Zach Kilpack called into the Weekday Wake-Up on Wednesday, July 23 to share the details for this weekend’s 31st annual Oyster Ridge Music Festival in Kemmerer.

A full transcript of the interview is available below.

(0:00) Joining me live over the phone today is Zach Kilpac. Zach helping organize the (0:04) Oyster Ridge Music Festival happening this weekend at Triangle Park in Kemmer. (0:09) 31st annual Oyster Ridge Music Festival.

Zach, good morning. How are you today? (0:14) Hey, dude. Doing well.

Thanks for having us on. Appreciate everything you’ve done for us. (0:18) Absolutely.

Well, it’s such a great event. Such a great festival and deserves a (0:22) little recognition for you guys and everyone that’s put it on. 31st annual.

(0:25) I know it’s grown over the years. Maybe talk to us a little about that aspect of this festival. (0:34) Just how it’s grown in the time that you’ve seen it and where it was in its humble beginnings to (0:39) where it is now today.

Yeah. It definitely started out (0:45) completely different than what it’s turned into. The crew, they had the 30 years they ran it, (0:52) pretty much built it to what it is and handed it over to us this year.

Brand new committee. (0:57) All of us didn’t want to see it disappear. As big as it is and as good as it is for our (1:03) community and the surrounding areas, it’s something we definitely couldn’t let go.

(1:07) It’s way too much fun anyway, right? Absolutely. Way too much. Way too much.

(1:11) Well, you have 11 bands performing live in concert over the two-day event. (1:16) If you could highlight a couple of the bands, maybe tell us some of the groups that are coming (1:20) and their style of music. Who are we going to see on stage this weekend? (1:24) Yeah.

We’ve actually got four Wyoming native bands included in this. We’ve got Jalen Crossland, (1:32) who’s … I hope I said his name right, but he’s a thriller for everybody that knows anything about (1:38) him. Liam and Lane Jordan, up and coming boys.

They’ve got a full band now. They’re really (1:44) turning it around. Let’s see.

The Kessinger Brothers is a staple. They’re our openers, (1:51) have been for years and years. They’ll continue to do that.

Then let’s see. Bob LaFever and (1:57) They Already Gone. They’re from the east side of the state.

Yeah, we’ve got some good talent. (2:04) Our Closers is Pixie and the Partygrass Boys. Man, they’re going to be great.

They’re a ton (2:08) of fun. They’re out of Salt Lake. They know how to put on a show and really bring some good tunes (2:16) for everybody.

Arkansas, same thing. They’re a well-known band. We tried to go a little bit back (2:20) to the roots.

There’s a lot of bluegrass, a couple Americana bands in here, but for the most part, (2:27) yeah, we tried getting back to the old Oystergrass feel. (2:31) Ah, that’s cool. I like, in fact, as you were mentioning some of those groups, I was going to (2:34) say the variety of music has been something that’s been a staple at the Oyster Ridge Music (2:40) Festival, but that hometown kind of folk bluegrass, I mean, that’s what it’s all about, right? (2:47) Yes, sir.

(2:48) Zach Kilpack with the Oyster Ridge Music Festival happening this weekend at Triangle Park in Kemmer. (2:54) Zach, this thing is free to attend. It’s just incredible because you can go to festivals (2:58) half this size somewhere in the nation and pay a hundred bucks just to get on the grounds.

(3:02) Why is it so important for the Oyster Ridge Music Festival to be free of charge? (3:08) Just, I kind of think it’s that aspect. It’s a unique thing. It’s a unique experience, (3:14) and we want everybody to be able to come participate.

So we work our tails off year (3:19) round to make sure we’re getting our grants and donations and sponsors, and we can’t say (3:23) thanks enough to all those people that help us with that. Yeah, it’s just, everything should be free. (3:32) Tell us about what is on the grounds other than the music, because so much of the atmosphere in (3:37) a festival like this are the vendors.

Who do you have this year? (3:41) Yeah, well, we’ve got tons of craft vendors, tons of food vendors. We’ve got some, I mean, (3:45) we’ve got Eric coming up from Louisiana with some Cajun food. We were able to shut down the (3:51) Main Street this year.

Hope to be able to continue to do that. So we were actually able to add a ton (3:56) more vendors as well. So there’s going to be, I mean, the options are endless, and we’ve got a (4:03) huge variety.

Honestly, I couldn’t even begin to tell you. You’ll have to come check it out and (4:06) see for yourself how much more we’re going to have. Perfect.

Oyster Ridge Music Festival, (4:11) you can find the full schedule, the full lineup. It’s all online at OysterRidgeMusicFestival.com. (4:18) OysterRidgeMusicFestival.com. Zach Kilpack on the Weekday Wakeup this morning. Zach, (4:21) you mentioned that new management, I should say, new group of people organizing this event this (4:27) year.

It really does take a whole community, doesn’t it? You mentioned the sponsors and (4:31) everything, but how many people behind the scenes do you think it takes to put on the (4:35) Oyster Ridge Festival? Oh, really, Duke, that’s a tough one to answer. I mean, we’ve got a committee. (4:42) There’s like six, seven of us, something like that off the top of my head.

But the volunteers, (4:47) you know, again, can’t say thanks enough to them. We’ve got people running the beer booths (4:52) where we’ve got a lot of local Wyoming brews there as well on draft. Volunteers helping with (4:58) just the wristbands, the headquarter booths, the safe ride.

I can’t forget to mention that. That’s (5:03) a free service we also offer, you know. Drops you off at the park, picks you up.

There’s (5:09) designated areas. You can also see on the website. Yeah, people driving that bus.

Yeah, (5:15) there’s, I mean, there’s, you know, it’s probably close to 40 people or more that it takes to get (5:21) this done. And I guess my next question to that is, do you still need more help? If someone wants (5:26) to hop in and get involved, are you still looking for some hands? Absolutely. We do need a couple (5:31) more safe ride drivers.

If anybody’s interested in that, there’s trying to do a couple hour shifts (5:35) at a time and, you know, they keep their tips. You know, that’s a lot of fun. That’s an experience (5:40) you won’t forget.

There’s a lot of stories I’ve heard coming out of that safe ride bus. (5:43) Oh, one can only imagine. Only imagine.

Zach Kilpack, Oyster Ridge Music Festival on the (5:48) Weekday Wakeup. This morning, Zach, thanks for your time. Anything we missed that you’d like (5:51) to mention about this great event? No, we’ve got a kid zone this year.

That’s going to be (5:58) kind of a new thing. We’ve got a big blow up obstacle course and another spot for them, (6:02) for the kiddos to hang out and have something else to do if they get bored. So hopefully nobody’s (6:08) bored this entire time.

Love it. No reason to not be there. It’s free to attend the Oyster (6:13) Ridge Music Festival, Triangle Park, downtown Kemmerer.

Sounds like it’s bigger and better (6:17) than ever before. Zach, thanks for your time. Appreciate it.

Good luck this weekend. (6:21) All right, Duke. Appreciate you.

It’s the Weekday Wakeup this morning on the SBI Radio Network.