SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 // 9
’STACKSTOCK IS RYAN SNYDER’S PASSION PROJECT,
UNITING MUSIC, FOOD, BEER AND HOSPITALITY
The Decemberists’ Colin
Meloy headlines inaugural
Cannon Beach concert
By ANDREW TONRY
FOR COAST WEEKEND
F
or Ryan Snyder, the ’Stackstock
Music Fest on Saturday, Sept. 23
— a full day of live music featuring
seven Portland-based acts and headlined
by The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy —
marries passions both longstanding and
deferred.
Snyder, the president of Martin North,
which operates numerous hotels, restau-
rants and the Public Coast Brewing Co.
in Cannon Beach, fell in love with music
early on.
“I had a very good friend as a kid,”
Snyder remembered. “He introduced me
to The Ramones and Black Flag. I was in
awe.”
That friend, Brant Bjork, would go
on to join the seminal 90s “stoner rock”
band Kyuss. (Kyuss’ leader, Josh Homme
would later helm the Grammy-nominated
Queens of the Stone Age.)
Snyder followed Bjork’s career close-
ly. In 2000 they formed an independent
record label, Duna Records. To Bjork’s
musical experience, Snyder lent a bur-
geoning business acumen. But just as the
label was getting off the ground, Snyder
faced a crossroads.
“My father-in-law became ill,” Snyder
said. “I had to choose: Was I going to
stay in the hospitality business, or was
I going to do the passion play?” Snyder
chose family and has no regrets. “I say,
thankfully, this is where I was needed,”
he said.
Woodstock in mind
Still, that love of music lurked in the
background.
“When I bought the Lumberyard in
the early 2000s, I wanted it to be the mu-
sical refuge of Cannon Beach,” Snyder
said of the downtown restaurant. “But the
STACKSTOCKFEST.COM
The Decemberists’ frontman Colin Meloy
PHOTO BY ERICK BENGEL
Ryan Snyder, president of Martin North
town wasn’t ready for it.”
Last year the Lumberyard was trans-
formed into the Public Coast Brewing
Co., and Snyder took another shot at
establishing it as a musical hub, hosting
numerous weekly performances.
“We ended up having this wonderful
summer of music,” Snyder said. “We
couldn’t really keep up with the number
of requests. We get three emails a day
from bands wanting to play.”
With the success of relatively small
shows at Public Coast, as well the
younger demographic tuning in to craft
beer culture, Snyder saw the potential for
something bigger.
Originally he envisioned a predomi-
nantly acoustic, singer-songwriter-based
music festival. But when Snyder’s Port-
land-based creative team suggested the
name’ “’Stackstock,” a Haystack Rock
play on Woodstock, a light bulb went off.
Like the iconic 1969 festival, ’Stackstock
would bring together a variety of styles.
Artist booking was turned over to the
well-connected Portlander Alicia J. Rose,
who quickly assembled a roster emblem-
atic of the city’s contemporary indie rock
scene.
The lineup
The day kicks off at 1 p.m. with Won-
derly, a crisp, sentimental, acoustic duo.
(Before arriving at ’Stackstock, Wonderly
will also teach a class at Seaside High
School.) The Edna Vazquez Acoustic
Trio offer full-throated, Spanish-language
folk that sparkles and sears. Cardiod
play synth-driven pop that’s snappy and
moody.
The OK Chorale includes Kate Sokol-
off, who came up with the ’Stackstock
name. With a catalog of contemporary
cover songs, they invite audiences to sing
along — think karaoke by committee.
Ages and Ages, too, employ a choir,
though their big sing-along choruses stay
mainly within the group. Pure Bathing
Culture’s synth-and-guitar pop is misty
and hook-fi lled.
Headlining is The Decemberists’
frontman Colin Meloy, performing his
dense, literary, anachronistic folk solo.
Aside from music, ’Stackstock affords
Snyder the opportunity to infuse his other
passions: food, beer and hospitality.
Taking place at the Haystack Gardens
outdoor event space, ’Stackstock will be
fl ush with food and drink from across the
Martin umbrella, including Public Coast
Brewing Co. beers, and eats from Way-
farer Restaurant’s Chef Josh Archibald’s
mobile smokehouse.
The offerings won’t be limited to Mar-
tin brands. Local and regional producers
are joining the fray, including the Cannon
Beach Distillery, Sleepy Monk coffee and
more.
“What we have exceeds my expecta-
tions,” said Snyder, referring not only to
the musical acts, but the event as a whole.
“This is a great thing for us because we
can showcase our backyard to some peo-
ple that probably don’t know how cool
Cannon Beach is in the early fall.”
Whether ’Stackstock will become an
annual event or, like the namesake Wood-
stock, a one-off, Snyder is unsure.
“It was such a dream of mine to make
this happen,” he said. “I’m so focused on
it that I can’t see beyond it to what the
future holds.” CW