Happy New Year y’all! I hope that everyone has enjoyed a happy holiday season! Having fully recovered from the 8th Annual Holiday Hootenanny as well as taken time for reflection time upon such a wonderful event, it truly warms my heart (and hopefully yours!) to be a part of something unique and special in a time of year that can be difficult for many. We had a strong turnout of 500 for the concert, and I am proud to announce a $6,000 donation to Atlanta Habitat for Humanity, the largest donation yet! Let’s keep it up y’all and next year will easily be more! Thank YOU for caring enough to join us on a very rainy night and provide a filled room for our return to the Variety Playhouse. I felt like we were home again!

Thanks to our primary sponsor, Georgia’s own Spring Mountain Farms Chicken, all the musicians – especially Peter Rowan for flying across the country – and to Linda Brackner, Tamara Botkin, Brenda Stepp, Ben Brackner & John Griffin for their support and love of the Holiday Hoot movement. This show is indeed a labor of love that is so important in these divided times we live in these days. Can’t wait until next year!

The music was, as expected, completely over the top, as everyone brought

their A-game to a night of jams that had no rehearsals, and it felt like they’d been playing together for years. It boggles the mind how good these musicians really are and how much they enjoy getting together for this annual gathering that I call OUR holiday office party on the big stage 😉 The mini set that started off the night paying tribute to the late, great Vassar Clements set the tone for the evening, featuring a fiddle trifecta that I’m sure had Vassar

flashing that smile from up above. Heather Gillis was sensational – gritty, soulful, vocals and some nasty, brilliant guitar play dominated her set. Can’t wait to do more with her in the future! Jim Lauderdale and Peter Rowan delivered exactly what you’d expect and more. You could tell that each of those two living legends were having a blast up on stage with such talented musicians surrounding them, and when Jim invited Peter on stage to sing “Sitting Alone in the Moonlight”, there was an incredible feeling of love and admiration between the two that anyone in the audience could feel. Jeff Mosier led the final set which was only fitting, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. His version of “Black Muddy River” is one of the best out there, and closing out the night with the fiddle anthem “Orange Blossom Special”, led by the incomparable Larry Keel with fiddles on fire, was the only way to go.

On that note, I really want to thank all the musicians who participated this year, it was a special one for certain. Peter Rowan, Jim Lauderdale, Heather Gillis, Larry Keel, Jeff Mosier, Jeff Sipe, Richie Jones, Bobby Miller, Jared Womack, Matthew Williams, Papa J, Bryan Lopes, Daniel Wytanis, Nick DiSebastian, Evan Sarver, Jason Carter, Lyndsay Pruett, John Mailander, Bill Fleming, Mark Henry, Franher Joseph, Kevin Thomas, and Wildman Steve. From top to bottom, what an amazing grouping of musicians to take this show on!

Stay tuned for details around the same time next year, same venue!

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