Forest awakens with music

Petty Education was formed only two weeks ago, and now they’re the closing performance for a community forest show smack dab in the middle of the forest.

After the audience found their seats within the brush, the dead quiet forest became filled with sounds of the band’s guitars, drum and vocals.

“Bringing music to the forest lets people appreciate it more,” Zelda Geren said, a member of Petty Education. “It’s open, natural and comforting.”

Petty Education is one of the four bands that performed in Breakfast All Day Collective’s Community Forest Show in Redwood Park on Sept. 23.

They performed in the show along with the singer duo Allison Kinney and Hannah Rosecrans and the bands Cowtown Serenaders and Bandemonium.

The format of the show involves moving through four different locations in the forest where each band would play at. At the end of each performance, the audience gets up and moves to the next stop.

Jackie Stuber, an organizer from the Breakfast All Day Collective, said the show is based on people enjoying music in the outdoor environment.

“It’s the forest,” Stuber said. “It brings people out.”

This is the ninth installment of the community forest show, which started three years ago and Stuber said the turnout has been increasing.

Stuber began the event by setting ground rules for respect towards the forest and other people. An audience of more than 50 people and musicians attended the show.

The first to play on the musical march were Kinney and Rosecrans. They sang three duets for the audience.

Next, the Cowtown Serenaders performed composed songs and musical poetry.

The third to play was Bandemonium, an open ensemble made from artists in the community. They played modern songs including a mashup of two Eminem songs.

Finally, Petty Education closed the show at the end of the walk. They are from the Arcata Arts Institute, Geren said, and wrote three songs to perform for the audience in the mere two weeks after their formation.

“It’s a really magical idea to have music here,” singer Hannah Rosecrans said.