Thanks to about 15 months worth of working to purchase and work the Trillium Woods Farm in Quilcene, the De Koch family is ready to host Tarboo Fest, a three-day indie music festival set for July 4-6.
Tarboo is the brain child of oldest son Willem De Koch who is following through on a long-time dream of owning a music venue.
Until recently, Willem was living out another dream, touring heavily, and contributing to some major recordings as a trombonist in New York City. Willem’s band The Westerlies, a brass quartet, were a go-to horn section for studio and live performances that contributed horns to Fleet Foxes’ 2017 and 2020 records, “Crack-Up” and “Shore,” and bolstering the band’s live sound on subsequent tours.
As Willem’s CV continued to grow, so did his general discontent. He was not finding The Westerlies to be creatively satisfying and his busy traveling schedule was unsustainable. Unsure of his next steps, he left the band and decided to move back to Washington state.
Steve and Laurie De Koch had been musing on the idea of purchasing a campground or an RV park for their retirement. Through a casual conversation with Steven Raider-Ginsburg, executive director of Field Arts & Events Hall, they learned that the Quilcene property — now renamed Quilcene Lantern — was for sale.
They decided to reach out to owner Leigh Hearon to see the property. It all happened very quickly, but soon the whole family was on board, agreeing that they would step through each open door.
Sequim Gazette photo by Elijah Sussman / Brothers Willem (left) and Bergen stand in front of a cabin on their Quilcene property on My 29.
Kathie Blackwell, Laurie’s mother, died of pancreatic cancer at 78 years of age, two weeks after the sale was finalized. The excitement of their endeavour along with her loss has been dissonant for the family.
“She would’ve loved this, this would’ve been a big adventure and she was pretty heartbroken that she was gonna miss out on it,” Laurie said.
Speaking to the strength of the families partnership, she continued, “For me as a family adventure, I’m proud of us. We obviously have our moments, but there’s such a deep love and respect for each other that even in our moments, there’s no fractures that can’t be deal with. That’s something I’m really proud of. As a parent it’s so awesome to think that my kids actually want to come back and hangout and do this thing. I think we’re doing a really cool thing together.”
They are well suited for a project of this magnitude; in addition to Steve’s career as an architect and a builder, Laurie brings more than 15 years of music non-profit experience to the family business from her time as founder and director of Seattle Jazz Ed. Though the business is for-profit, supporting the arts is at the core of the family’s vision.
Willem and Bergen hope to add a video component to the barn venue, giving touring artists the opportunity to film a high quality live performance.
About the music
Tarboo is a three day indie-music festival held July 4-6. With a serious line-up of bands from around the Pacific Northwest, the family wanted to prioritize amplifying local music and almost half of the bands are from Sequim or Port Townsend areas.
The event is curated in the indie music vein with a focus on songwriting, Willem said. The line-up is largely comprised of acts Willem knows through his life in music, along with local bands Bergen, the youngest of the family, knows from living on the Olympic Peninsula.
Photo taken by Bergen De Koch / Colin Schmidt tracks basslines in Port Townsend’s Rainshadow Recording Studio in September 2022.
Headliner Kate Davis offers smart and poppy rock with a somewhat devious sense of humor. See her website to find an over-saturated and internet drenched design sensibility which feels like an appropriate extension to her songwriting.
Caro Kann, a group that started in Sequim, are emotionally dark and sonically heavy. Raw storms of noise swirl over singer Stephen Fuller’s guttural baritone poetry as drummer Adam Amr pumps out waves of drum strokes.
Japanese born Tomo Nakayama has been producing critically hailed folk records in Seattle for many years. His catchy and sweetly open arrangements have been featured in films, commercials and television.
Portland’s Pure Bathing Culture create lush and sweeping dream-pop, vocals floating over beds of synth and weaving guitar melodies. Their sizable output has seen them touring and recording with some of indie music’s legendary names.
Photo courtesy of Cait Faircloth / Cait Faircloth of Quilcene, who plays music under the name Monica, is one of several local acts bringing their musical talents to the first Taboo Festival in early July.
Cait Faircloth of Quilcene plays music under the name Monica and drums for Lotion is excited for what the venue brings to an already thriving music community.
“I am very stoked for Tarboo and it has been a treat to meet the folks running the Lantern,” Faircloth said. “As far as independent music venues go, the Quilcene Lantern is all I could ask for. It’s in a beautiful location and run by really caring people that love art and community.
Photo taken by Bergen De Koch / Songwriter Stephen Fuller (front) and bassist Colin Schmidt recording for Caro Kann’s self-titled debut in Port Townsend’s Rainshadow Recording Studio in September 2022.
“They have done an excellent job incorporating local bands into their lineup, while also giving local residence access to bands that are professional touring artists that may not normally put the peninsula on their route.”
Tickets, artist line-up, camping and parking details, amenities, policies, and FAQs are all addressed on the Quilcene Lantern website, quilcenelantern.com. (Note: Attendance on Thursday, July 4, is free, though an RSVP is recommended.)
Listen to the Tarboo 2024 playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0aEM_MuCsZtfG55iCs1gr2kluhPk6BoQ .
About the property
The Quilcene property was known recently for Concerts in the Barn, a classical chamber series which will continue through new ownership. The 53-acre land is largely in Jefferson County Land Trust.
Riparian restoration areas surround Tarboo Creek and Spring Creek. The 18 acres of non-land trust property are scattered with charming old cabins, with at least 15 buildings on the property.
The family is currently in full renovation mode, doing almost all of the work themselves, with Steve De Koch leading the collaboration.
“It’s a huge project; I don’t think many families would decide to do something of this scale and this context,” Bergen De Koch said. “That’s valuable to me. We barely skipped a beat with jumping into the idea and I think that says something about our family.”
The family’s goal is to have most of the cabins ready for guest lodging by next summer.
The property, located on ancestral lands of the T’wana and Chemacum people, has a long history in the area. In the early 20th century, the Iseri family immigrated from Japan and started a farm on the land. They built the main barn and milk-shed in 1935.
In 1942, following the issuance of Executive Order 9066 the land was seized by the government, parceled out and sold. The family received none of the money and soon returned to Japan, returning to the U.S. a few years later.
The land exchanged hands several times and in 1976 classical violist Alan Iglitzin purchased the property, eventually renovating the barn and starting what would become the Concerts in the Barn series.
Tarboo Fest
Indie music festival
When: July 4-6
Where: 7360 Center Road, Quilcene
More info: quilcenelantern.com
