APPLETON, Wis — Back in the 1970s, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show made a hit song about it.

“The thrill that’ll getcha when you get your picture on the cover of the Rollin’ Stone.”

At roughly 7 a.m. Wednesday, that thrilling feeling washed all over Appleton’s Dave Willems.

No, he didn’t make the cover. Harry Styles did. But Willems’ baby, the Mile of Music Festival, made it inside the cover of the music industry’s leading magazine.

“We were excited to have the tip of the cap from Rolling Stone," said Willems, the co-founder and executive producer of the festival.

“And we’re very appreciative to [independent artist] Jamie Kent for his continual connection to Appleton and his continual willingness to sing our praises. And then we’re also very appreciative to [Rolling Stone] editor Joe Hudak for his willingness to spotlight a community that really has embraced this whole notion and has embraced it more than I could have ever imagined,” Willems said.

“The whole goal here is to have soul enriching experiences for the artists, not soul crushing,” Willems added.

Kent, based in Nashville, has appeared in seven of the nine festivals and hasn’t been shy about touting an event especially made for artists on the rise with the hope it may give their careers a boost.

“You go there and you’re famous for a weekend,” Kent told Rolling Stone. “Mile of Music reaffirms that you’re not crazy — that all the blood, sweat and sacrifice of being an artist are worth it.”

Kent’s comments over the years were noticed by Rolling Stone’s Nashville-based office, Willems said, and it became one of nine cities highlighted in this month’s “Being there. America’s Cities and Venues” issue.
Rolling Stone was slated to attend the festival this year, but an unforeseen development cancelled those plans.

Willems said the author of the article, Garret Woodward, himself an independent artist, interviewed Willems, members of his staff and artists who performed.

“And he was beside himself, excited about the things that we told him,’’ Willems said. “He could not get over the fact that we provide dental care to the artists. And I was able to give him several amazing stories. The artist who had double-digit cavities and his mother called the next day to the dental office in tears, thanking them for doing what they were doing because her son hadn’t been to the dentist in over 10 years, that kind of thing.”

Woodward, incidentally, has already been booked for next year’s festival, Willems said.

By midday the phones were ringing nonstop at Willems Marketing with media inquiries and artists looking to get into next year’s festival. But Willems admitted the aim is to keep the festival as-is, despite the national recognition.

“It will not be our intent to go down that path, even at great pain to ourselves, from a financial perspective,” Willems said. “We have tried to keep it somewhat under the radar, knowing that these things can blow up pretty quickly. And our infrastructure is what our infrastructure is. We can’t change that.”

Willems said despite nine successful festivals, Mile of Music has struggled financially.

“We have yet to ever have a year where we’ve broken even financially,” he said. “Because everything we bring in we put back into the festival. So it continues to be like you’re on this treadmill trying to reach that secure status and we’re not there.”

That being said, Willems said Mile of Music is not endangered.

“But at the same time, we know that we have a festival that no matter where the finances are, we can make the festival happen for the community. So there isn’t a danger that way,” he said.

To ease the financial burden, Willems said they’ve formed a nonprofit that is connected to Mile of Music but is a separate entity.

“And they’re looking to help support it and help support the artists’ care and the artists’ hospitality and the artists’ fees and that sort of stuff,’’ he said. “All those little pieces help make a big difference,” Willems said.

Willems said he believes the momentum from the Rolling Stone article will be invaluable moving forward. He said several members of the Nashville-based Rolling Stone staff indicated they will make the trek to Appleton for next year’s event.

“I don’t think this is the end of it, I think this was just the start of it,” he said. “For people coming and seeing our city, spending some money and experiencing our city, a story about the music scene in Rolling Stone magazine has tremendous, tremendous value.”

Story idea? You can reach Mike Woods at 920-246-6321 or at: michael.t.woods1@charter.com