“There’s a grave on a hillside way down in Tennessee.”
So begins another tall-tale sung to the toe-tapping acoustic Mountain Music that’s a cultural heritage here in East Tennessee.
The song’s title, “The Briars, Brambles and Me” is sung by Tennessee Skyline and is the featured song on the new Clinch Mountain Music Festival website we just launched at GoTriCities. It tells the story of a jealous lover who shot his wife and best friend and the only ones who know where they lay are…”the briars, brambles and me.”
I’d like for you to visit our new site. It’s been fun working on this as we’ve been covered up for the past few weeks on several interesting projects, but more important, you might win a custom-made treasure – An A.P. Carter Acoustic Guitar.This little song though has been going over and over in my mind as I worked on the website and we’re proud to turn the spotlight on this unique local festival that features exclusively ‘Old Time Mountain Music.’
The festival will be held June 13-15th in Scott County, Virginia and the website is a collection of performing artists that include national names like Rhonda Vincent and The Rage, JD. Crowe and the New South along with many talented local family groups who perform in this region.
Sponsored by the Scott County Virginia Tourism Cooperative, the folks working on this project are hard working folks who really appreciate this family-music that continues to blossom from Southwest Virginia. There are four stages that include The Natural Tunnel Amphitheater, The Carter Family Fold, Downtown Gate City and several other ‘Pickin Tents’ all over the city that weekend.
One of the most interesting features of this new website is the special Tony Vines guitar that will be raffled away during the festival. This unique custom-made guitar was made one of the region’s most skilled master lutheirsa Tony Vines and is estimated at over $20,000. It could be yours for a $35.00 raffle ticket.
If you’ve never seen a Vine’s Guitar or more important, ever played one, this is truly a treasure – particularly this guitar. What makes this one so special is the fact that all of the wood that makes up this guitar was made from the trees on the A.P. Carter Family Farm. Joe Carter and Tony cut down the trees a few years ago and now they are raffling off this special guitar as part of the festival which is now in its third year.
This festival will be real treat this summer and I can’t wait to attend and meet some of these folks. I’ve got to know several of the people in this region who continue to work toward improving tourism and cultural heritage in Scott County and they have hearts of gold and a special way altogether. They love their music too. They’re a proud people and you can truly hear the traditional spirit of this mountain culture in the songs they pass down from generation to generation.
Special kudos to my staff, Mark and Sam for helping to produce such a great new website. More to come…