The first Eve Rising concert Sunday at Winnekenni Castle turned up the volume on awareness of women's and family causes in the Merrimack Valley.
Musicians entertained a steady crowd for the six-hour concert. Proceeds from the concert — organized by musician Elle Gallo of Bradford — will support organizations like the YWCA of Lawrence and Emmaus.
An hour into the concert, Gretchen Arntz, development director for Emmaus, an agency that provides homes and shelter for the local homeless population and people in transition, spoke to the audience.
"While you're home tonight in your homes and you go to sleep in your own beds, remember there are people out there who don't have their own beds or homes to return to," Arntz said.
"We need more affordable housing to solve our homeless problem," Arntz pointed out. "That's the problem; that's part of the solution," she said.
In response to organizers' donations, Lawrence YWCA Executive Director Mary O'Brien said, "Music raises the human spirit and connects people in joyful and soulful ways."
O'Brien went on to say, "The women, teens, and children in need whom we serve at the YWCA of Greater Lawrence, many of whom have become homeless because of abuse or violence, will benefit greatly from the generosity of the musicians and artists who performed at Eve Rising. Their spirits and hopes will be raised by knowing that there are women in the world who care enough about helping others to give of themselves and their incredible talents."
Lisa Bornstein and Joy Rose shared announcing duties, introducing each musician or group with a brief background.
The musicians played in sets of 25 minutes each throughout the afternoon, often in temperatures close to 90 degrees in the sun.
Twelve of Eastern New England's best female musicians played the concert: Jen Kearney, Lori Diamond, Laura Vecchione, Julie Dougherty, Erinn Brown, Elle Gallo, Amy Petty, Alison Keslow, Karen Grenier, Carrie Rowan, Lisa Marie and Patti DeRosa.
Rosa opened with a repertoire of mix ballad theme music laced with jazz tones and played finger-picking style on a six-string guitar. After playing a few of her own pieces, she segued into a piece about her Italian ancestry, and there she finished her set.
A musician from Northboro, Rowan performed several pieces from her recent CD, "Almost Home," a collection songs dedicated to her father, Richard Rowan.
Lori Diamond of Andover harmonized with Rowan throughout her set.
Introduced as a legitimate corporate drop-out, Rowan worked for a decade in software sales. She made the choice to make her music her work, and she now plays to schools, and teaches children's classes in music and instrumentation.
"I play two kinds of music," Rowan said. "I play for the kids and teach them about it. Then at night I go out and play my big girl music," she said.
Later in the afternoon, after some joking around with the announcer about how to pronounce the city's name, Mayor James Fiorentini complimented Eve Rising organizers for their work.
"They put this together in 90 days," Fiorentini said of how well Gallo and her team had done on such short notice.
He pointed out that unlike other cities of comparable size, Haverhill has a great venue in Winnekenni Castle.
"We're lucky, in Haverhill, to have a place where people can find entertainment like this concert or fairs and other events. Winnekenni is a great venue for the variety of events that Haverhill has to offer its people in local parks," the mayor said.
Fiorentini said he hoped concertgoers recognized what a great venue Haverhill has in a festival that brings people together to help a charity, and hopes to see the Eve Rising Festival on Haverhill's agenda, again.
Gallo described herself as "overwhelmed, inspired and humbled" by those with whom she worked to organize and run the festival.
"You created an amazing day. The musicians, the presenters, the emcees, the special guests, the cooks, the local businesses who donated and supported, the vendors and the incredible volunteers who worked all day long in the sun, Emmaus House and The YWCA of Greater Lawrence for what they do every day, The Eve Rising committee, all of the behind the scenes folks who helped along the way, and all of you who came out to enjoy, support, patronize vendors, and applaud musicians. You are brilliant!"
As of press time, organizers were counting receipts and did not have an estimate of the size of the crowd or the size of the donations that would be possible from the event.
While the musicians played, most of the crowd found shade under trees, nearby bushes or under their own beach umbrellas. A few brave souls either from curiosity or want of a cold drink ventured out into the 90-plus degree heat to visit vendor tents.
Mill City Productions of Lowell, a nationally acclaimed audio system company that produces the audio part of the Lowell Summer Music Series and other Lowell music events, managed the audio system for Eve Rising.
"We wanted the best we could get, and Brian Lynch at Mill City did a great job for us, and it's nice to have someone from the Merrimack Valley," Gallo said.
Local restaurants — Sal's, Maria's, Olivia's, Kreugers, The Roma and the Tap — donated food and drink for the musicians.
These vendors set up booths at the concert:
American Laser Center
Blue Tail Photography
Boston Militia Football team
Circles of Wisdom, circlesofwisdom.com
Commonwealth Computers
Danielle Landy, baked goods
Dark Flower Bead by Cara Fleming, darkflowerbead.etsy.com
Emmaus House
Eve Rising
Fletcher Community Farm, Poli Jutras, fletchercommunityfarms.com
Jean Pierre-Tshitenge, tribal arts and jewelry
Jenny Amara, Mom's Art Studio
Jessica Kirk Photography, jesskirkphotography.vpweb.com
Jesus Cachimuel clothing and accessories
Jonny's Ice Cream of Georgetown, Karyn Quinn
Julz Fogg & Karthyrn DeMarco - Hoop Garden - hula hoops, hoopgarden.com
Just Kim Accessories facebook.com/pages/justkim-Accessories
Leah Sofia
Love Lee by Bev
Made By Survivors, Coleen Magowen, madebysurvivors.com
Mammapalooza
Massachusetts Midwives Alliance, massmidwives.org
MotherRoot Midwifery, Nechama midwife, motherrootmidwifery.com
New England Surplus
New York Life Free Child ID services with Vanessa Cutera
Noisy Bird Studios, artfire.com/users/NoisyBirdStudio
Papa Ginos of Bradford
Peterson Landscaping
Pick Your Poison Cakes
Rae's Gourmet Lemonade, Kettlecorn, Friend Dough, Dee & Ann
Sophia Barone jewelry, sophiabarone.com
Tay Wetherbee, artist
Vitamin Water, Wendy Gertel
Wally Jaquez - Jaquez parties - face painting party planning, myspace.com/wcakes
Winnekenni Castle Concessions
