Q&A with Storyhill Fest Founders Chris Cunningham & Johnny Hermanson
We caught up with Chris and Johnny before August’s Storyhill Fest to learn more about this remarkable event.
In late August, in picturesque Clearwater Forest Camp outside Deerwood, Minnesota, music fans and artists will gather for the 14th Storyhill Fest. Although smaller and more intimate than many summer music festivals, the event boasts a stellar lineup of award-winning and buzzworthy local and touring singer-songwriters: Justin Roth, Scott Cook, Sarah Morris, The Two Tracks, Vance Gilbert, Nikki Morgan, Humbird, Molly Maher and, of course, Storyhill themselves.
In addition to the stage sets, the festival offers a range of opportunities to experience the artists, including panels, workshops and late-night campfire gatherings. Guests are also encouraged to participate in songwriting discussions and even an open mic!
This will be Adventures in Americana’s first year attending it, so to learn more about it, we connected with organizers Chris Cunningham and Johnny Hermanson, the duo that make up the celebrated folk act Storyhill.
Johnny Hermanson & Chris Cunningham. Photo courtesy of the artists.
Carol Roth: I understand this will be the 14th Storyhill Fest, with your first being in 2006. What sparked its inception?
Chris Cunningham: The idea for Storyhill Fest was born after my wedding to my wife Leslie back in 2004 at Hyalite Lake in Montana. It was a multi-day, outdoor event held at a mountain lake camp and featured live music (including special music by Johnny Hermanson!), catered meals and nightly group campfires. The knowledge and skills to host this, along with the uplifting sense of bringing people together in nature, inspired us to establish Storyhill Fest with a similar format. The first fest was held in 2006 at the same location.
Johnny Hermanson: The first few years we held the fest on Hyalite Lake. It’s a wonderful setting, but we needed to find a place that could accommodate more people. The Hyalite site was pretty far off the beaten track and high up in the mountains. One year we almost had to cancel when a mudslide closed the only road to the fest grounds!
CC: The camp was small and the fest was growing in popularity. Then a friend who was the director of another camp in Deerwood, Minnesota suggested that we try the Clearwater Forest Camp, where it’s been hosted ever since. For a couple of years we hosted the fest in both locations until it became clear that focusing on just a single location worked best.
JH: The Deerwood site is much easier to get to and has room for us to grow. It’s surrounded by nature conservancy land so it still feels like a wild place, and we really like the access to the lake and the many water activities available at Clearwater Forest camp.
CR: What’s unique about this festival versus ones you’ve played at or attended?
JH: Chris and I wanted the fest to be about songs and songwriting. We’re very lyric-focused and drawn to music that tells a story. We recognize that a lot of our fans feel the same, so we wanted our festival to celebrate the creation of songs that engage the world in dialogue, challenge the listener or inspire change. In 2007 we played Kerrville Festival in the Texas hill country and really enjoyed its emphasis on songwriting, so I’m sure that influenced our thinking about Storyhill Fest.
CC: There are many differences as well as similarities. Ours focuses primarily on featuring original singer-songwriters along with some workshops and nature and water-based activities.
It’s also designed as an intimate, family-friendly festival with options for both tent and RV camping as well as cabins and higher-end lodging options. There’s inherently a lot of opportunities for interaction among artists and the attendees—and a lot of returning attendees that look forward to reuniting with friends they made in previous years. Many artists have also formed close friendships as a result of the Fest.
CR: What can attendees look forward to this year?
JH: This year’s lineup of artists has got us all very excited! We’re bringing in a lot of first-time artists this year from all over the country (and Canada) and are really happy with the variety of perspectives and styles.
CR: What things have changed or grown over the years, and what’s stayed the same?
CC: We’ve made improvements to the sound, stage and lighting for the stage. We’ve expanded the options for activities during the day on Saturday—including a kids’ concert (that will once again be hosted by Fest favorite Chad Elliott!) and art projects that appeal to kids of all ages (last year, everyone could decorate and take home salt-dough Christmas tree ornaments featuring Chris, Johnny, a guitar and the state of Minnesota). This year, we’ll be working with a new caterer to have more diverse food options and will be making the fest more sustainable by working with a longtime fan/Fest attendee on offering composting bins.
CR: What’s one aspect you’re especially excited about?
JH: I always look forward to the campfires. After the main stage performances every night, we all make our way to the fire pit on the shore of the lake and play songs late into the night. It’s a great chance for the artists to play songs they don’t play a lot—new songs or songs that don’t fit in their regular set.
CR: Do you have a favorite memory from a past festival?
CC: At the 2021 Fest, I went up on stage during Mai Bloomfield’s set, and as we sang a song about love and healing, a pair of bald eagles circled above us. A profound moment.
Storyhill takes place Friday, August 25 through the morning of Sunday, August 27, at the Clearwater Forest Camp outside Deerwood, Minnesota. Some tickets and campsites are still available. We hope to see you there!
All photos courtesy of Storyhill
Carol Roth. Photo credit: Dan Lee.
Carol Roth is a full-time marketing copywriter and the primary music journalist and social media publicist for Adventures in Americana. In addition to studying the guitar and songwriting, Carol’s additional creative side hustle is writing self-proclaimed “trashy” novels under the pseudonym T.A. Berkeley!
