Violet and the Newsroom

(And if you give ’em half a chance, they’ll be back on Monday!)

It’s Clay! Had the first of two very busy, very fun September weekends. Here’s the recap!

Old Time Influence Fest @ Wiley’s Last Resort, Whitesburg, KY [Saturday, September 13]

GOSH this was fun. This was our first time with all three of us together in Letcher County (Violet and I went down for Cowan Creek earlier this summer) and we could not have had more fun! Anabel and I left from Lexington and then swung over by Morehead to grab Violet and be on our way. We took 519 down for a portion of the way and joked that last time we tried to travel that road as a band, we got stuck behind a funeral procession for ten miles.

…And then it happened again this time! We need to consider alternate routes, it seems!

Luckily, we still got there in plenty of time to see some great bands AND stop at the overlook on Pine Mountain.

(Here’s a fun fact! Despite having driven through mountains for two hours, we didn’t actually meet a “true” mountain until we landed on the one we were standing on in the above picture! Pine Mountain is a 125-mile long ridge that towers over the surrounding hills. When you’re driving up it, you can see folded rock bands caused by tectonic compression. Contrast this with, say, a road cut in mountanous Hazard – the bands in the rock there would be horizontal.

Here’s the difference: while Pine Mountain was pushed up as a result of tectonic plates slamming together, the hills to its west are a geologic feature called a “dissected plateau” – in this case, the Cumberland Plateau – where the valleys are carved out by water!)

Whoa, huh, what was that? Sorry, back to the music!

Nobody tells the story of this place better than the Wiley’s Last Resort webpage, but here’s the short version: On Kentucky’s second-highest mountain, there’s a very special campground filled with delightful, creative human beans. Some of those human beings are part of the MARS collective – a nonprofit founded by the late poet and ecological author Jim Webb* – which facilitates events and education promoting music, arts, re-creation, and sustainability.

Today, Wiley’s is operated by Steve Justice, and MARS is directed by Jared Hamilton. Both of them were gracious hosts up on the mountain and throw a pretty good party!

When we arrived, Jared and friends were jamming by the stage. We were fortunate to see Cooper! (a folk punk band who made the trip up from Florida), John Haywood & Leo Shannon (banjo and fiddle), Mike “Wildman” Elison (banjo), and Clover-Lynn and the Hellfires (banjo and fiddle). We wish we could’ve stayed for more!

As it was an old time music festival, many of the sets were about half-talk with jokes delivered and stories told and lineages remembered. Mike Elison played a song you might recognize as “Lost Gander,” but which his grandmother taught to him as “Wild Goose Chase.” He played a well-loved old banjo that needed retuning between every song, but each and every one was magic. He played with an almost piano-like grace – listen to those harmonics!

And then we got to see Clover-Lynn, accompanied by one Hellfire. We were on a bit of a time crunch (we had a long drive ahead of us and needed our sleep), but once she started playing, we just couldn’t bear to leave. She was enchanting and we were hooked from the very beginning when she promised a full set of gothic bluegrass tunes…

…And proceeded to whip out Cripple Creek in a minor key, lol.

Sadly, we had to roll out before we got to hear Appalachiatari play, because we had a gig the next day…

*The Jim Webb of Wiley’s is a totally different guy from the Jim Webb who runs our favorite musical instrument shop. Also, neither of them have anything to do with the Big Telescope.

First Presbyterian Church’s Sunday School Kickoff @ Liberty Hall, Frankfort, KY [Sunday, September 14 – Anabel’s BIRTHDAY!]

This was our second time getting to play for First Presbyterian Church in Frankfort, Kentucky – and our second time playing in the Liberty Hall garden! The event was a fun one – the year’s Sunday School kickoff, held at the very spot where the first Sunday School west of the Allegheny mountains was held by Marietta Brown two centuries prior. (You can hear more about that story and the church’s history in Any Old Place, one of the podcasts I produce for the Capital City Museum!)

No video, but we got audio of this one! Here’s the second half of our set!

Timestamps: The Cuckoo @ 00:00 / Ain’t No Grave @ 02:16 / By the Waters of the James @ 07:56 / Whiskey Before Breakfast @ 12:26 / Wild Mountain Thyme @ 14:35 / Rock Andy @ 19:26 / Rock of Ages @ 21:00 / Angel from Montgomery (bonus, request from my stepdad, lol!) @ 24:42

(Like what you hear? We’d love to play for your church! In addition to our old time, our originals, and our folk, country, and pop covers, we also play hymns and religious music appropriate for a church setting!)

Now, you’ll hear us talk about Whiskey, but do not worry – there was not liquor at this function. Whiskey is the pastor’s new eight-week-old St. Bernard.

Un. Real. And he would just wander over to people’s chairs and sit in the shade underneath them. Whiskey is my new best friend. We played the fiddle tune Whiskey Before Breakfast in his honor (no matter that it had been in the setlist anyway).

And great news – we’ll be back at Liberty Hall VERY SOON – their Garden Gathering is September 27 from 10 am – 2 pm. We’ll be playing from noon onward! Please come – it’s a free and family-friendly event with games, history snippets, and a film screening!

And, after that, catch us down in Lebanon – we’re playing at Chasers Restaurant from 5 pm – 7 pm that same day!