The first two-day event in July 2019 was a terrific show, but the inaugural Blame My Roots Festival in Belmont County failed to earn a profit.
Last year, of course, was canceled because of Covid-19, but the pandemic sent the music industry into a swirl for survival. That meant for BMRF co-owner Chris Dutton that booking headliners for the Friday and Saturday shows for this summer’s event would be a monumental task.
“We knew we had Neal McCoy for Friday night, and the country fans in this area really do love that man,” Dutton said. “But what about Saturday night? For months, it seemed a headliner wasn’t available, but we did see one name on the list.”
That fact forced Dutton and his sister to contemplate canceling and folding the festival for good. Unless, of course, Miranda Lambert agreed to pay a visit to the Valley View Campgrounds.
“I had spoken to my sister Nina one morning and told her that if we didn’t get Miranda Lambert, that was it. We were cancelling,” Dutton recalled. “We were going to fold and give it up. It was a pretty tense week until we go that call because we were supposed to hear back from them within 30 days, and then it got pushed back to 60 days, so we were pretty pessimistic about the future of the Blame My Roots Festival. But then we heard back from her manager later that same day and her answer was yes.
“There are performers out there who can headline a festival, and Miranda Lambert is definitely one of those performers,” he said. “But, because of the extended wait, we really didn’t think she was going to say yes, but she did say yes and we have moved forward ever since.”
Rolling the Dice
The decision to sign Lambert, a native of Texas who has released eight albums since her debut in 2004, would tripling the event’s budget compared to the investment made in 2019. While Dutton would not reveal the amount the performer would receive in exchange for serving as the closing act for Saturday evening, he did explain it necessitated making a few policy changes inside the festival.
That included the decision to ban coolers of beer and instead selling cans for $5 each.
“I know that announcement upset some people and I can understand why. For 40 years across the street they were allowed to roll in these giant coolers, but that’s also a big reason why Jamboree in the Hills went away,” Dutton said. “But what we found out after the first year was that people really do care about the quality of the performers more than what we thought.
“Don’t get me wrong. Our first year we had great musicians on those stages, but they were not the big names in the industry and that’s what most of the fans really want,” Dutton continued. “So, we made some changes so we can give the fans what they really want.”
Lambert, winner of three Grammy Awards who has been named Female Vocalist of the Year by the Academy of Country Music Awards nine times, is certainly headlining material.
“I feel we got very lucky with her because we didn’t know it was even possible. We just thought we would try to get someone even bigger,” Dutton explained. “Our contacts in Nashville let us know who was available for the summer of 2021, and her name was on that list. Plus, because we are such a young festival, a lot of the bigger names have th3eir managers really into the organizers because they want to be confident the show is going to happen.
“That’s why booking as a newer festival is a pretty tough process, but we made the decision to triple our budget compared to the first year,” he said. “We were at the point where we were thinking of canceling the festival because we really didn’t think we were going to hear from Miranda Lambert’s people., and there really was no one else available that we could building a festival around.”
Pandemic Precautions
On Friday evening, the lineup includes Walker Montgomery, Adam Doleac, Joe Dee Messina, and Neal McCoy. Saturday evening, scheduled performers include Allie Colleen, Niko Moon, Lee Brice, and Lambert.
“Kick-Off” concerts also are scheduled for the two evenings before the Blame My Roots Festival officially begin on the main stage on July 16.
But right now, as order by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, fairs and festival are limited by a 30-percent occupancy mandate.
“And we’re going to have to take the precautions that the state mandates just like all other businesses have had to do since this thing began a year ago,” Dutton said. “Right now, for fairs and festivals, the state has said there can be up to 30 percent occupancy for outdoor events., and I believe that number will go up over the next couple of months.”
Even is the governor does not loosen precautions before the third weekend of July, the Valley View Campground, however, is 65 acres large and that allows for a plethora of possibilities.
“The good thing for us is that we don’t have a permanent structure out there, so there are ways for 30 percent to work for us,” he said. “Normally, our capacity would be 10,000 people and we don’t need to hit that number to be successful this year, and because we bring in all the fencing, the stages, and the campers, even the 30 percent would be OK for us this year.”
