Ever have one of those days where you know you have lots do, but it get it done anyway? Those are the good days.
Don’t misunderstand me, it doesn’t happen often, but this past Friday, I had meetings with Fun Fest, Moody Bookstore, Highway Boutique, Kingsport Times-News and plenty of work at the office. Despite the details, I was off and running around 3.00 headed to Saltville, Virginia for the first annual(?) Saltville, VA Music Festival.
Before settling into 81 North, I stopped off in Bristol to pick up a new keyboard stand at JJ’s House of Music. The guys had me ready to go and I made it to Saltville around 4.30 ready to set the stage.
The town of Saltville has a nice charm (population 2300) about it and before you get into town, there’s a billboard that reads ‘Salt Capital of The Confederacy.”. The streets into downtown go from sheep and goat farms into white wood frame houses that stand near the roadside near the mountains the nestle into their backyards.
I finally found the park/campgrounds where the EMS were putting on this music festival. 
We were the first to arrive and I was glad to see my first livestock stage. This is where we would perform and walking around the stage, I realized that we were sharing a big open shelter that for the most part was used to walk horses and livestock. The stage was probably used by auctioneers and other farm related events. As I set up my keyboards, I had to brush the dried pigeon (chicken) droppings away before I was set to play.
After a short sound check, we started playing around 6.15. It was hot, but the shelter and a small breeze kept us from most of the heat. The folks from Davis Valley Winery were set up with a booth and I imagine a lot more people showed up later in the evening, but I can’t say that we performed for more than 60 people altogether.
We packed up quickly around 7.30 and drove as fast as we could to Wytheville. It wasn’t long before we were in the bar that we decided to grab a bite to eat. Tony was there setting the sound and we had some time to kill over a few beers and Philly Steak sandwiches (this bar’s specialty).
I had a chance to talk with Reagan and she was still trying to decelerate after recording in Nashville all week long. She was real excited and anxious, so that combined with the past few days made it real hard for her to enjoy the rest of the evening. Despite that, she did a great job and more people danced and were rowdy than ever before at the Wytheville bar and besides our $200 bar tab, we made a little money and had another good set in Soutwest, Virginia.
Here are a few pictures from the drive to Saltville and images from the stage.