The Best Concert I’ve Seen Was in a Barn at the End of a Gravel Road

The address says Maquoketa. The drive says otherwise. I followed a gravel road miles into the Jackson County countryside, double-checking the map more than once, until the fields and farm buildings had become part of the evening before a single note was played.

Getting there

Park in the pasture, take the bus

You park in a cow pasture. Then you ride a bus down to the barn. That ride is a Codfish Hollow tradition, and it turns the distance into an introduction: you know you’re going somewhere, and getting there is half the fun. By the time I stepped off, I was already telling myself I’d come back.

Inside the barn, everyone faces the stage. Outside, the hillside gives people room to spread out, catch up and take in the setting. Bring a blanket or a camp chair, and give yourself time before the music starts.

Some people come because they know every song the headliner plays. Some come because a friend said, “You have to see a show there.” I was the second kind. Either way, the place ends up being part of the memory.

The story

A barn with a second life

Codfish Hollow Barnstormers held its first barn concert in July 2009. Since then the owners have added a stage, lighting and spaces for performers, and they turned the old farmhouse into an art gallery. Local acts and national indie bands share a stage that still belongs, unmistakably, to rural eastern Iowa.

That mix is the whole point. The farm is the setting, and the people keep finding new uses for it. Spend an evening here and you see what happens when someone looks at a familiar building and pictures something else.

Get there early enough to look around. Walk through the gallery, grab something to eat and watch the grounds fill up. Food vendors and drinks are on site, so the whole evening can be the destination.

Make a night of it

Let a show anchor the weekend

A concert makes a great anchor for a Jackson County weekend. Explore all day, clean up, then head out into the country for the night.

Pick a band you love, or listen to a few songs from someone you’ve never heard of and take the chance. Leave room for surprises. The best souvenir I brought home was an artist I’m still listening to.