By Kate Bartlett
WNY Native Jennifer Brazill (pictured with her nephew) is an entertainment producer and consultant. With over 20 years of experience in the music industry, she has become well versed in everything from working at an independent record label, managing artists and tours, producing records and bringing music to life at music festivals around the country. She is the founder 4 music festivals around the country, two of which are in Western New York. Last year, Jennifer brought Rail Rider Jamboree to the slopes of Ellicottville for it’s first (of hopefully many) winter music festivals. This year’s festival will be held March 18th on the slopes of Holiday Valley.
Jennifer was born and raised in East Aurora, NY and moved to San Francisco after college at the age of 22 to follow her dreams of working in the music industry. She attended as many concerts and shows as she could, and discovered a new appreciation for music as she soaked in the historical music venues and legacy bands in the area. Inspired by the rich history prevalent in the San Francisco area, she joined her friends in running a record label.
Jennifer continued to attend several shows and began making connections with bands and promotors who ran music venues. These relationships developed further, and led to meeting promotors who ran music festivals. She networked with people who produced shows in San Francisco, and she began to discover her true passion for music festivals.
She was approached by a management team to join Red Light Productions and moved to Charlottsville, Virginia, in 2006 to assist in the start-up. Jennifer assisted in the day-to-day admin work of the company, soaking in as much as she could during the early phases of this soon-to-be management empire. “It was my Graduate School in the music industry” says Jennifer, gaining valuable expertise as a member of the Dave Mathews Band team. Red Light Management has managed the careers of popular artists Chris Stapleton, Phish and Brandi Carlisle and has grown to be one of the largest management companies in the industry.
After about 4 years, Jennifer moved to Los Angeles to broaden her experience in the festival scene and producing. “LA was amazing. I gained so many resources and made countless connections in the industry. These high level relationships have been invaluable to me throughout the years.”
In 2013, Jennifer partnered with a friend, Scott Stoughton, and launched one of the most renown winter music festivals in the county, Winter WonderGrass in Vail, Colorado. “We saw an empty niche in Colorado, and really all winter markets, for a music festival. We seized the opportunity to merge the love of music, craft beer and the outdoors.” The shared commonality of festival goers has created a relaxed party vibe over the years. Winter WonderGrass has been in production for 10 years, and attracts around 12,000 people. The festival also expanded to Squaw Valley, Calfornia in 2015.
It was through these festival productions that Jennifer gained the expertise and confidence to run her own festival. She had an opportunity to return to Buffalo, and the concept of Borderland in East Aurora was born. “I honestly never imagined I’d be producing a music festival in my hometown; but it’s worked out great. It’s been a natural progression at Knox Farm is the perfect location.” Jennifer launched Borderland in 2018 and it has been gaining popularity and evolving steadily every year. She saw the opportunity for a winter music festival in Ellicottville and launched Rail Rider Jamboree in 2022. “Ellicottville is the perfect location for this festival. The community embodies all the elements to create a chill, relaxed vibe for an amazing day of music in the great outdoors.”
Jennifer’s festivals have an underlying focus on sustainability. Through initiatives like bringing-your-own water bottles and reusable beer mugs, Jennifer reminds us to tread lightly on the earth. “I hope to educate and empower the people who attend these festivals that we can make a difference. We want to make lasting experiences, not impact.” Whether through the reduction of single use plastics, utilizing alternative energy or waste mitigation, Jennifer is keeps sustainability at the forefront of her festivals.
Every festival is a blank slate to Jennifer. “It’s a fresh canvas, and I get to create a new festival and decide what vibe to convey.” This year, Rail Rider will embrace a Grateful Dead vibe “because it works” says Jennifer. “I picked a vibe that is well known and that will work for the area. My hope is to make fans feel like they’re a part of the vibe. The festival creates a sense of community and we’re in this experience together.
“I feel so lucky and grateful to create events for people to literally just have a good time. The fans, bands, vendors and everyone who attends our events and festival are all there for the same reason, to create good vibes through great music”.
For more details about Rail Rider Jamboree, read next week’s feature article on the festival and visit https://www.railriderjam.com/. For more information about Jennifer, her festivals and other services offered, visit https://www.jenniferbrazill.com/