Legend Valley has been reborn from footprints of the past, and with kind support from friends, family and all of you, the Valley will continue to jam and be the number one concert venue in central Ohio!
In the early 1970’s, Clifford and Helen Jinks, then owners of the farm, started doing small get togethers. Evening gatherings on the farm became a place for friends and family to come together to jam; and through Cliff’s love of music, a true grassroots music venue was born.
In April of 1978, Helen and Cliff signed a lease with George Biddle and Gary Kutch, who planned to step up the talent and bring in big name acts. Biddle and Kutch named the venue Legend Valley. They started doing shows in 1978 with Charlie Daniels, Earl Scruggs and Pure Prairie League. Some of the early shows, which were called Dixie Jams, included Allman Brothers, Ricky Skaggs and many more.
On July 25, 1982, Legend Valley brought Alabama, Hank Williams Jr., Juice Newton and A Touch of Grass. Later that year in August, Legend Valley hosted Willie Nelson, Marshall Tucker Band, Leon Russell, Ricky Scaggs and the Wright Brothers. One thing that made Legend Valley stand out from other venues was that they allowed and encouraged coolers and picnic baskets to be brought in the valley. During the following 7 or 8 years of Legend Valley hosting shows, there was a true who’s who of music royalty, such as Journey, Foghat, Bryan Adams, Scorpions, Quiet Riot, Fast Way, Kick Axe, Adrenelen and many, many others.
In the mid 80’s the venue changed hands and was named Buckeye Lake Music Center (BLMC). The days of bringing in your coolers and picnic baskets came to an abrupt halt! Saturday June 28th of 1986, with promotional assistance from Sunshine Promotions and QFM 96, BLMC invited their first show, ZZ Top, to the valley. Later in the year on Saturday September 6th, BLMC and local radio station 92X brought AC/DC’s WhoMadeWho tour, which included Quiet Riot and Loudness. On August 30th of the same year, BLMC, country radio station K95 and Sunshine Promotions welcomed Hank Williams Jr., Sawyer Brown and Earl Thomas Conley. The late 1980’s cultivated such acts as Bon Jovi, Cinderella, and Def Leppard just to name a few.
In 1988, the venue would host what was by far one of the best and largest stops on the Grateful Dead tour. Special thanks would have to go out to Helen Meredith, as well as Will and Rachel Powell, for allowing their farmland to be inundated by a sea of parked cars. From 1988 to 1996, most of the big acts were declaring BLMC one of their favorite scenes. The Dead, Buffett, Lollapalloza, WOMAD and many others, were hosted here in the valley. After the last Buffet show in 1996, BLMC said they were done! That is where I came into the picture…..
My friends and I were spending each Memorial and Labor Day weekend with a band called Ekoostik Hookah. After a few short years of Hookahville at other local venues, we were sitting around a campfire at the Songbird amphitheater when someone said, “Hey Steve, you should try to get Hookahville to come to the farm”. After a few meetings with Hookah’s manager, it seemed things were a go ahead. I went to the township to renew the Camping license for the farm in 1996. Unfortunately, I was told that the books from 1975, with my camping variance, were lost–and nowhere to be found. Without a camping license, and BLMC still in control of the parking lots, my hands were tied!
After a few quiet years without shows, BLMC was again ready and determined to try to bring Hookahville to the lake. Somehow, BLMC was able to get a camping license granted for the farm. In 1999, the first Hookahville was brought to BLMC. Hookah’s management and staff took over and did the best production–start to finish–that the venue had ever seen.
In 2003, I was able to get the camping license put in my name, Steve Trickle. All I had left to do was somehow get the lease to the parking lot that was being leased by BLMC.
I was snowboarding in Big Sky Montana and had just ridden the tram to the top of Loan Peak. I wanted to get a picture of myself and asked some guy to take the photo for me. He asked where I was from and when I told him he said that his Dad owned the parking lot…tell me that’s not meant to be… I gave him my phone number and told him to let his Dad know if BLMC did not renew their lease at the end of February to give me a call. One day in February my phone rang, it was the guy’s Dad that owned the lot!
Now I had the camping license and the parking lot. All that was left to do was name the venue. I renamed the place “Legend Valley” and with a lot of help from family and friends, I have been able to put this magical venue back on the map.
Legend Valley President
Steve Trickle
Since then Legend Valley has hosted Hookahville, Gathering of the Juggalos, All Good Festival, Dark Star Jubilee, The Werk Out, WCOL’s Country Jam, and numerous musical and athletic events.
