Courtesy of Emma Dinkelspiel ’25
Meadowlark Music Festival returned to the Hudson Valley on September 13, 14, and 15 to celebrate both independent musicians and the local farmers who keep their communities thriving. Portions of the proceeds went to organizations helping Hudson Valley farmers including Farm Aid. Hosted annually on the beautiful Stone Ridge Orchards just thirty minutes north of the historic college town of New Paltz, New York, the festival’s scenic landscape makes for a relaxing, laid back concert experience. Between sets, audience members can stroll through and pick from the rows of apple trees, enjoy food and cider from local vendors, or shop for one of a kind vintage garments.
Performances began on Friday at the Cider House, a small and intimate bar serving drinks from the orchard. The bar was the weekend home to The Writers Room presented by Keepsake House, a New York based non-profit dedicated to supporting and uplifting local artists. The Writers Room was a space for singer-songwriters from the Hudson Valley to perform in a more intimate setting. All of the performers were selected based on public submissions, and throughout the weekend they were divided into four concert groups representing the stages of growth: seed, bloom, plant, and harvest.
The main stage of the festival opened on Saturday with a set from the Ontario-based country group, Nicolette & the Nobodies. From underneath the shade of a large oak tree, concertgoers set up lawn chairs and blankets to relax and enjoy the music. The audience was composed of listeners from all age groups, both young and old, and the large, open space drew in a family friendly crowd. The stage sat on top of a small hill, and behind it lay the beautiful landscape of the Catskill Mountains. Although the weekend was hot and the sun glared down on the orchard, the shade became a pleasant sanctuary for attendees.
Headliners on Saturday included Fruit Bats and Deer Tick, but the true standout performance came from The Writers Room with a twenty minute set from Sharon Klein, a veteran musician coming out of the New York area. According to the Keepsake House instagram page, “Klein has been writing songs since she was 17. She spent several years as a music producer in NYC, [and she] even had a song on the Billboard Charts.” Klein’s stage presence was infectious — lighting up the room with her beautiful self-composed songs about love and loss.
The standout performance of the entire festival came on Sunday afternoon from New York City native, Jeffrey Lewis and his band The Voltage. Lewis’s witty lyricism and charming awkwardness made for an engaging and entertaining 40 minute set. When we returned to our seats, a man sitting nearby asked us, “Do you guys listen to him? Does he always do that?” His tone was a mixture of admiration and disbelief in response to Lewis’ strangely entertaining and eclectic set; including a parody of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” about a Jewish pigeon named Bupkes sitting on an ice box in a New York City tenement as well as his cover of Karma Chameleon with some unique lyrical changes. “Kama-kama-kama-kamala Harris and Tim, let’s vote them in,” he sang solo as the rest of his band vacated the stage.
Courtesy of Emma Dinkelspiel ’25
When we asked Lewis what fans can look forward to from him in the coming months, he shared, “I’ll be doing whatever volunteer work I can do for the USA election, phone-banking, and [going] door to door to put maximum effort into electing Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and consign[ing] Trump to the dustbin of history or any other fittingly ignominious dustbin.”
The relaxed atmosphere of Meadowlark was further revealed to us on Sunday afternoon when we ran into Lewis multiple times around the venue. The first time we saw him, he was standing at the merch table after his outstanding set. We made small talk about music and the election season as we purchased a CD and record from his booth. When we ran into him again at the food truck an hour later, the conversation picked up right where it had left off – a testament to the uniquely intimate and welcoming nature of the festival.
Lewis said that the advantages of music festivals include, “Making new fans, checking out many other bands, [seeing] some beautiful locations and [having] interesting experiences!” He continued, “I absolutely love grimy sketchy dive-bar rock clubs smelling of old beer and piss and sticky floors and decrepit vandalized backstage fire-traps. [T]hat’s my natural habitat that I revel in like a dog allowed to run joyfully in a field, but it’s nice to have the occasional fresh air festival scene once in a while for variety!”
Lewis, just like us, was looking forward to seeing the Sunday headliner and iconic New York City alternative band, Blonde Redhead. As the sun went down behind the stage Sunday night, red lights illuminated the faces of the band. In the audience sat both musicians and festival attendees alike, all of whom were basking in the beautiful fresh air and moonlight of Stone Ridge Orchards.
You can keep up with Meadowlark on Instagram @meadowlark_fest or support local artists with Keepsake House @keepsakehouse!
