Hot Buttered Rum

We were downright giddy about seeing Hot Buttered Rum back at the Grey Eagle in Asheville last Friday night, after a 5 or 6 year absence. They did not disappoint! Here they are covering a Dr Ralph Stanley tune, enjoy!

Georgia Mountain String Band

The Georgia Mountain String Band performed at Currahee Brewing Company's grand opening celebration this weekend in Franklin. It was our first listen to this Decatur, Georgia bluegrass band and we liked what we heard. We'll certainly keep them on our music radar and hope to see them again soon.

https://m.facebook.com/georgiamountainstringband

Steep Canyon Rangers and Jerry Douglas

                                         
                                         The Orange Peel, 1/9/2015.

Town Mountain's Holiday Hunger Relief Benefit

On Saturday, December 20th, 2014 Town Mountain and Mandolin Orange played a benefit for two local hunger relief organizations, Funding America Through Entertainment (FATE) and MANNA FoodBank at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall in Asheville, NC. New Belgium Brewing Company  sponsored the event and donated proceeds from their beer sales in addition to a monetary bonus. Town Mountain has dedicated a portion of ticket sales for the cause as well as arranged for a 50/50 raffle the evening of the show. This is the 3rd time that FATE and Town Mountain have teamed up to fight hunger, having donated more than $3000 towards the cause and Town Mountain will continue to develop the Holiday Bluegrass Benefit as an annual tradition.


Once again, it proved to be a fun and rowdy night of world class bluegrass tunes performed in front of a music loving crowd in Asheville. It was a great way for the local community of music lovers, artists, and businesses to take time to help the hungry in western North Carolina.

Thanks, Town Mountain for taking the lead on this. You guys rock.

Hometown Hiker's Live Band List 2014

Gnometown didn't really knock it out of the park this year with live music, but we did the best we could. Between working night shift, taking a summer Europe trip, and hanging with the grand kids, we skipped out on seeing some music. Here's hoping for a groovy 2015!


Here are some of the great bands that we were fortunate enough to see in 2014.

Railroad Earth, Donna The Buffalo, Yonder Mountain String Band, Town Mountain, Jim Lauderdale, Green Sky Bluegrass, Jeff Mosier, The Traveling McCourys, The Duhks, The Royal Tinfoil, Punch Brothers, Jason Isbell, Steep Canyon Rangers, Grandpas Cough Medicine, Ralph Roddenbery, Henhouse Prowlers, The Honeycutters, Sam Bush, Del McCoury Band, Jerry Douglas, The Avett Brothers, Southern Soul Assembly, Sloppy Joe, Dread Clampitt, The Freight Hoppers, Porch 40, Dustin Martin and the Ramblers, Jon Stickley Trio, Mandolin Orange.

Old and In The Way // Catfish John

I decided to make another fan video. This is Vassar Clements, Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, John Kahn, and Peter Rowan recorded in 1973. According to the album notes, Jerry sings lead on this, and on the choruses Peter sings tenor above him and Vassar adds a high baritone part above that, in a style often associated with the Stanley Brothers. All in all, it's five stellar musicians working together perfectly, laying down some sweet bluegrass. I hope you enjoy it!

Hometown Hiker's Live Band List 2013

While looking back and reviewing all my YouTube videos and blog posts from this past year, I am beginning to realize that 2013 emerged as a pretty terrific year of live music for the Hometown gang. Black Betty and I were joined by family and friends to boogie to some of the best music ever, played by many of the most talented artists in the world. As I have said before,  "There were so many incredible shows, so much inspiring music!"

Here is a list of many of the incredible bands that we were fortunate enough to see in 2013:

Donna The Buffalo, Railroad Earth, Cooking With Quanta, Town Mountain, Greensky Bluegrass, Danny Barnes, Willie Nelson, Apple Butter Express, Peter Rowan, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, The Traveling McCourys, John Prine, The Duhks, Jeff Sipe Trio, The Freight Hoppers, The Horse Flies, The Deadly Gentlemen, Solas, Tornado Rider, Col. Bruce Hampton, Ralph Roddenbery, Bibb City Ramblers, Keller and The Keels, Keller and Traveling McCourys, Taylor Martin Acoustic Band, Mavis Staples, The Corbitt Brothers, Jim Lauderdale, The Brothers Comatose, Stephen Marley, Drive By Truckers, Todd Sheaffer, Rayna Gellert, Strung Like A Horse, Grandpa's Cough Medicine, Darol Anger, Elephant Revival, Kris Kristofferson, Lizzy Ross Band, The Hackensaw Boys, Bobby Miller, Heavy Pets, Mamajowali, Apple Chill Cloggers, David Via and Curtis Burch, Scythian, The Stacks, Vagabond Swing, Leftovers Salmon, Jerry Douglas, Dread Clampitt, Yonder Mountain String Band.

Manna Food Bank Bluegrass Benefit

 

On Friday, December 20th, the Isis Music Hall in West Asheville hosted the Manna Food Bank Bluegrass Benefit. The benefit featured our favorite Asheville bluegrass band, the hard driving Town Mountain, and the flat picking guitar maestro, Larry Keel, and his equally talented band, Natural Bridge.

It proved to be a fun and rowdy night of world class bluegrass tunes performed in front of a music loving crowd in Asheville. The Isis Music Hall is emerging as a premier small venue at which to see some of the best bands breezing through town. If you haven't been there yet, you need to check it out.

It was a great way for the local community of music lovers, artists, and businesses to take time to help the hungry in western North Carolina. We even got to hear Larry Keel and Robert Greer sing some Christmas tunes.

According to publicist Erin Scholze of Dreamspider, $1000. was raised for Manna Food Bank.
To read more about Manna Food Bank, Town Mountain, and Larry Keel: Dreamspider Article.

Town Mountain

Larry Keel

 

 

 

Scott, Hometown, Black Betty

Shakori Hills Grassroots

We were thrilled by our decision to attend Shakori Hill Grassroots Festival for the first time this year.
Black Betty and I are pretty dedicated Suwannee Spring Festivarians so haven't made it out to Shakori Hills before now. This year we decided to go for the day on Saturday.  We drove out in the morning (4 1/2 hours), saw a bunch of shows, and grabbed a motel for the night.

It definitely was worth the effort to go, even for just the day. We had a blast, loved the Festival, and were thrilled by all the music. We will be back.

The groups we saw were: The Apple Chill Cloggers, Lizzy Ross Band, The Horse Flies, Donna The Buffalo, The Brothers Comatose, and Solas.

Shakori Hills The Brothers Comatose

We were lucky enough to catch The Brothers Comatose at Shakori Hills on 4/20/2013. It was our first look at this San Francisco grass band. We loved 'em and hope to see lots more of them. I did see that they were playing Bristol this Fall, so there is even more reason to make it to Rhythm and Roots in September.

Music On The Mountaintop 2012

                                                                 Kid's Parade.

Black Betty, daughter Becky, and I once again attended one of our favorite music festivals of the year, Music On The Mountaintop, held near Boone, NC. A good time was had by all!

Beauty Spot.

 
The music speaks for itself. To begin with, THREE DAYS OF RAILROAD EARTH!  That fact alone is worth the price of admission. Besides the main shows, small, intimate, workshops were also held by musicians from RRE and various other bands. Sunday saw a super jam tribute to Woody Guthrie, featuring members of RRE, Larry Keel, Sam Bush, Monroeville, and others.

Railroad Earth.

THE 2012 LINEUP

Friday
 The Black Lillies
 River Whyless
 Greensky Bluegrass
 J.J. Grey & Mofro
 Dr. Dog
 Railroad Earth

Saturday
 Monroeville
 Holy Ghost Tent Revival
 Rose’s Pawn Shop
 Naked Gods
 The Hackensaw Boys
 Futurebirds
 Dirty Dozen Brass Band
 Railroad Earth

Sunday
 Stoney Creek Boys
 Salem Speaks Larry Keel & Natural Bridge
 Railroad Earth Super Jam tribute to Woody Guthrie featuring: Sam Bush, Larry & Jenny Keel,  members of Monroeville, special guests and more.
 Sam Bush

Hometown, Becky, Black Betty.

Here's the Deal:
The 5th year of Music On The Mountaintop saw a return to the idyllic Grandfather Campground in Foscoe, NC, and a new partnership with jam-grass favorites, Railroad Earth.
The weekend crowd seemed somewhat smaller than last year, overall organization of the event was improved, and production was dialed in. 
Music for this three day event was all concentrated on one main stage and sound and lighting were superb.
Noticeably absent this year were the big outdoor gear sponsorships (Chaco, Osprey, etc.) and the very cool green eco-village of last year. I must say that I missed the vibe that they bring to the fest.
The price for this festival continues to be very affordable, but by the time you add on wristbands, parking, and shuttle fees, you come to the realization that you have spent a considerable amount of bucks.
As always, this is a young, friendly, and enthusiastic, music loving crowd.
It's a nice venue for families, the large grassy meadow in front of the stage is the perfect staging area for family fun with lots of room for kids to play and run, under the watchful eye of mom or dad, as they listen to music.
The kids parade continues to be a Saturday afternoon highlight.
Camping, as always was nice, but no camping with your car this year was a bummer for us (ahem) mature Festivarians. The price for parking our little Gnometown pop-up at the festival would have been $150. (can you believe that?) so we parked it 6 miles down the road for $52 for the weekend.
My favorite festival moment came when the entire Super Jam cast came out on stage, and led the crowd in singing the great American anthem,Woody Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land.

Music on the Mountaintop benefits Appalachian Voices, a nonprofit environmental group that focuses on protecting the central and southern Appalachians.

Greensky Bluegrass got one song in on Friday afternoon before rain shut them down.

The Hackensaw Boys.

Polecat Dancers.

Sunday afternoon Super Jam tribute to Woody Guthrie.

Mr Larry Keel.

Bluegrass in Bryson City

Two of the finest bluegrass bands in western North Carolina lit things up last night in little downtown Bryson City.
Town Mountain from Asheville and The Freight Hoppers out of Bryson City debuted on the new stage at Nantahala Brewing Company. These two bands have collaborated for the past couple of years and complement each other wonderfully. We were treated to a full set by each band and then a shorter third set at the end of the night when the musicians joined each other on the stage for several songs.

If great things like this keep happening in the far western counties this summer, we won't have to make the hour plus drive to Asheville as often to hear cutting-edge, world-class music. That would be a good thing with $4.00 a gallon gas. I'll have to keep my eye on the schedule of events for the Nantahala Brewing Co. for sure! Nantahala Brewing

Town Mountain's gritty-edged grass blends the group's precision playing with Robert Greer's outstanding vocals and with the significantly impressive song writing abilities of Phil Barker (mandolin) and Jesse Langlais (banjo). This results in a truly unique Town Mountain sound which is at times: hard-core honkytonk, traditional, newgrass, jamgrass, gospel, roots, rock and roll, Americana. No need to label it; it's all great grass!
More info on the band here:Town Mountain

Town Mountain is:
Robert Greer guitar, lead vocals
Philip Barker mandolin, vocals
Jesse Langlais banjo
Jon Stickley bass
Bobby Britt fiddle

The Freight Hoppers play an infectious brand of old time string band music originating from the 20's and 30's. They are excellent musicians who seem to be having a great time playing and singing songs about murder, mayhem, and moonshine from the era of American prohibition and The Great Depression. Tossing in some great fiddle tunes played by David Bass always gets the crowd dancing.
The band's bio and more can be found here: Freight Hoppers

The Freight Hoppers are:
David Bass fiddle
Frank Lee banjo, vocal
Isaac Deal guitar, vocal
Bradley Adams string bass

Dan River Drifters at Soul Infusion

We had a fine weekend of live music to celebrate my birthday. On Friday night, we went to the groovy and quaint Soul Infusion Tea House in Sylva for a fun bluegrass show featuring some powerful picking by the Dan River Drifters. This was our first time seeing this group of young musicians and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Many thanks to bassist bad ass Adam Bigelow for inviting us out.
I'm really looking forward to seeing and hearing lots more from this band in the near future.

New Years Eve 2011

We rang in the New Year this weekend at The Grey Eagle in Asheville with two of our favorite bands, Town Mountain and Acoustic Syndicate. It made for a fun time spent with good friends and great live music. 

So we happily ended 2011 and started 2012 just how we prefer to live our lives by savoring the moments and smelling the flowers along the way. Here's hoping that the New Year brings health, happiness, and lots of good love and music to you and your families in 2012!

Black Betty and Hometown

Your Hometown Hiker's Live Band List 2011

It's New Year's Eve and Black Betty and I are going to celebrate tonight at The Grey Eagle in Asheville (our favorite music venue) with Town Mountain and Acoustic Syndicate (two of our favorite groups).

The following is a list of many of the bands that we saw in 2011. We were fortunate indeed to see most of them numerous times. As I said last year, "There were so many incredible shows, so much inspiring music!"

Once again I would like to thank all the outstanding musicians who helped to make our year so incredibly fun and filled with great tunes.You know that we love you! I'm hoping for a repeat in 2012!

Hometown and Black Betty

Town Mountain at The Grey Eagle

Our 28th wedding anniversary, the "super moon", and Town Mountain's CD release party at The Grey Eagle all came together this weekend to create a spectacular time of fun and music. Talk about planets aligning? We couldn't have asked for a better anniversary present than a night at our favorite music venue listening to one of our favorite grass bands. The CD is great, check it out, it's called Steady Operator. It's released nationwide on May 12 if you weren't lucky enough to grab one at the Grey Eagle last night.

Here's a nice write up on Town Mountain and the new CD. The Laurel of Asheville

The Barn Cats at The Mountain Heritage Center

The Barn Cats performed last night at the Mountain Heritage Center at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC. The Barn Cats are the three piece band consisting of  Frank Lee, Issac Deal, and Bradley Adams of the Freight Hoppers. Even though though they were without David Bass on fiddle (he was out of town and unable to attend) their inspired passion for traditional music made for great times and great music.
It just doesn't get any better on a cold and rainy winter night in Appalachia.


From their website: http://www.thefreighthoppers.com/
 

The Freight Hoppers: Bio  After more than a decade The Freight Hoppers have released their eagerly awaited fourth album Mile Marker. This collection includes music that was first recorded in the late 1920's and early 1930's, and spans geographically from Mississippi to West Virginia. The Freight Hoppers play hard driving old time music with an emotional, raw excitement that keeps one foot planted in the past and the other in the present. Of course that’s only when they keep their feet still, for this is high energy dance music of an older day played like there's no tomorrow. Finding their passion from a love of stringband music of the 1920's and 30's, The Freight Hoppers have been entertaining crowds of fans at festivals and music halls alike as they travel around the country. The heart of the band is held together by the powerhouse fiddle and banjo combo of David Bass and Frank Lee, while the rhythm section of Isaac Deal on guitar and Bradley Adams on string bass keep the groove moving. Add in the vocal duo of Frank and Isaac, and you've got yourself one of the most exciting traditional bands to come out of the woodwork. Based out of the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, The Freight Hoppers draw from a deep source of rural southern music for their inspiration, and are proud to present music that is still very much alive and meaningful to today's world.

The Freight Hoppers are:
David Bass fiddle
Frank Lee banjo, vocal
Isaac Deal guitar, vocal
Bradley Adams string bass

Greensky Bluegrass and Railroad Earth @ The Orange Peel

Black Betty and I got to see two of the hottest Americana jam bands touring today when they rolled into Asheville last night.

Greensky Bluegrass opened for Railroad Earth at The Orange Peel and got the crowd warmed up for a scorching hot show on a cold Friday night.
Here is a recording of their set on Archive; Greensky Bluegrass.

Railroad Earth started the first set with a heavy electric bass intro by Andrew Altman with the Happy Song. Other first set highlights included a crowd-favorite Like A Buddha and ended with Lone Croft Farewell.
Set two featured the latest RRE sing-a-long, The Jupiter and the 119, and an epic and wonderfully jammy masterpiece Warhead Boogie, which really managed to get the whole house rockin' without restraint.
Here is a link to their show on Archive: Railroad Earth.
 
It was another fine night of listening to some of the best live music in the world delivered right to my door step in Western North Carolina. How lucky is that?

11 Questions with Caroline Pond

 

From her Bio:

Caroline Pond is the front woman for Snake Oil Medicine Show.  From Asheville, North Carolina she has been a touring musician for 15 years.  She delights audiences with her vocals, fiddle and her Martin ukulele.  Her original songs are catchy, uplifting, positive and just plain fun.  Caroline dips through many styles of music, from Bluegrass, Old Time, Jazz, Reggae, Ska and funk.
Caroline Pond is an ambassador of peace through her music, art and positive outlook on life.  Her travels have spanned throughout Europe, North America and Jamaica.
Caroline has shared the stage with many artists/heroes including: Vassar Clements, Larry Keel, Yonder Mountain String Band, Leftover Salmon, Acoustic Syndicate, Donna The Buffalo, Mad Tea Party and so many more amazing musicians.

Caroline has a released a new solo album this winter entitled Follow Your Heart.
Special guest musicians appearing on the CD are Asheville artists Ben Scales, George Pond, Ami Worthem, and Jason Krekel.

Black Betty and I are big fans of everything Caroline and I was thrilled to be able to ask Caroline 11 questions for the new year, 2011.

1 Your new album is called Follow Your Heart. Do you have a favorite song on the album? I think the title track "Follow Your Heart" is my favorite.  I wrote the song on my back porch hanging with my dogs and thats when I dreamed of making the album and doing a tour.  Also, its a strong message for us to Follow our Hearts.  You can control your dreams and make your days the best days ever, whether you are in your most happiest spot like your back deck with the sun shining or having to wait in line at the Driver's License office.  Its what you make of it.  Follow your heart people.

2 You sing in Babies On The Lawn that babies don't belong in Babylon. Who would you say does belong in Babylon?  SO this song was spawned from a play on words Baby Lawn,Babylon, Babies on the Lawn.  And, I hear many Reggae Artists referring Babylon, as a negative place, like places of murder, disease, Corporate America, Wal-mart style places.  And I know that Babylon, used to be a beautiful place, the Ancient Mesopotamia with its Hanging Gardens, so its really interesting how a beautiful place has become known as an area of constant revolt. So, the answer to your question, no one should belong in Babylon.  I like to think of myself as an ambassador of peace through my music and so if i can spread the word by singing Babies on the Lawn don't belong in Babylon, then that's what I got to do.

3 We see you with Snake Oil Medicine Show, The Pond Farm Pickers, and sometimes with Sugar and Spice. Do you have any plans for 2011 yet?   Well my plans are to still play in heavy rotation with Snake Oil Medicine Show, we are taking a bit of time off this month for recording and the Pond Brothers are brand new daddies.  Also, I plan on averaging one show a month with Sugar & Spice with Ami Worthen.  We sure do have a blast.   I play in an old-time band called Tater Diggers and we have many shows and a new cd to share in 2011.  In addition, I plan on fine tuning my solo career and want to travel through the United States again.

4 You took your mother along for a cross country tour this Fall, playing solo shows and staying with friends and fans. What was that like?  I had a blast and was so grateful that I got to share that solo tour with my mom.  We managed to get along really well, except our nerves were getting challenged while driving through snowy conditions in Colorado.  We survived driving over Vail Pass.  My mom hula hooped at the Winter Park, Colorado show and all the kids were loving that.  Mom and i also got to spend a week with my sister in Southern California and that was such a lovely vacation family time, hanging out in warm climates and sitting by the poolside.  I am so grateful to all those people in my home country that supported me on my pathway and providing us with soft landings and yummy food.

5 Name one artist or band (someone you've never played with) that you'd jump at a chance for a 2011 collaboration.  I dig Jason Mraz and his positive music.

6 Your Snake Oil Medicine Show performance at Bishop's Cafe on 11-13-2004 has an amazing 500,00 downloads on Internet Archive. What if anything do you remember about the show?  This is sooo amazing to me that we have this many downloads.  I remember having to take a ferry to get on that island, which I believe was called Vashon  Island and I remember that not many people were at the show, but our host Alex and all the people that were there were so sweet, supportive and dancing their butts off.  I also remember loving just being with my Snake Oil Family and just being on tour together in such a cool spot.  Also, I was wearing a brand new dress that made me feel like I was rocking my mojo.  Music has definitely taken me places.

7 What is it like to be part of the Asheville music community? Everybody plays with everybody. We have an open and supportive group here.

8 Name five non-Asheville area groups on your IPod today.  I have some random stuff and groups on my Ipod and mostly they are Zydeco bands from rural Louisiana. These bands feed my soul. 1. Little Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas, 2. Keith Frank 3. Brian Jack  4. Chris Ardoin & Double Clutch   5.  A non-zydeco band that I met in California,they are a swing band called Steve Lucky and The Rhumba Bums.

9 What is one regional music festival that you would encourage someone to try to attend this year?   I just love the French Broad River Festival.  Its held every year in lovely Hot Springs, NC.   Last weekend of April.  Family friendly, great bands, awesome folks, amazing vibe, on the river, across the street from the hot springs, cute little town and I emcee the fest. 

10 Your blog is called Caroline Pond's Earth Adventures and you sing a wonderful song called I Am Only Human. I'm also pretty sure that I once heard Col. Bruce Hampton refer to you as an alien. Are you really trying to convince us or is it you?  Well, Colonel Bruce definitely cracks me up, it takes one to know one.  As far as being an alien, its confidential, if I told you I would have to kill you.  Ha ha.  Just kidding.  The song I am only Human was another song written in my yard underneath the sunshine, it just all came out smooth as butter, between sips of coffee and ukulele strums the song was born. 

11 How can someone get a copy of Follow Your Heart?  you can directly order it from me.  I accept paypal, check, deed to your tropical vacation home and cash.  You can go to carolinepond.com  or email me at scarycaro@hotmail.com   Soon the album will be on i-tunes.

Larry Keel "We Wish You A Larry Christmas"

Nobody can play play it like Larry Keel. Merry Christmas from your Hometown Hiker!