What started as a way for old friends to hang out quickly evolved into a community-wide music fest.

     Brookstock started back in 2000, when Don Jacobs, Brookhaven High School class of 1968, decided he wanted to play with his old high school band The Brutes more often.

     “It started out as a party,” Jacobs said. “It’s a way for us to all get together.”

     Jacobs said that around the time of the first Brookstock, which wasn’t yet named, two classmates died in a plane crash.

     “That kind of made us all aware of the fact that life is precious,” he said. “We need to enjoy each other while we can.”

     Every year, Brookstock grows. The past few years have seen 250 to 300 attendees, many who come from out of town and plan their vacations around the event. Some come from the community, but most are classmates from the 60s.

     “The same people were out in the audience dancing as in high school,” Jacobs said. “It means a lot to me to be able to see all these people.”

     But Brookstock isn’t just about the people. Taking its name from the famed 1969 Woodstock Music Festival, Brookstock is all about the music. It started with The Brutes and their high school rival band, The Rooks. Now members of both bands play together, along with other Brookhaven musicians.

     This year, the lineup includes Mike J. Case, Sherrill Wallace and the Harmony Rockets, Bill Guess and a few others. Jimmy Henderson from Black Oak Arkansas will do a set, and Jacobs himself will be doing some of his original songs from his new album “Drive.”

     “[Recording] has been a lot of fun,” Jacobs said. “It’s gotten me back in the music.”

     Jacobs had some help putting together “Drive,” in the form of Mississippi bluesman and Brookhavenite Virgil Brawley. Brawley is a longtime friend of Jacobs, and a member of The Brutes.

     “I took it upon myself to pull the stage act together myself [in the beginning],” Brawley said. “It’s a lot of work for Don.”

     Brawley said he’s always enjoyed Brookstock and working with Jacobs.

     “I enjoy doing this and helping Don and being a part of it,” he said.

     Brookstock XII will be Saturday, July 28, at the Brookhaven Recreation Department on Highway 51. The show starts at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 and food will be available for purchase from the Allan Community Fire Department. Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs and their own drinks.

     “It’s a good chance for us to reconnect with people,” Jacobs said. “There are people that I probably never would’ve seen again.”

     Brawley agreed.

     “I’m glad to see all the old bands together and all the people from those days,” he said. “It’s a fun little thing for Brookhaven to have.”