Story by Zoe Naylor
Photos by Noah McLane
MTSU Seigenthaler News Service
For the past 14 years, the Touchton family of Murfreesboro has made Bonnaroo a family affair.
Since Butler Touchton, a 61-year-old father of four, first took his oldest daughter to the festival in 2009, the family has discovered new favorite bands, formed a community with fellow Bonnaroovians and spent invaluable time together on The Farm.
“It’s very much a family event. We talk about it all year,” said Touchton.
One aspect they like about camping together is the simplicity of logistics. Twenty-one-year-old Georgia, the youngest Touchton and recent graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, is living with her parents this summer. Being under the same roof means their supplies are too.
“If you go with your friends, what if your friend doesn’t bring your stuff?” she pointed out. Camping with family is “less stressful because you only have to rely on your family, who you’ve been relying on forever.”
“It’s easy,” she said.
James Touchton, the 24-year-old third born, agreed and said he wished camping with friends went as smoothly as with his father and siblings. One of his “croo” — a term festival-goers use to refer to their group — this year lives in Kansas City, making logistics more difficult than past Bonnaroo experiences.
While on The Farm, the Touchtons also enjoy their dad’s cooking. Butler enjoys making meals for his family at home, but he gets creative with the way he prepares food at the campgrounds. Sausage cooked with a Bunsen burner, pre-baked biscuits and strawberry shortcake all make annual appearances at the Touchton tent.
“One of the things I always try and do is make lots of extra food to share with the camp,” said Butler. “I passed out firecrackers (a spicy saltine cracker snack) to everybody today. I gave somebody some biscuits. I’ll give them trail mix tomorrow.”
After 14 Bonnaroos — 12 on The Farm and two virtual festivals during the pandemic — the Touchtons have learned it’s best to make friends right off the bat.
“So much of your camp experience depends on who your neighbors are,” said Butler, an educational assistant for special education at Oakland High School in Murfreesboro.
The group has had good and bad experiences — and everything in between — in their years of attending music festivals. They have inside jokes about nightmarish incidents in the pit, fantastic 3 a.m. cheese fries and festival headliner predictions. They also have friendships with camping neighbors and fellow Bonnaroovians they met almost a decade ago.
Spending four days in close quarters with your family is a great bonding experience, but it can also get a little tense. Arguments break out when the Touchtons — especially the siblings — hold different opinions about which artists to see. James and Georgia never get too heated with one another, but they know when the other is wrong — and they make that clear.
All in all, though, the Touchtons enjoy taking on Bonnaroo together.
“It’s nice. When you really connect with a live show, you’ve got people who probably feel the same way to talk about it afterward. It’s nice having that connection point,” said James.
Even though Butler’s wife Martha does not attend Bonnaroo with the “croo,” they find a way to include her in the tradition. When the family finds an artist at Bonnaroo whom they all like, they get concert tickets to their show during the year and bring their matriarch along.
Bonnaroo is a bit too rowdy for Martha Touchton, a Reverend at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Murfreesboro. The first year Butler attended the festival, she was apprehensive about his going solo. When he texted her a picture of Amy Grant, a contemporary Christian artist who was also at Bonnaroo, Rev. Martha was put at ease.
The Touchtons may have different music tastes and different preferences for concert venues, but James summed it up best when he said, “We’re a family. And we do things together.”
Although the two oldest daughters, Rachel Baldwin (age 38) and Caitlin Touchton (age 35), were not able to come this year, the family is enjoying their 14th Bonnaroo this weekend. Georgia and Butler are camping together, James is camping with friends and they are all looking forward to a weekend of great music and even better food.
“The kids will have these memories forever. I’m just happy that I’ve gotten to be here with them, introduce them to all of this, and then for them to continue and enjoy after I’m not able to go,” said Butler.
Zoe Naylor is a staff writer for MTSU Sidelines.
To contact News Editor Kailee Shores and Assistant News Editor Alyssa Williams, email [email protected].
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