It was a pleasure to get an invitation to the 50th birthday party for Sandy Allgood and Reggie at their beautiful home in Harmony, TN on Saturday, July 16th. It was a gorgeous afternoon and my friends were having trouble getting their schedules together so we could arrive together, so I decided to take a drive to Harmony for some scenery.
Harmony, TN is one of my favorite places to dream about in East Tennessee. In my dreams, there is a piece of land on top of a small mountain with no trees and an unabstructed view of the skies at night. That’s my wish and Harmony is a perfect setting, so everytime I get the chance to drive those roads, I imagine building my own home.
Reggies place is a dream home and it wasn’t long ago that we talked about all the work he put into the place and it was a real satisfying experience to visit his home.
We were excited about attending this party too because CattleAxe had been hired to play the gig. We arrived a little late (10.30), but a few of the hard core party heads were still around and CattleAxe was on stage with their second set. The ground was still soggy from the torential spring showers that continue to fall this summer, but we made it to the back yard and watched the guys perform.
Some of the other friends that were there included Caroline Moffitt, Lisa Bettini, John Maupin and some other folks I had not seen in a while.
A real treat was my tour of their home. The highlight was a visit to Reggie’s upper sanctum where he keeps many relics from the seventies and eighties including brightly colored velvet black light posters, lava lamps, disco balls and several signed photos from great bands. Even had a chance to watch Greg Yates pick up the black Gibson Lucille signed by BB King.
In their living room, I spotted a black Young Chang grand and wow, I couldn’t have been happier. I sat down and played a few Elton John songs and had an audience for a while until the good champagne came out. It was late when we left….3.30, but what a great time. So much so, that I drove back out to Harmony on Saturday and snapped some more pictures of this country and dreamed a little more.