SEE AND DO

 

Fort Payne’s Boom Days Heritage Celebration set for September 20

On Saturday, September 20, the Boom Days Heritage Celebration, Fort Payne’s annual art and music festival, will feature dozens of the South’s finest visual artists and traditional craftsmen, as well as dozens of the area’s most talented musical groups. “This year’s event will be bigger and even better than last year,” according to Festival Committee member Andrew Hairston.

Four blocks of the city’s downtown district will be closed to traffic from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. while art shows occupy Alabama Park and City Park, and a variety of music flows from four outdoor stages. Downtown merchants will operate sidewalk sales, and cultural and historical displays will be mounted at the Fort Payne Culture & Heritage Center and the Depot Museum.

Hamilton, Alabama ninth-generation traditional potter Jerry Brown, the remarkable Gee’s Bend Quilters, the Sloss Furnace Smelters, the Mighty Fine Art Assault Team, Glassworker Cal Breed, Colonial Furniture maker Will Henry Cobble and North Carolina folk artist Robert Seven will display their work and demonstrate their techniques, as part of the art show component of the festival.

Travis Wammack, the “Fastest Guitar Player in the South”, will headline the Downtown Music Stage, where the Britt Meacham Band (Mobile), the Tommy Patterson Band (Muscle Shoals), Trial By Jury, and others will also perform. Acts on other stages include Rock Killough (Greenville, AL), Atomic Boogie (Rome, GA), Pierce Pettis, Mad Tea Party (Asheville, NC), the Alabama Gravy Soppers, Black Skillet, the Flint River Boys and many more. There is no admission charge for any of these daytime, outdoor events.

Among this year’s other festivities will be a 5K run, a pet parade, a children’s area featuring art and dance and gymnastics, a classic and antique car show, a quilt show, and a food court.

The Third Annual Pap Baxter Heritage Gospel Singing will be held at the Opera House, and will feature a New Book Singing beginning at 10:00 a.m. and an Old Book Singing at 6:00 p.m. Special performances by the Owen Family, the Melody Men and Heath Locklear will highlight the evening program.  

Beginning at 6:30 p.m., Memphis legends Dan Penn and Bobby Emmons will entertain at the First Federal Songwriters’ Showcase, at the City Auditorium. These two music industry giants will demonstrate their talents by performing hits like “I’m Your Puppet”, “Cry Like A Baby”, “Do Right Woman” and “Luckenbach, Texas.”

At 8:30 p.m., the Dippin’ Dots Rock & Roll Show will crank up at the DeKalb Theatre. Johnny Neel & Criminal Element (Allman Brothers, Gov’t Mule) will open for Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit (Drive By Truckers). Green Hill, Alabama native Isbell has gained wide recognition in Europe and the United States with the release of his New West Records CD “Sirens of the Ditch.”  

Tickets for the Songwriters’ Showcase and the Rock & Roll Show will be available at the Fort Payne Chamber of Commerce beginning August 1st. For additional information, phone 256.845.2741.

For the complete Boom Days 2008 Event List, click here! LV

T.A.G. Bluesfest Coming

Gloria Sitz, Mentone Inn

The 2nd Annual T.A.G. [Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia] Bluesfest is set to happen on September 27/28 on the grounds of the Mentone Inn.

Planning an event isn’t easy, but this one is coming together nicely. There are bands contacting us from everywhere! Even one from England. The response from vendors has also been great- there is no charge, so if you are an artist who would like a space, just give us a call. (256-634-4836)

The finger lickin’ Bar B Q will be provided by Windwood Farms, and Chef Tony will have a kiosk near the Pavillion. There will also be other goodies, like Mayfield Ice Cream. Volunteers are needed, and we’ll supply tee shirts. If you would like to provide a cake for the Old Fashioned Cake Walk on Saturday afternoon, let us know by Sept. 15. Each cake should be on a non returnable dish with a tag that reads, “This cake donated by...” Door prizes or gift certificates for our drawings are also needed. Wristbands for the event will be on sale to raise the money for the care and feeding of all the musicians, and toward our Festival of Lights for the holidays.

Most of the acts that will be performing were featured on Beale Street in Memphis during the International Blues Competition, held February each year, and sponsored by the Blues Foundation. Tin Feet, a hard hitting Chicago style blues band from Pensacola, puts on quite a show. I’ve had the pleasure of working with them several times. Pensacola Reese, a blues harmonica man, will be sitting in with Memphis Annie, Black Skillet, and other performers. Melissa Sigler is a blues piano player from Nashville I met at the International Blues Festival. You’ll love her deep, soulful voice that harkens back to the day of torch singers, and she writes the most amazing lyrics that will make you cry and laugh.

And I can’t say enough about the Alabama Gravy Soppers; they do all that obscure stuff I love. Gus Cannon, Charlie Patton, and Bo Carter are all names known to blues lovers. Then there’s Bo Adams out of Oxford. He’s got a new/old sound that harkens back to the ‘60s folk movement with a little North Mississippi Blues thrown in.

The Delta Flyer will be coming from Missouri City, Texas. He performed in Handy’s Blues Hall on the bill with Memphis Annie. Our Master of Ceremonies will be Chas, who has worked hard over the last three years to bring good music to Mentone. He will also be performing.

There will also be live music during the World’s Longest Yard Sale. The pavilion will serve as a hospitality center. Also, don’t forget live music Third Saturday, the “After Dark Series,” 7-9 pm. Visit our website at mentoneinn.com and click on T.A.G. link for updated music info.LV

Mentone End of Summer Scooter Rally III

In 2005 after putting over 1000 miles traveling the back roads of Lookout Mountain on my little 50cc Honda Metropolitan Scooter, I decided it was time to venture off the mountain. I bought a small motorcycle on ebay that satisfied me for about a year, then decided to upgrade yet again. This led me to the purchase of a new 2006 Suzuki Burgman 400 maxi-scooter. For those of you who have never heard of a maxi-scooter (and no, they aren’t “mopeds”), it’s about the most fun one can possibly have on 2 wheels!

That summer, following a beautiful ride from Mentone up to Sewanee, TN., I knew I had to share this combined love for scooter riding, Mentone, and the foothills of the Appalachians. So, in August 2006 I posted a little notice on www.BurgmanUSA.com inviting riders to come usher out the summer with a “Mentone End of Summer Scooter Rally” to be held the last Saturday of summer. Amazingly with only a 5-week notice, 30 scooters (and a few motorcycles) showed up at Desoto State Park for the weekend. Riders came from as far away as Florida & North Carolina. We even had a Golden Retriever mix, Sandy, who rode pillion with her dad. You can catch her website at www.sandythedog.com along with a few snap shots from her rides in Mentone.

Before most folks had time to return home I was already receiving emails wanting a  “2ndAnnual MES Scooter Rally” for 2007. Well, we did it again…that time almost 50 scooters/motorcycles came for the festivities; even Sandy the Dog returned.

Now it’s 2008 and scooters from around the southeast are about to converge on Lookout Mountain once again. So, during the weekend of Sept. 12-14, should you see a bunch of strange looking motorcycles having too much fun, throw up a friendly hand.  If you’d like to join that fun and find out what all the “scooter fodder” is about, contact me at tippersmom@charter.net or visit www.burgmanusa.com. We don’t care what you ride as long as you ride!