My ole friend Bill Robinson kicked off the Friday night Bluegrass on Broad Concert Series last night with a live performance of the “Kingsport” song and here’s the video of the first live performance of this little tune and a few outakes from last night’s show which featured the “Midnight Ramblers” from up in Wise County, VA.
Bill wrote this song several years ago and together with his friend Earl Carter, they’ve sort of resurected this snappy little tune that personifies Bill’s love for his hometown. Bill is a Dobyns-Bennett alumni and his first brush with greatness fronting his high-school band “The Carousel” back in the sixties. Together, they performed at the Myrtle Beach Pavillion and opened for Percy Sledge. Bill was working with David Sproles, Steve Sproles, Jim Shields, Ray Berry and a few others.
We met somewhere in the late seventies and Bill was the band manager for our high school band Ten Penny and he helped us to get a headliner slot in the first Fun Fest and opening for the rock band Headeast.
Later, I was to use Bill’s name on a resume and he helped me get my job at the Kingsport Times-News where he has worked most of his life. He has a son and a daughter and together with his wife Sharon, they still love Kingsport and this song shows his passion for the city.
Other than that, I got off work early and poked my head into a new bar called “Get Rhythm” located on Broad Street. I was surprised to run into Jeff Tankersley who is managing the place and inside it was cool and completely remodeled from the barbecue joint. There’s a nice stage and plenty of old Johnny Cash paraphenelia on the walls. Best of all, the beers are cheap – only $2.50 a bottle and they have a short order menu that looks pretty tasty.
The crowds were strong too for the first night with Bluegrass on Broad. Folks gather early and stake their space with lawn chairs and you could tell there was a new vibe in downtown, especially with the new streetside art sculptures all over town.
Earl Carter was there snapping pictures with Bill and I got several video clips of the band and crowd shots to share and will have those uploaded on You Tube. It was a pleasure to talk to GC Matlock who runs sound for Bluegrass on Broad. He’s one of the town’s local bluegrass icons and shortly after giving him a hard time about playing with Jason Crawford, I was introduced to Tom with TK’s Hotdogs.
Tom is one of the organizers of Bluegrass on Broad and he also serves as MC for the shows that begin around 7.00. This year he said, “we’re going to take it to the next level.” He also thanked several sponsors who have come on board to make this a truly successful community event.
Shortly after that, the Midnight Ramblers kicked off the night with a rendition of “Kentucky Girl.” Sporting a their brand new rhinestone black sportcoats and big white brimmed hats, the young men in this band gave off a fresh yet traditional, toe-tappin’ flavor of bluegrass tonight. Here’s a few outakes of their performance.
One of my favorite things about events like these are the moments to gather with friends beyond work and it was great to see Gayle McGlothlin, Jeff Fleming, Jan Gilliam and I briefly talked to Mike Haire about his new bookstore that will be opening soon in downtown.
I was surprised by the crowd too. I estimate 400 to 500 people were on the streets for this pristine Spring evening and that was convincing enough to suggest this is gonna be a great year for our little “Hometown America.”
Bluegrass on Broad happens every Friday night and at the end of the month, the Thursday night concerts will crank up so pay attention to the schedule and we’ll see you on Broad Street this year in Kingsport.