MANCHESTER --Ryan French looks at his hometown of 10,000 nestled along Interstate 24 in southern Middle Tennessee and he sees Austin, Texas.
It’s a fantasy, sure. But it could become a reality. After all, Manchester is a city where dreams are realized.
Just ask French’s friends who annually bring 80,000 people to town for a major picnic, arts show and concert event known as Bonnaroo.
French, who manages a Walgreens over in Decherd, spends his “idle” hours as a Manchester alderman, committed to the development of economic opportunities for his city.
Of course, not much can be offered to match the $20 million annual economic impact of the sprawling rock festival over at Great Stage Park.
But French actually sees Bonnaroo’s success and its popularity among the locals as a sign his city could just end up being a year-round music Mecca, similar to Austin, where South by Southwest rages for a few days and the music plays on 365 nights a year.
No he’s not planning on recruiting Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen and Armadillo World Headquarters to the this mostly pastoral community.
But he sees the potential. His first tentative step to extend the music beyond Bonnaroo – and he is a dedicated Roonie, by the way – is the Music Tree Fest, a series of 85 free performances scattered among seven venues during the week leading to Bonnaroo.
Just like its massive big brother that brings spectacular world-acclaimed acts to the Coffee County pastureland, it’s more than music.
At last Saturday’s main event, 40-plus vendors gathered at Rotary Park, joining regional and local artists and craftsmen who were selling their work to those who came out to listen to the music.
French first wanted to call the pre-festival, designed to give early arrivals for the big festival places to hear music and enjoy local establishments, “Boulevard to Bonnaroo.”
But the Bonnaroo name is not easily borrowed. So French and his partners in the venture came up with the Music Tree moniker. And they had little trouble convincing merchants and musicians to join in the fun.
In fact, the Manchester family atmosphere prevails, as half of the establishments participating are alcohol-free, encouraging all ages of locals to get out and join the Bonnaroovians in celebrating the area’s music.
“We put together a little crew, but it’s outgrown us. We’ve hired a sound engineer that we weren’t initially anticipating,” he says.
Even before this year’s Music Tree, French and his colleagues were looking toward next year. “A lot of this year’s success will help us measure next years’ event,” he says.
But French really isn’t just looking to the six days before Bonnaroo or to the massive festival itself, which he sees as “incredible neighbors.”
And that’s where the Austin analogy comes in.
“We’ve got bands coming from Canada, from California, Texas, Georgia, and a lot from Tennessee,” he says of Music Tree.
His particular vision calls for bringing in some of these bands year round.
“My role (as an alderman) is to say we have the opportunity to become a mini-Austin. We have the ability to get those bands to stop and play.
“The bad thing about Manchester is that there is nothing here. The good thing is there is nothing here. And I’m excited by that.”
He’s so excited that he’s trying to convince city fathers that, rather than strictly recruiting traditional brick and mortar employers, they should be enlisting in his plan to make this a 365-days-a-year musical oasis.
“It happens first by our venues embracing the idea of year-round music,” he says, noting River Tree participation shows him that those businessmen are ready.
And while there were stutter-steps to growth in Bonnaroo’s success tale, the level of public acceptance has French convinced.
“I think our residents are already adapted to the idea of music,” he says. “And it’s not just Bonnaroo, any kind of outdoor music opportunity, they have adopted it.
“We’ve already got the mindset with the residents to make the transition.”
He says the next step toward achieving the dream is reaching out to the musicians in nearby communities.
“Nashville is a perfect example. There are several good rock bands in Nashville who find it hard to gig, ‘cause Nashville has such a country mindset.
“You’ve got all these rock bands reaching out for this finite number of venues.”
Developing Manchester as a place where those bands can play and where people can take advantage of a never-ending music scene is important to the alderman.
“The diversity is the key. The overflow aspect of it, especially with Nashville, there’s a ton of talent there that could be considered overflow.
“We would need to go out and recruit the venues and build the venue we have here.”
This year’s River Tree participants were paid nothing to participate, with the music free to all–comers. And the venues have stepped in to get things done.
“Look at Two Purple Pigs, a barbecue place. They’ve made $10,000 worth of improvements for this.
Dreaming his dreams has him thinking that even the big-name bands that play Nashville could stop and do a one-nighter at the Bonnaroo facility.
“It’s unique that someone would take the time to reach out and build an industry,” French allows. “But tourism is the second largest industry in the country.”
He is taking the lead, but he’s hoping that River Tree’s success will seed a musical future for Manchester.
The alderman says a city world-known as a music and cultural center for a few days each summer could become known as a place where guitars gently weep year-round.
He says recruiting clubs and bands “is no different than going out and recruiting a chain retailer.”
Besides that, he says: “Music is cool.”