RICHLAND, Wash. – A new one-of-a-kind festival has Richland rocking. Musical Acts from all over have come to Richland to showcase their talents.
Laynie Erickson sits down with Festival Organizer, Caleb Brown
The first Uptown Get Down Festival took place. Caleb Brown’s vision is finally taking shape. I talked with Brown for a couple of seconds and he said he couldn’t be happier with how smooth things were going. There were 46 acts in four venues around the Uptown performing.
Dara Quinn, the owner of the Emerald of Siam said Brown came to her with this idea.
“We started talking about it and it very quickly developed into a plan of action and execution,” said Quinn.
Quinn says both she and Brown have been working on putting this event together for over six months. She says the work ethic of Brown is impressive.
The Uptown Get Down Music Festival will feature acts here locally and around the country. The festival will be headlined by non-other than Afroman.
“He’s young and motivated,” Quinn said. “I’d say he’s the leg work guy and he gets her done. He’s extremely organized and a talented young man.”
The artists showed up at 9 am to check-in. One of those artists is a band named Gravity Well. The band got their name from one of the member’s favorite video game.
Lead singer of Naughty Pine, Barefoot Randy, gives us a hint of what to expect during Uptown Get Down 2023.
“It was just a power-up you could get, said Gravity Well’s guitar player. “It was actually called gravity weld, but I thought Gravity Well sounded way cooler.”
The band says they don’t consider them linked to a specific musical genre, they just want to play music to make people feel good. The band told me they were honored to be a part of the festival.
“I think we all are,” said the band. “Without a doubt. I’m super excited to see how this turns out. I’m really just stoked to be a part of this.”
The band is grateful to both Brown and Quinn for the event. Quinn says this festival is just an extension of what the Emerald of Siam has done. The band is already looking towards the future.
“If you aren’t here this year,” said the band. “You better come next year, because it’s only going to get better.”
Quinn says she expects over 700 people here. The total number of people hasn’t been counted. At 8:30 pm, the festival’s headliner Afroman is performing. His show is only for those over 21 years of age.