QUILCENE — The bucolic atmosphere of a lakeside meadow will change today as construction begins on the stage for Moon Fest 2012 at Lake Leland.
The Saturday concert, planned from noon to 10:30 p.m., will pay tribute to some of the world’s biggest bands, followed by the premiere of a new work by a well-known classic rock musician.
“This is a tribute festival, which means most of the people will know the music that’s being played,” said Jim Munn, who is promoting the festival on land he recently bought north of Quilcene.
“These will be the songs that people know and love, and it is on the anniversary of the Woodstock Festival.”
The festival includes tributes to Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles and Heart.
In the evening, guitarist Roger Fisher, an original member of Heart, will perform selections from his upcoming album.
Aside from the $50 ticket, a limited number of campsites are available for $20.
The site is located at 324 Munn Road, which at the end of Snow Creek Road off of Highway 101 5 miles north of Quilcene.
Gates open at 10 a.m. Parking is free.
Moon Fest is an outgrowth of a smaller event last summer in the same 16-acre location,
Both were in memory of Sandi Munn, Munn’s wife, who died of cancer in February 2011.
Munn is a Quilcene realtor whose family has lived in the area for 130 years.
The 2011 event raised $2,500 that was donated to the American Cancer Society.
This year’s festival has higher stakes and ambitions.
Munn’s goal is to sell 1,000 tickets, which would cover the costs of the concert — estimated at $45,000 — and provide about $5,000 for the American Cancer Society.
He said he did not know how many tickets had been sold so far.
“A lot of people will come at the last minute,” he said.
“I understand that, but that means that we can’t really plan and prepare.”
The capacity for the area is about 2,000 people and Munn said he will be able to accommodate that number.
The event is promoted as taking place on the 43rd anniversary of the Woodstock Festival, which took place at White Lake, New York on Aug. 15-17, with the late Jimi Hendrix closing it the morning of Aug. 18.
Hendrix, who died a little more than a year after Woodstock, will be represented at Moon Fest not only by tribute artist Randy Hansen but also by his younger brother, Leon Hendrix.
Leon Hendrix, 64, will perform some of his brother’s music as well as his own original songs.
Fisher, who was “voted out” of Heart in 1979, has kept a low profile since that time although he has written “about 120 really good songs” since that time, he said.
He will be fronting a diverse band which includes standard guitar-bass-drum instrumentation along with cello, violin and erhu, a traditional Chinese string instrument.
While the music is the main attraction, Fisher said that the festival sound system will provide a special experience.
Fisher said that he and his brother, Mike, have developed a surround-sound system that will wrap around the crowd and provide new life to the music.
Fisher, 62, hopes his new music will continue the spirit of what was performed at the Woodstock Festival and during rock’s golden era.
“Rock music started as simple but morphed into something different when the Beatles came along and it changed the world,” Fisher said.
“It caused a personal evolution in many people where they stopped only thinking of themselves.
“I would like to bring that back with my new music because the only way we can continue to survive is if we support each other and create a better world for our kids.”
Fisher hopes that the international makeup of his new band will promote this feeling.
The band’s new album, “All Told,” does not yet have a release date.
“The standard is set really high,” Fisher said.
“It has to be as good as anything else in the world.
“It has taken a long time to finish, but I’m really pleased with the results.”
It will take a while for “All Told” to reach the general public so the Moonfest 2012 audience will hear this new music before anyone else.
For more information, go to www.moonfest2012.com.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
