The rain was falling hard on the roof of the Times-News last Wednesday. We could hear it inside and it was loud. I had stopped by the office to take care of some last minute details for the Fun Fest Mountain Soul Jam later that afternoon. Outside the front door and under roof talking to Times-News music columnist and self-described “musical snob,” Jim McGuiness who was waiting too and we have no trouble talking about music. He was particularly interested in the lineup tonight with Les Honky More Tonkies and Garage Deluxe and I was even more interested in his thoughts about the new CD he had received earlier in the day from Reagan Boggs.
Seems summer showers though during the week of Fun Fest always threaten the weather and as the rain finally stopped, large puddles left steaming spots in the concrete as the sun began to shine. That’s a typical July day here in East Tennessee and like most event organizers – you keep moving forward – with your fingers crossed. Here are pictures from the event and more details…
It was about 2.00 pm when I left the paper and made my way down to the stage Steve Bailey and his crew with Abell Productions were building the stage, sound and lights on the side of Fort Henry Drive. By the time I had gotten there, the police had already stopped traffic and Ben Conkin was working with David from Metro Motors to get the RV air conditioner running. Ben had been working on the details of the show for weeks now and was waiting for me to relieve him to go on a food and drink run for tonight’s show.
I was thinking while I was loading groceries and other items into the RV this year’s show is the fifth anniversary of this annual concert we sponsor during Fun Fest. Times-News sponsors the Mardi Gras show and that was terrific last Friday and GoTriCities sponsors the mid-week concerts at the opening of the Taste of The TriCities.
There’s a lot of effort put into this show. We start out creating a show around the current environment around the office. Ben loves Les Honky and since he was in charge of finding event sponsors, we picked a lineup including this band from Nashville with a couple of Kingsport natives (Joey Todd – drummer and Mark Miller, vocals, guitar). For me, it only felt right to include Clear in this event because Jared and some of the other guys knew several of the players and it was a enthusiastic matchup that seemed to work best for everyone.
I love playing Fun Fest too, even though it’s a bit stressful trying to wear all the hats of promoter, host and musician, but it’s worth the effort, because we get to promote some of the area’s distinct talent on this stage and it’s a great opportunity for our brand. Besides, I still remember the very first Fun Fest and that was my biggest show with the TenPenney band and it’s great to be a part, year after year.
All the details were coming together surprisingly well. Our sponsors were in place as Smith Brothers Harley Davidson brought a couple of bikes and set up a tent and Dr. Enuf brought their sample trailer along with ETSU ’ s presence at the event as well. The air conditioner was working and the keg was on ice by the time Greg Smith arrived to set his gear on stage.
Greg is playing out some last few gigs with Reagan Boggs and I was surprised and excited to see Tony Maggard. He and Reagan are separated now and I trust that things will only improve for each of them as they continue to move on toward their dreams.
Jason Crawford on the other hand was introducing me to his new girlfriend and was wearing a new beard after his return from Japan. I met Jason while playing in the Boggs band and truly appreciate his talent, character and I’m not about to say anything about his good looks. I do miss playing music with him because not only is this guy talented, he’s one of my favorite players to hang out with and celebrate playing music together – we’re darn good at that.
It was a reunion of sorts of everyone in the Bogg’s band, except for Reagan. Bassist Kevin Light and his wife joined us before the show as well as drummer Alan Gamble. There were plenty of friends gathering and we had a good crowd forming too around 6.30 when the Taste of the Tri-Cities opened their tents for their first night at Fun Fest.
By the time it was 7.00, the sun was setting and the rain clouds were long gone. I loaded all of my keyboards on stage and David Williams the sound engineer and his crew were doing the preparing everything for the band and it wasn’t long before Clear was performing a short bit for a sound check before a crowd of about 1,000. By the time, we were onstage, I feel sure there were some 3,000 people around to hear the set.
Each band had a 50-minute set tonight and Jared Bentley did a great job out front for Clear. It was hot and the crowd was across the road, but he was certainly getting attention and rightfully so as he is one of the best singers of the night. Plenty of people complimented me on the band too and everyone seemed to like what we were doing. This was our first show in Kingsport and it’s reassuring to hear such compliments from friends and new fans.
This year, we decided present just three bands onstage at the Mountain Soul Jam. In the past, we had featured as many as five, but after delayed performances and short sets, we were trying something different. That was a good decision too and as soon as we finished our set in Clear, it wasn’t long before Les Honky More Tonkies had their gear set and we were started the second set close to 8.30 – on schedule.
I introduced the band and made my way back to the RV to grab my camera, cool off a bit and get ready for the rest of the night. My friend Danny Strickler was watching the RV and Tom and Lisa Bettini had arrived along with the members of Garage Deluxe.
I went back out to the stage to take several pictures of Les Honky More Tonkies and those guys were great, energetic rock and roll band and they had attracted a much larger audience. Kingsport native, Joey Todd had a Ludwig drum set with a Tennessee Flag in on the bass drum head and bobbed his long blond hair most of the night. Together with their bass player, they were terrific performers and their songs had a raw energy that is approachable for any rock music fan.
Mark Miller is the front man for the band and I thought he did a great job singing their original music, connecting with the audience who seemed appreciative of each song of as day turned into night. When they wrapped up the set, I explained to the crowd the new CD ’76 was on sale at the side of the stage and encouraged everyone to hang around for Garage Deluxe.
It was dark now and you could hear the movie in the stadium. This is the second year that Fun Fest has sponsored an outdoor movie in J. Fred Johnson Stadium and in many ways, we conflict each other with the audio. One other thing that concerns me is the mid-week concert. Everyone seems to leave shortly after dark and the long set change between Les Honky and Garage Deluxe (about 45 minutes), lost most of the crowd and that’s unfortunate.
When I first heard the original music on the Garage Deluxe website, I was overwhelmed by the power and resonance of their keyboard player, Stevie Jones. Jared and Greg had been telling me how great their guitarist was too and I couldn’t wait to hear the band live.
Stevie had some trouble getting his keyboards setup properly, but that’s to be expected when you have that much to get ready (I do understand). He was toting a Fender Rhodes, a Hammond Xk-2 and an old Yamaha electronic piano.
Steve Bailey told me later that the stage was slow to set because the band had started plugging in their own cables while he already had everything set and that caused things to run a bit long on the set change.
Nevertheless, the band finally kicked off their set about 10.05 and I was a bit nervous because Fun Fest had urged me to shut down everything by 10.30. Fortunately, Lucy came by and gave us the clearing to go till 10.45.
The crowd had died down significantly by the time Garage Deluxe started their set and that’s one of the things we’ve wrestled with for the past few years and need to do something about it. Our headliner acts have always had the least crowd.
Steve was great on keyboards and talented as a singer and guitar player too, but his real work was on the organ and a wonderful old Leslie cabinet complimented his percussive, bold style. I was standing next to the stage talking to another man about the fascination with this wood cabinet with a rotating speaker. I love the sound, but I’m still glad I don’t have to carry this one around.
Garage Deluxe has a beefy sound and Steve and John are great players, but the songs were a bit disjointed tonight and I’m not certain they have a strong front man presence and I never really knew who was leading the band. They’re great players, but they sure could use a front man to step out and take the reigns of this great band. They are great songwriters though and I still remember several of their original songs even though I was hearing most of them for the first time.
By the end of their set, the crowd was almost completely gone. A lingering stream of people with lawn chairs were leaving the movie and the police and clean up crews was beginning to make their rounds.
I resorted back to the RV to pay the bands and thank them for their performance and most everyone was gone except for Dan and Tracy who helped me to the end. We had the RV to clean up and several things to pack including my keyboards and plenty of leftovers.
The night air was damp from the rain earlier in the day and the cicadas and frogs were singing at my house when I finally got home around 1am. It had been a long day and I couldn’t wait to hit the shower and get a nights rest for my next day at work.
The Mountain Soul Jam was a great opportunity for Clear and Les Honky More Tonkies. I wish Garage Deluxe would have had a bigger crowd, but they’ll have another chance when both of these bands come back to the Twilight Alive concert series in August in Downtown Kingsport.
Not sure what we’ll plan to do next year. These annual concerts are expensive and plenty of hard work. I appreciate my friends who helped with the stage performance this year and thankful for all of the assistance from Lucy Fleming and her staff at Fun Fest. I’m glad it’s behind us though and believe everyone had a good time.