Fishstock 08 Remix !
Fishstock ’08 Will Be Ripe With Tunes
(9/25/2008) Get ready for Fishstock ’08, a musical celebration of East Hampton’s waterways and their bounty. A fund-raiser for the town shellfish hatchery, it will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The stage will be set alongside the town commercial dock at the end of Gann Road, off Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton. Claws on Wheels will provide seafood specialties.
On the stage a number of local bands will perform, including the East End Drum Trio, Terry Winchell, Caroline Doctorow, the Chuck and Jake Experience, and Gene Hamilton and the Island Blues Band.
Mr. Hamilton, an East End native and longtime East Hampton resident and fisherman, is the founder and an organizer of Fishstock. Its goal, he said, is not only to “give back to our waters which gave so much to us,” but to spotlight local musicians and, generally, to “raise the fun quotient of East Hampton and Springs.”
A musician who organized the long-running Acoustic Mondays open mike program at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, Mr. Hamilton has released five CDs, the most recent called “Water Dancing.” Playing alongside him on Sunday will be several of the East End’s musical elite, including Johnny Blood, Peter (Bosco) Michne, James Benard, and Dennis Metzler. Carol Bodean will join the band on background vocals.
Mr. Hamilton put together the first Fishstock a decade ago at the Talkhouse. It continued there for the next two years, providing money for the hatchery as well as a good time.
Mr. Hamilton had always hoped to hold the festival outdoors, and found support when he approached the East Hampton Town Board with the idea this year. Rossetti Perchik, who organizes the annual Sand Castle Contest on Amagansett’s Atlantic Avenue Beach, came on board to help.
While Fishstock gathers music-lovers along the Three Mile Harbor channel to raise money to help the shellfish hatchery with its mission of seeding East Hampton waters, the East Hampton Town Trustees, who oversee much of what happens in and around those waters, and who broadcast seed clams in the bottomland, will be holding their annual largest clam contest down in Amagansett, at their offices on Bluff Road.
The trustees have expressed support for Fishstock ’08, Mr. Hamilton said, and promised to stop by after the contest’s end, bringing news of the clam-digging winner, which can be announced at Fishstock. “It’s a Bay Day,” Mr. Hamilton suggested.
To avoid congestion, the town board has decreed that the public launching ramp at the end of Gann Road will be closed during the event.
Those heading to Fishstock have been encouraged to ride a bike or walk, as parking will be limited.
In the spirit of the event, the bar at Bostwick’s restaurant, next to the commercial dock at the Harbor Marina, will open at 1 p.m.
A $30 admission fee to the fund-raiser — $15 for children under 12 — will include food, while it lasts. In case of rain, Fishstock will be held on Oct. 4.
J.P.
