The timing was right, the location couldn’t have been better and downtown Kingsport has turned up the heat for Thursday nights. Last week, the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce kicked off a summer of exciting concerts and events in front of the train station with their monthly After Hours. The Kingsport Arts Council was also unveiling all of the new downtown streetside sculptures and Bennie Wilson and Junior Brown celebrated the first concert of the year for the Twilight Alive Summer Concert series now in its second year.
With our offices located in the heart of downtown, I didn’t have to go far to enjoy the best of our community either. As soon as I walked downstairs, I lugged my camera across the street to the lawn of the Kingsport Train Station and joined several of the region’s business illuminati for an outdoor barbecue, cold beer and plenty of conversation at the Chamber After Hours.
The focal point of this meeting was the 3 ton 1 ton iron work sculpture that is stop number one on the new Kingsport Sculpture Walk. It might not look like much from the outside. As a matter of fact, one of my guys at the office says it looks like several scenes on his farm where old trucks rest abandoned – rusty and broken under the weight of the growth. Sure, at first glance, it looks like plenty of scenes here in the mountains, but looking in the window, you realize the work is completely cast from iron. The tires, the windows, the chrome – a work of art with everything cast into a custom casing.
This exhibit is sponsored by several businesses and the Kingsport Arts Council and if you haven’t seen these sculptures, come stroll downtown and see an impressive collection of work that will be on display for the rest of the year. You can also view a new slide show and map now online that describes each work.
The truck was an appropriate backdrop too for Tony Hewitt, Chamber President to briefly discuss the chamber business in his eloquant English style. He also introduced Doug Beaty, a developer from Asheville who is rebuilding the State Theatre and a new restaurant called 12 Bones. This new restaurant will be located on Main Street right next door to Pappy’s Motorcycles and Jeff Lane and his crews are working hard to restore this historic building.
It’s great to watch Jeff’s enthusiasm too because he’s rolled up his sleeves many times downtown and he’s an inspiring force that has the heart and the muscle to make a difference. We’re glad to be working with him as he brings an idea he championed and glad to help his company Broad Street Productions promote this year’s concerts.
Tony also introduced Owen Jones, president of Eastman Credit Union who is a big sponsor of downtown activities. I’ve met Owen once while playing piano at Allandale Mansion. He loves music and together with his associates they are proudly running the largest credit union in the world and that’s something to be proud about. Our recent surveys at the Times-News has Eastman Credit Union as the popular financial institution for 51% of our respondents out of 550 surveys.
Other than the details of the meeting, I enjoyed some tasty barbecue and locally brewed beer. We were sampling ribs from 12 Bones restaurant – opening up in in “about six weeks” according to Jeff. I met the master brewer for Jonesboro’s local brewery ‘Depot Street” and we talked about friends and home-brew enthusiasts Brad Lifford and Kevin Mitchell. It was fun sampling his beers and everyone else seemed to agree because this was one of the most popular attractions tonight.
Other photo opps included Pal Barger and Sharon who were part of the small crowd tonight. One of my favorite pictures is new Alderman Jantry Schupe dressed in a brown suit and after talking with Pal and Sharon, I caught him here in an excellent grass roots pose.
I explained my recurring radio dream to Bob Lawerence who now works at Citadel Radio and he was wearing a fine hat. I guess old disc-jockeys love talking about the good-old-days. Bob’s into all kinds of projects now too and it’s especially interesting to talk about his own interest in the Net. They are quite successful with their Radio Web Village project and he’s also working with plenty of talent in the region to produce podcasts and video from their radio complex in Gray, TN.
Steve and Lisa Lohoff with Town and Country Realty were together with their son Luke and I grabbed a few shots from this great family story. He and I first met several years ago when he managed Rush Street Grill. Our band Ahab and the Wailers was one of the acts and Steve loved music. Steve was injured in a biking incident in Jonesborough a few years back. Since then, I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and his family because he’s one of those living miracles whose life and attitude continue to be an inspiration to all who are around him.
As the Chamber party died down, another one was just beginining around the block as the 2007 Twilight Alive concert series began with Benny Wilson on stage. Benny’s one of the only musicians I’ve known who’s never had a day-job and continues to travel with the most active performance schedule of any artist in the region. Together with Chris Simmons on drums, Gary Southerland on guitar and Tommy Starnes on bass, they were also joined by their old piano player Bill Benton and the band was just as tight and entertaining as ever.
Benny’s band finished their set and without much hesitation were hauling their instruments up the street to do another live set in Kingsport’s only downtown bar at ‘Get Rhythm.” This is Jeff Tankersley’s new place and from some folks in the crowd, they tell me this is the place to be on Saturday nights in downtown. One things for sure, the heat of the evening and the downtown crowds during this concert session are certainly a good opportunity for these guys and Benny sure was bringing them in.
I hung around near the back of the crowd for most of the evening. I’d spent my money earlier in the day so I couldn’t really buy one of the $4.00 beers on the street (they actually will sell you three for $10), but my Depot Street freebies were keeping me in tune as lots of friends appeared from around the corner. That’s one of the most important cultural benefits of this music series – you get to hang out with a lot of friends.
There were some familiar faces tonight including Lisa Bettini and her friend Becky. Mike and Lisa Milhourn with Up Against The Wall Gallery had a really cool table they were setting up and I spent a lot of time talking with Terry McCoy who plays with 10,000 Flames and Sober Otis while Benny cooked on-stage with his energetic set.
There were plenty of old friends I had seen in a while too along with some people I’d never never met. It was a real treat to talk a little to Ken Manness. I shared my radio dream with him too and we were on familiar ground as he used to be a popular DJ with WKIN and later to serve as General Manager of WQUT and Citadel for many years at out in Gray.
I’d never met Johnny Razar before tonight. I’d heard alot about him though as he used to work with Reagan Boggs for several years and we had an interesting conversation about our similar experiences playing music. Johnny seemed like a great guy and was hanging out with his family and I was excited to hear he was getting out soon with a new band.
Rob Russell was hanging out with his lawn chairs and his new wife. They recently were married at Allandale and Rob has got one of the best gigs this session opening up for Southern Culture and The Skids later this year at Twilight Alive.
Junior Brown came on stage to a roar of applause. He has plenty of fans around this area as he has been a regular during Bristol Rhythm and Roots for the past few years. He wore his signature white cowboy hat and dug into his music with grit and determination. He played all of his classic Texas/blues swing tunes and the night was alive with a revitalized energy. Well over 1,000 people were in attendance with big smiles and plenty of activity. The audience was great and no interruptions this evening and most of the security were simply enjoying the night.
This is gonna be a great year for Downtown Kingsport. The concert season looks terrific for both Friday and Saturday. Together with the sculpture walk and several new businesses coming into town, we should see a very different center of activity in the next several months. The Higher Education Center and continued growth from regional colleges who have campuses in Downtown coupled with the overwhelming response of both sponsors and fans will certainly make this a year to remember, so don’t forget to join us downtown this year for plenty of great music and share a special reawakening here in Kingsport.