For all intents and purposes, a shovelnose guitarfish, as most of the world knows it — sometimes called a fiddle ray or a banjo shark due to their flattened forebody and pectoral fins on either side of their head — is a fish found in the Monterey Bay area of California. But, for Jimmy Leslie and the folks at Guitarfish Music Festival, the species has an entirely different meaning, and might as well be native to Cisco Grove.
Leslie, the weekend’s Blue Director and co-founder explained that the festival’s goal to raise awareness of overfishing, ocean pollution, and watershed education initially came as result of a National Geographic story on the global fishing market and bycatch (the portion of a commercial fishing catch that consists of marine animals caught unintentionally, as defined by Merriam-Webster). The article, which Leslie read while touring with Shana Morrison, inspired him to write Guitarfish Adventures Volume 1.0: Blue Is the New Green, a musical marine epic about a guitarfish and its band of sea creatures called The Flow trying to tour without getting hooked by humans.
“The weekend is a mix of music and edu-tainment,” Leslie said, in explaining Deep Blue Hootenanny and the “Deep Thoughts” of the eco-experts who will be taking the stage throughout the weekend to present on environmental topics.
The Starfish Stage, also known as Family Camp, will be host to the majority of the edu-tainment. Additionally, throughout the weekend, the speakers will give three-minutes talks before the headlining performances on the festival’s main stage.
The presenters include Gordon Drysdale, culinary director of Scome’s Inc., who will be discussing sustainable fishing and how folks can bring these methods into their kitchen when shopping for fish; Michael Reppy, director of the Dolphin Spirit project, who sailed from California to Japan to raise awareness about Japan’s yearly dolphin slaughter; Kathi Koontz, program director at Ocean Noise; and the environmental musical group Banana Slug String Band. Jimmy Leslie & The Flow will also be performing Guitarfish Adventures on both Friday and Saturday.
Rounding off the blue side of things, Guitarfish Festival — which celebrates its 6th year in 2016 — is an intimate family, community, arts, and music festival presenting musical acts such as ALO, Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds, and Afrolicious. The weekend also features vendors, yoga classes, and free shuttle service to the popular mountain bike trail Hole in the Ground on Saturday and Sunday morning.
“It’s a deep, blue, off-the-hook kind of time,” Leslie said.
