Davis Music Festival XIV - 2026

[music] >> So excited to be here at the Davis Music Festival. >> [music] [music] >> Hello, my name is Danny Tomasello. I was the founder of the first Davis Music Fest in 2011. Um, the idea came to me from 2009, I was asked to help with the Davis High School Blue and White Foundation fundraiser for the high school stadium. Uh, I had never put on a show before. I'd gone to a lot of concerts. My friend asked me if I'd help him cuz he was putting on the fundraising golf tournament. Wanted to have a show after the tournament, and the pro at Wildhorse let us use the driving range, and the city had their mobile stage that they let us use. Uh, and Watermelon Music donated sound when I asked them. I walked in there and had no idea about sound equipment. So, it came together. That was the first show we did. It was a lot of fun. Uh a couple years later we hit the goal and thought, well, what maybe we should raise money for the arts. And so, uh we were originally going to do it in Central Park, but my friends at Sophia's, um they who uh owned and managed and curated bands at Sophia's wanted to he offered the uh space at Sophia's and said, "What about South by Southwest style?" So, we tried that instead and that was the uh that was the first it was 20 bands for 20 bucks. And we used Sophia's and E Street Plaza, Odd Fellows Hall, Little Prague, which is now Parkside, um and I one other [laughter] venue I can't remember right now. Oh, Delta, of course. Delta Venus, yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's I can't tell you how great it is to be able to come back. Uh it's my third year as a guest. Um I was on the board after I stepped down from being the director in 20 2017 was my last year. Been part of the Davis Live Music Collective since inception. So, uh Kyle Monahan is this is he's been a director now this is the seventh year for him. So, we've both been directors for the same amount of time. Kyle, of course, was involved in the second Davis Music Fest. So, um he was you know, he's he's really been doing such a great job with building it. So, to answer your question, I mean, I love coming as a guest now and seeing that people put it on their radar. It's a thing they want to come to. Um everybody is it's just really a well-oiled machine. Still run by volunteers, which is wonderful. And it's raising money for the arts. So, um the fact that it's a scholarship for our partner in crime, uh Matt Blake, uh is super bittersweet. I love that. And uh no, I'm very proud of what the team has done Uh since my involvement. Well, um I can't tell yet cuz this is only the second band for this year, but um it has changed in that we've had some younger uh folks involved with the curating of bands and different styles. So, I feel like there have been some different audiences that have come out. They're still you know, there's still like a core of Davis sites that look forward to when when school's out, no offense. >> [laughter] >> Um that the university students go home and the townies can kind of reclaim. It's a kickoff of summer, really. Uh so, in that sense, I see a lot of familiar faces, but no, yeah, there's definitely as the as the lineup changes, you're going to attract different types of folks. All right, thank you for having me. >> What up, Davis Music Vibes? We're going to get this party started. >> [music] >> Hey! >> [music] [music] >> Baby, come and love me. [music] I'm feeling so blue. >> [music] >> Baby, come and love me. It's not that hard to do. [music] All I do I'm a caveman coming to love me. I'm >> [music] >> I'm feeling >> [music] [music] >> Well, it just seems like Ireland loses so many >> [music] >> I'm [music] a caveman. Oh, you know that I'm in love with you. >> [singing] [music] >> Too much fun. >> [music] [music] >> Oh, uh my name is Lucas Frerichs. Uh I'm a member of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors representing Davis and Winters. Uh former mayor of Davis, former member of the City Council, but also a long time uh fan of the Davis Music Festival. Oh my gosh, so this is the 14th year. I think I have been to uh probably about uh 12 out of the 14 years. So a bunch of them, yeah. Oh my gosh. I love the fact that there are so many local people here at the come to the festival. Yeah, there are people from around the region, too, but I love the fact that it's really just a like a local festival and like a lot of people from Davis really come out and experience it. So I do think that there's probably an ability for us to do additional growth and have attract people from around the region, but I just really I love the fact that it's like it's not too big, right? Not too small, not too big. It's just like kind of like the perfect size. Yeah. Oh, it's so Oh my gosh, it's so great. I think, you know, we are already have a really great art community in Davis, of course, and in Yolo County. And so it's really awesome to see so be able to support so many kind of bands that are not these massive big name bands, but they're also that they're really getting a lot of exposure. And so especially to a lot of people who are coming to the festival for the first time, they might not necessarily know some of these bands, and so I think it really gives them a lot of exposure and I love that. >> [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] >> Hi, my name is Kyle Monaghan. I am the director of Davis Music Festival and Davis Live Music Collective. Let's see, I started out just as the guy making posters 13, 14 well, I mean 13 years ago, yeah. This is year 14. Well, two things really, live music and the experience like the communal experience being with people whether you know them or not at live music is kind of like my church. It's like the place where I really connect to my best self and to other people and be involved in that on both ends of it like attending and having fun and then trying to help make it happen just feels great. And then the other one is I was raised and still believe that you know, if there's something in your community in your life that is missing there's no one can really do it better than you to make it happen. So, if you look around your community and think I I like the music scene to be bigger, more interesting, better, whatever. Uh make it happen. I mean, having something that you can look forward to every year uh that you know is homegrown, volunteer-based, and positive, that's making a positive impact for people, but just fun uh that isn't going to break the bank, and you can actually show up and make a difference. You can volunteer and sell tickets or uh you know, merch at the booth as just like a friend of a friend and like, "Oh yeah, we need that help." I would say so, a conscious effort, not that this wasn't happening before, but to state it out loud consciously uh that we want to present a a um a well-rounded and diverse roster of artists that really reflect our community. Uh this year in particular, 62% of all of the performers include women on the roster. And or or are led by women, and that's not something you see in most, especially big festivals. Uh and honestly, I don't understand why that's the case. Uh it just, you know, that's that's who we are as a community, that's who we should see on the stage. We started the Matthew Blake Memorial Scholarship uh for my dear friend and our former board president uh Matthew Blake, who I if he were still alive, he'd be running this with me and hopefully mayor of Davis. I Um yeah, so we started a scholarship in his name with his family's blessing. And we have uh over the last 2 years raised enough money and donated $15,000 to graduating high school students who are going out of high school with the intent to pursue the arts uh out in the world. So, they're leaving They They've been supported by the Davis community to go out and do whatever it is they're going to do. And um what you know, I've always said you the best way to support the arts is to directly support the artist. They're the ones doing the work. Uh so, that's what we're trying to do, put it to action. Thinking about this a little bit recently, Um growth can happen in a couple different ways. I don't know that we need to or want to get like geographically or size-wise a whole lot bigger. I can't imagine 20,000 people showing up for this. I wouldn't know what to do. Um but I think we're maturing. I think we're growing uh in the depth of the impact that we can have in the relationships we form with our sponsors, with our community partners, and with our fans. Uh just by listening and really engaging and letting them know like this is totally DIY. We're here for them, and it's that's what's real about it. >> Just to say >> [music] >> where it's all Just to say where it's all >> [music] >> what I'm wearing now, but I won't be worried long cuz I'm on the road again [singing and music] now. Yeah, I'm on the road again. >> [music] [music] >> I am a true born Irishman. I'll never deny what I am. I was born in [singing] sweet [music] Tipperary town, 5,000 miles away. [singing] Hooray me boys, hooray. No more [singing] do I wish for [music] to roam, for the sun [singing] it will shine in the harvest time [music] to welcome >> [singing] >> home home. >> [music] [music] [singing] [music] >> No more will I wish for >> [music and singing] >> for the sun it will shine in the harvest time to welcome [music] home