I’ve only been to Maggie Valley, NC once before on a outing at a sapphire mine many years ago to dig for gems, but I doubt I will forget the memories a few weeks ago as the band floated into this North Carolina outpost for the Spring Rally in The Valley Harley Davidson Festival sponsored by Greg Lummus.
Benny Wilson (the only musician in Kingsport who I know who has never had a day job) booked a caravan of East Tennessee performers for this outdoor festival including Ivy Road, CattleAxe, The Reagan Boggs Band, Virginia Ground and The Benny Wilson Band.
Click here for photos from the weekend
The weather was lousy too on the Friday morning I drove down I-40 past Newport toward the NC line. The rain was falling in sheets and the monsoon made traffic difficult, but it was great to be away from the computer and I even felt a little more relaxed that Sprint’s signal prevented any cell phone calls from this area.
One of the first things I noticed about Maggie Valley was the surprising number of signs promoting live music. As I drove up to the festival fairgrounds, there was this extra-large Harley Davidson blow-up sign in the middle of swampy fields and a handful of bikers and cars parked along the muddy entranceways – the rain looked like it had settled in for the day too.
It was about 12.30 and there was some time to kill before the 3pm stage call. We all had to be careful driving across the fields behind the stage because the ground was saturated, but thankfully the weather was warm and the tent that covered the stage seemed sturdy and waterproof.
Everyone was already there by the time I arrived and as soon as I parked the old green gig-maker, the rain and cloud-cover gave way to dim daylight that made the afternoon a bit more tolerable.
Ivy Road was on stage before our set. Jason Lloyd from Bristol plays piano and sings along with Linda Loflin and this duo has lots of talent. Jason is a scorching boogie piano player and as he hammered out a left-handed bass riff, he and Linda performed one of the most intriguing cover sets I’ve heard in sometime. it caught my attention and we played the name game as we heard everything from Elton John, Pinetop Perkins, Jerry Lee, Joe Cocker, John Cowen and a bunch of old soul songs.
This duo plays regularly throughout the Tri-Cities and have a very successful project with a celtic band too. I enjoyed their stories about their trip to Scotland to experience the music and was especially impressed by the groove they were able to deliver for the sparse crowd and enjoyed everything they delivered. There are a few good video shots of this performance located here.
Robert Winkle from Jonesborough was running sound from the back of the tent and just when things started to lull, Lenny Haynes and his girlfriend came walking up right before our set. Lenny has been officially described as one the band’s favorite fan. I’ve got to brag on him too because I’m certainly not used to people helping me load-in and set up my gear. It was like having a keyboard tech for a day and it was great. Thanks Lenny!
The rain kept a lot of bikers from coming down on Friday, but that didn’t upset our gig that much. We had a big weekend ahead.
We had a pretty good set too. It’s always a little strange to play on a large stage and this one was spread way out. It was hard to hear everyone completely as we were stretched beyond our normal stage plot.
Now even though the soggy weather hampered the turnout, there was no shortage of food and right behind the stage Jason Crawford caught wind of a vendor that was serving up turkey drumsticks and “1lb pork chops!”. There were ribs and chicken on an open grill and a big guy with a prosthetic leg serving up food that was alluring as the smoke floated around the back of the stage.
Reagan booked another gig on Friday night in Hendersonville, NC, so while me, Jason and Alan scarfed the outdoor barbecue and beer, Greg and Jim left for The Black Rose. This is a listening room owned by the same owner of Hannah Flannigans and we’ll be playing here later on the year.
As we scarfed the “monster vittles” Tom Bettini, Greg Yates and Al Sammons moved their gear onto the set around 6.00. Cattleaxe was the perfect way to change the mood for the night too with their set of hard country and hard rock.
I’ve heard these guys play many times over the past few years and they are one helluva trio of talent. Greg Yates on guitar used to play with David Alan Coe and now he’s more interested in taking care of his son and playing around his hometown in Elizabethton, but just because he’s more idle than used to be doesn’t mean he still can’t amaze an audience. His ability to sing most any genre is augmented even more by his incredible skill and style with which he plays electric guitar. He’s humble and very approachable in an old uniform blue shirt with Las Vegas on the pocket.
They call Al Sammons, Grandpa and he smiles big when they call him that. He’s the drummer for the band and despite a heart attack, a bout with cancer, Al flails a drum kit like no other rocker in East Tennessee and together with Tom Bettini, they are a ultra-engineered rock-steady machine.
My friend Tom Bettini is still the most entertaining bassist to watch too. Music is not only his passion, but with Tom…it’s business and he plays for blood. Watching him play his left-handed bass and listening to razor-perfect note patterns Tom is a guardian of the bands magic and they gave a great show – perfect for the bikers in Maggie Valley.
The last show of the night was the host – Benny Wilson. Now I’ve heard stories about Bennie for years. I know he’s probably the most popular performer in the Tri-Cities for the past decade too. He had a stint with the Janie Frickie band back in the nineties, but he’s such a great performer there’s never a shortage of shows.
This was my first “Benny” show too and the rumors say are true. He’s a lot of fun. This talented performer loves playing music and he knows how to get the attention of an audience with his ear-to-ear grin, long blond hair and racy moves on stage as he hurls the band through a set of crowd-pleasers with country, rock and r&b mixed into the set list.
I was delighted to see Chris Simmons on drums for this band. He’s a music educator at a Mountain City, TN high school and we performed together at the Appy Fair a few years back, so we shared a few memories together, but evidently things have changed a lot for him since I saw him last. He’s not married any more and he was bald last time I saw him, but I don’t remember the black fingernails.
Gary Southerland was great on guitar with this band and I always enjoy Tommy Starnes on bass too. He’s a terrific player and has one of the best bass (poker) faces I’ve ever seen.
Benny was great! He’s a good singer, but he’s an incredible showman and as he put on his red-sequined jacket and white glove, his smile stretched way off of his face as he danced around the stage in a moonwalk, imitating the king of pop. The ladies were ripe!
Sometime before the sun set in the valley, I made my way across the street to the motel. We had rooms booked via Benny’s arrangements and it was a doozy! It wasn’t one that would have intrigued me if I had made the decision, but what a surprise! It was one of those long roadside drive-up motels painted red and white with lots of cheesy country decor, but surprisingly The Holiday Motel had lots of character. It was pleasing to see the American owners (who lived on the property in a brick house along the road) as they came running when I pressed the buzzer in the cute lobby decorated like a country museum. We had two rooms and ours was a “suite,” so I settled into the room and headed back to the fairgrounds across the street.
On the way back, a young babe in leather chaps and a black bikini was luring everyone’s attention around the soggy grounds of the tent. As CattleAxe played a set, all eyes were watching the temptress as she walked around – evidently ‘advertising’ a sports club/bar down the street.
I suppose this was the reason after Benny played his last song and we all went back to the Holiday that we decided to head to Big Rick’s and Little Michael’s Springhouse. I met up with Tom, Alan, Jason, Ivy Road and Grampa Al and primed a few moments before walking down the street to the club. It was there I thought how incredibly rewarding it was to share the stage this weekend with such tremendous talent and couldn’t help but grin the rest of the night.
It was close to midnight when we got to the Springhouse and it was a busy place indeed. You had to buy a ‘membership’ when you get to the door and once inside it was a lively, smoky cavern with a band named ‘Soul Bone’ playing southern rock covers (I hope I don’t have to listen to Copperhead Road again).
Alan and Jason had gone ahead of Tom and I and we had a hard time locating them, but I knew if there were pool tables – we would find Jason and sure enough…the third floor had about six tables and he had already worked up a game.
This was an unusual late night too. Usually Jason is chumming it up with the ladies, but right beside the pool table Alan had a overly intoxicated blonde with barbed wire tattooed arms draped around his neck and we both had enough beer to grin at this surreal moment. Alan is usually the last one in this type of situation and she was way to sloshy to be appealing and underneath it seemed quite sad.
Nevertheless, Jason was beating most everyone around him and as I looked at some of the patrons, I guess it was the Native American heritage of these mountains, but there seemed to be a lot of of Indians drinking beer and shooting pool.
Jason had some old man up next to the pool table and he usually likes to place a few bets on eight-ball. He’s serious about his game and I guess that’s why the old man only wanted to play a $1.00 per game. As Jason tells the story it’s amusing too because the guy actually asked him to borrow 50¢ to continue to play even though he had been beaten. Jason usually likes to take it up a notch, but the old man stated – “you can’t out-hustle a hustler.” Big spender indeed.
This was a bizarre night club. Over the railing of the pool tables, you could stand and watch the band. They were pretty good, but I get real tired of cover songs and I’m still convinced that white people can’t dance. They’re amusing when they’re drunk and the waitresses in their chaps were equally curious as they weaved in and out of the drama on the dance floor.
It wasn’t long before we left that I noticed an unusual circle of older men along the rail and was surprised to watch some 20-something girl exposing her breast for her groping fans, but I think she was taking drinks or 5 spots for the thrill. Whatever…
Alan, Tom and myself had enough of the smoke and thrills of Big Mike’s and decided to walk back to The Holiday and I’m glad we did because when we got back to the hotel around 2.00, the monsoon started again. Jason wasn’t quite so lucky. We had been back to our rooms for about 15 minutes and Crawford comes through the door – over the top and soaked from his mile jog back to the room.
There were severe thunderstorm warnings out early in the morning and the rain seemed to never stop, so we waited on Greg and Jim to get back from Hendersonville and drank beer and ate chips till about 4 in the morning listening to Jason threatening to sing Elmer Fudd songs till we couldn’t laugh anymore.
Saturday was the first morning I can remember waking up to the 9am thunder of Harley Davidson motorcycles. It was pouring rain through the night and I had left the window open, so my sleep was deep, but the roar of the motorcycles was a real eye-opener.
I decided to get up a little earlier than everyone else and shoot some photos and grab some more video of Maggie Valley. After a short time exploring in the rain, I gave up and headed to this little diner down the street. Unfortunately, they were out of everything. I was hoping for some pancakes, but after seeing what looked like a yellow layer cake on a table across the room, I’m glad I settled for a cheeseburger.
Reagan and the rest of the band joined me for breakfast and we shared stories about the night and the show in Hendersonville. It sounded like they had a small crowd, but they evidently, it was enjoyable to those in came out despite the rain.
Shortly after breakfast, we were back over at the fairgrounds for our 2pm show. The sun started to come out too by the time we played and we had another good set. The songs are coming together well and we’re making a concerted effort to speed up the space between the music and instrument changes. The sound was a little better today as Robert Hinkle had a few things dialed in on the PA from the day before.
After we finished our set, I looked behind me to see Josh Young in a pair of overalls, no shirt and no shoes. He’s the enigmatic bass player for Virginia Ground and right behind him was Jamen Denton (vocalist and songwriter) in a Pabst hat and his brother Justin. I was glad to see them too.
A few weeks earlier, there was a rumor (momentarily true evidently) that Virginia Ground had disbanded. I wasn’t sure if they were going to show today, but there they were as a stripped-down trio.
Evidently, Ben Smith and John McGlocklin are no longer in the band and they had retooled and ready to go with a new sound. After their first set, I liked what I heard. Their shows have always been great, but it was nice to hear less instruments and more of their well-crafted songs this time around.
The guys were broke though and as I videotaped their set, it was amusing to watch them interact with the Harley crowd and play songs for Hot Dogs and Budweisers, which seemed to go very well.
It was late in the day and I wanted to get home before dark, so I said goodbye to Lenny, Tom and the guys from CattleAxe and thanked Benny Wilson for the opportunity to perform at the Maggie Valley show. Hopefully, we’ll do it again sometime.
The crowds were actually starting to build a little Saturday afternoon. There were demonstration of stunt riders on the grounds as a moved out of the parking lot. The rains from Friday and Saturday surely effected the overall crowds, but it was still a good time and a good show.
On the way back home, I came back my favorite route over Sam’s Gap and stopped once again at the Flag Pond overlook. It was just a couple of months ago that the scene was windy and covered with snow, but today was warm and a gentle breeze was blowing through the valley as the sun set in the east. A mist trickled down the mountains too as the earth was breathing once again from the torrential rains and spring was coloring the trees bright green.
I shot plenty of video and pictures of this moment and savored the weekend as the light faded behind the dark mountains and another adventure was in the blog and the motorcycle weekend left plenty of stories to tell later on down the road.
Click here for photos from the weekend
Click here for a slide from the weekend
Video…coming soon to a computer near you.