Tag Archives: Caroline Aiken

Top 10 Reasons Why You Need to Head to TDawg’s Back Porch Hootenanny April 4-5!

29 Mar

We are exactly a week out from being in the throes of one helluva jam at Cherokee Farms!  This time next week we’ve just wrapped up the Songwriter Showcase and we’re kicking into a set by the Vinyl Gypsies.  At 5PM it’s cocktail hour with Strung Like A Horse!  As if you need more convincing, below are 10 reasons (I have posted these before) why you KNOW you need to be there if you can!  HOOOOOOOOTENANNY!!!

Spring Hootenanny Handbill front-01

10. Cherokee Farms is a very reasonable distance from Nashville, Knoxville, Birmingham, Atlanta, and especially Chattanooga!  Ya KNOW you want to get away to feel the fresh mountain air and hear some damn fine music!

9. You’ve had so much fun at previous Hootenannies at Cherokee Farms that your friends want to come now, so you willingly and happily lead the way.

8.  Cherokee Farms is like your own state park.  We strive to keep it pristine!

Hoot_Late afternoon shot

7.  The bonfire jams late night are as fun as the ones on stage all evening FRI and all day SAT!

6.  You experience an incredible display of musicians in various collaborations that are created within the sets.

5.  TDawg’s Back Porch Hootenanny is a great place to introduce your kids to family camping and to enjoy the outdoors and the association of music with great people!

4.  You will ALWAYS leave TDawg’s Back Porch Hootenanny having heard something new & fresh!

3.  If you’re lucky you get to try some of TDawg’s world famous freshly made jambalaya and boiled peanuts. 😉

2.  You get to scream the HOOOOOOOOOOOOTENANNY Battlecry in the midnight hour and mean it!

1.  You can feel GREAT about supporting the BEST LIL’ FESTIE in the Southeast!  The bands get to showcase and make new friendships along the way; the musicians become the audience once they’re done, prepping themselves for the late night jams to come; and YOU are rewarded by being there, witness to the magic of TDawg’s Back Porch Hootenanny at the beautiful and spiritual Cherokee Farms!

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Get your tickets NOW by visiting the event page – sure hope you can make it!

HOOTENANNY Around the Corner! April 4-5

25 Mar

Hoot_Late afternoon shot

We are now only 10 days out from the 16th edition of TDawg’s Back Porch Hootenanny, a tradition since 2006 y’all!  I’ve been running the lineup through my mind frequently the last few days, and I have to say that there simply is no let up in the sequence.  Strap yourself in for an incredibly fun musical journey and just about as relaxing an experience as you will have any time soon!

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A special Saturday morning (April 5) get up and moving session will take place from 11am-12:30 on the Grateful Fred Stage  for a short hoop workshop brought to you by Jessi “HoopJ” Harris.  Even if you haven’t hula hooped in your life, Jessi can teach you a few beginner tricks.  After a short beginner introductory lesson, experienced hoopers are welcome to learn advanced tricks with single, double and triple hoops!  What a great way to get your day going!  Trampoline not included.

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One quality of the Hoots I appreciate so much as a producer and presenter is the fact that every set is a showcase set.  With such a limited number of slots, it is so much fun to prepare a schedule with the anticipated artist interaction and cross-pollination of bands that creates an extra layer of musical ecstasy for the audience.  The day turns into a dizzying display of musicianship topped off with great friends, family, and new friends!

Spring Hootenanny Handbill front-01

I hope y’all can plan to join us in just two weekends.  Please feel free help the cause and purchase your advance tickets NOW!  Regardless, spread the good word, and start practicing your Hootenanny battle cry for the midnight hour on Saturday night 😉  Be sure to come out Friday night for a very special evening of jams by road warriors Big Daddy Love on the Shed Stage with a mighty fine collection of special guests to join the madness!

I couldn’t resist adding the below video captured last fall of David Via & Curtis Burch w/ special guests Larry &  Jenny Keel performing Via’s classic “Corn Liquor” – enjoy!

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTENANNY!!!

Music On Main Street joins Hoot Family!

11 Mar

MOMS_logo

TDawg Presents is excited to bring Music On Main Street – a musical gem in Lilburn, GA – into the Hootenanny mix!  Not only are they a sponsor for the Grateful Fred Stage, MOMS will lead the 2pm HOOTENANNY JAM!!

My good buddy Scott Mecredy, his wife Alicia, and so many friends, have constructed this establishment from the ground up in a house that dates back to 1895 and converted it into a place for music lessons, an instrument store, and a vital music venue.  Well worth the journey from anywhere in metro-Atlanta and beyond.

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Y’all we’re going to have a special time in just a few weeks up at Cherokee Farms!  Bring on the fresh springtime air and evenings just right for a big ol’ bonfire, bring on this time for healing and personal growth, and let’s use it as an opportunity to appreciate what is in front of you, beside you, and inside of you, all the while enjoying some kick-ass music by some of the region’s finest!

Remember, you can save a few bucks and really help the Hoot out by purchasing advance tickets!  Regardless, be sure to show up with your posse of friends and family!  HOOT HOOT!!

Some Great TDawg Presents shows in March!

4 Mar

032014_GreenskyBluegrass_Web     sambush_larrykeel 0320

TDawg Presents is excited to be partnering up with Terminal West in Atlanta (THU 3/20) and Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA (FRI 3/21) to promote two special nights featuring flat-pick extraordinaire Larry Keel opening for some upstart bluegrass/jamgrass fellas one night and a true living legend of the music the other.  GREENSKY BLUEGRASS will headline at Terminal West on March 20 and SAM BUSH will headline at the GA Theatre on March 21.  You can’t really go wrong with these two shows!

Following these two stellar nights of some mighty fine sounds, come on over to the Red Light Cafe on SAT MARCH 22 for an evening with Grateful Dead Hour host and well-respected songwriter/performer/author David Gans and Ohio-based Rumpke Mountain Boys.  Please read below for more details.

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3/20 ~ Greensky Bluegrass & Larry Keel @ Terminal West.  Doors 7pm, Showtime 8pm, $17 Adv/$20 door

Featuring some of the freshest energy to hit the the bluegrass and jamgrass scenes in a while, Michigan-based Greensky Bluegrass has been absolutely tearing it up across the country and show no signs of stopping!  My good friend and bluegrass buddy Larry Keel, regarded by most as one of the finest flat-pick guitarists on the planet, will open the show and sit in with Greensky.

Come early and have dinner at Stationside, which is an extension of Terminal West and quite delicious!

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3/21 ~ Sam Bush with Larry & Jenny Keel @ Georgia Theatre.  Doors 8pm, Showtime 9pm, $20 Adv

Founding member of legendary newgrass pioneers New Grass Revival, Sam Bush is known by all as King of Telluride and King of Newgrass, among many other accolades!  He is truly a living legend & mandolin maestro (also national fiddle champion at 17!)  and shows absolutely no signs of slowing down, nor should he.  Always a treat to see Larry Keel perform alongside Sam Bush – I’m sure you’ll see something of the sort!

There is wonderful rooftop restaurant at the Georgia Theatre for you to enjoy before, during and after, as well as the scene around town that makes Athens, GA one  of the finest college towns in the country!

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3/22 ~ TDawg Presents David Gans & Rumpke Mountain Boys @ Red Light Cafe.  Doors 8pm, Showtime 9pm, $10 Adv/$12 Door

Singer-songwriter-guitarist-radio producer/host-author-journalist-record producer-photographer David Gans is widely known as the man behind the long-time, nationally-syndicated radio show Grateful Dead Hour, although his musical side is equally if not more impressive. The list of musicians with whom he has shared the stage includes Phil Lesh, Donna the Buffalo, Henry Kaiser, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Ollabelle, the late great Vassar Clements, Jim Lauderdale, The String Cheese Incident, Peter Rowan, and moe., to name just a few. He has also written
songs with a host of others, including Jim Page, Lorin Rowan, and Robert Hunter.

For over ten years, Ohio’s #1 bluegrass band, the Rumpke Mountain Boys, have been amassing devoted fans with their signature blend of jamgrass, aptly named “Trashgrass.” Phenomenal songwriting framed by fiery-fast mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar and upright bass, creates a sound that has been described as foot-stompin’ whiskey-spillin’ old-timey psychedelic folk music! You can read more and listen to some tracks at http://www.hyveofvillainy.com/rumpke/

TDawg Presents Songwriter Showcase at the Hootenanny!

27 Feb

Spring Hootenanny Handbill front-01

TDawg Presents is excited to bring back the songwriter showcase that created such a great vibe at the Keel Family Function back in 2010 (See picture below) with a fresh roster of musicians to work with.  For those of you who attended that event and witnessed the two-set songwriter marathon featuring Jeff Sipe on drums throughout, expect the same sort of energy with the musicians involved this time around.

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This time around, Richie Jones will be on drums plus a stellar cast of band mates to complete the puzzle and provide the unique landscape for each song, everyone plucked from within the Hootenanny and representative of just how amazing our musicians really are!  The list includes:

Mikhael Peterson (Copious Jones)

Ralph Roddenbery

Donna Hopkins

Clay Maselle & BJ Hightower (Strung Like A Horse)

Brian Fowler (Bibb City Ramblers)

Let’s promote the songwriters!  Please spread the word about this unique set –  a perfect way to enjoy the afternoon!

***ADVANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE

FRI-SAT (incl camping) ~ $50 ADV/$65 GATE

PayPal logo

SAT ONLY (incl camping) ~ $45 ADV/$55 GATE

PayPal logo

SAT DAY PASS (NO camping) ~ $40 GATE.  Kids 12 & under are admitted FREE!  Kids ages 13-16 $20 at gate.  NO DOGS PLEASE!

Lodging

Key West Inn, 2221 N Main St  LaFayette, GA 30728
PH: (706) 638-8200

Days Inn, 2209 N Main St  LaFayette, GA 30728
PH: (706) 639-9362

Less Than 6 Weeks ’til Hootenanny #16!

24 Feb
Tell and bring your friends!

Tell and bring your friends!

The first TDawg’s Back Porch Hootenanny happened in May of 2006, about eight months after Blue Ridge HarvestFest was laid to rest following an incredible run from1998-2005, battling so many weather forces over the years.  Through all of the weather-inflicted turmoil, a dedicated audience was born, and many of those in that audience still remind me how much they wish we could have HarvestFest back.  Hopefully one day there will be a similar event – that festival certainly had an energy all its own 😉

A TDawg’s Back Porch Hootenanny weekend represents the simple things in life that can make an outdoor music & camping experience so wonderful  – one or two food vendors, a few arts/crafts vendors, BYOB, and focus on the music.  The Hootenannies are a great chance to bring groups of families and friends together in an intimate musical environment, where the musicians truly become one with the audience.  I realized that bringing the shows back to the basics really made a lot of sense for both reviving my love of producing unique outdoor events and affordability for the patron.

The ensuing Back Porch Hootenannies certainly embodied those qualities, and through the years they have maintained quite an incredible energy and evolved into a small festival that leaves you so satisfied at the end.  After a long winter, the spring Hoot always offers you a chance to stretch your legs in the great outdoors, breathe in that fresh mountain air, feel the musical vibes, and kick off your spring in grand fashion .  Hootenannies are about the music and community – each and every time there is a lineup that has the patrons expecting the unexpected musically, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who attended a Hoot and had a miserable time because of the event itself.

Here is one of my favorite musical moments from last September’s Hoot featuring David Via & Curtis Burch with Larry Keel and wife Jenny sitting in.  A true crowd pleaser 😉

Make your plans now for the weekend of April 4-5 and help the event by purchasing your tickets now!  Please share with your friends, family, and colleagues and encourage them to come on board for a great time!

FRI-SAT (incl camping) ~ $50 ADV/$65 GATE

PayPal logo

SAT ONLY (incl camping) ~ $45 ADV/$55 GATE

PayPal logo

SAT DAY PASS (NO camping) ~ $40 GATE.  Kids 12 & under are admitted FREE!  Kids ages 13-16 $20 at gate.  NO DOGS PLEASE!

Meet Big Daddy Love & Copious Jones!

5 Feb
Tell and bring your friends!

Tell and bring your friends!

This spring’s 16th Edition of TDawg’s Back Porch Hootenanny has a blueprint for absolute magical music mayhem, and the two bands in this posting – Copious Jones & Big Daddy Love – embody that quality equally as much as Seven Handle Circus and Moontower!

Friday night Hootenanny headliner Big Daddy Love is a Winston Salem, NC-based quintet that really will “rock your world”.  Their brand of music, aptly titled “Appalachian Rock”, ties together the elements that make their sound unique – rock, roots and bluegrass – and the end result is a sound that has you stompin’ up a storm to some mighty fine pickin’ & grinnin’, BDL style!  Their set up is like a southern rock band, with interplay between slide and acoustic guitar and a banjo sound that lends itself toward Earl Scruggs & Bela Fleck, and the rhythm section keeps you jumpin’!  BDL has had the good fortune to open for music icons Willie Nelson and Bob Seger, and they had those audiences shouting for more.  As organic as it gets, playing off their varied musical influences to produce a sound all their own, Big Daddy Love is going to tear it apart at the Hootenanny!!

The video below is from their set opening for Bob Seger at PNC Arena in Raleigh.  Enjoy!

TDawg Presents is excited as can be to welcome back Copious Jones to the Hootenanny mix!  This diverse six-piece based out of Atlanta brings quite an array of musical styles into the mix, including jazz, latin, rock, funk, African, folk and blues.  Combining these elements into one sound creates an energy that is Copious Jones, led by the talented song-writer Mikhael  Peterson.  A fine mixture of youth and well-seasoned veterans of the music scene, Copious Jones has evolved from a bar band playing around Atlanta into a highly regarded regional act.  They have earned the praise of both fans and industry folk, including notables like the legendary keyboardist Chuck Leavell and Rob Barraco of Phil Lesh & Friends fame.  These fellas have the medicine to satisfy your musical needs, so be ready to be taken away at the Hootenanny!  The video below is from the recent performance at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta opening for The Grapes.  What a night!

Support the Hootenanny and get your tickets early!

***ADVANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE

FRI-SAT (incl camping) ~ $50 ADV/$65 GATE

PayPal logo

SAT ONLY (incl camping) ~ $45 ADV/$55 GATE

PayPal logo

Meet Seven Handle Circus & Moontower!

27 Jan
Tell and bring your friends!

Tell and bring your friends!

I am very excited to welcome to the Hootenanny family the band Seven Handle Circus (performing 9:30pm on Shed Stage, April 5) from Atlanta!  This sextet brings it every time and has been paving nice roads around the Southeast since they formed in 2010, and their music has been described as “bad-ass bluegrass” with the “drive and energy of a rock band.”  Chandler May from Atlanta Music Guide sums it up nicely following a performance where they performed as a trio (Seven Handle Sideshow), opening for Justin Townes Earle in December of 2012 ~

“Their songs have the pop sensibility of Mumford and Sons and the joie de vivre of Yonder Mountain String Band. Folky three part harmonies filled the air as the Sideshow plucked their way through many original numbers, my favorite being “I’ve Been Around The World“. The opening guitar riff immediately grabs you, and the hook most definitely ‘brings you back’.”

Here’s a clip from their most recent performance at Terminal West last year.  Needless to say, they have that “it” factor going on!

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Moontower returns for a second appearance (performing 11:30pm on Shed Stage, April 5) at TDawg’s Back Porch Hootenanny, and folks are pumped!  These fellas have built quite the loyal following and for good reason.  Mixing a strong dose of original material with the perfect covers, their music propels your groove as well as any fine jam ever has.  The video below is from their previous Hootenanny appearance in September of 2012 performing an epic 27 minute jam with the help of Benji Shanks on slide guitar that is one of the more unlikely medleys you’ve heard in a while.  Enjoy!

 

TDawg’s Back Porch Hootenanny Schedule!

24 Jan

Spring Hoot 2014 (Final)

Here is the initial schedule for the 16th Edition of TDawg’s Back Porch Hootenanny on April 4-5 at Cherokee Farms in LaFayette, GA!  Please note that the schedule is subject to change – HOOOOOOOOOOOOTENANNY y’all!

FRI APRIL 4
SHED STAGE
9:30PM – 12:30PM BIG DADDY LOVE & FRIENDS
SAT APRIL 5
SHED STAGE
12:30PM – 2:00PM HIGH STRUNG STRING BAND
2:45PM – 4:15PM TDAWG PRESENTS SONGWRITER SHOWCASE
5:00PM – 6:30PM STRUNG LIKE A HORSE
7:15PM – 8:45PM COPIOUS JONES
9:30 – 11:00PM SEVEN HANDLE CIRCUS
11:30PM – 1:00AM MOONTOWER
GRATEFUL FRED STAGE
2:00PM – 2:45PM HOOTENANNY JAM!!!
4:15PM – 5:00PM VINYL GYPSIES
6:30PM – 7:15PM DONNA HOPKINS
8:45PM – 9:30PM RALPH RODDENBERY TRIO

A TDawg Reflection

22 Jan

Well folks, we have officially moved past the realm of Happy New Year and into the juggernaut that is the dead of winter and sub-freezing temperatures!  One month ago, I was gearing up for the 3rd Annual Atlanta’s Holiday Hootenanny at Terminal West.  On Sunday, December 22, what transpired over 5 1/2 hours was pure magic.  Both as a fan of the music and as a producer, a simply amazing feeling overtakes me – gives me goose bumps actually – listening to and watching these well-seasoned musicians get up and do their thing without any rehearsal!  Let’s just say that the sound check is one of the best 😉  The family vibe is alive and strong, and without that family at the core, the Holiday Hoot would be hard to bring to the stage.  In Atlanta, we are so fortunate to have such a wonderful, loving, amazing group of musicians in the form of bands and individuals that blow your mind on any given night.  One night a year, everyone looks forward to Atlanta’s Holiday Hootenanny!

Holiday Hoot 3_Crowd Shot

For me personally, I feel like the Holiday Hootenanny has helped me to purge some lingering effects of years’ past and create some special, new opportunities for 2014 and beyond.  Atlanta’s Holiday Hootenanny (4th Annual on Sun Dec 21 at Terminal West) is here to stay, and the upcoming 16th edition of TDawg’s Back Porch Hootenanny (April 4-5) is going to be off the chain musically and energy-wise.  All that needs to happen now is for YOU to be there!

Words of advice, EMBRACE live music that has any sort of a hook on you.  You’ll be glad you pursued further.  The Hootenannies, and before that HarvestFest, without fail have provided many opportunities to see some of the finest live music out there in it’s initial stages.  I hope you’ll take some time to check out the bands at the Hootenanny this year, as I guarantee there will be something fresh that hits you.

I recently listened to the Eye of the Dawg Songwriter Showcase from the Keel Family Function in 2009, and let’s just say I was as blown away now as I was then.  Two sets, featuring the incomparable Larry Keel, Col. Bruce Hampton, Rev. Jeff Mosier, Grayson Capps, Caroline Pond, Ralph Roddenbery, Donna Hopkins, Lefty Williams, Michael Tolcher, Scott Mecredy, Apt Q258 Jeff Sipe on drums accompanied by Duane Trucks for the finale, and fiddlin’ by Zebulon Bowles, Caroline Pond & Erin Zindle (The Ragbirds).  WOW!  Y’all this was spontaneity at its finest, presenting the best in each of the musicians in a relaxed and “damn I’m glad I’m here and not there” feeling that pervaded the audience as well 😉

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We live in a wacked out world – politically, economically, and socially – however, one thing is true here.  Through all the sometimes harsh divides we have to put up with, a common thread is good music to heal the soul regardless of beliefs.  We are all music farmers, constantly looking for the perfect crop that provides that ultimate satisfaction and yearning more.

Enjoy the video below from the Eye of the Dawg Showcase featuring Larry Keel performing Dreams.  It will soothe your mind, body & soul.