Previously published in 2022, this answer to “Why ProgStock?” still rings true:
The three keys to our festival, in our humble opinion, are:
- great live music (otherwise, what’s the point?)
- the coming together of a community of people who are now more like a family, thus the ProgStock Family group, including the musicians who become part of our group and join in the fun
- our amazing team of volunteer professionals, and paid professionals (often not paid what they deserve, which is unfortunately almost always true in the music industry) – We can’t thank these folks enough!
Something interesting you might not know about ProgStock, even if you’ve attended before: we encourage all of our musicians to stay for the entire weekend. Why?
- To bring the musicians into the community experience. We want the musicians to become part of the group, mingle with the crowd, watch the other bands, and meet each other. Some folks call it ‘a cruise on land,’ for those familiar with the music cruise concept – everyone hanging out in one space for several days – sharing music, meals, and experiences – getting to know each other.
- The great collaborations that result. Every year, exciting things happen at ProgStock when musicians, who have sometimes never met or worked together, struck up a conversation in advance, because they knew they were coming to ProgStock, or just started jamming in Bob Moog Foundation Plaza or backstage and Boom! new music is born.
Examples of unique ProgStock musical experiences abound:
- The very first set at ProgStock 2017 featured Francis Dunnery (It Bites), Peter Jones (Tiger Moth Tales, Red Bazar, Camel), and Rachel Flowers. Francis Dunnery and Peter Jones also joined Dave Kerzner on stage for some amazing collaborations.
- Check out this compilation video of our ProgStock 2017 performances to see a snapshot of our first festival.
- In 2017 and 2018, ProgStock was blessed to have Tom Brislin, a New Jersey native, perform both singly and with his band, Gold Rotation, and now Tom is a full-fledged member of the multiple Platinum-selling American rock band, Kansas. In 2018, Michael Sadler joined Gold Rotation on stage for a surprise performance of the Saga classic, “Wind Him Up!“
- In 2018, ProgStock was honored to have the extraordinary talents of Eddie Jobson headlining the festival. Eddie brought an all-star band together to bring us Jobson Plays UK with Marc Bonilla, Alex Machacek, and Thomas Lang. That spring, Eddie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Platinum-selling English rock band, Roxy Music, and delivered this spectacular performance on electric violin, as the first electric violinist to be inducted into Rock Hall.
- Michael Sadler (Saga) and Rachel Flowers released an EP together (3 x 2) at ProgStock 2018
- Enchant was Michael Sadler’s backing band at ProgStock 2018, for Michael’s first-ever solo performance, with Jimmy Keegan (Pattern-Seeking Animals, Spock’s Beard) on drums.
- Then, to top that, Michael brought his son, Seren out on stage, for their first-ever performance together as a father & son duo. Not a dry eye in the place after that one – a true ProgStock moment.
- Check out this compilation video of our ProgStock 2018 performances to see a snapshot of our second festival.
- At ProgStock 2018 and every year since, artist Paul Whitehead has joined us and painted live during a selection of our live band shows. Check out this time-lapse video of Paul Whitehead creating a unique art piece during Phideaux’s set at ProgStock 2019.
We will miss Paul this year, as he recovers from a medical procedure, but we will see him back in 2026! - In 2019, ProgStock featured the Juno Award winning and Canadian Platinum-selling rock band, SAGA, and first show of the 50th Anniversary tour of the legendary rock band Nektar.
- Robert Berry and Rachel Flowers performed “Our Bond,” a song written by Robert Berry as a tribute to Rachel’s friendship with Keith Emerson. Another ProgStock moment captured by a fan. Maybe one day they will be inspired to record it!
- In 2020, ProgStock persevered through the pandemic by bringing over 100 live-streamed performances to the living rooms of our audience, culminating in a virtual 2-day festival featuring the classic American prog-rock band, Crack The Sky. We even provided a virtual stage for ProgDay 2020 and a fundraiser for The Bob Moog Foundation we dubbed Moogvember.
- Eddie Jobson came back in 2021 to talk about how important it is to support Progressive Rock music and to introduce the amazing Rachel Flowers. You can read all about that day at ProgStock in this review by Thomas Hatton on Proglodytes.com.
- Rachel Flowers, Joe Deninzon and Alex Skolnick (Testament, Jane Getter Premonition) performed Spain in honor of Chick Corea at ProgStock 2021.
- Steve Unruh, Phideaux Xavier, Valerie Gracious and Ariel Farber came together to open a day at ProgStock 2021 that started and ended with “only at ProgStock” moments. Day 3 closed with a blending of Dark Beauty and Potter’s Daughter. That’s a LOT of talent on one stage! Once again, Thomas Hatton’s review on Proglodytes.com says it better than we ever can!
- Michael Sadler met Shane Atkinson of Evership at ProgStock 2018 and now Michael is the Voice of the New Day on Evership’s new album The Uncrowned King, Part II, for which we will have an album listening party at ProgStock 2022. Hear the full song here.
- At ProgStock 2022, Joe Deninzon (violin), Alex Skolnick (guitar), and Rachel Flowers (piano/flute) came together with no rehearsal to perform “Spain” by Chick Corea and Joaquin Rodrigo. Watch the video here.
- At ProgStock 2023, Patrick Moraz graced our stage. A member of the ProgStock family captured it on video.
- At ProgStock 2024, Advent Horizon stunned the crowd, securing their spot as one of our “sleepers!” Sleepers are bands you didn’t know before ProgStock and now you need to have every song they ever recorded in your personal collection. Don’t miss a single moment of the festival, even if you don’t recognize the name of the band. A festival attendee captured this on video.
- After some production chaos, we set up a portable PA on the stage through which John Mitchell and Jez Fielder dazzled the audience with an acoustic set. Again, a festival attendee caught this Kino song for us!
- ProgStock 2024 also saw the return of Last Call Live, our pro-am jam, at the prefestival event. Check out this all-star band performing “People of the Southwind” by Kansas. Last Call Live is definitely back to stay!
We continue bringing new experiences to the festival to complement the performances, including special guest appearances and meet-and-greets, fine artists, and the involvement of sponsors and foundations related to music education, historical preservation, and support of independent musical artists. We could not have produced any of these without you, and for that we are eternally grateful!
