International Festival: McCarvel 'the audio guy' to be honored as Friend of the Festival

Jul. 4—WORTHINGTON — Brewster native Paul McCarvel is one of two Friends of the Festival being honored during the 28th annual International Festival July 7-9, in downtown Worthington.

McCarvel, owner of PM Music, has volunteered as the sound technician for the festival since 2008, but it was back in 1993 or 1994 that he was first asked to provide the sound system for the flatbed-turned-stage.

"I was probably in college at the time," McCarvel said. "Then I was away from everything for a while and I don't know how I got called back into it."

McCarvel, who lives with his family in Tea, South Dakota, works for a San Diego, California-based company for which he designs sound systems for hotels and large convention centers and facilities along the California coast. He also farms with his brother and dad, Mike McCarvel, in rural Brewster.

"Running sound is something I do as a hobby," he said. "I always tell my wife that there are people that buy boats and go out to the lake every weekend, but I buy sound equipment and go do gigs every weekend."

McCarvel enjoys coming back to the International Festival year after year because of the importance of the event.

"It's something that's bringing diversity awareness to Worthington, and not just Worthington — all cities need that type of interaction happening," McCarvel said. "I really enjoy the diversity and (the festival) is always different. There's always different bands that are on stage.

"The music is very diverse," he added. "We can be doing Irish dance or a Mariachi band on the stage — it's a full gamut of different music styles, which I really enjoy."

As an audio guy, McCarvel said he also enjoys "flying by the seat of my pants," when something goes wrong on stage, and can help festival organizers adjust.

"I just really enjoy doing the work," he said.