vendors andmerch which we had tanked, it
didn't do well, but we also hadthe money coming in from other
sources and we also have thispast two or three years we were
(23:29):
able to create some smallinvestments and our bequests
went up during this era as well.
Winter grasses in our will myhusband is Tom.
We're proud to have wintergrass in our will, so I know of
six families that have wintergrass in their will.
Then they're probably more thatpeople don't tell you about.
The goal is to get through notonly 24, but 25 in the next five
(23:55):
or 10 years and our board is avery strong board and very savvy
and also very conservativefiscally.
So monies are spent well.
Because I raise money, it'sreally important to see that our
finances are managedaccordingly Well and, in my
opinion, I think that you'rethinking about the restart.
Jon (24:16):
Well, you just said 2024, 2025.
Here's the thing we all knowthat if you're going to launch
any new event from scratch, youcan't really analyze it until
you've done you've gone throughit three times.
You go through it three times,then you look at your numbers
and then you start to think,okay, well, how's this going?
And I believe that the COVIDshutdown is essentially the same
(24:42):
as starting over again.
I think 2023 was really yearone.
2022 was such a mixed bag ofstuff.
I wouldn't rely on that datafrom any event, that I did in
2022.
But you take 23, 24, 25, then Ithink you'll be able to deduce
what the new normal is.
Wendy (25:02):
It is a new normal and I track all donations since I've
been at Wintergrass from 2005,2004 on and in 2008 and 2011.
There was this economicdownturn but that donations
skyrocketed the following year.
Both years it's happening againright after COVID.
(25:25):
People want to support the artsand USA Giving is just showing
now that the arts and humanitiescategory increased in donations
, where religion and educationand the environment all declined
.
There is something about peoplewanting to be together
experiencing live performances,plays, museums, whatever is part
(25:48):
of your cultural experience, ifyou say that again.
Jon (25:52):
So religion and, which three declined?
Wendy (25:55):
Religion, environment and education went down.
The one that increased the mostwas an international affairs.
Without knowing the details, myguess is that would be Red
Cross relief for people inUkraine, those areas that might
(26:19):
be related to weather issues,all those emergency related
non-profits.
That needs support.
Jon (26:27):
That's interesting.
I hadn't heard those statisticsthat way.
Wendy (26:30):
It's USA Giving puts out a report every year and I follow
it because it allows me to makebetter decisions of who I am
asking for support.
I love your comment about anynew startup should run for three
years to first you plan forthree years and then you make
decisions after year three.
(26:51):
Although I'm retired, thatdoesn't mean I am sitting at
home reading a book.
I'm here at this conference.
I'm the treasurer ofInternational Bluegrass Music
Association Foundation inNashville.
I am now co-founding a week-longovernight bluegrass camp for
(27:11):
children along with anotherperson, Mark Schuster, and it's
called Sound Pickers.
So we are in the middle ofdoing feasibility, Talking to
every possible person who mightattend, who might support,
looking at a proposed budget,what it would cost and it's the
most wonderful experience, John,because Mark and I have all the
(27:34):
experience.
We just now have to put allthese little puzzle pieces
together Looking at varioussites, knowing what the
liabilities would be for us andwhat would year one look like,
how many children, what kind ofinstruments will they learn, who
will be the instructors.
We know, with venues, you haveto book venues months and months
(27:57):
in advance.
Jon (27:58):
If not years, especially in this area.
Wendy (28:01):
Well, if it's an indoor venue with accommodations, yes.
So there's a small team of usthat are we're still at that
30,000-foot level.
Now we need to bring it downand start filtering what we have
heard from people and create anactual scenario.
What would it look like?
Scenario one, two and three andit's been a great experience
(28:25):
when we went to IBM A'sconference in Raleigh a few
weeks ago sharing the idea.
The amount of support that wereceived was phenomenal and we
had people coming up to us.
People know me very well at IBMA and I had a number of people
coming to me saying they wantedto participate.
Anything we can do for kids isimportant to me that I taught
(28:50):
Special Ed for years, so Ireally believe in providing
various educationalopportunities to kids, and at
Wintergrass we have programscalled Jams, j-a-m-z one, two
and three, and there are variouslevels of opportunities for
kids by age.
And then we also have a programcalled the Youth Academy
(29:13):
Teacher Training Program andthey are mentors.
What happened were these kidswould attend their workshops
between seven and 14 years oldand then they might move on to
our high school program, butthey really wanted to help the
young children.
Our ratio is one to four becausewe have lots of instructors and
we have these young adults wantto be there to help these kids
(29:37):
learn.
And then the Youth Orchestra.
I believe we were the firstorganization to have a Bluegrass
Youth Orchestra.
It started by a man named ChickRose back in 1994 and teaching
kids to play Bluegrassinstruments who come from a
classical background.
So they were coming from theirband programs in high schools
(30:00):
where they're reading music andthey're playing whatever the
classical tunes they werelearning.
Bringing these kids into ourfold, they started to learn to
play by ear and learn to playdifferent songs.
Now, fast forward, we have aculminating event.
We have a Youth Orchestra ofabout 100 high school students
who also play with students fromSeattle Pacific University.
(30:21):
They play together and againwe've got the college students
mentoring the high schoolstudents.
That is a full house.
It's a tear-jerking experienceto see these young adults
playing Bluegrass music with thelineup with Peter Rowan.
Oh yeah, I can imagine PeterRowan and Vassan and Tim O'Brien
(30:41):
and a young artist named RashadEggleston.
It just depends on who ourlineup is that year, and they
work with them.
Jon (30:50):
Wendy, who is your most important mentor in our industry
.
Wendy (30:55):
Well, actually my husband is my mentor and he is an
attorney for the Trust forPublic Land, and we are very,
very different.
He's quiet, reserved, very,very thoughtful, and then I am
the one with lots of ideas.
We've been together for 51years as friends or we were
(31:19):
dating and then eventuallymarried.
He has always been my soundingboard that I will come up with
an idea, and then he asksquestions and he supports
everything I do in my life.
He has never been the person totell me what I should or should
not do, but he asks very goodquestions that allow me to
discern what I want to do and so, yes, he's been my professional
(31:43):
mentor in that respect.
I would say it's a compilationof people At Wintergrass.
There isn't one person thatleads the organization.
Yes, Patrice O'Neill is theexecutive director, but it's
always been this team approachfrom the very beginning.
But I would say Patrice O'Neillhas always been a mentor.
She's a visionary, she's verycreative and the ideas that come
(32:11):
to Wintergrass always, ormostly, start from her beliefs
and her values and then what shebelieves we should be doing at
Wintergrass, and then the restof us take it and run.
And she is a founder, so she'sbeen around for a while.
She's also a musician, so sheknows the profession from an
artist's perspective.
Jon (32:33):
What is your favorite sound ?
Wendy (32:36):
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
That one you don't have toquestion.
Jon (32:39):
That was fast.
Wendy (32:40):
So Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has been one of my favorite
bands from high school on and Ifollowed them like a dead head
and we became dirt heads and myhusband and I would go to any
show, in every show that wecould.
Growing up in LA, in Whittier,california.
I was born in Canada but wegrew up in LA County and moved
(33:03):
to the San Francisco area inTumorin County and followed them
.
At that point we could affordto even fly to go see them
someplace.
Then in 1999, John, I wasteaching, I had no background in
production, artist management,talent buying, sponsorship.
(33:24):
I had no background and Icalled John McEwen on the phone
thinking it was his bookingagent, and he picks up the phone
and says John McEwen and I saidhi, this is Wendy Tyner.
I don't know what the businessreally was like in 1999, but in
45 minutes we created a date, aprice, a venue.
(33:45):
I didn't have support.
So it's a longer story that Iwon't get into today.
But we did five shows from 2000to 2005, including Trey
Anastasio from Phish and no onecould know it was a surprise
guest in 2003.
(34:06):
And I learned the business fromthe ground up and I did work
for John McEwen and thenWintergrass came.
A couple of people fromWintergrass came to my first
show Patrice O'Neill and StephenRufo and they asked if I would
join them.
I quit teaching.
I quit teaching to become avolunteer for Wintergrass in
(34:27):
2004 because Tom saw that I wasstruggling with the whole field
of special education and how toget adequate support from the
school district and county andstate to serve kids who have
inherent worth.
Every person has inherent worthand there was never enough
(34:49):
funding to support those kids.
Jon (34:51):
I have a dear friend who's been in special education for
over 20 years and I'm veryfamiliar with the struggles.
One last question you arewalking into an ice cream shop
and you're going to get an icecream cone with two scoops.
What are the flavors?
Wendy (35:09):
Jamoka almond fudge, which, which no longer exists,
so the other two would be cherryGarcia.
It's the other Ben and Jerry'sice cream that I love, cherry
Garcia, and the one with thechocolate and banana Chunky
monkey Chunk.
Okay, so the ice creams arecherry Garcia and chunky monkey
from Ben and Jerry's.
Jon (35:31):
Well, you're just a person who knows what you want.
That was fast.
Wendy (35:36):
Yes.
Jon (35:37):
That one.
People have to think about thatone generally.
So, in the context of a twoscoop cone with Cherry Garcia
and Chunky Monkey, which flavorgoes on top?
Cherry, damn, you know whatyou're after.
Wendy (35:51):
There's an old joke from Laurel and Hardy that they have
a glass of liquid and they haveto share it and Laurel Stan.
Laurel drinks the whole cup ofthe juice and Hardy was very
upset and he said well, mine wason the bottom.
So the only thing I want to sayat the end is I love the banjo.
(36:15):
It's a favorite sound of mine.
I heard it for the first timewhen I was about 17 years old
from a band up in Canada andthere was a song called sweet
city woman and then the Eagleshad banjo and then the dirt band
definitely had banjo.
So I have a banjo and I don'tplay it enough, but I love the
sound.
When I was young I told my momthat when I get older and when
(36:38):
I'm an adult I really want toplay the banjo.
She said you can't do both.
It's a joke.
So that's what I strive for.
That is a goal of mine now.
I turn 67 in a couple of days,but age is meaningless to me
(36:59):
because there's so much I wantto continue to do in life, and
one is now to pick up the banjoand play it more and especially
inspire our two grandchildren,who are three and a half and one
and a half to be exposed tomusic.
It's important that all peoplehave music in their lives,
whether they listen or play.
Jon (37:19):
Here here.
Wendy, thank you so much fortaking the time to sit down this
morning.
I'm certainly going to bechecking out the Winter Grass
Festival this February.
I can hardly wait.
Wendy (37:29):
Thank you.
Tickets are available now,February 22nd to February 25th,
at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue.
You can get accommodationsright there.
You can come one to four daysand enjoy.
Jon (37:44):
Fantastic.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, John.
Wendy (38:03):
All call, one hour to doors.
Hi, this is Wendy Tyner.
You're listening to One Hour toDoors.
Jon (00:13):
This is One Hour to Doors, a podcast about the business and
soul of the festivals andevents industry.
I am your host, Jon Stone.
Every episode of One Hour toDoors explores the people,
issues, insights and trendsimpacting the enterprise of
bringing people and communitiestogether in common cause.
We are recording today at theWashington Festivals and Events
(00:37):
Association annual conference,this year taking place in
Issaquah Washington.
Our guest today is Wendy Tyner,former director of Philanthropy
and Publicity at WintergrassMusic Festival, which is an
annual Bluegrass and AmericanaFestival taking place in
Bellevue, Washington.
Welcome to the show, Wendy.
Wendy (00:56):
Thank you for having me, Jon, tell us about Wintergrass.
Wintergrass is a culture,Wintergrass is a community.
Wintergrass is a place wherepeople get together and it is an
indoor festival that is in its32nd year, starting in Tacoma
back in 1994.
(01:17):
And fast forward, it is anevent where people come to
listen to Bluegrass music,Americana music.
There's also a few countrybands and Irish bands, lots of
bands with young people and wehave four to five stages so
people can go from one indoorstage to another and all bands
(01:40):
play twice.
So you can come anytime betweenThursday and Sunday and see
bands that are nationally known,a lot of regional bands, and we
really prioritize new andemerging bands and love
supporting young people and partof that is our education
programs.
We have education programs thatare from preschool all the way
(02:03):
through adulthood.
What Wintergrass is is thesechildren.
You see them in their programs,you see them jamming in the
hallways, they perform on stageand there's so much energy at
Wintergrass.
You walk through the hallwaysand the lobbies and all the
suites and there's open rooms.
You can go upstairs to anysuite that has an open door and
(02:27):
wander in and sit down as ifthis is your living room and
listen to people jamming.
So jamming is a part of theculture of who we are, and
people come to Wintergrass tojust jam.
It's a little bit of thatconcept of same time next year.
They come from 32 states andseven countries and they play
(02:50):
banjo guitar bass.
Can you imagine flying with abass?
They bring fiddles, variouskinds of resophonic guitars, and
you've always heard aboutDobros, but Dobro is the brand,
so we're always careful just tosay resophonic guitars.
Jon (03:10):
I'm a musician and I did not know that Dobro is a brand.
Wendy (03:13):
Dobro is a brand and Eastman and Taylor and all kinds
of callings.
They make a lot of resophonicguitars.
Like any festival, we also havea lot of exhibitors and we're
very proud of our vendors.
Many of them are music oriented.
There's also a peril andjewelry and hats and some other
local foods.
But it's wonderful to wanderthrough Wintergrass and see
(03:38):
everyone picking up instrumentsand playing them.
And the artists in theBluegrass and Americana
community are very, veryaccessible.
They walk around Ricky Skagg'swalks around and people like if
you follow Bluegrass andAmericana music, we often have
the top 40.
They may not be household namesbut in this community they are.
(03:58):
So Tim O'Brien and JerryDouglas no form.
It's really wonderful.
Young people like IfaO'Sullivan, Sarah Gerose where
they came as children and grewup at Wintergrass and you see
them in the hallway sitting atvendor tables jamming.
We had Billy Strings.
If you haven't been followingBilly Strings, he is this young
(04:22):
adult that is now just sweepingthe nation with his amazing
guitar skills and Molly Tuttle.
They just hang out and I am alittle starstruck from in being
this business.
I love being around musicians,but at Wintergrass everyone is
equal, so it's a very accessiblecommunity which we're really
proud of.
Jon (04:43):
It's a community that shares a lot.
Wendy (04:46):
Yeah, people leave very happy.
There's a poem called OnBlackwater Pond by Mary Oliver
and one of the lines is what isthat beautiful thing that just
happened?
And that is something that Istrive for Whenever I produce or
create any kind of event.
I want people to walk away withthis feeling of wow, what was
(05:09):
that thing that just happened?
I can't believe we experiencedsuch a wonderful event.
So People come back year afteryear after year.
There's about 45 tickets thatare sold, or 45 people buy
tickets, but they stay for fourdays 4,500 people.
We have approximately 4,500people that buy tickets and they
(05:30):
stay for four days, so it'sabout 12 to 14 to 16,000 people
who attend Wintergrass.
Jon (05:38):
What was the genesis of the festival?
Wendy (05:41):
That's a great question.
If you go back east, in theearly 70s and 80s and 90s, there
were a lot of outdoor festivalsand there wasn't anything
happening here.
However, in Woodinville therewas a small event and Erla
Harding and Rob Folsom andPatrice O'Neill attended an
(06:02):
outdoor festival and fell inlove with this idea that you
could have bluegrass music inthe Pacific Northwest.
So they decided to talk to theSheraton Hotel in Tacoma.
It was the first ever indoorbluegrass festival in the United
States.
That was founded in 1994.
Jon (06:19):
I'll insert for the benefit of our listeners and other
regions and other parts of theworld.
The reason I presume it'sindoors is because this is
taking place in February, whichin the Pacific Northwest, is not
the time of year where youwould do much of anything
outdoors.
Wendy (06:34):
No, and that's correct, and think about this gig economy
.
It's a wonderful time forartists to come to the Pacific
Northwest because back eastthere's not a lot of work, so
artists love coming to us and wehave always paid our artists
well, so they love being atWintergrass.
We have to remember that peoplethat are musicians, that is
(06:56):
their profession.
We don't ask them to work forpennies.
We pay them market rate, wegive them accommodations and we
have a hospitality room that haslots of food that they can
enjoy.
Jon (07:11):
I was a touring musician in my late teens and early 20s and
food was just a glorious thingwhen we could come across it.
Wendy (07:23):
And when you have a hospitality room, it's where
people get together.
There's a musician named DaleAnn Bradley and another one
named Frank Sullivan, andthey're very social, so they
like coming to the hospitalityroom and they'll hang out and
talk to fans, and then whenother artists come in, they talk
to one another.
(07:43):
But the hospitality room isalso meant for the 300
volunteers, so volunteers whowork 12 hours or more over the
course of four days have accessto this hospitality room, and
that's the one benefit we couldgive to our valuable volunteers.
Jon (08:04):
Wendy, what I'm hearing you describe is family.
Wendy (08:08):
Family is absolutely who we are.
We talk about the Wintergrassfamily.
The volunteers come back.
Year after year they become keyvolunteers, so some of them
work year round.
There's about 20 people thatare volunteers that love doing
what they do.
It's part of their profession.
They're retired, they're young,they want to learn, they want
(08:28):
to understand how to become astage manager, they work
registration, they work the doorand they love the music.
These volunteers definitelycome for the music, but they
like to be part of that nucleusand you know this that it's just
a great experience to be partof the production of an event.
Jon (08:51):
Yeah, first of all, I'm feeling really bad right now
because I've not been toWintergrass and now I'm kind of
kicking myself because thissounds fantastic.
Forgive me if you already saidthis, but do the patrons that
come to the event, do some folks, bring their own instruments
and participate that way, or howdoes that work?
Wendy (09:09):
The jamming is what is the signature of Wintergrass.
Walk into the Hyatt on February22nd of 2024.
And there will be peoplejamming every 20 or 30 feet and
within a jamming session.
There are people that are brandnew, some are experienced, some
know one another or they don'tknow each other at all, and
(09:31):
they'll play their instrument.
They may sing and In a jammingcircle, people learn how to take
turns being the lead Right, andfor people that are learning
how to play, it's an experiencefor them to be able to play more
efficiently in a jam.
Those that know how to playoften teach them various songs.
(09:53):
Then you go upstairs, as Imentioned earlier, to these
sponsored suites.
They're large hotel suites, thedoors are left open and they're
often regional bands that areshowcasing.
Or you go into jam 24-7, john.
People are playing music until6 am and that's what they come
(10:14):
for.
Some of the folks don't go intothe shows.
They want to play and they wantto be with other people.
So there's options.
You can go to a show, you canjam.
There's lots of workshops,probably 60 to 70 workshops led
by the artists and othercommunity members.
Some people are tradinginstruments in their rooms.
(10:36):
They bring their wear and theysell them in their room, and
that's always okay with us.
We want people puttinginstruments in their hands.
Jon (10:46):
It started in Tacoma, now it's in Bellevue.
What was the switch about?
Wendy (10:53):
Good question.
We were at the Sheraton from1994 to 2010 and the hotel
changed ownership.
So the Sheraton turned into theMurano and they didn't believe
Wintergrass fit their values intheir marketing plan.
Yeah, sometimes that happens, Iget it and the Hyatt heard about
(11:13):
us.
Who would have thought youcould have bluegrass music in
Bellevue?
And in 2010 we moved over andwe sent out an all-call to our
members to see if someone wantedto write a song about music in
Bellevue.
So Kristen Granger, a performerdown in Oregon, wrote a song
(11:36):
and it's been recorded andperformed at Wintergrass.
I've played it at the City ofBellevue's City Council meeting.
The City of Bellevue loves thisfestival.
In the events business, all ofus believe in arts and culture,
humanities and whatever ourmission allows us to follow.
(11:56):
In Bellevue.
They also love the economicimpact of Wintergrass.
So we bring in $6.8 million invalue and people come to spend
money with accommodations andtravel and retail Recreation.
$128,000 is spent just onrecreation and, of course,
retail and food and beverages.
(12:18):
When we talk to people aboutWintergrass, you know that
they're coming from differentbackgrounds.
They're either coming from thecultural side or the economic
side.
Jon (12:29):
City of Bellevue is in the midst of a bit of a festivals
and events renaissance right now.
Wendy (12:35):
in my experience, they have a lot of events.
There's the arts festival atthe end of July it's called
Belle Red and over in theBellevue Redmond area there are
festivals over there.
At one point about seven yearsago or eight years ago, bellevue
expanded its boundaries, so itincludes another area towards
(12:57):
the east and that changed thedemographics of Bellevue and I
believe that has made adifference.
And now Bellevue is one of thecreative arts districts that
people can apply for throughArtsWa.
That allows differentorganizations to collaborate and
work together.
There's a number of newcreative arts districts and if
(13:18):
people are interested in that,contact Karen Hannon, the
director of ArtsWa, and she'llwalk you through the process.
I live on Bainbridge Island andwe have a creative arts
district and as a resident I amseeing the influx of educational
and cultural events that arepopping up because of this new
concept of true collaborationbetween various nonprofits and
(13:40):
for-profits.
Jon (13:42):
Is the Winter Grass Festival currently at capacity,
in terms of how many tickets canbe sold, or is it still looking
for more?
Wendy (13:50):
Well, we have to decide if we're talking about pre-COVID
or the one year after COVID.
Jon (13:57):
Let's start with 2019.
Wendy (13:59):
2019, we would call it a full house and we would stop
selling tickets on Saturdayafternoon.
And it's not necessarily bynumbers, but how it feels.
It's always been a value to usthat people can get into a venue
, they can walk around, andPatrice O'Neill is our executive
director, so she walks aroundand makes her executive decision
(14:21):
, along with Stephen Rufo, ourdirector of operations, to make
sure it's safe, for one thing,and that there's this nice flow.
Jon (14:29):
Well, that's what I was getting at, because, as I'm
sitting here processing thescene as you describe it it's, I
have a beautiful image in mymind, but I can also see where
it could get too crowded and allof a sudden not be so cool?
Wendy (14:43):
We don't let that happen.
When we were in Tacoma at theSheraton, we used a number of
outside venues duringWintergrass.
There was a Baptist church andthe Pantages and the Rialto and
the Sports Bar and people lovedwalking to these venues to
listen to music.
We have yet to do that atWintergrass, but we've done an
(15:04):
inventory of all the current andpotential sites that people can
go to.
That is on the back burner fornow, but it's something that we
think about all the time.
This past year we did use theWestin in 2023 and it's a short
walk over an overhead bridge andwe were able to have our
education programs and a largestage over there.
(15:25):
This year we're not going touse it, but it's an option for
us to continue to find new space.
The buildings are popping up inBellevue, where there's a lot
of potential.
Jon (15:37):
So then COVID happened.
Wendy (15:40):
COVID happened and we were one of the last festivals
at operation, february 2020.
We didn't know really much whatwas going on.
We heard a few people got sick.
We never got any stats on howmany people got COVID that year
as many people did.
We did not operate in 2021.
(16:02):
And then in 2022, we opened ourdoors following CDC regulations
, which required us to have 50%capacity.
But, Jon, you're in thebusiness of production.
You have to still have 100% ofthe people.
You have to provide 100% ofproduction registration, office
management, volunteers,hospitality everything that you
(16:26):
do for 100% of your guests youstill have to do it for 50%.
Jon (16:30):
There's a lot of functions that do not care if there's one
person in the audience or amillion people in the audience.
You still got to do what youhave to do.
Wendy (16:38):
All the rigging, the lighting, the stages, it was all
the same.
My job is seeking charitablefunds for Wintergrass and about
26% of our budget goes towardsit comes from charitable funding
.
I never worked harder those twoyears securing additional funds
from government grants andfoundations and donors, and we
(17:01):
did really, really well.
People do put down thegovernment for different reasons
, but the federal governmentprovided so much relief funds to
various states that came downto various arts organizations
like the ArtsWa, humanitieswa,artsfund, fourculture, Seattle
Arts and Culture and even more,and we applied for them.
(17:25):
There was another large onecalled SVOG, and we were able to
receive significant fundingthat kept the business running,
and in retrospect, I would haveoffered to submit grants for
other organizations.
They didn't know that theyexisted.
A lot of for-profit businessesdidn't know this funding existed
(17:46):
, nor did they know how to writeand submit a grant.
We have a dedicated personwithin the Wintergrass staff to
do this.
A lot of festivals andnonprofit organizations have
fewer staff and it's notsomething they could do, so that
kept the doors open.
And then in 2021, we created avirtual program called
(18:07):
Pocketgrass, and it was amonthly program that we did a
very light variety show that hadmusic and magic and other
entertainers and food.
It was 20, 30 minutes long Fullproduction.
You'd be proud of theproduction quality.
That kept our viewers coming inand it was free.
Our funders loved the fact thatwe kept people engaged during
(18:31):
the COVID era.
Jon (18:32):
I've been thinking recently about how, in late 2020 and
pretty much most of 2021,everybody we were all trying to
figure out how to do somethingvia video in response to COVID.
We got to do something and noneof us.
We were just making stuff upand most of it was of
questionable quality one way orthe other, but we were trying
right.
I've had to thought about likewhat if, for some reason in the
(18:54):
future, the only real data orinformation left about our era
was like the COVID, likeeverybody trying to make
something with video, notknowing what they're doing?
That would look really weird.
They would wonder what the heckwere these people doing back
then.
This doesn't make any sense.
Wendy (19:09):
Well, it will be that memory.
You go from generation togeneration and they will wonder
why we did that, why were theynot out?
That era was a silver.
That era I'm going to talk inpast tense we have to have our
cup half full.
We are moving forward.
Jon (19:26):
That's a great.
That's the best idea I've heardall week it's been.
We have to start talking in thepast tense about that.
Wendy (19:32):
Yeah, it was a silver lining for a lot of musicians
and people who sell instruments.
Luthiers that make instrumentsand other large companies were
selling them to the extreme.
People were home.
What am I going to do?
Oh, I might as well buy a newinstrument or I might learn to
play a new instrument.
So they're sales skyrocketed.
(19:53):
They did really well.
Then, as we were coming backinto the festival, some of them
questioned whether they evenneed a vendor table.
They learned that they don'tneed that for new customers or
existing customers.
One of our sponsors isNeckville Banjo, neckville
Instruments down in Sisters,oregon, and he was okay with the
(20:15):
sales but he came back toWintergrass because he really
believes in the culture and howwe affect children and believe
in education.
And another vendor gave us asponsorship value but because he
has young children he decidedto stay home.
So from the perspective of mysecuring additional funds, even
(20:37):
in 22 and 23, we did very well.
I have a crystal ball but Ican't really see through it.
I don't know what 24 will looklike.
We are hearing from people atthe conference in which we're
attending the WashingtonFestival and Events Association
that many people aren't sure ifthey're going to have full
capacity this upcoming year.
(20:58):
That worries us.
I talked to our director,Patrice O'Neill, and she feels
that we might not have fullcapacity.
We watch ticket sales everymonth and they're not at par
right now.
But if we're at 75% capacity,we're still going to have to run
the festival at 100%.
Jon (21:16):
So from 30,000 feet in 2019 , what's the rough breakdown of
your revenue?
You said I think you saidyou're around 25% contributed
revenue.
Wendy (21:26):
The budget was around $550, $550,000 in 2019.
Now it's closer to $775,000.
And Wintergrass has never beenan organization that makes a lot
of money.
If anyone is putting together afestival, it'd be wonderful if
we were paid more, if we hadmore investments and reserves,
(21:49):
but because we offer a lot offree opportunities for families
and kids, we don't really comeout with a high net gain at the
end of the year.
Jon (21:59):
So you've got contributed revenue, You've got donations,
whatnot?
I presume you sell sponsorshipticket sales.
Wendy (22:05):
And the earned revenue.
The ticket sales, the vendorsmerchandise.
We sell registration, educationregistration.
We also have something calledIntensives and they are part of
our education program.
Guests will pay a differentregistration for the Intensives
because they're intimate.
You can go to a banjo workshopand there's five to six people
(22:29):
there with a very well-knownbanjo artist.
Jon (22:33):
Well, it sounds like you've got a nice mix of revenue
sources, but maybe that needs toshift.
In the post-COVID era, theratios need to adjust.
Wendy (22:44):
We are really proud of our diversified income.
I presented at the conferenceyesterday about how to sustain
your nonprofit it could befor-profit too organization and
because we have donations comingfrom individuals, foundations,
securities corporations andgovernment agencies.
(23:06):
If any one of them should showany kind of decline, we still
have funds coming in from otherareas.
So for this past three years,if you throw an earned income of
the ticket sales vendors andmerch which we had tanked, it
didn't do well, but we also hadthe money coming in from other
sources and we also have thispast two or three years we were
(23:29):
able to create some smallinvestments and our bequests
went up during this era as well.
Winter grasses in our will myhusband is Tom.
We're proud to have wintergrass in our will, so I know of
six families that have wintergrass in their will.
Then they're probably more thatpeople don't tell you about.
The goal is to get through notonly 24, but 25 in the next five
(23:55):
or 10 years and our board is avery strong board and very savvy
and also very conservativefiscally.
So monies are spent well.
Because I raise money, it'sreally important to see that our
finances are managedaccordingly Well and, in my
opinion, I think that you'rethinking about the restart.
Jon (24:16):
Well, you just said 2024, 2025.
Here's the thing we all knowthat if you're going to launch
any new event from scratch, youcan't really analyze it until
you've done you've gone throughit three times.
You go through it three times,then you look at your numbers
and then you start to think,okay, well, how's this going?
And I believe that the COVIDshutdown is essentially the same
(24:42):
as starting over again.
I think 2023 was really yearone.
2022 was such a mixed bag ofstuff.
I wouldn't rely on that datafrom any event, that I did in
2022.
But you take 23, 24, 25, then Ithink you'll be able to deduce
what the new normal is.
Wendy (25:02):
It is a new normal and I track all donations since I've
been at Wintergrass from 2005,2004 on and in 2008 and 2011.
There was this economicdownturn but that donations
skyrocketed the following year.
Both years it's happening againright after COVID.
(25:25):
People want to support the artsand USA Giving is just showing
now that the arts and humanitiescategory increased in donations
, where religion and educationand the environment all declined
.
There is something about peoplewanting to be together
experiencing live performances,plays, museums, whatever is part
(25:48):
of your cultural experience, ifyou say that again.
Jon (25:52):
So religion and, which three declined?
Wendy (25:55):
Religion, environment and education went down.
The one that increased the mostwas an international affairs.
Without knowing the details, myguess is that would be Red
Cross relief for people inUkraine, those areas that might
(26:19):
be related to weather issues,all those emergency related
non-profits.
That needs support.
Jon (26:27):
That's interesting.
I hadn't heard those statisticsthat way.
Wendy (26:30):
It's USA Giving puts out a report every year and I follow
it because it allows me to makebetter decisions of who I am
asking for support.
I love your comment about anynew startup should run for three
years to first you plan forthree years and then you make
decisions after year three.
(26:51):
Although I'm retired, thatdoesn't mean I am sitting at
home reading a book.
I'm here at this conference.
I'm the treasurer ofInternational Bluegrass Music
Association Foundation inNashville.
I am now co-founding a week-longovernight bluegrass camp for
(27:11):
children along with anotherperson, Mark Schuster, and it's
called Sound Pickers.
So we are in the middle ofdoing feasibility, Talking to
every possible person who mightattend, who might support,
looking at a proposed budget,what it would cost and it's the
most wonderful experience, John,because Mark and I have all the
(27:34):
experience.
We just now have to put allthese little puzzle pieces
together Looking at varioussites, knowing what the
liabilities would be for us andwhat would year one look like,
how many children, what kind ofinstruments will they learn, who
will be the instructors.
We know, with venues, you haveto book venues months and months
(27:57):
in advance.
Jon (27:58):
If not years, especially in this area.
Wendy (28:01):
Well, if it's an indoor venue with accommodations, yes.
So there's a small team of usthat are we're still at that
30,000-foot level.
Now we need to bring it downand start filtering what we have
heard from people and create anactual scenario.
What would it look like?
Scenario one, two and three andit's been a great experience
(28:25):
when we went to IBM A'sconference in Raleigh a few
weeks ago sharing the idea.
The amount of support that wereceived was phenomenal and we
had people coming up to us.
People know me very well at IBMA and I had a number of people
coming to me saying they wantedto participate.
Anything we can do for kids isimportant to me that I taught
(28:50):
Special Ed for years, so Ireally believe in providing
various educationalopportunities to kids, and at
Wintergrass we have programscalled Jams, j-a-m-z one, two
and three, and there are variouslevels of opportunities for
kids by age.
And then we also have a programcalled the Youth Academy
(29:13):
Teacher Training Program andthey are mentors.
What happened were these kidswould attend their workshops
between seven and 14 years oldand then they might move on to
our high school program, butthey really wanted to help the
young children.
Our ratio is one to four becausewe have lots of instructors and
we have these young adults wantto be there to help these kids
(29:37):
learn.
And then the Youth Orchestra.
I believe we were the firstorganization to have a Bluegrass
Youth Orchestra.
It started by a man named ChickRose back in 1994 and teaching
kids to play Bluegrassinstruments who come from a
classical background.
So they were coming from theirband programs in high schools
(30:00):
where they're reading music andthey're playing whatever the
classical tunes they werelearning.
Bringing these kids into ourfold, they started to learn to
play by ear and learn to playdifferent songs.
Now, fast forward, we have aculminating event.
We have a Youth Orchestra ofabout 100 high school students
who also play with students fromSeattle Pacific University.
(30:21):
They play together and againwe've got the college students
mentoring the high schoolstudents.
That is a full house.
It's a tear-jerking experienceto see these young adults
playing Bluegrass music with thelineup with Peter Rowan.
Oh yeah, I can imagine PeterRowan and Vassan and Tim O'Brien
(30:41):
and a young artist named RashadEggleston.
It just depends on who ourlineup is that year, and they
work with them.
Jon (30:50):
Wendy, who is your most important mentor in our industry
.
Wendy (30:55):
Well, actually my husband is my mentor and he is an
attorney for the Trust forPublic Land, and we are very,
very different.
He's quiet, reserved, very,very thoughtful, and then I am
the one with lots of ideas.
We've been together for 51years as friends or we were
(31:19):
dating and then eventuallymarried.
He has always been my soundingboard that I will come up with
an idea, and then he asksquestions and he supports
everything I do in my life.
He has never been the person totell me what I should or should
not do, but he asks very goodquestions that allow me to
discern what I want to do and so, yes, he's been my professional
(31:43):
mentor in that respect.
I would say it's a compilationof people At Wintergrass.
There isn't one person thatleads the organization.
Yes, Patrice O'Neill is theexecutive director, but it's
always been this team approachfrom the very beginning.
But I would say Patrice O'Neillhas always been a mentor.
She's a visionary, she's verycreative and the ideas that come
(32:11):
to Wintergrass always, ormostly, start from her beliefs
and her values and then what shebelieves we should be doing at
Wintergrass, and then the restof us take it and run.
And she is a founder, so she'sbeen around for a while.
She's also a musician, so sheknows the profession from an
artist's perspective.
Jon (32:33):
What is your favorite sound ?
Wendy (32:36):
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
That one you don't have toquestion.
Jon (32:39):
That was fast.
Wendy (32:40):
So Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has been one of my favorite
bands from high school on and Ifollowed them like a dead head
and we became dirt heads and myhusband and I would go to any
show, in every show that wecould.
Growing up in LA, in Whittier,california.
I was born in Canada but wegrew up in LA County and moved
(33:03):
to the San Francisco area inTumorin County and followed them
.
At that point we could affordto even fly to go see them
someplace.
Then in 1999, John, I wasteaching, I had no background in
production, artist management,talent buying, sponsorship.
(33:24):
I had no background and Icalled John McEwen on the phone
thinking it was his bookingagent, and he picks up the phone
and says John McEwen and I saidhi, this is Wendy Tyner.
I don't know what the businessreally was like in 1999, but in
45 minutes we created a date, aprice, a venue.
(33:45):
I didn't have support.
So it's a longer story that Iwon't get into today.
But we did five shows from 2000to 2005, including Trey
Anastasio from Phish and no onecould know it was a surprise
guest in 2003.
(34:06):
And I learned the business fromthe ground up and I did work
for John McEwen and thenWintergrass came.
A couple of people fromWintergrass came to my first
show Patrice O'Neill and StephenRufo and they asked if I would
join them.
I quit teaching.
I quit teaching to become avolunteer for Wintergrass in
(34:27):
2004 because Tom saw that I wasstruggling with the whole field
of special education and how toget adequate support from the
school district and county andstate to serve kids who have
inherent worth.
Every person has inherent worthand there was never enough
(34:49):
funding to support those kids.
Jon (34:51):
I have a dear friend who's been in special education for
over 20 years and I'm veryfamiliar with the struggles.
One last question you arewalking into an ice cream shop
and you're going to get an icecream cone with two scoops.
What are the flavors?
Wendy (35:09):
Jamoka almond fudge, which, which no longer exists,
so the other two would be cherryGarcia.
It's the other Ben and Jerry'sice cream that I love, cherry
Garcia, and the one with thechocolate and banana Chunky
monkey Chunk.
Okay, so the ice creams arecherry Garcia and chunky monkey
from Ben and Jerry's.
Jon (35:31):
Well, you're just a person who knows what you want.
That was fast.
Wendy (35:36):
Yes.
Jon (35:37):
That one.
People have to think about thatone generally.
So, in the context of a twoscoop cone with Cherry Garcia
and Chunky Monkey, which flavorgoes on top?
Cherry, damn, you know whatyou're after.
Wendy (35:51):
There's an old joke from Laurel and Hardy that they have
a glass of liquid and they haveto share it and Laurel Stan.
Laurel drinks the whole cup ofthe juice and Hardy was very
upset and he said well, mine wason the bottom.
So the only thing I want to sayat the end is I love the banjo.
(36:15):
It's a favorite sound of mine.
I heard it for the first timewhen I was about 17 years old
from a band up in Canada andthere was a song called sweet
city woman and then the Eagleshad banjo and then the dirt band
definitely had banjo.
So I have a banjo and I don'tplay it enough, but I love the
sound.
When I was young I told my momthat when I get older and when
(36:38):
I'm an adult I really want toplay the banjo.
She said you can't do both.
It's a joke.
So that's what I strive for.
That is a goal of mine now.
I turn 67 in a couple of days,but age is meaningless to me
(36:59):
because there's so much I wantto continue to do in life, and
one is now to pick up the banjoand play it more and especially
inspire our two grandchildren,who are three and a half and one
and a half to be exposed tomusic.
It's important that all peoplehave music in their lives,
whether they listen or play.
Jon (37:19):
Here here.
Wendy, thank you so much fortaking the time to sit down this
morning.
I'm certainly going to bechecking out the Winter Grass
Festival this February.
I can hardly wait.
Wendy (37:29):
Thank you.
Tickets are available now,February 22nd to February 25th,
at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue.
You can get accommodationsright there.
You can come one to four daysand enjoy.
Jon (37:44):
Fantastic.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, John.
Wendy (38:03):
All call, one hour to doors.
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