In this episode of "Gateway to the Smoky Podcast," host Joseph Franklyn McElroy introduces listeners to Andrew Wakefield, a Asheville-based musician known for blending traditional and modern sounds into his music. Andrew shares his global influences, from a childhood in Korea to Southern and Appalachian music. They discuss Andrew's journey through various music genres, his current bluegrass focus, and the importance of live performance energy. The conversation also touches on the challenges of a musician's life, including constant travel and the need for creative space. Andrew highlights Chimney Rock as a must-visit in the Smoky Mountains and recommends Gypsy Queen for dining in Asheville. Listeners can learn more about Andrew's work and upcoming gigs through his website.

In this podcast episode, I interview Jennifer Cole, a successful chef who has won the competition show “Chopped” and has been cooking professionally for over 25 years. We discuss her career path, including working in Atlanta, New Orleans, Paris, and Spain before returning to her family farm in Haywood County. Cole emphasizes her interest in working with local farmers and using locally sourced ingredients in her cooking. The conversation also touches on topics such as the importance of creativity and understanding recipe rules as a chef, favorite ingredients like olive oil and heirloom beans, and the growing trend of farm weddings.

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00:00: 27–00:01: 01 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Hello. This is Joseph Franklyn McElroy here with the Gateway to the Smokies podcast. I have with me today my guest Jennifer Cole, who is a native of western North Carolina. And her family has actually been in Haywood County for generations. And she’s had a successful career as a chef for over 20 years, including winning chopped on in season 8. Hello, Jennifer, how are you doing? 

00:01:01–00:01: 02 Jennifer Cole:  Good, how are you? 

00:01:02–00:01: 03 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Yeah, cool. 

00:01:04–00:01: 05 Jennifer Cole: Good to be here. 

00:01:05–00:01: 11 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: How was that how was that? Was that exciting to win the season? Was it a difficult challenge? 

00:01:11–00:01: 20 Jennifer Cole: Well, you know, it was a lot of fun. I think a lot of people didn’t really expect an old gal to be able to win it. 

00:01:20–00:01: 21 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Yeah. 

00:01:21–00:01: 23 Jennifer Cole: Yeah, So it was a lot of fun. 

00:01:24–00:01: 25 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: And what did you cook?

00:01:25–00:01: 28 Jennifer Cole: Oh, God, it was a lot of stuff. Three different courses.

00:01:29–00:01: 31 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:   Really? They give you the ingredients, say, make it.

00:01:31–00:01: 40 Jennifer Cole: In a basket. It’s actually one of the few TV shows. It’s real. They actually give you a basket, and you don’t know until you open it. 

 00:01:41–00:01: 44 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Really? Wow. And then you have to figure out so can create and be able to fly. So creativity is very big.

00:01:44–00:01: 45 Jennifer Cole: Very important.

00:01:47–00:02: 13 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Well, when you reach out to us after moving here, I sort of gave you the challenge in a spot to come up with a guest chef menu here at the Homecraft at the Meadowlark Motel. And you did a really fantastic job. We had a lot of people show up. What were the three dishes were a moose. 

00:02:13–00:02: 40 Jennifer Cole: I did a Mexican chocolate mousse is the dessert. For the appetizer, I did roasted beefs with field greens that I picked on my farm. That was with local trap that I cured overnight. And then for the entree, I did a red one braised local beef cheeks with goat cheese Ballinta. I mean, goat cheese risotto. 

00:02:41–00:02: 53 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Wow. Yeah. That was really fantastic. That was good. Well, you said you’ve been cooking as a professional for 30 years. For 20. What was your first cooking job? 

00:02:53–00:03: 18 Jennifer Cole:  Well, I put myself through college waiting tables and cooking. I was waiting tables, and they were short of line cooks, and they’re like they asked for a volunteer among the wait staff. And so I was like, I’ll go home. So started doing that. Also worked for a catering company in Chapel Hill. The Chapel Hill Catering Company, which still exists. And that’s how I got started. 

00:03:18–00:03: 27 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Yeah. And then did you experiment with other careers for a little while or anything, or did you just go straight into cooking as a career?

00:03:28–00:03: 45 Jennifer Cole:  Well, studying political science at Chapel Hill to go into law, and then decided the decided, there’s a lot of lawyers out there. I want to do this. I like the instant gratification of seeing people’s face light up when you let them try something new. 

00:03:45–00:03: 46 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Right. Yeah. 

00:03:46–00:03: 57 Jennifer Cole:  So went to Atlanta and did an 18 month apprenticeship with a very well known at the time chef in Atlanta and started there. 

00:03:57–00:04: 12 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:   Cool. And what do you think is more important in being a chef? Is it understanding the science and the rules of recipes or creativity?

00:04:12–00:04: 20 Jennifer Cole:  Well, science and rules usually go more toward pastry or baking. You have to understand the rules so you can bend them. 

00:04:20–00:04:21 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:   Right. 

00:04:21–00:04: 26 Jennifer Cole:  And you have to be able to be creative to bend them. So a little bit of both. 

00:04:26–00:04:45 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Cool. All right. I took one class, I think, in New York City. Was it Culinary Institute? And I think there was a question at one point said, what’s your favorite ingredient? What’s the best ingredient? Baking or butter? 

00:04:47–00:04: 48 Jennifer Cole:  Well, I think olive oil. 

00:04:48–00:04:52 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Olive oil, okay. There you go. Good. Olive oil.

00:04:52–00:05:02 Jennifer Cole: I mean, I was in Spain for twelve years and that was beaten into my head. Butter is France, olive oil is Spain and southern Italy. 

00:05:02- -00:05:05 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Okay. And it’s better for you. 

00:05:05–00:05:07 Jennifer Cole: Yeah, I mean, butter’s a lot of fun. 

00:05:07- -00:05:17 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Yeah, butters is a lot of fun. Yeah. Especially on biscuits. So you’ve lived in, you were here, you were in Atlanta, right? 

00:05:18–00:05:40 Jennifer Cole:  I cooked in Atlanta for five years, and then I moved to New Orleans for a couple of years, and then I moved to Spain for twelve. I was in Paris for two, and then moved to New York when the economy tanked in 2008. 

And then moved back to New Orleans in 2015 and have just moved home to my family farm. 

00:05:40- -00:05:44 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: That’s fabulous. Of all those places, where did you have the most fun cooking? 

00:05:44–00:05:49 Jennifer Cole:  I have fun cooking wherever I go. I mean, you got to have fun. 

00:05:50 -00:05:56 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Yeah. Well, it sounds like Madrid was the biggest experience, so that must have been very formative. 

00:05:57–00:06:07 Jennifer Cole: Spain was very formative, and Spanish cuisine is amazing and diverse and regional. And you can find something new every day. But you can do that up here too. 

00:06:08 -00:06:15 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Of course. Both New Orleans and New York City are food towns. Right. 

00:06:15–00:06:19 Jennifer Cole:  Frankly, in my opinion, new Orleans beats New York. 

00:06:19 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Really? 

00:06:19–00:06:27 Jennifer Cole: Yeah. You got four full growing seasons. You got fresh produce all the time. 

00:06:28 -00:06:30 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: That’s good. You got great seafood, 

00:06:30 -00:06:41 Jennifer Cole:  you got great seafood, you got great charcutory, you’ve got great local farms, which is very near and dear to my heart. So, all that.

00:06:42 -00:06:49 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Well, we’re filming here at the Meadowlark so we’ll get a little bit of background noise. I hope everybody doesn’t mind. Hope you don’t mind. 

00:06:50 Jennifer Cole: I don’t mind. 

00:06:50 -00:06:54 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  So what inspires you to move back to Haywood County? 

00:06:55 -00:07:16 Jennifer Cole:  Well, my family is from here. I own a farm with my two brothers, and we’re not doing anything with it, so I wanted to move home. And while I am working as a chef, I also want to do some stuff on my farm. We got a lot of lands to play with. 

00:07:17 -00:07:18 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Yeah. How many acres you got there?

00:07:18 Jennifer Cole: 90,

00:07:18 -00:07:24 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:   90 acres. Wow, that’s a nice big farm. Was it farmed in the past? 

00:07:25 -00:08:00 Jennifer Cole: When I was a kid, it was a tobacco farm. My grandfather always had cattle on it. We had pigs when I was a very small kid. And then when my dad took it over, turned it in more into a gentleman’s farm and grew gardens and had goats and had a couple of Sicilian donkeys and turkeys and guineafall. And right now we are just playing with it, renting it out to a couple of different local farmers. 

00:08:00 -00:08:34 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:    All right, so that’s great, right? Yeah. There’s a number of farms, I guess you would call them becoming gentleman farms at Haywood County. There’s actually one that’s out over in Crab Tree that is a bison farm. But they’ve also put in train cars as like, cabins that you can rent and they have a whole train thing. Is that something you’d be looking to do? Is that make yours into the destination as well? 

00:08:35 -00:08:36 Jennifer Cole:  No, definitely not. 

00:08:36 -00:08:38 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Purely just a farm. Farm, farm. That’s cool. 

00:08:39 -00:08:55 Jennifer Cole: Although we do have somebody that’s coming tomorrow to take pictures with, I think, like a bridal party on the farm. She has an agreement with my brother that as long as she gives us a heads up, she’s welcome to do that also.

00:08:58 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:Farm weddings? 

00:08:59 Jennifer Cole: Yeah. 

00:09:00 -00:09:01 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  You got some pictures? I guess. 

00:09:01 -00:09:10 Jennifer Cole: I just want to know if they’re on the property so I don’t call the police. 

00:09:10 -00:09:15 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  You mentioned pig farms. I don’t remember a lot of those around here growing up. 

00:09:15 -00:09:28 Jennifer Cole: It’s usually for self-use. I mean, we would have pigs for us a year. Okay, I’m not talking a huge pig farm. 

00:09:30 -00:09:46 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Well, it was strange. I was walking around with my kids in Asheville, in North Asheville, not too far from downtown. All of a sudden we passed around the corner and they were in the backyard. There was somebody that had a huge hog right in the backyard in Ashville. I was like, how are they doing that? They smell pretty bad, don’t they? 

00:09:46 -00:09:49 Jennifer Cole:  Actually, they don’t. They don’t smell as bad as chickens do. 

00:09:49 -00:10:03 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Really? Chickens are pretty tasty smelling. I mean, how tasty is it? Like only when they don’t smell too good. When they’re not cooked organic odor. Cool. 

00:10:03 -00:10:10 Jennifer Cole:  But in New Orleans, you have feral chickens running around all over. Yeah, it’s very interesting. 

00:10:10 -00:10:15 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  So you mentioned how you really want to work with local farmers. What’s your vision there? 

00:10:15 -00:10:45 Jennifer Cole:  Well, I’m as a chef, and I love working with local produce. I’m an avid forager and still a beginner, but still very interested in that. I can’t wait until the farmers market in Waynesville opens in April. Looking forward to doing business with them personally and hopefully as a chef. 

00:10:45 -00:11:03 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Cool. There’s a couple of people that have been on this podcast before. I’ll introduce you to Ila Hatter, who’s a well-renowned forager right? And you might find some interesting. And then there’s Will Ritter, who is up in Madison County is doing heritage seeds. 

00:11:03 -Jennifer Cole:  Oh, interesting.

00:11:04 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Right? 

00:11:06 -00:11:12 Jennifer Cole:  We have a couple of heirloom seeds that have been we had some beans that have been in my family for at least four or five generations. 

00:11:12 -00:11:25 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Right. Wow, cool. He’d probably lived to collect those and having the opportunity to share with you. Yeah, I love bold beans. The big long ones like that. Yeah. All right.

00:11:26-00:11:27 Jennifer Cole: You grow them in your cornfield? 

00:11:27 -00:11:48 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Yeah, that’s what I’m planning to have a little bit of corn and beans this year. Maybe you’ll give me some of your beans. We’ll see you here. Now, you’re looking for besides building your farm, you’re also looking to work with various restaurants or whatever that might want. 

00:11:50- 00:11:58 Jennifer Cole: Some good for a good fit. Not only teach a good staff, and build a good staff, but learn from people. 

00:11: -00:11:48 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  That’s interesting. I mean, the reason we exist is to focus a little bit on the heritage of mountain culture foods. Mostly smokeys, but also other mountain cultures. And that seems to be your interest now. 

00:11:50- 00:12:38 Jennifer Cole: Absolutely. I mean, I’ve been very lucky dealing with I mean, outside of Madrid, right behind Madrid, you have a huge mountain range, and there’s a lot of classic dishes that are from up there that I had the pleasure learning from people not only as a chef but through friends and their mothers and their grandmothers. 

00:12:38 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  And you were in Mexico, too? 

00:12:38- 00:12:46 Jennifer Cole: I’ve been to Mexico, but oahuka, I haven’t been to Wahaka yet. I’m supposed to go to Wahaka this summer. 

00:12:46 -00:12:48 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  All right, cool. Because those are mountain cultures. 

00:12:48- 00:12:49 Jennifer Cole: Yeah, for sure. 

00:12:49 -00:12:59 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  We were talking about the Mexican foods that you were doing. 

Cool. Well, how can people find out more about you? 

00:12:59- 00:13:03 Jennifer Cole : They can go on my Facebook or they can go on my Instagram. 

00:13:03 -00:13:04 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  And what’s your Facebook? 

00:13:04- 00:13:17 Jennifer Cole : My Facebook is Jennifer Louise Cole. 

And my Instagram is what is my Instagram? I think it’s Chef Jennifer Cole. 

00:13:18– 00:13:23 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Okay, cool. Was there anything else you would like to mention about shout out about things. 

00:13:23- 00:13:30 Jennifer Cole: Meadowlark. You all should come in and go out and good music. I’m definitely coming tomorrow night. 

00:13:30– 00:13:52 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Oh, yeah. We got some Ananna Kay who’s going to be doing some up-and-coming big-time artist in Nashville. And then we got your menu again tomorrow night with the beef cheeks and the mousse and the salad, and that’s going to be great. It’s been a good week, and people love the food. A lot of got great reviews. Good shoutouts from that. 

00:13:52- 00:13:58 Jennifer Cole: We had a bunch of people in from Waynesville on Tuesday night and all loved everything, which is a lot of fun. 

00:13:58– 00:14:08 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  It’s a big table. Well, thank you for being on the podcast. All right. And we look forward to working with you some more. 

00:14:08- 00:14:09 Jennifer Cole: Thank you. 

00:14:10– 00:14:11 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  All right, bye, everybody. Bye. 

00:14:11 00:14:12 Jennifer Cole: Bye y'all

Guest: DAN PIERCE

In this episode, you'll learn about moonshine history, how NASCAR emerged from the Prohibition Era and how moonshine runners' lives have an impact on today's world. 

Joseph is joined by our special guest Dan Pierce, he is a renowned author, columnist, and consultant. He earned degrees from WCU, the University of Alabama, and the University of Tennessee before becoming a history professor at UNC Asheville. Dan is an avid outdoorsman, passionate about NASCAR, moonshine history, Appalachian culture, environmental issues, and race relations. He lives with his family in Black Mountain, N.C. 

He joins us to talk about Tar Heel Lightning: How Secret Stills and Fast cars Made N.C. the Moonshine Capital of the World, NASCAR, and more.

Don't miss this out!

Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

Pierce grew up in West Asheville, and was born in Arkansas but moved at the age of 3. Father moved to pastor the Grace Baptist Church. Joseph discusses how he was born and grew up in Haywood County which is right next to Asheville but relocated to NYC and stayed for 27 years. Eventually, he moved back to Asheville because it’s a great place. Joseph and Pierce discuss the nostalgia of their childhoods in Asheville comparing it to how it is currently. They discuss good changes such as the dining expansion and interesting changes such as seeing more wildlife up close to their homes.

When asked about his dedication to being a teacher and writer Pierce responds by saying he arrived at wanting to be a teacher in his late teens. He liked kids as he ran a park and majored in education. Ironically he recalls himself as an awful student but had a widowed sixth-grade teacher who influenced him. She took him and another boy over the summer to Europe, and her kindness encouraged him to be an influential teacher as well. After becoming a coach in Nashville he ended up going back to school for a Ph.D. at 40 years old. At 45 he came out with a book, he enjoyed reading early on but couldn't imagine himself becoming a writer. With great mentors, he got grounded with discipline and mastered writing. He enjoyed his thesis as it surrounded him hanging around the Moonshine or a stock race. His second book is Real NASCAR, White Lightning, Red Clay, and Big Bill Frogs. The France Family were/still are the owners of NASCAR. Perce dives into the rough and aggressive origin of NASCAR.

Moonshine helped NASCAR and now Joseph wants to discuss how the roles were reversible, in that NASCAR helped NC become the Moonshine Capital. When the federal excise tax was put in place in NC after the Civil War, there was always a tradition in NC to make whiskey and so they made it illegal to upkeep the tradition whilst avoiding the tax. This would still be a strong local option during the prohibition. This made it a great market for Moonshine to thrive and it became a “two-way street” when it came to NASCAR. Successful drivers realized they could make more money with Moonshine than by winning races. There was an economic emergency or young people would get started with work with Moonshine. It became a part of the culture where people accepted the fact that it was needed for people’s livelihoods. Both Pierce and Joseph discuss how it’s still a lively product as they both are often gifted Moonshine. Popcorn Sutton was the bad image painted onto Moonshiners, but Pierce describes them as entrepreneurs and smart. He also talks about how there were also African Americans, women, and Native Americans. A.A. was actually a step ahead of white folks with illegal handmade liquor.

Pierce wrote many books about the Great Smokies National Park. One of the most popular books is, “ From Natural Habitats to Natural Parkings”. Another book was, “Moonshine and the Smokies, Corn from a Jar'' which sold the most. He also did a book on the Community of Hazel Creek in Swain County, which surrounds the long controversy about the road to nowhere. The most recent one was a collaboration with an old friend regarding the art of the Smokies, “Illustrated Guide to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park”. Pierce also discusses his book about ​​NASCAR vs the merits of college football. He was in a debate on the South Carolina Public Radio on a series called Tell About the South. Hardy Jackson from Jacksonville State in Alabama argued for football and Pierce argued for NASCAR. He won a lifetime award, the “Western NC Historical Association Outstate Achievement Award''. Pierce is big on equal rights and racial diversity, he’s leading a Railroad Incarcerated Committee to honor the forced labor of the 1870’s inmates.

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00:00:41.010 –> 00:00:43.320 Joseph McElroy: Welcome to the gateway to the smokies.

00:00:43.320 –> 00:00:52.260 Joseph McElroy: podcast this podcast is about America’s most business National Park, the great smoky mountains national park, and the surrounding towns.

00:00:52.710 –> 00:01:01.470 Joseph McElroy: These areas are filled with natural beauty deep storied history and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes.

00:01:01.950 –> 00:01:10.440 Joseph McElroy: I’m Joseph Franklin McElroy man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains My family has lived in the great smokies for over 200 year.

00:01:11.160 –> 00:01:18.540 Joseph McElroy: My businesses and travel, but my heart is in culture today we’re going to talk about tar heel lightning talking past NASCAR and.

00:01:19.080 –> 00:01:34.620 Joseph McElroy: and other mountain cultural touchstones with Dan Pierce, but first, our sponsors imagine a place evocative of motor courts of the past, yet modern and vibrant with a chic Appalachian feel.

00:01:35.250 –> 00:01:46.650 Joseph McElroy: a place for adventure for relaxation imagine a place where you could fish in a mountain parent is trout stream real the catch on fire, and he accompanied by fine line or craft beer.

00:01:47.340 –> 00:01:58.710 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place in the old-time music world cultural cell, there is no other place like the middle like motel Maggie valley you’re a smoky mountain adventures start with where you stay.

00:02:00.630 –> 00:02:12.780 Joseph McElroy: The smoky mountains and surrounding areas is a vacation destination for all seasons, some of the nation’s best hiking trails waterfalls outdoor adventures and family entertainment can be found, right here.

00:02:13.470 –> 00:02:32.130 Joseph McElroy: start your adventure by using smokies adventure calm at smokies plural adventure senior.com to explore all the wonderful features of the great smoky mountains National Park trails waterfalls kids Code, the elk, and more and check out all the awesome family attractions.

00:02:34.050 –> 00:02:49.260 Joseph McElroy: slinky and interesting logical, it was facilities and entertainment, you and your entire family can enjoy the goal the smokies adventure calm is to be your meeting information source for adventures and experiences and the great smoky mountain.

00:02:50.850 –> 00:02:59.880 Joseph McElroy: Some upcoming events, I want to tell you about on June 18 at 4 pm is part four of the heritage books series with Bob Bob.

00:03:00.600 –> 00:03:11.790 Joseph McElroy: it’s another informative and entertaining and fun afternoon of history, food, and music as a part of part four of our heritage book series, and its an award-winning author and.

00:03:12.330 –> 00:03:15.930 Joseph McElroy: meadowlark smoky mountain heritage Center general manager Bob blog.

00:03:16.620 –> 00:03:31.710 Joseph McElroy: Discussing his fourth book colorful characters the great smoky mountains and then these books, he leaves the library stories of vibrant and intriguing characters, such as the Cherokee chiefs you don’t agus got okay Nice.

00:03:32.490 –> 00:03:44.610 Joseph McElroy: Oh, can I should have gotten this before I got on the cocoa know stone soda sorry if I really I’m really butchered that they have dragon canoe and their allies such as john will watch, along with their combat.

00:03:45.240 –> 00:03:57.210 Joseph McElroy: Robert Rogers quitting Kennedy King hailer the Stockbridge Mohicans Francis Marion and others and then there’s modern-day icon such as von plot Charles matt Miller and URL and.

00:03:57.900 –> 00:04:16.830 Joseph McElroy: there’ll be a book signing and Barbecue dinner, as well as a evening of acoustic music by Michael Guthrie in France it’s the Venice free to motel guests and heritage club Members but there’s an admission charge $10 for are all of the people call eight to 89261717 to reserve your place.

00:04:17.910 –> 00:04:33.270 Joseph McElroy: On July July night a mountain icon I the Iowa I a hatter is going to have a program called wild crafted and mothers nature natural guard and it starts on July 9 at 10 am and.

00:04:34.380 –> 00:04:43.050 Joseph McElroy: it’s a program featuring a legendary wildcrafting expert I had her and she was also a renowned author filmmaker instructor and tour guide.

00:04:43.410 –> 00:04:49.410 Joseph McElroy: For the great smoky mountains National Park elite DSM field school education Program.

00:04:49.920 –> 00:05:01.350 Joseph McElroy: She is an expert on edible plants medicinal herbs of anything pertaining to wild craft forging and Appalachians plant trees and flowers, she is going to give it a presentation on.

00:05:01.860 –> 00:05:08.730 Joseph McElroy: On all sorts of stuff related to walk crafting and then she’s actually going to take our the guests, and people are on.

00:05:09.060 –> 00:05:24.510 Joseph McElroy: an adventure, on the grounds and the surrounding area to actually forge things and learn how to do it right your own backyard so costs eight to 89261717 to reserve your place is free for guests and heritage heard this club members and there’s a $20.

00:05:25.830 –> 00:05:27.960 Joseph McElroy: price per for admission for everybody else.

00:05:29.700 –> 00:05:36.750 Joseph McElroy: And then on August six six there’s going to be a chair the launch of cherokee heritage series with Davey art.

00:05:38.280 –> 00:05:47.490 Joseph McElroy: Davey arts is a world-famous Cherokee tribal historic and award-winning craftsman of traditional Turkey crafts, specifically masks and baskets.

00:05:47.880 –> 00:06:07.200 Joseph McElroy: And a beloved spokesman for the Eastern Cherokee tribe the event will be followed by a Barbecue dinner and music is $20 per guest and it’s free for hotel guests call eight to 89261717 to reserve your seat now and for all events at the Meadowlark motel so.

00:06:08.220 –> 00:06:16.110 Joseph McElroy: Today we’re gonna be talking with Dan pierce, who is a renowned author columnist consultant who earned degrees from Western Carolina University.

00:06:16.500 –> 00:06:22.380 Joseph McElroy: The University of Alabama and the University of Tennessee before becoming a history professor at unc Asheville.

00:06:22.890 –> 00:06:36.090 Joseph McElroy: Dan is an avid outdoorsman passionate about NASCAR moonshine history Appalachian culture environmental issues and race relations, he lives with his family and black mountain North Carolina hello, Dan how are you doing.

00:06:36.600 –> 00:06:37.980 Daniel Pierce: i’m good i’m good.

00:06:38.280 –> 00:06:38.760 yeah.

00:06:40.110 –> 00:06:43.680 Joseph McElroy: it’s good to be here it’s a little hot right now but we’re getting over it right.

00:06:44.130 –> 00:06:45.330 Daniel Pierce: Hopefully, hopefully.

00:06:45.660 –> 00:06:52.860 Joseph McElroy: yeah so so like me euro you’re a native Western or throw you grew up my sash all right.

00:06:53.220 –> 00:07:04.560 Daniel Pierce: I did you know I hesitate call myself a native because I was born in Arkansas but, as I say, I got here as quickly as I could I was three when I.

00:07:06.090 –> 00:07:17.100 Daniel Pierce: arrived in West Asheville I’ve always said, the good Lord i’m thankful to the good Lord for calling my dad to come to pastor the Grace Baptist Church in West Asheville, and so I grew up there.

00:07:17.910 –> 00:07:28.590 Daniel Pierce: kind of an as I put it, a combination of Mayberry and a cotton mill town in will stifle at that time, which is not at all what West Asheville is today.

00:07:28.680 –> 00:07:30.210 Joseph McElroy: I know it’s changed a little bit.

00:07:31.230 –> 00:07:32.190 Daniel Pierce: he’s a little lot.

00:07:33.570 –> 00:07:39.240 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know I just relocated with my family back you know I grew up in a wood county yeah right next to Asheville.

00:07:39.660 –> 00:07:53.970 Joseph McElroy: My family’s been in that county for over 200 years, so you know I got I was born and raised and all that sort of thing, but that has spent 27 years in New York City where my kids were born and I just reload your head the whole kit and caboodle back to Asheville so.

00:07:56.280 –> 00:08:09.930 Joseph McElroy: it’s you know it’s a it’s a great place to common yeah, as you can say, as you, as you mentioned this changed a lot, I think, in a positive way, but it was it was I thought it was pretty cool we were growing up what was it like growing up in West asheville.

00:08:10.530 –> 00:08:21.870 Daniel Pierce: Well, like I said it was kind of a combination of Mayberry and cotton mill town, you know when and course we were very much free-range kids at the time, and you know ride our bikes all ever West asheville and Walt.

00:08:23.190 –> 00:08:29.790 Daniel Pierce: You know I remember one particular Saturday bye buddy Steve Harris, and I just decided on the spur of the moment we’d walk despite.

00:08:30.180 –> 00:08:38.550 Daniel Pierce: to the top of the mountain, which is out in the last area, so we walked out Lester highway and we we remind me, you know 1112 years old and and.

00:08:39.210 –> 00:08:48.870 Daniel Pierce: Well, to the top of the mountain and back nobody knew, you know I mean it’s probably I don’t know 1015 miles when we walk that day, but that was the place, I grew up you.

00:08:48.870 –> 00:08:49.650 Daniel Pierce: know I mean we.

00:08:50.070 –> 00:08:51.510 Daniel Pierce: knew everybody and.

00:08:53.400 –> 00:08:54.570 Daniel Pierce: pretty much and.

00:08:55.770 –> 00:09:03.510 Daniel Pierce: It was just one of those kinds of neighborhoods so and the other great thing was being in western North Carolina and typically once.

00:09:04.710 –> 00:09:09.150 Daniel Pierce: You got a little more mobile and wheels, you know we went to the mountains, a lot and.

00:09:10.770 –> 00:09:16.830 Daniel Pierce: You know, we go the top of mountain play capture the flag and stuff like that a row rocks off the side of the mountain there.

00:09:19.290 –> 00:09:26.340 Daniel Pierce: and go to swimming holes and all that kind of stuff so it was a great I didn’t know at the time, but it was a great great place to grow.

00:09:27.060 –> 00:09:35.460 Joseph McElroy: it’s still good you know I I went right in our backyard so far we’re North asheville right and we’re on a real real wonderful street.

00:09:35.880 –> 00:09:42.840 Joseph McElroy: You know, and our kids bike on the street, just like you, you, you know you remember, they were out there with other kids and.

00:09:43.140 –> 00:09:56.430 Joseph McElroy: All you have to use your car and all the kids get off the road but it’s not there’s not really that much traffic but what’s interesting is is that in the in the week that we’ve been here we’ve seen had a BlackBerry to deer in our backyard.

00:09:57.510 –> 00:10:01.350 Joseph McElroy: which I don’t really remember Asheville being that prevalent for big wildlife.

00:10:01.650 –> 00:10:16.260 Daniel Pierce: yeah there were no turkeys there he never saw a bear unless you’re in the smokies and their head was in a garbage can and you never solved there you know it was it’s it’s really one of the great changes recent well.

00:10:17.700 –> 00:10:26.250 Daniel Pierce: I prefer to see bears a little less frequently in my yard actually one got up i’ve got my bird feeder strong about.

00:10:26.940 –> 00:10:42.930 Daniel Pierce: 15 feet up off the ground and one of them figured out how to get up there and kind of twine the wire and got one of the bird feeders to bounce off today, so a lot we we saw i’m trying it the other day and I shot him with a bb gun I don’t know if I can say that.

00:10:43.200 –> 00:10:43.500 yeah.

00:10:44.520 –> 00:10:45.420 Daniel Pierce: Is that legal.

00:10:48.210 –> 00:10:51.090 Daniel Pierce: And scare them off, but he got my bird feeder today and I.

00:10:51.090 –> 00:10:51.360 can’t.

00:10:54.270 –> 00:10:59.790 Joseph McElroy: bit bb guns and rocks over the thing back in the day and I think they’re probably still could have their uses.

00:11:02.700 –> 00:11:10.080 Joseph McElroy: So what do I think it’s interesting you grew up in West Asheville it’s changed a lot like you mentioned What would you think is the biggest change.

00:11:10.950 –> 00:11:12.600 Daniel Pierce: Well, the real estate prices for.

00:11:12.600 –> 00:11:13.890 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah.

00:11:14.520 –> 00:11:21.090 Daniel Pierce: They were just talking about you know, is it going to be a million-dollar bungalow for sale and West Asheville soon you know it’s.

00:11:21.960 –> 00:11:37.920 Daniel Pierce: crazy, you know the House, it was very blue-collar when I when I grew up there, and, of course, you had the actual speedway down there having races and or or, as some people put it, you know what went to the fights and a race broke out, you know.

00:11:40.710 –> 00:11:48.120 Daniel Pierce: Pretty rough place but you know and the and the only dining establishment really was the tasty diner you know and.

00:11:49.470 –> 00:11:53.670 Daniel Pierce: Where you could go sit at the bar with jack ingram you know, is in the nascar hall of fame so.

00:11:55.320 –> 00:11:59.820 Joseph McElroy: Great foodie place now man there’s some great restaurants out there, look jargon right.

00:12:00.240 –> 00:12:04.410 Daniel Pierce: Now those weren’t there you know it’s kind of one of those deals, you know I hear they’re good.

00:12:04.890 –> 00:12:05.490 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:12:05.940 –> 00:12:07.350 Daniel Pierce: I don’t get the West Eiffel much.

00:12:09.450 –> 00:12:15.780 Joseph McElroy: jargon is good there’s a there’s a really great coffee place i’m drawing a blank on the name, right now, but then there’s.

00:12:16.740 –> 00:12:22.590 Joseph McElroy: You know the early girl is opened up West Asheville, which is a really good you have farm to table thing so.

00:12:23.580 –> 00:12:35.580 Joseph McElroy: it’s it’s become a great place to go and pick up some really good food i’m telling you right now, everybody should go visit there and then they got the artsy sort of seeing going on and performance and things like that.

00:12:36.240 –> 00:12:38.250 Joseph McElroy: And I read an interview that’s.

00:12:38.280 –> 00:12:41.190 Daniel Pierce: Not my day was the chili dog at the surfside.

00:12:41.220 –> 00:12:41.910 Joseph McElroy: yeah right.

00:12:42.570 –> 00:12:48.150 Joseph McElroy: Or, I remember driving back you know and we’d always stopped West actual at the denny’s after being at the nightclub but.

00:12:50.340 –> 00:13:06.270 Joseph McElroy: I don’t see to be open anymore so ready very interview that she said something the effect that folks around that actually had no pretense that are they they are who they are take it or leave it I you know, do you feel that’s that’s the way they are now to.

00:13:06.840 –> 00:13:09.240 Daniel Pierce: A it’s hard to say yeah.

00:13:09.240 –> 00:13:09.630 Right.

00:13:11.280 –> 00:13:14.070 Daniel Pierce: it’s a different I don’t have as good a raid on.

00:13:15.630 –> 00:13:20.190 Daniel Pierce: The recent arrivals as I did the folks I grew up with.

00:13:21.510 –> 00:13:28.500 Joseph McElroy: was very true but I grew up the same thing, and I think that the people that are local here are, and I think it rubs off, I do think that people.

00:13:28.890 –> 00:13:42.990 Joseph McElroy: come from different areas get a little bit let it get lost a little bit of the pretense and they become a little bit more authentic I mean not as authentic as yeah what we grew up with but yeah like you know, there was somebody that I read somewhere that.

00:13:44.010 –> 00:13:55.920 Joseph McElroy: Nobody really has a fancy car asheville you know it’s yeah everybody has you know sort of you know, work practical cars right.

00:13:56.790 –> 00:14:01.440 Daniel Pierce: Well, mine is minus the truck with us still a possible bumper sticker on it.

00:14:01.470 –> 00:14:07.320 Joseph McElroy: So I’m still I’m driving my dad’s 1984 GMC truck so.

00:14:09.900 –> 00:14:12.780 Joseph McElroy: To get this current gas moment i’m not driver that much.

00:14:12.840 –> 00:14:13.230 yeah.

00:14:14.430 –> 00:14:20.520 Joseph McElroy: hey listen, we have to take a break and we’ll come back talk a little bit more about your history and then get into some of your books all right.

00:14:20.850 –> 00:14:21.180 Daniel Pierce: All right.

00:16:37.200 –> 00:16:50.490 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast my guest Dan Pierce so Dan you grew up in Asheville, then you left it to go get your bachelor’s.

00:16:51.570 –> 00:17:06.510 Joseph McElroy: vs bachelor of science at Western Carolyn Carolyn diversity and your masters of Alabama and then your PhD at the University of Tennessee and now Lo and behold, you are renowned writer and history, Professor did you always want to be a teacher and writer.

00:17:08.310 –> 00:17:08.880 Daniel Pierce: well.

00:17:10.050 –> 00:17:15.840 Daniel Pierce: A teacher, I think, was something I arrived at, you know in my late teens I worked at a.

00:17:17.610 –> 00:17:30.030 Daniel Pierce: Had a partner program and Asheville and I ran apart for a couple of summers I like kids a lot and so ended up majoring in education, I taught fifth grade for three years and I had.

00:17:31.740 –> 00:17:39.270 Daniel Pierce: kind of a weird experience educationally I was a horrible student I was kind of a noxious kid but I had a sixth-grade teacher That was really.

00:17:40.200 –> 00:17:51.180 Daniel Pierce: inspiring she loved history and then a weird thing happened, where she was she was a widow she asked me if i’d like to go to Europe and so.

00:17:52.230 –> 00:18:00.210 Daniel Pierce: Taking me the next summer after my seventh-grade year to Europe me and another 12-year-old boy, it was.

00:18:00.750 –> 00:18:01.800 Joseph McElroy: A lot of studying.

00:18:02.280 –> 00:18:02.760 Joseph McElroy: Oh, my God.

00:18:02.940 –> 00:18:04.710 Joseph McElroy: yeah it changed your life.

00:18:05.580 –> 00:18:18.300 Daniel Pierce: yeah really strange and then she ended up being my mom’s best friend so in just a deer name is Steve Bennett and just a wonderful person so she kind of inspired me to teach and then I had a lot of bad examples I think that I learned from.

00:18:21.420 –> 00:18:27.540 Daniel Pierce: about what not to do, and so I taught fifth-grade love that but was young single went to.

00:18:28.650 –> 00:18:34.710 Daniel Pierce: pulled up and went to Alabama, which is a great experience for two years and got my masters and.

00:18:35.790 –> 00:18:40.440 Daniel Pierce: kind of cast my lot with southern history, at that point.

00:18:41.550 –> 00:18:52.410 Daniel Pierce: Then I got married and moved to Nashville Tennessee and taught high school for eight years and I was coach peers for that time and really enjoy that stage of my life but, but then decided.

00:18:53.670 –> 00:18:56.670 Daniel Pierce: With the help of my life to go back for a PhD so.

00:18:57.960 –> 00:19:06.540 Daniel Pierce: I finished my Ph.D. at about the age of 40 and so you know I kind of came this late in life and then.

00:19:07.890 –> 00:19:08.790 Daniel Pierce: You know the first.

00:19:10.440 –> 00:19:21.360 Daniel Pierce: The first book, I guess, I was 45 when the first book came out, so I really never imagined, you know I’ve always been an avid reader but I never imagined being a writer and then.

00:19:23.010 –> 00:19:28.260 Daniel Pierce: I just had some great mentors in graduate school that simplify things for me writing was always.

00:19:30.000 –> 00:19:43.230 Daniel Pierce: painful for me, and then they simplified things made it much easier and and and and taught me how to sit down and write in and so, then that you know that I don’t know you know seven oh.

00:19:43.590 –> 00:19:46.500 Joseph McElroy: Would you start writing before you came to unc actual.

00:19:47.400 –> 00:19:52.740 Daniel Pierce: Well, I could have had to write a dissertation I had to do a master’s thesis and dissertation and such.

00:19:53.190 –> 00:19:55.260 Joseph McElroy: A good writing the books and so you got to do and CA.

00:19:55.410 –> 00:20:01.950 Daniel Pierce: yeah well the dissertation became the first book, but I had to do some significant rewriting on it and.

00:20:03.060 –> 00:20:19.800 Daniel Pierce: And I’ve been very fortunate to be the places where I’ve been where I’ve kind of been able to pick and choose what I wanted to do research on to write about so you know you know, I have a good time with it, so there are some people I know who hated their dissertation topic.

00:20:19.800 –> 00:20:19.920 Joseph McElroy: and

00:20:20.910 –> 00:20:26.310 Daniel Pierce: You know they hate their research but they’re kind of stuck because of the requirements of their tenure whatever and.

00:20:27.120 –> 00:20:36.510 Daniel Pierce: I’ve just been able to do what I want, so I have a good time and I get to do research by you know going hiking in the mountains or going to a stock car race or hanging out with moonshine are.

00:20:36.510 –> 00:20:37.530 Joseph McElroy: not bad research.

00:20:37.530 –> 00:20:41.670 Daniel Pierce: Right like that are traveling in the West, recently, you know.

00:20:41.850 –> 00:20:49.590 Joseph McElroy: how did you get I don’t know if it’s lucky or whatever that actually get to come back to your hometown to be a professor for so long.

00:20:49.860 –> 00:20:54.600 Daniel Pierce: It was totally accidental I was in graduate school finishing up and.

00:20:55.950 –> 00:20:58.500 Daniel Pierce: One-year position opened up at marcell.

00:20:59.730 –> 00:21:07.740 Daniel Pierce: University and did that, for a year and then I was fortunate enough to get a one year deal at unc asheville.

00:21:08.880 –> 00:21:21.390 Daniel Pierce: And then I was fortunate enough to get a one-year deal at Western Carolina University and then I kind of adjunct it for a while and, finally, I think unc Asheville figured I wasn’t going to go away and they finally hired me on the tenure track.

00:21:22.590 –> 00:21:24.150 Daniel Pierce: Oh yeah and.

00:21:24.480 –> 00:21:25.110 Joseph McElroy: She actually.

00:21:25.140 –> 00:21:31.320 Joseph McElroy: A very interesting place you know we were we moved on right there right, so I paid attention to what you know I actually.

00:21:31.740 –> 00:21:39.600 Joseph McElroy: You know I’ve been an artist I’ve been in some museums and things but yeah one of my first actually my first formal training in art.

00:21:40.110 –> 00:21:48.780 Joseph McElroy: was at unc Asheville I mean I’d gone to do and then had a career in technology and I burned out for a little while and just sort of tooled around in my first formal training.

00:21:49.230 –> 00:21:58.980 Joseph McElroy: of any sort of school was at unc Asheville before I moved on up North and went to other places, but so sort of fun for me to be live in there, you know it’s.

00:22:00.690 –> 00:22:08.970 Joseph McElroy: it’s a great place that they’re having something very soon that thing is interesting you’re having a world-class conference called the idea festival.

00:22:09.390 –> 00:22:09.930 Daniel Pierce: yeah.

00:22:10.050 –> 00:22:10.950 Joseph McElroy: Pretty crazy right.

00:22:11.190 –> 00:22:11.940 Daniel Pierce: yeah I got.

00:22:15.660 –> 00:22:16.530 Daniel Pierce: yeah lots of.

00:22:18.270 –> 00:22:20.610 Daniel Pierce: Speakers john meacham.

00:22:21.450 –> 00:22:23.430 Joseph McElroy: My major people really.

00:22:23.880 –> 00:22:29.850 Joseph McElroy: yeah I am in the middle of moving I’m still doing this, I can’t go, but I probably go next year, it looks great.

00:22:30.300 –> 00:22:47.580 Joseph McElroy: yeah so your books and articles cover a pretty wide range of subjects, all of them interested you already started mentioning them, but in 19 to 2010 you released real NASCAR white lightning red clay and bill big bill France was that your first book.

00:22:48.300 –> 00:22:58.080 Daniel Pierce: Now that was the second, the first one was 10 years before that actually was my dissertation it was on it’s called the great smokies from natural habitat to the national park and it’s.

00:22:59.130 –> 00:23:10.800 Daniel Pierce: That was one of the great smoky mountain National Park, so it kind of cast that’s kind of been, I guess, if I have an area, you know for my books are related to the great smoky mountains so.

00:23:12.030 –> 00:23:15.120 Joseph McElroy: He looks are your series on Nascar to and moonshine so you have.

00:23:15.450 –> 00:23:15.900 yeah.

00:23:18.360 –> 00:23:22.230 Daniel Pierce: yeah there’s some overlap there, so I did the NASCAR book and then.

00:23:23.310 –> 00:23:35.610 Daniel Pierce: A guy with the great smoky mountains, association, and editor there asked me to do a book on moonshine the smokies, and then that turned into a bigger book I’ll moonshine in North Carolina so well.

00:23:35.970 –> 00:23:39.390 Daniel Pierce: So they all kind of run together in kind of a weird way.

00:23:40.230 –> 00:23:44.670 Joseph McElroy: Why why, why did you write a book on NASCAR, I will get what was their interest there.

00:23:45.210 –> 00:23:55.230 Daniel Pierce: Well, the big thing I always you know I grew up and I put it within earshot of the what they call the new Asheville speedway or the or the river, which was kind of a leg.

00:23:56.700 –> 00:24:00.840 Daniel Pierce: yeah dental Nam boy road and West Asheville and it was a big hang out.

00:24:02.550 –> 00:24:14.580 Daniel Pierce: I was kind of well easily influenced by my brother my older brother and he was all about kind of living down your West Asheville roots and.

00:24:14.940 –> 00:24:27.510 Daniel Pierce: and your redneck roots in and hanging out with the North Asheville kids and all that, so I always I never went to a race there, I never thought about we just didn’t do that kind of thing you know Baptist preacher son and.

00:24:27.900 –> 00:24:31.920 Daniel Pierce: and always kind of make fun of it, but then I had a roommate at Western.

00:24:32.700 –> 00:24:36.810 Daniel Pierce: Western Carolina who was avid I mean he still is and.

00:24:38.310 –> 00:24:47.520 Daniel Pierce: And he kept trying to get me to get a races and then finally right, as I was finishing up my PhD work at Tennessee he was living in East Tennessee.

00:24:48.360 –> 00:24:56.400 Daniel Pierce: He said I got take it so got a couple of tickets to Bristol why don’t you come to go with me, and so I thought well you can’t call yourself a southern historian if you’ve.

00:24:56.910 –> 00:24:57.600 Joseph McElroy: never been done.

00:24:58.770 –> 00:25:06.930 Daniel Pierce: You know, and so that was 1994 and I went to my first race was night race at Bristol I don’t have a clue about anything.

00:25:07.860 –> 00:25:17.760 Daniel Pierce: the first thing he didn’t say anything about how loud, it was and I didn’t have any earplugs or anything I thought I was going to go deaf and so fortunately I had a strap on my sunglasses and I was able to stuff that my ears and.

00:25:18.360 –> 00:25:31.530 Daniel Pierce: And, but the thing that got me, I think I mean the racing was incredible I mean it was just really exciting, but the thing that got me where the fans that just were unreal I mean just the past.

00:25:32.190 –> 00:25:34.680 Daniel Pierce: fanatics yeah yeah there was a guy.

00:25:35.040 –> 00:25:37.050 Joseph McElroy: What explains that popularity yeah.

00:25:37.110 –> 00:25:41.250 Daniel Pierce: You know I don’t know I don’t see it as intense as it was at that.

00:25:42.570 –> 00:25:58.980 Daniel Pierce: But it was intense and I’ll never forget, there was a guy sitting in front of us and we were way up near the top and we’re 100 rose up or more, and this guy was sitting if he had a big old cooler he brought he and I don’t know how many beers he driving but.

00:25:59.130 –> 00:26:13.560 Daniel Pierce: yeah but he would they at bristol’s a half mile track so they’re coming by every 16 1516 seconds this guy would stand up every time Dale Earnhardt’s car came by and she didn’t bark.

00:26:14.820 –> 00:26:16.290 Joseph McElroy: Ah, so.

00:26:16.650 –> 00:26:18.840 Joseph McElroy: If it goes a little bit like pro wrestling there they.

00:26:21.300 –> 00:26:22.140 Joseph McElroy: Had a little bit of a.

00:26:24.210 –> 00:26:27.450 Joseph McElroy: Of a character that represented yeah.

00:26:27.510 –> 00:26:40.920 Daniel Pierce: yeah but I mean there was a lot of that kind of it was very almost a moral drama almost, particularly at that time Jeff Gordon was coming on the scene is kind of clean-cut California kid you know and here’s Dale earnhardt this rough.

00:26:42.150 –> 00:26:51.480 Daniel Pierce: A rough and tumble God worked in a cotton mill you know, and you know Greece under his fingernails kind of guy which is not necessarily true but.

00:26:52.110 –> 00:26:52.710 Daniel Pierce: But he had.

00:26:52.740 –> 00:26:57.660 Daniel Pierce: Any image, you know, and so it was great you know I mean it was just intense you know.

00:26:58.080 –> 00:27:05.940 Joseph McElroy: The first big name in NASCAR was William Henry Getty Big Bill France well what was this what was his position on sports?

00:27:06.120 –> 00:27:06.900 Daniel Pierce: way he was.

00:27:07.440 –> 00:27:22.800 Daniel Pierce: The founder basically the order, I mean the France family it’s unique and professional sports and that that nascar is owned by the France family still as a woman, by the France family and so his.

00:27:26.790 –> 00:27:38.640 Daniel Pierce: His brother or his side, Jim France is pretty much the head of it now, but then his his grandchildren well Brian Francis kind of out of the picture now he ran it for a while a grandchild and.

00:27:39.990 –> 00:27:50.040 Daniel Pierce: Lisa France Kennedy is has a big hand and so it’s still a family run business and then he kind of ran it with a with an iron fist back in the day and course it was.

00:27:50.160 –> 00:27:52.650 Joseph McElroy: Back in those days, it was all those guys were like.

00:27:52.740 –> 00:27:55.680 Daniel Pierce: yeah I mean it was it was a pretty rough crowd you.

00:27:55.680 –> 00:28:06.510 Daniel Pierce: know the you know there was a lot of those guys, you know got their first high speed driving experience behind about you know, a 39 for coop you know Holland liquor.

00:28:06.840 –> 00:28:08.820 Daniel Pierce: yeah right somewhere so.

00:28:08.820 –> 00:28:16.890 Joseph McElroy: trying to get trying to get the front end of one of those coops we got the moonshine room, I was well put it in there yeah so you know.

00:28:17.460 –> 00:28:30.660 Joseph McElroy: I would take a break soon, but you have you declare at the end of that book I would humbly suggest this time for Nascar to stop modernizing tradition and start embracing his tradition what’s the simple explanation of that statement.

00:28:31.230 –> 00:28:41.790 Daniel Pierce: Well, you know they are kind of hidden from their moonshine roots they’re doing a little bit more now, but I think they ought to embrace it, you know, I think that they it’s a great story you.

00:28:41.790 –> 00:28:42.060 know.

00:28:43.290 –> 00:28:52.020 Daniel Pierce: These guys, who had nothing you know but we’re very creative and entrepreneurial and aggressive you know, maybe.

00:28:52.320 –> 00:29:03.420 Joseph McElroy: Some of my relatives ran yeah moonshine and now they had souped up cars man and the stories of them racing through the hills, to avoid revenue, or is there a pretty heritage right so.

00:29:06.210 –> 00:29:12.300 Joseph McElroy: cool we got to take another break when I come back i’ll talk a little bit more about moonshine and your book so matt.

00:31:22.080 –> 00:31:29.610 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast my guest is Dan Pierce so Dan you know you.

00:31:30.300 –> 00:31:34.350 Joseph McElroy: You wrote another book you’ve actually written a couple of books about moonshine you wrote another one.

00:31:34.650 –> 00:31:51.240 Joseph McElroy: That combined NASCAR and moonshine called tar heel lightning how secret stills and fast cars mean North Carolina the moonshine capital, the world, so we talked about how moonshine helped nascar how did nascar fast cars make North Carolina the moonshine capital.

00:31:52.020 –> 00:32:03.510 Daniel Pierce: Well it’s a long story, but from the very beginning, when you know, making whiskey became la or illegal, that is, if you didn’t pay the federal excise tax, and that was.

00:32:05.220 –> 00:32:07.950 Daniel Pierce: Well, went into effect in North Carolina right after the civil war.

00:32:09.060 –> 00:32:24.720 Daniel Pierce: North Carolina from the very beginning, you know, there was a long tradition of making making whiskey in North Carolina I mean going back to the earliest white settlers who brought that skill with them and brought their skills, with them perfectly legal activity.

00:32:26.340 –> 00:32:28.380 Daniel Pierce: With few exceptions, up until then.

00:32:29.580 –> 00:32:37.260 Daniel Pierce: And you know they weren’t about to give it up, you know, and so it was too important of economic activity, they couldn’t make any money if they.

00:32:37.740 –> 00:32:48.330 Daniel Pierce: On it, if they pay the tax, and so they made it illegally and, and so it just became very much ingrained in North Carolina history and culture as hard as the.

00:32:48.810 –> 00:32:56.730 Daniel Pierce: Federal Government and then went around the turn of the century, you started getting probation and then North Carolina became one of the first states to.

00:32:58.350 –> 00:33:00.900 Daniel Pierce: To have statewide probation in 1909.

00:33:01.920 –> 00:33:13.110 Daniel Pierce: And it’s it’s kind of interesting there’s that that that dynamic with prohibition and moonshine that they really go hand in hand and part of the reason North Carolina was.

00:33:14.010 –> 00:33:24.150 Daniel Pierce: Such moonshine was so important in North Carolina and so big in North Carolina was because probation was so strong and so.

00:33:24.510 –> 00:33:24.780 Joseph McElroy: You know.

00:33:24.990 –> 00:33:35.430 Daniel Pierce: After national you know you had national prohibition when that ended you still had local option in North Carolina and so most counties were dry well into the 60s and 70s and.

00:33:36.000 –> 00:33:47.460 Daniel Pierce: Even still have some dry municipalities and stuff like that around the state but but, again, it was long time before you know, most people could buy.

00:33:47.910 –> 00:34:01.920 Daniel Pierce: Legal liquor in this state, so there was a great market for moonshine which course fed into nascar, you know as kind of a you know, a two way street, there you know you had people who who became successful drivers who.

00:34:03.000 –> 00:34:05.580 Daniel Pierce: figured out, they could make more money hauling liquor then they could win.

00:34:08.250 –> 00:34:14.640 Joseph McElroy: or an economic, it was I mean it had a it was an economic boom for people in the mountains, even though it was also.

00:34:15.120 –> 00:34:25.200 Joseph McElroy: devastating you know and a lot of social ills from it as well, but now it was like quick money right yeah there was you couldn’t get loans you couldn’t get anything else, but you could make money with moonshine right.

00:34:25.680 –> 00:34:35.790 Daniel Pierce: yeah for a lot of people, it was kind of an insurance policy, and you know, most people were not career moonshiners you know they weren’t your popcorn sutton’s you know who.

00:34:36.210 –> 00:34:43.200 Daniel Pierce: Who did it all their life, you know they did it, you know, and they were there was kind of an economic emergency or there or they’re young they’re you know they’re kind of.

00:34:44.460 –> 00:34:56.790 Daniel Pierce: You know, starting out so a lot of people, you know you know it’s kind of funny you know you talk to people everybody says Oh well, you know I in my family, you know someone so holic or something like that and.

00:34:57.270 –> 00:35:03.000 Daniel Pierce: And it was just a common thing you know for a lot of people, it was one of the few ways that you could get cash money.

00:35:03.330 –> 00:35:06.120 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah hard to get cash.

00:35:06.150 –> 00:35:18.990 Daniel Pierce: Right cash money, and you know if you’re willing to take the risk, and so you know for a lot of people, it was you know almost unexpected depend on the Community you’re in you know is almost an expected thing you know and.

00:35:20.400 –> 00:35:22.230 Daniel Pierce: And for a lot of people it wasn’t great.

00:35:22.710 –> 00:35:35.730 Daniel Pierce: You know, particularly in rural areas that when a great disability, you know the preacher might preach against it but, but the preacher understood to that you needed to do what you which could put shoes on your kid’s feet and.

00:35:38.700 –> 00:35:39.840 Daniel Pierce: and feed them and so.

00:35:40.980 –> 00:35:43.320 Daniel Pierce: And the preacher also knew that he got.

00:35:44.340 –> 00:35:47.700 Daniel Pierce: You know that money in the offering plate often came from laker money so.

00:35:47.820 –> 00:35:58.800 Joseph McElroy: I listened to all the general stores loved it, because who bought word they buy the sugar where they buy that you know the components that fed the economy in general, so you know it was a.

00:36:00.000 –> 00:36:09.840 Joseph McElroy: And then yeah you hadn’t things different you wrote a book called corn from a jar which we actually carry here at the metal Arc that explored, a lot of these issues didn’t it.

00:36:10.770 –> 00:36:13.260 Daniel Pierce: yeah like specifically at the smokies but.

00:36:14.400 –> 00:36:15.630 Daniel Pierce: Again, you know that’s a.

00:36:17.850 –> 00:36:18.150 You.

00:36:19.410 –> 00:36:21.330 Joseph McElroy: Know moonshine is good for cough.

00:36:21.600 –> 00:36:22.290 Daniel Pierce: Well, it is.

00:36:24.900 –> 00:36:27.660 Daniel Pierce: I got a freezer full of it people keep giving it to him.

00:36:28.710 –> 00:36:29.250 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah.

00:36:29.310 –> 00:36:30.900 Daniel Pierce: we’re still i’m pretty active.

00:36:31.800 –> 00:36:39.990 Joseph McElroy: Oh man I get people showing up at the motel we have our pavilion we have like a will have a bluegrass festival or something man everybody’s giving me boo chatting yeah.

00:36:40.650 –> 00:36:41.340 So.

00:36:42.570 –> 00:36:43.890 Daniel Pierce: I got a freezer full of it.

00:36:44.370 –> 00:36:44.820 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:36:45.600 –> 00:36:46.980 Daniel Pierce: I do need to go against it but.

00:36:47.880 –> 00:36:53.640 Joseph McElroy: My dad you know here’s a bunch of he probably still he used to eat popcorn he probably still have some popcorn.

00:36:53.820 –> 00:36:57.330 Daniel Pierce: yeah well I think everybody has some purportedly.

00:36:57.630 –> 00:37:01.200 Daniel Pierce: yeah a chat I’ve heard a lot of it, oh yeah I got some popcorn.

00:37:03.960 –> 00:37:18.900 Joseph McElroy: So what’s up you know, there was a lot of cultural representations of moonshiners and I think a lot of that you know was purposely you know denigrating people making them into bumpkins but what do you think is the side of moonshine that most people have never seen.

00:37:19.680 –> 00:37:23.250 Daniel Pierce: Well, there guys, there are a lot of signs and that was what the book.

00:37:26.070 –> 00:37:35.580 Daniel Pierce: Tar heel lighting is really bad it’s kind of a lot complicating I guess the image, because if people’s me to moonshiners kind of popcorn site, and you know.

00:37:36.570 –> 00:37:46.500 Daniel Pierce: Guy with a beard and overalls and they’ll truck and you know, in the file mouth, and you know and apparently popcorn was no dummy for sure and.

00:37:48.360 –> 00:37:51.060 Daniel Pierce: But you know one they were.

00:37:52.260 –> 00:37:58.410 Daniel Pierce: A lot of these people were very smart they were very entrepreneurial they were very skilled.

00:38:00.360 –> 00:38:15.990 Daniel Pierce: have often talked about junior Johnson that famous car driver and car owner, but he, of course, got his start you know, in the family business, which was moonshine but I’ve often said about junior Johnson I think he’s one of the smartest people he didn’t come across is.

00:38:17.040 –> 00:38:26.700 Daniel Pierce: Particularly intelligent, but he was one of the smartest people I’ve ever encountered often said he probably never read a physics book, but I think you could write one.

00:38:29.160 –> 00:38:31.590 Daniel Pierce: A lot of these people were really smart The other thing was that.

00:38:33.540 –> 00:38:50.700 Daniel Pierce: We had the same as the white mountain near and the fact of the matter is in North Carolina in particular and most of the South, it was all over I mean you know there are many coastal swap moonshiners is that we’re mountain moonshiners you know lower in Piedmont, it was all over.

00:38:51.930 –> 00:39:00.900 Daniel Pierce: And it was an end, and they weren’t all fly there were a lot of native Americans particularly manga lambie down the eastern part of North Carolina.

00:39:00.930 –> 00:39:03.450 Joseph McElroy: They sort of taught moonshiners about corners as.

00:39:03.690 –> 00:39:04.530 Daniel Pierce: Well yeah you.

00:39:05.550 –> 00:39:07.200 Daniel Pierce: Know actually the.

00:39:08.190 –> 00:39:17.970 Daniel Pierce: The first moonshiners in North Carolina were African American and Native American because in the 1830s the legislature passed a law that said.

00:39:19.140 –> 00:39:24.210 Daniel Pierce: said free persons of color could not make liquor or sell liquor.

00:39:25.680 –> 00:39:30.570 Daniel Pierce: And so they were making it illegally before you know before white people were.

00:39:31.140 –> 00:39:31.620 Joseph McElroy: made were used.

00:39:31.770 –> 00:39:32.640 Daniel Pierce: to watch a nation.

00:39:32.670 –> 00:39:36.120 Daniel Pierce: Plus, they were also traditions of slaves too.

00:39:37.710 –> 00:39:43.290 Daniel Pierce: apply plantation distilleries using slave Labor so like a lot of African Americans knew how to make liquor.

00:39:43.410 –> 00:39:44.640 Joseph McElroy: I knew very good.

00:39:45.630 –> 00:39:51.360 Daniel Pierce: yeah, then the other thing I think that that’s that kind of blows people’s minds was the number of women involved.

00:39:52.440 –> 00:39:55.350 Daniel Pierce: And that’s just a fascinating story, you know.

00:39:55.350 –> 00:39:57.930 Joseph McElroy: Especially on the brandy, they made from those that.

00:39:57.990 –> 00:40:01.740 Joseph McElroy: moonshine right at it out yeah for things like.

00:40:02.520 –> 00:40:17.370 Daniel Pierce: Well, if you had fruit trees, you know back in you know well before refrigeration became common if you had free trees, there was one reason why you did, and that was the to make brandy or apple jack or something.

00:40:17.370 –> 00:40:19.590 Daniel Pierce: Like alcohol from it.

00:40:21.570 –> 00:40:32.880 Daniel Pierce: Because you couldn’t you know if you had a big orchard, I mean you couldn’t preserve all that you couldn’t get to market, but you could distill it and you could get that the market and it would really sale to.

00:40:33.060 –> 00:40:44.790 Joseph McElroy: find the things that you can you know I just discovered, I can make me from hmi here at the motel and once we get our fortified wine and liquor license and I’m going to be making I’m gonna be making our own been.

00:40:45.870 –> 00:40:47.730 Joseph McElroy: A tradition to figure out what you can.

00:40:48.990 –> 00:40:50.700 Daniel Pierce: that’s right, you have it handy.

00:40:51.270 –> 00:40:56.700 Joseph McElroy: But you know I want to get to you know you said you’d wrote four books about the great smoky mountains and.

00:40:58.350 –> 00:41:06.360 Joseph McElroy: You know, and I think the first one was natural habitat to national parks it seems you’re a passionate environmentalist, can you tell us about this book?

00:41:07.110 –> 00:41:15.060 Daniel Pierce: yeah well again it’s on the establishment of the park and it’s a yeah it’s a great story, you know it’s a unique story because.

00:41:16.260 –> 00:41:18.240 Daniel Pierce: smokies and Shenandoah we’re.

00:41:19.650 –> 00:41:27.720 Daniel Pierce: Creating a unique way at that time and in the 1920s Congress said they would not purchase lands for national parks, all the national parks.

00:41:28.440 –> 00:41:45.300 Daniel Pierce: Were were in the West, and they were in the federal domain, all you did was say to sign, basically, of which federal agencies managing it so, but the Congress wouldn’t buy land for for national parks and so, but then they said, if the states will buy the land.

00:41:47.070 –> 00:42:00.240 Daniel Pierce: And we approve this land is appropriate for national park, then, then the states can turn the land over to us and we’ll make it a national park and so that’s what happened, but it was a long slow process because they had to.

00:42:02.550 –> 00:42:07.230 Daniel Pierce: They had raised the money to buy to buy the land, so they had private donations.

00:42:09.990 –> 00:42:11.730 Daniel Pierce: They had state bonds and then.

00:42:13.350 –> 00:42:21.180 Daniel Pierce: Finally, it was john D Rockefeller jr who who know $95 million to make it happen so.

00:42:22.200 –> 00:42:23.700 Daniel Pierce: it’s a unique thing so.

00:42:26.520 –> 00:42:26.730 He.

00:42:28.380 –> 00:42:31.140 Daniel Pierce: So people, the Western North Carolina and East Tennessee.

00:42:32.190 –> 00:42:35.490 Daniel Pierce: feel a real sense of ownership about the.

00:42:36.660 –> 00:42:36.990 Daniel Pierce: About.

00:42:38.460 –> 00:42:40.680 Daniel Pierce: about the park that other places don’t have.

00:42:41.790 –> 00:42:47.640 Joseph McElroy: cool well you know we’re good, I think we could take it that we could take a break, right now, and you get some more water and.

00:42:49.770 –> 00:42:54.840 Joseph McElroy: And then we’ll come back we’ll talk more about some of your books and some of the other things that you’ve done in.

00:42:56.640 –> 00:42:56.970 Daniel Pierce: Hello.

00:45:00.630 –> 00:45:11.220 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and my guest Dan peers so, then you wrote several books about the great smoky National Park.

00:45:12.360 –> 00:45:19.410 Joseph McElroy: That, I mentioned the one that was really popular from natural habitat to national party what are some of the others that people might look up.

00:45:20.790 –> 00:45:21.510 Daniel Pierce: Well, I did.

00:45:22.470 –> 00:45:26.760 Daniel Pierce: yeah I did the one on been shot in the smokies corn from a jars part of the book that sold the most.

00:45:27.090 –> 00:45:28.710 Daniel Pierce: yeah and.

00:45:29.880 –> 00:45:40.020 Daniel Pierce: And then I did a book on Community of hazel creek and swine county which was displaced and then there was a long, long controversy about the road to nowhere.

00:45:41.430 –> 00:45:45.420 Daniel Pierce: There in that in that county that was that was resolved, you know, maybe 10 years ago.

00:45:46.680 –> 00:45:49.170 Daniel Pierce: Finally, after 50 years or so.

00:45:50.220 –> 00:45:52.620 Daniel Pierce: And that’s just a really interesting community and.

00:45:54.990 –> 00:46:01.440 Daniel Pierce: And kind of a legendary Community it’s kind of now it’s more kind of a legend is a trout fishing destination, but.

00:46:01.680 –> 00:46:02.640 Joseph McElroy: yeah good job fish.

00:46:02.880 –> 00:46:03.960 Daniel Pierce: yeah yeah.

00:46:05.310 –> 00:46:12.870 Daniel Pierce: And then the, the most recent when I did I can kind of see in the background, there i’ll leave my head over is a poster by.

00:46:13.920 –> 00:46:25.050 Daniel Pierce: an artist graphic card is by the name of Joe Anderson gentlemen, our friends, when I lived in nashville 30 years ago, and then we lost touch with one another and.

00:46:27.300 –> 00:46:29.850 Daniel Pierce: He went on to a very successful career.

00:46:31.050 –> 00:46:41.580 Daniel Pierce: Start his own company and and then he gave up basically its advertising business that just do poster art full time and he has an incredible business.

00:46:42.330 –> 00:47:00.210 Daniel Pierce: is best selling posters or national park posters and so he did a book in 2016 for the for the hundredth anniversary National Park service on all the national parks and use this poster art in the sun did the text and so.

00:47:01.320 –> 00:47:06.990 Daniel Pierce: I brought in you and CA to do a program about art and the national parks and.

00:47:08.010 –> 00:47:27.090 Daniel Pierce: Over dinner, he asked me if I would be interested in doing a book with him and on the smokies, and so I said sure, and so we made about seven seven or eight trips into the smokies had some great adventures sell some really cool places it was it was so much fun to take him and his son.

00:47:28.710 –> 00:47:32.730 Daniel Pierce: Around to see a lot of these places that had meant so much to me.

00:47:33.840 –> 00:47:46.740 Daniel Pierce: And I learned a lot in the process, but anyway that turned into a book called the illustrated guide to the great smoky mountain National Park, and which is solving all the bookstores now, this is a great kind of coffee table book, so it was a real.

00:47:46.740 –> 00:47:47.250 departure.

00:47:48.630 –> 00:47:58.710 Daniel Pierce: And so that was that was so much fun and we had so much fun doing them trips together and all that you know and again, you know doing quote research in.

00:48:00.720 –> 00:48:01.440 Daniel Pierce: The park and.

00:48:02.340 –> 00:48:05.190 Daniel Pierce: Then that morphed into one that just came out.

00:48:06.240 –> 00:48:15.540 Daniel Pierce: This is an illustrated guide to the to the grand circle of Arizona and utah and so its southern utah.

00:48:16.650 –> 00:48:17.460 Joseph McElroy: niche itself.

00:48:17.730 –> 00:48:18.330 yeah.

00:48:19.620 –> 00:48:23.220 Daniel Pierce: yeah that was just out and, but that was so much fun we.

00:48:26.040 –> 00:48:28.260 Joseph McElroy: had some fun books, I saw that you Co.

00:48:28.260 –> 00:48:33.870 Joseph McElroy: wrote a book debating the merits of NASCAR versus college football in the south, so.

00:48:35.340 –> 00:48:35.820 Joseph McElroy: How did that.

00:48:37.620 –> 00:48:40.980 Joseph McElroy: come out about what was the conclusion.

00:48:41.880 –> 00:48:44.250 Daniel Pierce: Well, I won, but.

00:48:44.910 –> 00:48:48.690 Daniel Pierce: It was actually a debate, you know that was done on the.

00:48:49.950 –> 00:49:04.380 Daniel Pierce: South Carolina public radio, which was broadcast all over I think a lot, it was it was a series called tell about the south, and it was you know they brought on to scholars to discuss or debate some issue so.

00:49:05.640 –> 00:49:16.200 Daniel Pierce: So getting the party to Jackson who’s was from Jacksonville state and Alabama did the football side, and I did the NASCAR side and so.

00:49:17.520 –> 00:49:18.690 Daniel Pierce: I got whipped him but.

00:49:19.470 –> 00:49:30.240 Joseph McElroy: Alright cool and then you what have you books and I didn’t find out which one you tell me one the Western North Carolina historical association outstayed achievement award which one was the book.

00:49:30.720 –> 00:49:35.040 Daniel Pierce: Well, that was just that achievement awards is kind of a lifetime achievement.

00:49:35.070 –> 00:49:36.210 Joseph McElroy: Over the lifetime of cheese and.

00:49:36.210 –> 00:49:37.530 Daniel Pierce: Whatever book yeah.

00:49:37.980 –> 00:49:41.010 Joseph McElroy: yeah okay well it’s it’s it’s Nice, I mean.

00:49:41.250 –> 00:49:41.610 Daniel Pierce: you’ve got.

00:49:41.700 –> 00:49:45.360 Joseph McElroy: Great titles I think it’s really great, but I also think that.

00:49:47.460 –> 00:49:52.530 Joseph McElroy: That you are, you are you’re very passionate about eight equal rights and racial diversity.

00:49:53.940 –> 00:50:11.730 Joseph McElroy: And you know, and you know our associate Bob plot, you know it is a mutual friend wrote about a great book about his son and about the story of wmc are the railroad the mercury branch railroad built almost entirely by conflict Labor contract Labor.

00:50:14.910 –> 00:50:22.290 Joseph McElroy: And it was a brutally inhumane form of legalized slavery, supported by both political parties for two decades.

00:50:22.620 –> 00:50:37.050 Joseph McElroy: yeah few people are aware of this and the sacrifice made people to open up w Western North Carolina to the outside world, you are leading a committee dedicated honor to these inmates the railroad incarcerated Committee, can you tell us about that.

00:50:37.530 –> 00:50:40.200 Daniel Pierce: yeah so I live at ridgecrest which is.

00:50:41.370 –> 00:50:45.720 Daniel Pierce: One of the most storied section of the railroad.

00:50:46.770 –> 00:50:51.930 Daniel Pierce: And the big roadblock to building railroad into Western North Carolina was.

00:50:53.370 –> 00:50:56.040 Daniel Pierce: What was called a sua know upgrade or.

00:50:57.390 –> 00:51:01.800 Daniel Pierce: Or the mountain division, the railroad so it was so hard to.

00:51:04.710 –> 00:51:14.700 Daniel Pierce: So it’s about a Three Mile stretch as the crow flies but it’s it’s nine miles a railroad so it twists and turns up the mountain there are seven tunnels in that section.

00:51:16.020 –> 00:51:20.670 Daniel Pierce: It took three years, using over 3000.

00:51:22.080 –> 00:51:25.980 Daniel Pierce: incarcerated libraries in the in the north Carolina state penitentiary.

00:51:27.210 –> 00:51:28.200 Joseph McElroy: Basically, slavery.

00:51:29.040 –> 00:51:36.090 Daniel Pierce: Yes, and it was it was it was brutal and again they’re using nitroglycerin it’s very dangerous work.

00:51:37.140 –> 00:51:39.450 Daniel Pierce: Their crap together in horrible conditions.

00:51:42.630 –> 00:51:43.590 Daniel Pierce: And we know.

00:51:45.060 –> 00:51:58.350 Daniel Pierce: From the records that at least 139 of these people died in the process and countless other injuries and you know you know, probably permanent injuries as well we just don’t know.

00:51:58.980 –> 00:52:00.840 Daniel Pierce: yeah but there was no.

00:52:01.920 –> 00:52:15.720 Daniel Pierce: there’s really no I mean there have been a few books written and some you know there’s a little awareness, but there’s no public recognition there’s a and so a group of us.

00:52:17.460 –> 00:52:31.950 Daniel Pierce: Actually kind of started on my front porch over breakfast with a friend of mine, whose name is Steve little and he’s a lawyer and the Mayor of Marion North Carolina but a big railroad buff and he’s been fascinated by this section a railroad since he was a kid.

00:52:33.360 –> 00:52:40.410 Daniel Pierce: And so we put We contacted some folks and put together a committee of people from McDowell county and bumping county.

00:52:42.240 –> 00:52:42.720 Daniel Pierce: To.

00:52:43.800 –> 00:52:58.920 Daniel Pierce: build a memorial, and so it, you know it really we you know, put it was kinda like a little rascals you know we didn’t really know what you’re doing you know it’s gonna let let’s put on a show and but we didn’t have a clue as to what we’re doing, and so we just kind of.

00:52:59.970 –> 00:53:18.600 Daniel Pierce: You know what one of our committee members put together a website and we just started contacting people and got some good publicity and Western North a lot of historical associations partner with us and we were able to put a you know, a donate now button on the thing and.

00:53:20.100 –> 00:53:23.970 Daniel Pierce: They started coming in and for we knew it was OK, now we.

00:53:24.390 –> 00:53:29.880 Joseph McElroy: We got the money you know a lot of people here remember the railroads back in the day and my great grandfather.

00:53:31.170 –> 00:53:37.350 Joseph McElroy: was an engineer for the logging railroads and my man, that was a brutal brutal brutal business.

00:53:37.470 –> 00:53:43.320 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah and the slaves, the slave Labor prison Labor got the worst of it, so I think it’s a good thing that you’re doing.

00:53:44.700 –> 00:53:47.820 Joseph McElroy: And I appreciate it, you know we’re getting close to the end here.

00:53:49.620 –> 00:54:01.200 Joseph McElroy: And I want you to have the opportunity to shout out anything we haven’t mentioned or where people can look up your books or get in contact with you or however you want them to remember from this this this podcast.

00:54:01.890 –> 00:54:10.860 Daniel Pierce: Well yeah i’m always looking for folks to check out, I would encourage folks to check out Anderson design group.

00:54:11.460 –> 00:54:26.850 Daniel Pierce: Has a coffee table books and it’s just an incredible site with all you know if you love the smokies and you want to have something on your wall is posters are just incredible and so I would encourage you to do that to patronize the park.

00:54:28.020 –> 00:54:38.190 Daniel Pierce: gift shops that con lefty and in Bryson city and all over the great smoky mountain National Park I’m on there I’m on their board and so.

00:54:39.240 –> 00:54:43.560 Daniel Pierce: Just leads, you know come back to the park in a great way and they sell my book, so.

00:54:44.850 –> 00:54:46.350 Joseph McElroy: Are you on Facebook or anything?

00:54:46.830 –> 00:54:47.130 Daniel Pierce: But.

00:54:47.430 –> 00:54:48.690 Joseph McElroy: Are you on Facebook you.

00:54:49.350 –> 00:54:54.360 Daniel Pierce: know you know I’m not I haven’t done social media as well.

00:54:55.350 –> 00:55:00.210 Daniel Pierce: Okay I’ve done in the past, but it just kind of eats up your life and so.

00:55:01.800 –> 00:55:06.210 Daniel Pierce: And so I don’t but, but I would also encourage folks to.

00:55:09.030 –> 00:55:12.720 Daniel Pierce: check out rail rei l dot.org.

00:55:13.950 –> 00:55:30.990 Daniel Pierce: Which is our website for the rail project, one of the really cool things just real quickly we’ve done recently is to bring in human remains detection dogs and ground penetrating radar and have located some mass graves.

00:55:32.010 –> 00:55:43.650 Daniel Pierce: Which is is is sad and tragic but we’re going to be able to, we are looking for funds to be able to mark those places and you know.

00:55:44.730 –> 00:55:51.480 Daniel Pierce: do what we can and you know we can’t bring those people back, but it’s it’s important to work I think so.

00:55:51.630 –> 00:55:58.380 Joseph McElroy: Thank you so much for being on the show you know I enjoy the books that you read you're written and.

00:55:58.860 –> 00:56:08.670 Joseph McElroy: I’ve read a little bit of the corner of the JAR and bring some others of yours, and I look forward to seeing what you do in the future, and now we should keep in touch, so thank you for being on the show.

00:56:09.030 –> 00:56:10.350 Daniel Pierce: But enjoyed it thoroughly.

00:56:11.580 –> 00:56:22.380 Joseph McElroy: This is the gateway to the smokies podcast you can find out more about us@facebook.com says gateway to the smokies podcast as well as on the talkradio.nyc network.

00:56:22.830 –> 00:56:32.730 Joseph McElroy: or they have lots of live podcasts that are worthwhile going to look at and watch for, ranging from small business's self-help to travel.

00:56:33.180 –> 00:56:38.910 Joseph McElroy: Like we’re having here, I also have another podcast called wise content creates well, which is about marketing and Ai.

00:56:39.330 –> 00:56:43.830 Joseph McElroy: and helping businesses, you know achieve better results with their content marketing.

00:56:44.430 –> 00:56:57.510 Joseph McElroy: And that’s on Fridays from noon to one and don’t forget to check out the metal or motel call it to call eight to 89261717 for a reservation for any events or just come and visit us I’d love to see you.

00:56:58.470 –> 00:57:07.410 Joseph McElroy: So see you next week for this podcast K with smokies from six until seven on Tuesday night and until then have a good week.

In this episode, you'll learn what it takes to become a successful author while you discover the upbringing in the Cherokee culture. 

On this episode of the Gateway to the Smokies Podcast, we have a very special guest, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, a renowned author, writer, and educator. She is the author of Even as We Breathe, one of the best books of 2020 by National Public Radio. She is a graduate of Yale University and William and Mary and an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Tribe. Annette resides with her family in Qualla, N.C., and is an avid mountain biker, and a staunch advocate for equal rights, education, and Cherokee history. 

She's joining us to talk about her journey of writing her award-winning debut novel, Even as We Breathe, and her latest book. She will also discuss the Cherokee education system, the importance of language preservation, and how we can influence change in our communities. 

Don't miss this out! 

‍

Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by clicking here.

Joseph kicks off today's episode mentioning the sponsors, The Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley and smokiesadventure.com. Joseph announces that this is his first podcast as a resident again in North Carolina! Some upcoming events include June 11 with a pottery seminar with Cory Plott, a master craftsman, who will teach you how to create your own handmade pottery. On June 18th, there will be part 4 of the heritage book series with Bob Plott, free for guests and members. Check out more events at meadowlarkmotel.com. He also introduces his guest, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle. She is the author of Even as We Breathe, one of the best books of 2020 by National Public Radio. Annette was born and raised in the Smokies and a member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Tribe for her whole life. Her grandfather also has history with the tribe as well; his name was Osley Saunooke. She talks about how fascinating he was. Did you know that Osley was a wrestling world champion?! She also speaks about working in the family business and how her parents influenced her in learning and entrepreneurship.

Annette talks about getting her bachelor's degree from Yale University. She also got her Masters's degree at William and Mary. She talks about why chose to come back to the Smokies. Annette mentions her family and the connections she has in North Carolina and wants to continue to raise her family there. Annette also was a director if the Cherokee Preservation Foundation. She was also a teacher for 12 years. She also talks about her writing. Annette mentions having amazing teachers growing up which influenced her to be creative. She mentions a quote someone from Yale said to her and her mother when they visited the first time. The quote was “the best thing to do with a world-class education is to share it.” Her goals as a teacher are to create empathy and resilience through writing and the process. Some topics she mentions within this are making mistakes and the work that is part of this like the process of editing and writing. She discusses some ways she would teach her students. Annette talks about a manuscript that never officially got published called Going to Water. It's about a fictional story of her grandfather. She never got to know who he actually was as he passed away at an early age. So the character in the story was as close to what she knew of him, full of adventure.

Annette talks about her book Even as We Breathe, which came out in 2020. She says that she had read an article about the role that the Grove Park Inn played in World War II and Ashville’s role as well. This history wasn't familiar to many historians and people like herself who have lived in Ashville for a long time. She gave herself a writing prompt and spent a long time writing on the simplest object that she could think of. In her method of writing, Annette spent time in a very tiny room in the Jackson County Library in Sylva, North Carolina. She talks about the story of what she wrote. She is very inspired by where she loves and the interactions as shown in her novel. It takes place in 1942 and is a coming-of-age kind of story. Until she was working on the marketing packet, she didn't realize that she wrote historical fiction. Other topics include issues of identity, racism, and Cherokee culture. She tells a funny story about teaching her students. She also talks about her decision to retire from teaching.

Annette says that she is working on a new book, a novel that's contemporary with a female protagonist. It's set in Cherokee, which is close to home. She also does nonfiction writing for regional magazines and edits for the Appalachian Future Series through the University Press of Kentucky. She also talks about teaching workshops in different locations. Annette also talks about mountain biking. She says that she likes to be in the middle of the woods, biking fast, and being isolated for a moment from everything. She even lost 65 pounds by mountain biking. Annette and Joseph also discuss favorite trails in North Carolina. For people going to visit Cherokee Reservation, Annette mentions visiting Sassy Sunflower, a sandwich shop. If you want a country buffet, you have to go to Granny’s kitchen and get a pie. You can learn more about Annette at asaunookeclapsaddle.com. You can also search for her name on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to connect!

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00:00:34.560 –> 00:00:46.140 Joseph McElroy: howdy welcome to the gateway to the smokies podcast this podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the great smoky mountain National Park in the surrounding towns.

00:00:46.530 –> 00:00:55.020 Joseph McElroy: This area is filled with ancient natural beauty a deep storied history and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes.

00:00:55.350 –> 00:01:06.870 Joseph McElroy: I am Joseph Franklyn McElroy man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains My family has lived in the great smokies for over 200 years my business is in travel, but my heart is in culture.

00:01:07.410 –> 00:01:14.190 Joseph McElroy: Today we’re going to talk about masterful stories of the smokies but first let’s talk about our sponsors.

00:01:15.150 –> 00:01:26.400 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place evocative of a motor court of the past, a modern environment with a Chic Appalachian feels. A place for adventure and for relaxation.

00:01:26.910 –> 00:01:35.370 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on fire and eat accompanied by fine wine and craft beers.

00:01:35.910 –> 00:01:49.020 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place of old-time music and world cultural sounds, there is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley North Carolina. Your smoky mountain adventures start with where you stay.

00:01:50.310 –> 00:01:58.860 Joseph McElroy: and other sponsors smokiesadventure.com at smokies plural adventure singular dot com smoky mountains and surrounding areas.

00:01:59.250 –> 00:02:09.240 Joseph McElroy: It is a vacation destination for all seasons, some of the nation’s best hiking trails waterfalls outdoor adventures and family entertainment can be found, right here.

00:02:09.870 –> 00:02:21.300 Joseph McElroy: start your adventure by using smokies adventure.com to explore all the wonderful features of the great smoky mountains National Park, the trails the waterfalls, caves Code, the elk, and more.

00:02:21.750 –> 00:02:34.890 Joseph McElroy: check out all the awesome family attractions and entertainment and lodging you and your entire family can enjoy and also find places to do life events like weddings and honeymoons and romantic weekends.

00:02:35.400 –> 00:02:42.570 Joseph McElroy: The goal of smokies adventures is to become the leading information portal for adventures and experiences and the great smoky mountains.

00:02:43.980 –> 00:02:56.130 Joseph McElroy: got some events coming up, by the way, this is my first podcast now as a resident again of North Carolina my family and I just moved to Asheville North Carolina so work at the gateway the smokies.

00:02:57.660 –> 00:03:03.750 Joseph McElroy: and looking forward to exploring the smokies even further now being both in Buncombe County and Haywood County

00:03:05.430 –> 00:03:12.150 Joseph McElroy: So that’s events coming up is this coming weekend June 11 there’s gonna be a Pottery Seminar with Cory Plott.

00:03:12.720 –> 00:03:18.240 Joseph McElroy: he’s a master potter and he’s the Owner and Operator Plott Ware Pottery of Clyde North Carolina.

00:03:18.840 –> 00:03:29.100 Joseph McElroy: And he brings his mobile studio to our resort to teach participants and to make that to make their own piece of handcrafted pottery you’ll walk away with a piece of pottery.

00:03:29.670 –> 00:03:40.530 Joseph McElroy: He will also be selling some of his award-winning elegant and durable utilitarian decor at the event, this weekend I just saw some wonderful wine to canvas you made that we’re just fabulous.

00:03:41.700 –> 00:03:53.640 Joseph McElroy: But you will get hands-on experience with a master craftsman and then you’ll make your own pottery class limited to 20 participants and it’s 65 for each non-guest and 20 for the.

00:03:54.510 –> 00:04:08.040 Joseph McElroy: 25 for motel guests and heritage club members and then over the afterward will be a free Barbecue dinner and music with Michael Ogletree book your slot now call 82 89261717.

00:04:09.030 –> 00:04:26.730 Joseph McElroy: On June 18 the following weekend there’s going to be a part four of the heritage book series of Bob Plott and it’s free for guests and members and so please join us for yet another informative entertaining and fun afternoon of his history, food, and music.

00:04:28.200 –> 00:04:35.220 Joseph McElroy: With award-winning Author and Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center General Manager Bob Plott, discusses his fourth book.

00:04:35.550 –> 00:04:47.790 Joseph McElroy: Colorful Characters of the Great Smoky Mountains  weaves the lively stories of vibrant and intriguing characters such as the Cherokee chiefs Yonaguska,

00:04:48.450 –> 00:05:00.150 Joseph McElroy: Oconostota, Dragging Canoe and their allies such as John Watts, along with their combatants—Robert Rogers, Quintin Kennedy, King Haigler, the Stockbridge Mohicans, Francis Marion, and others,

00:05:00.540 –> 00:05:06.720 Joseph McElroy: as well as modern-day mountain icons such as Von Plott, Charles Miller, and Earl Lanning.

00:05:07.200 –> 00:05:14.640 Joseph McElroy: It will be followed by a book signing and a delicious Barbecue dinner as well, and a company with acoustic music right Mike Ogletree and friends.

00:05:14.970 –> 00:05:23.250 Joseph McElroy: The event is free to motel guests and Heritage Club members—there is an admission charge of ten dollars per person for all that are not staying there.

00:05:25.320 –> 00:05:30.180 Joseph McElroy: And then August 6th is the Launch of the Cherokee Heritage Series with Davy Arch.

00:05:31.170 –> 00:05:36.900 Joseph McElroy: Please join us in spending an intimate and enchanting afternoon with a tree true Appalachian treasure, Davy Arch.

00:05:37.710 –> 00:05:44.910 Joseph McElroy: Davy is a world-class Cherokee tribal is storing and award-winning craftsman of traditional Cherokee crafts.

00:05:45.330 –> 00:05:52.380 Joseph McElroy: specifically masks and baskets and he’s a beloved spokesman for the Eastern band of the Cherokee tribe.

00:05:52.860 –> 00:06:04.410 Joseph McElroy: The event will be followed by the Barbecue dinner and music with Michael Ogletree and Friends. Admission is $20 per person, for all these events call eight to 89261717 to reserve your seat now.

00:06:05.640 –> 00:06:13.740 Joseph McElroy: Today we have a great guest, who knows a lot about Cherokee culture and stories in these mountains her name is Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle

00:06:14.250 –> 00:06:25.140 Joseph McElroy: She is a renowned author writer and educator and is a graduate of Yale University and William and Mary as well as an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Tribe.

00:06:25.830 –> 00:06:37.710 Joseph McElroy: Her award-winning debut novel Even as we breathe, was the first novel published by a member of the eastern band of the Cherokee tribe, and his name or the best books of 2020 by the.

00:06:38.370 –> 00:06:54.300 Joseph McElroy: NPR and that resides with their family in Qualla North Carolina, which is in in the Cherokee reservation and as an avid mountain bikers well as a staunch advocate for equal rights education Cherokee history hello, and how are you doing.

00:06:54.900 –> 00:06:57.540 Annette Clapsaddle: I’m good I’m great to be here with you.

00:06:58.110 –> 00:07:05.610 Joseph McElroy: Well, thank you for it’s quite an honor to have you join us today you have a you have an interesting history and an impressive resume.

00:07:06.000 –> 00:07:15.750 Joseph McElroy: And all of a sudden, you get all sorts of awards for your writing so that’s pretty spectacular, but I wanted to start first with your background, you were born and raised in the smokies, right?

00:07:16.440 –> 00:07:21.660 Annette Clapsaddle: that’s right I lived here all my life, except for undergraduate and graduate school.

00:07:22.140 –> 00:07:27.870 Joseph McElroy: cool and you’ve been a member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee tribe for that your whole life too right.

00:07:28.230 –> 00:07:29.220 Annette Clapsaddle: yeah born in to it.

00:07:30.120 –> 00:07:36.990 Joseph McElroy: Born into it, you have some history that your grandfather Osley Saunooke was chief of the tribe, right?

00:07:37.680 –> 00:07:49.710 Annette Clapsaddle: yeah it seems Osley Burke Saunooke and he was an Eastern Chief in the 50s and into the early 60s.

00:07:51.990 –> 00:07:54.360 Annette Clapsaddle: fan, where he was not a cheap teacher.

00:07:54.810 –> 00:08:08.130 Joseph McElroy: cool well, And he was quite an interesting character in his own right, an esteemed tribal chief, a former Marine, who started a thriving tourist business in 1956 that as I understand it, is still operational today. What was that business?

00:08:09.720 –> 00:08:10.080 Annette Clapsaddle: yeah.

00:08:12.180 –> 00:08:19.590 Annette Clapsaddle: Trading first, and so the land where that is and it’s also contiguous with kind of family land.

00:08:20.670 –> 00:08:21.060 Annette Clapsaddle: That.

00:08:22.170 –> 00:08:33.660 Annette Clapsaddle: That is home to cynics village so there are several shops there that kind of threw out of Chiefs in trading paste including to nicks millen shop that my dad built.

00:08:34.890 –> 00:08:38.850 Joseph McElroy: cool well, it sounds like you to write about a book about him, you got any plans for that.

00:08:41.340 –> 00:08:44.070 Annette Clapsaddle: I think we’re going to talk later about my first novel and.

00:08:48.210 –> 00:08:57.990 Joseph McElroy:  Bob Plott, as I mentioned earlier, our Meadowlark Heritage Center Director says his relatives knew him well and hunted with him often and spoke glowingly of him.

00:08:59.400 –> 00:09:00.810 Joseph McElroy: Did you know him as a child and.

00:09:02.880 –> 00:09:05.370 Joseph McElroy: How did he influence you and your growth.

00:09:06.210 –> 00:09:22.080 Annette Clapsaddle: Unfortunately I didn’t he died fairly young from complications to diabetes, so he passed away in 1965 at the age of 59 I was born in 81 so even my dad was fairly young.

00:09:23.160 –> 00:09:39.930 Annette Clapsaddle: When my grandfather passed away but, honestly, was, in addition to being a to turn chief and a businessman, he was the heavyweight wrestling champion of the world, at one time, so he traveled the wrestling circuit.

00:09:41.370 –> 00:09:43.740 Annette Clapsaddle: So he is incredibly fascinated.

00:09:44.730 –> 00:09:46.590 Joseph McElroy: With the name from okay I.

00:09:47.850 –> 00:09:56.820 Annette Clapsaddle: heard and like I’m sure Bob would say that everybody has a story about him whether it’s true or not, what.

00:09:58.110 –> 00:10:02.940 Joseph McElroy: When they’re a bear museum there that had stuff for him as well, he.

00:10:03.240 –> 00:10:03.900 At one paragraph.

00:10:05.220 –> 00:10:08.970 Annette Clapsaddle: And yes, and that’s it same area yeah.

00:10:09.780 –> 00:10:12.630 Joseph McElroy: He wrestled so he wrestled a bear I mean I’m sure it was for sure.

00:10:17.130 –> 00:10:24.990 Joseph McElroy: You know in this in this in this neighborhood North Asheville where we moved in we get lots of bears I’ve already had two black bears in my backyard.

00:10:26.850 –> 00:10:28.140 Annette Clapsaddle: wrestling and I don’t.

00:10:30.210 –> 00:10:31.830 Joseph McElroy: i’m not planning on it, but.

00:10:33.090 –> 00:10:36.360 Joseph McElroy: I will, I will say loud noises to them.

00:10:39.660 –> 00:10:42.180 Joseph McElroy: So you’re your mother.

00:10:43.590 –> 00:10:47.550 Joseph McElroy: your mother, who is this daughter was a teacher, which you are as well right.

00:10:48.030 –> 00:10:54.390 Annette Clapsaddle: Well, so yes and no so my mother is not his daughter my dad was his son.

00:10:54.510 –> 00:11:00.930 Annette Clapsaddle: Oh, I said Okay, but my mom was a teacher for several years.

00:11:03.120 –> 00:11:14.010 Annette Clapsaddle: And my dad was building his business and getting started and then my mom went to help full time with the family business and snakes village.

00:11:15.030 –> 00:11:24.300 Annette Clapsaddle: But she taught reading, and this was before I was born and didn’t really have click in with me that you know you can.

00:11:24.690 –> 00:11:35.760 Annette Clapsaddle: You can be a teacher not be in a classroom, and so I think that she did in a lot of ways to influence me, even though I didn’t grow up knowing her as a classroom teacher cool.

00:11:37.590 –> 00:11:40.380 Joseph McElroy: So you guys, did you work in the family businesses as well.

00:11:41.010 –> 00:11:41.640 Annette Clapsaddle: Oh yes.

00:11:43.830 –> 00:11:43.980 Annette Clapsaddle: I think.

00:11:44.910 –> 00:11:47.700 Joseph McElroy: wanted to work in this I worked in this Meadowlark motel businesses.

00:11:49.200 –> 00:11:49.830 Annette Clapsaddle: yeah.

00:11:50.250 –> 00:11:53.430 Annette Clapsaddle: As long as we can see over the counter we were hired.

00:11:53.940 –> 00:11:56.280 Joseph McElroy: Right I got paid the.

00:11:56.280 –> 00:11:58.080 Joseph McElroy: diamond room to clean rooms.

00:12:02.220 –> 00:12:04.110 Annette Clapsaddle: got paid a bag of popcorn.

00:12:09.300 –> 00:12:12.150 Joseph McElroy: Did that inspire you with his entrepreneurial activities.

00:12:12.750 –> 00:12:16.110 Annette Clapsaddle: yeah you know I’m always inspired by my dad and.

00:12:16.710 –> 00:12:23.490 Annette Clapsaddle: And yeah, I think, to be an entrepreneur is you know you have to be willing to take risks, so I don’t feel like I’ve been.

00:12:24.120 –> 00:12:33.090 Annette Clapsaddle: there yet, but I can take some of the same risks that he’s taken throughout his life, it really turned out to be worth it, and but there’s a creativity to it.

00:12:34.080 –> 00:12:48.300 Annette Clapsaddle: That I have appreciated and I think I have picked up a little bit at least have that from him and I’m laughing myself because my dad was above me and lives in the House of the Hill and.

00:12:49.740 –> 00:13:05.940 Annette Clapsaddle: And we my son and I were just helping him move a major piece of equipment in a really peculiar precarious way and that kind of and I, you know there’s something that small business owners that want to do it themselves for the cheapest route possible.

00:13:07.530 –> 00:13:21.150 Joseph McElroy: I had that imbued with me, but you know until I got into my 50s I did all my moves myself, you know that includes all the heavy furniture, but I can remember, sometimes having a pickup truck with things so pile though so high.

00:13:22.200 –> 00:13:24.840 Joseph McElroy: I think, and this is a New York City, no less, and things.

00:13:25.470 –> 00:13:30.000 Joseph McElroy: You know, getting ready to fall off, but you know that was just the way you did things right.

00:13:32.160 –> 00:13:41.970 Joseph McElroy: That that was the life of the entrepreneur and the children of the entrepreneur, well, we have to go back and go and take a break, now that seems very quick, but we.

00:13:42.660 –> 00:13:48.750 Joseph McElroy: we’re having a good conversation here, so when we come back we’ll start talking about a little bit more about your background and then get into your books.

00:13:49.590 –> 00:13:50.190 Annette Clapsaddle: sounds great.

00:16:06.270 –> 00:16:23.970 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and my guests Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle today is a today’s a craft brewery from Western North Carolina is boozer but it’s the king of the mountain double IPA and I can recommend that highly.

00:16:25.620 –> 00:16:26.190 Annette Clapsaddle: victory.

00:16:27.120 –> 00:16:28.140 Annette Clapsaddle: Right yeah.

00:16:28.500 –> 00:16:39.210 Joseph McElroy: So that you have this great you had this great family and tribal support system and you became an honor student and then off you go to Yale University to get your bachelor’s degree—right?

00:16:40.410 –> 00:16:45.960 Joseph McElroy: Were you one of the first students from the Smokies to get an Ivy League education?

00:16:46.530 –> 00:16:52.290 Annette Clapsaddle: And there were a few before me did had Ivy league education and.

00:16:53.550 –> 00:17:08.310 Annette Clapsaddle: I know that there was a gentleman who had graduated from Dartmouth and there’s a Tribal Member, and then a couple that I think we had gotten graduate degrees, maybe one undergraduate from Harvard I believe.

00:17:09.060 –> 00:17:17.700 Annette Clapsaddle: don’t hold me to it, but I believe that was the first Eastern band undergraduate at Yale, but I’m so happy to say that.

00:17:19.020 –> 00:17:30.060 Annette Clapsaddle: Several has followed and after me, some and that just sent off one of my seniors and this year should be going to Yale in the fall.

00:17:30.570 –> 00:17:45.120 Joseph McElroy: fabulous that’s great no that’s always good you know dispel that hillbilly stereotyping I I got to do a little bit of that myself I got to leave here and go to go to what the school system here in Haywood county got to go to Duke.

00:17:46.260 –> 00:17:47.310 Joseph McElroy: yeah so.

00:17:47.760 –> 00:17:53.190 Joseph McElroy: But you know it can be done in this in this remote wilderness, so to speak.

00:17:55.290 –> 00:17:58.560 Joseph McElroy: And then you went to you got your master’s degree at William and Mary.

00:17:59.100 –> 00:17:59.790 Joseph McElroy: And you.

00:17:59.850 –> 00:18:06.720 Joseph McElroy: and could probably have gotten a great job in any major city in the world, but yet you chose to come back home to the Smokies—why?

00:18:07.350 –> 00:18:25.410 Annette Clapsaddle: yeah you know I did think for a short time about you know public policy in DC or something like that, but and I always tell people that you know so many people work their whole lives, so they can retire to this area, why don’t I just start from the beginning.

00:18:26.610 –> 00:18:33.990 Annette Clapsaddle: there’s no point wasting time it is beautiful and certainly many family connections here.

00:18:35.340 –> 00:18:47.280 Annette Clapsaddle: My husband is also from this area as well he’s from swine county so I just had so many routes here and I didn’t you know I’ve traveled my whole life I don’t feel like I.

00:18:49.020 –> 00:18:51.060 Annette Clapsaddle: was afraid to live anywhere else.

00:18:52.170 –> 00:18:56.550 Annette Clapsaddle: But it’s just such a beautiful place to be I like this face of it.

00:18:58.110 –> 00:19:01.980 Annette Clapsaddle: And you know I want to raise my kids here.

00:19:02.730 –> 00:19:07.050 Joseph McElroy: yeah well you got you did your

00:19:08.040 –> 00:19:17.250 Joseph McElroy: Working and business and things and public policy or the Executive Director of the Cherokee preservation Foundation and the co-editor of the journal.

00:19:17.670 –> 00:19:24.840 Joseph McElroy: Of Cherokee studies, but then you took your master’s and your Ivy league degree and you became a teacher was the teacher for 11 years in high school.

00:19:26.370 –> 00:19:26.760 Joseph McElroy: wasn’t.

00:19:28.140 –> 00:19:30.540 Joseph McElroy: That was an interesting choice what made that choice have.

00:19:31.800 –> 00:19:45.240 Annette Clapsaddle: yeah so well I just completed my 12th year there was a little bit of a break, there were loud, while I was at the foundation, but I’ve known since I was little that I wanted to be a teacher I’m not exactly sure why.

00:19:47.430 –> 00:20:01.230 Annette Clapsaddle: But we had a garden out in front of our house and they’re the really big rocks different places in the garden, and so I made one of the biggest rocks was a teacher’s desk and then they were student desk rocks.

00:20:02.640 –> 00:20:09.300 Annette Clapsaddle: So my brother he’s three years older than me went off to school to you know kindergarten and.

00:20:09.870 –> 00:20:24.570 Annette Clapsaddle: How is playing school in our garden there’s been something about teaching since I was little and that’s interested me but I’ve also been so blessed with incredible incredible teachers throughout my life.

00:20:25.650 –> 00:20:31.770 Annette Clapsaddle: You know, public I was a public school student kindergarten through high school.

00:20:31.980 –> 00:20:33.330 Annette Clapsaddle: Meeting yes.

00:20:34.560 –> 00:20:47.370 Annette Clapsaddle: And just had phenomenal teachers and I wanted to be like the English teachers, I had who always encouraged my creativity and writing.

00:20:47.850 –> 00:20:54.480 Joseph McElroy: I saw a quote where you in a magazine, where you said, the best thing to do with a world-class education is to share it.

00:20:55.050 –> 00:20:55.980 Annette Clapsaddle: Yes, so.

00:20:56.280 –> 00:20:59.640 Annette Clapsaddle: The Director of the teacher prep program at Yale.

00:21:00.810 –> 00:21:04.710 Annette Clapsaddle: is responsible for that quote because I stepped down to the campus.

00:21:05.730 –> 00:21:11.340 Annette Clapsaddle: At Yale new haven Connecticut and my mom is with me revisiting and.

00:21:12.630 –> 00:21:30.090 Annette Clapsaddle: We were introduced to the director of the teacher prep program and my mom who is very practical looked at him and says why would she go to Yale to become a teacher and he said that’s, the best thing you can do with a world-class education.

00:21:31.770 –> 00:21:33.510 Annette Clapsaddle: Today and my mom was, like all right good.

00:21:34.800 –> 00:21:46.830 Joseph McElroy: yo there you go wow so, but now you also started writing, and in fact, in 2012 years sort of had a little success at it when did you first start writing?

00:21:47.760 –> 00:22:05.970 Annette Clapsaddle: I read in my whole life, and you know I as I again I had these great teachers, so I still have these books that we made an elementary school out of you know cardboard and lined paper that we would take together and.

00:22:07.080 –> 00:22:11.040 Annette Clapsaddle: I think my first writing contest was.

00:22:13.230 –> 00:22:15.780 Annette Clapsaddle: It was either late middle school early.

00:22:18.060 –> 00:22:20.490 Annette Clapsaddle: High School i’m actually i’m looking at.

00:22:21.690 –> 00:22:34.860 Annette Clapsaddle: Night so my dad got me this very present I’m looking at a framed check and this is the first time I got paid for it my writing and because it was the first time I want a writing contest it happened big poetry which not my thing.

00:22:35.910 –> 00:22:38.550 Annette Clapsaddle: But the date on the check is 1995.

00:22:39.780 –> 00:22:47.910 Annette Clapsaddle: Freshman year I guess of high school is, I guess, if you know if you’re entering contests you’re getting a little serious about it.

00:22:48.930 –> 00:22:52.050 Joseph McElroy: let’s go see you are, you are actually very serious early on.

00:22:52.530 –> 00:23:00.330 Joseph McElroy: yeah that’s pretty cool and then you continue it, I mean a lot of people have the romance of being a writer, but don’t follow through.

00:23:00.840 –> 00:23:09.300 Joseph McElroy: it’s nice Now I understand you know you’re you know you’ve been writing on the side because you’re a teacher but you’ve been using your experiences.

00:23:09.960 –> 00:23:19.980 Joseph McElroy: Such as manuscripts as submissions finding agent rejects and notice, etc, with your so you’ve been sharing those experiences with your students why Why are you doing that?

00:23:20.370 –> 00:23:24.120 Annette Clapsaddle: yeah well rejections a great teacher and I had plenty of it.

00:23:27.090 –> 00:23:27.810 Annette Clapsaddle: You know, I think.

00:23:29.010 –> 00:23:41.040 Annette Clapsaddle: my goal as a teacher is to one create empathy through literature, but also a sense of resilience in the writing process so.

00:23:42.900 –> 00:23:57.780 Annette Clapsaddle: you know I tried to balance, as she lives her, I was teaching and writing and then I realized how much I was learning as a student of literature, through my own process as a writer, so I.

00:23:59.700 –> 00:24:13.950 Annette Clapsaddle: Would talk to students about what does a query letter look like and what’s important to share, about a story, you know that I’m trying to pitch or whatnot and about the mistakes, I would make.

00:24:15.060 –> 00:24:23.880 Annette Clapsaddle: And, and how to overcome them and they love that you know their teachers, making mistakes like this.

00:24:25.530 –> 00:24:26.610 Annette Clapsaddle: But also.

00:24:29.010 –> 00:24:38.580 Annette Clapsaddle: As you know, there are really like two cohorts of students that went through the process of the novel and it was so exciting to

00:24:39.210 –> 00:24:54.630 Annette Clapsaddle: And yeah I told them I would get an email from an agent, this is early on, and then I query you know I would say okay guys, I have an email in my inbox I haven’t read it, yet here we go and I would read it to you know.

00:24:55.980 –> 00:24:56.940 Annette Clapsaddle: They want to know.

00:24:59.580 –> 00:25:17.370 Annette Clapsaddle: The classic got to witness the publication process that means, and that was a very special time and then they went through the editing process with me and with you know, not everything, but to say Okay, do you see this, this is just one page of edits.

00:25:18.510 –> 00:25:29.520 Annette Clapsaddle: Do it for them to understand it that’s part of it and then, then, of course, this last class and they think they want to go on book tour with me.

00:25:33.180 –> 00:25:37.770 Annette Clapsaddle: Right yeah publicity endemic because that’s what they’ve gotten.

00:25:37.830 –> 00:25:49.320 Annette Clapsaddle: to witness and they’ve been a part of some of my like zoom calls and whatnot and especially with the University of it’s a good experience for them.

00:25:50.160 –> 00:25:59.790 Joseph McElroy: it’s nice to make your life part of the education process, I understand that your kids now have your know ambitions to be world-class or whatever they do right.

00:26:00.300 –> 00:26:05.370 Annette Clapsaddle: yeah then it’s possible that they know somebody it becomes normalized for them and.

00:26:07.200 –> 00:26:11.400 Joseph McElroy: normalizes normalizing education normalizing success, I mean.

00:26:11.820 –> 00:26:18.390 Joseph McElroy: That you know I talked about where people follow the patterns of success right when they see patterns that are successful.

00:26:18.660 –> 00:26:31.560 Joseph McElroy: They will naturally start replicating those right and it’s important for children to see those I think it’s a wonderful thing to show them that process, you know firsthand well I can’t my tip my hat to you that’s great.

00:26:33.540 –> 00:26:40.200 Joseph McElroy: So I mentioned before, I think, in 2012 your first manuscript won an award that was never published, can you tell us what that was and.

00:26:41.220 –> 00:26:43.140 Joseph McElroy: Why I didn’t publish and that sort of thing.

00:26:43.470 –> 00:26:54.960 Annette Clapsaddle: So the title of that was going to water, and it was a finalist for him bellwether for is essentially engaged fiction and then one a couple of other awards but.

00:26:56.160 –> 00:27:07.770 Annette Clapsaddle: It is the fictionalized story of my grandfather asked listening, but I changed names and whatnot to protect the innocent and the reasons.

00:27:08.100 –> 00:27:22.470 Annette Clapsaddle: And you know, besides the fact he did the fascinating character, as I mentioned earlier, I never really felt like I’d know the full truth of who he was until I decided to make up, who I thought he would be.

00:27:24.120 –> 00:27:36.270 Annette Clapsaddle: How he might react to the situation, so I use a lot of the facts from his life and but you know it is still fiction I don’t want to make my aunts and uncles mad at me, sir.

00:27:38.550 –> 00:27:56.400 Annette Clapsaddle: But you know it got close to publication a few times and I just I was trying to find an agent who understood that voice of where I come from that initial man Cherokees very different than other tribes and never really could quite connect with the right agent.

00:27:56.490 –> 00:27:59.100 Annette Clapsaddle: So it’s challenge for now.

00:27:59.850 –> 00:28:19.110 Joseph McElroy: I think I think it’d make a wonderful movie or play or something like that, so now his life was yeah it’s got all those adventure wrestling business chief, and you know that’d be cool alright, so we have to take another break and we’ll get into your book alright.

00:28:19.590 –> 00:28:20.370 Annette Clapsaddle: Alright sounds great.

00:30:26.700 –> 00:30:34.140 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the Gateway to the smokies podcast my guest Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle.

00:30:35.400 –> 00:30:41.880 Joseph McElroy: So in that you’ve also written from any national publications, such as the Atlanta and literature hub and.

00:30:42.270 –> 00:30:49.020 Joseph McElroy: what’s your real breakthrough was their debut novel even as we breathe, which came out in the middle of covid in 2020.

00:30:49.500 –> 00:31:02.370 Joseph McElroy: And NPR put it on us best bet best books list and then later won the Thomas Wolfe literary award so congratulations that’s great so what inspired you to run right this wonderful now?

00:31:03.210 –> 00:31:15.570 Annette Clapsaddle: So I’m a few things kind of came together again and the most significant was that I had read an article in Nashville SIS and times.

00:31:16.530 –> 00:31:23.970 Annette Clapsaddle: about the role the growth park plays in World War Two, the summer of 19 and actually.

00:31:24.390 –> 00:31:35.820 Annette Clapsaddle: It was that article is really that actual role and during World War Two and there was a small paragraph about the growth parks role and during that time and so.

00:31:36.600 –> 00:31:50.460 Annette Clapsaddle: You know, it said that the growth part held access and diplomats and foreign nationals are prisoners of war, the summer of 1942 and, as you mentioned earlier I’ve lived here my entire life and I had never heard that his.

00:31:50.760 –> 00:31:51.810 Joseph McElroy: motive either yeah.

00:31:52.710 –> 00:31:54.060 Annette Clapsaddle: And a lot of the people.

00:31:55.410 –> 00:31:56.160 Annette Clapsaddle: Who.

00:31:56.400 –> 00:31:56.850 Annette Clapsaddle: You know.

00:31:57.390 –> 00:32:06.120 Annette Clapsaddle: A lot of local the stories that are that’s where my husband is a former history teacher they were also not familiar.

00:32:06.480 –> 00:32:12.150 Annette Clapsaddle: With that history so that’s enough of a mystery, and for me to dig into a little bit more.

00:32:12.720 –> 00:32:22.650 Annette Clapsaddle: And so I’d also given myself a writing prompt and this is after like the first novel I couldn’t get published and I just was going to start something new.

00:32:23.040 –> 00:32:31.380 Annette Clapsaddle: And so I’ve given myself a writing prompt right as long as I possibly could and on the simplest object, I could think of.

00:32:31.800 –> 00:32:48.030 Annette Clapsaddle: me some reason, I chose a bone a clean bone and I worked for a very long time in a very tiny room in the Jackson county library in Sylva North Carolina, and out of that piece and really thinking about.

00:32:49.800 –> 00:33:02.160 Annette Clapsaddle: You know what we leave behind and and and how we are judged on earth and how those things are often counter counter-intuitive right and.

00:33:02.940 –> 00:33:21.030 Annette Clapsaddle: I decided that I wanted to see what would happen if I took a member of a sovereign nation so county sequoia is the protagonist who lives, who leaves Cherokee to go work at the grove park in and forgets the don’t know the growth part is.

00:33:22.230 –> 00:33:33.510 Annette Clapsaddle: A very high-class resort so President stays there girl said, you know, instead of counting guys to work there is a very different.

00:33:33.960 –> 00:33:48.510 Annette Clapsaddle: and social environment but it’s also during wartime so this question of citizenship and belonging in place all becomes really relevant so and it was a really a setting driven novel.

00:33:49.020 –> 00:33:55.950 Annette Clapsaddle: which seems odd to me to write you know and but it made a lot of sense and to really kind of turn up the heat.

00:33:57.120 –> 00:33:57.480 Annette Clapsaddle: Like.

00:33:57.810 –> 00:34:00.420 Joseph McElroy: That doesn’t strike me as odd about you, I mean you.

00:34:00.480 –> 00:34:01.080 Joseph McElroy: You love.

00:34:01.170 –> 00:34:07.650 Joseph McElroy: The settings of the mountains, you came back to live in it, you know I think settings is actually something that is is important to you.

00:34:08.250 –> 00:34:12.810 Annette Clapsaddle: yeah absolutely and daily inspired.

00:34:13.830 –> 00:34:33.030 Annette Clapsaddle: By where I live, and the people of this place and in our interactions with this place, so I you know I just I think prior to that I always thought well novels are you like plot-driven or the character-driven but this setting really kind of exploded into the narrative.

00:34:34.050 –> 00:34:51.180 Joseph McElroy: So it takes place in 1942 and it’s interesting you deal with you know, a love story coming age story now I’ve you know I’ve just started the novel you know I just moved to Asheville but you know we move new near to the growth park in.

00:34:53.190 –> 00:35:03.840 Joseph McElroy: And yeah Bob Bob was telling me about you and I got the book and I’ve started writing, but I had a lot of time to finish it, so I don’t know all of it but Bob it says it’s a masterpiece or a.

00:35:06.840 –> 00:35:16.020 Joseph McElroy: History Western North Carolina and I believe he’s very good at that sort of thing but it’s interesting already that I’m seeing you’re also dealing with issues of citizenship.

00:35:16.380 –> 00:35:30.450 Joseph McElroy: Identity and racism, all the concepts that we’re debating and dealing with today, was that purposeful or came about just from the characters and setting.

00:35:31.440 –> 00:35:42.720 Annette Clapsaddle: In some ways, it was purposeful, and even from the earliest writing exercise thinking about the phone and he reminded me of when I worked in.

00:35:43.800 –> 00:35:54.840 Annette Clapsaddle: Our chief’s office at one time after graduate school as a writer, I was lucky enough to have the office right next door to a political figure.

00:35:56.760 –> 00:35:57.960 Annette Clapsaddle: Because I could hear through the wall.

00:36:01.530 –> 00:36:11.520 Annette Clapsaddle: Remember, one day, and he had open another local politician, the nontribal politician come in and they were discussing this.

00:36:12.240 –> 00:36:25.500 Annette Clapsaddle: Expansion of airport runway that would unearth Cherokee burial sites and I remember, they were obviously at odds about what was about what.

00:36:26.160 –> 00:36:37.560 Annette Clapsaddle: this would happen and the chief explained to him that it is the same as going up to the graveyard and digging up that man’s grandmother.

00:36:37.860 –> 00:36:53.820 Annette Clapsaddle: And I’d never heard it explained so simply, is that right that we are oftentimes people think, and as native American bones as artifacts as opposed to you know the human remains that we consider.

00:36:55.020 –> 00:37:16.500 Annette Clapsaddle: Members, so I think you know early on, I was thinking about the political and racial and Aafia implications of this story, but just that and I didn’t really consider that I was writing historical fiction until I was working on the marketing packet for my publisher.

00:37:19.020 –> 00:37:20.100 Annette Clapsaddle: Oh, this is his story.

00:37:22.950 –> 00:37:35.040 Annette Clapsaddle: But it does feel so relevant to me so many of the issues, unfortunately, are still relevant today and I wanted to use them as a lens to look at those issues that are in the news today.

00:37:36.000 –> 00:37:44.790 Joseph McElroy: wow when you also wrote, both from the male and female perspective, and I think that that takes a little bit of talent, how did you nail that.

00:37:45.630 –> 00:37:53.820 Annette Clapsaddle: Well yeah I often get asked about your writing from a young male perspective, and then I remind people that I taught high school for a dozen years.

00:37:55.800 –> 00:37:59.370 Annette Clapsaddle: diet and have an older brother and I grew up with.

00:37:59.880 –> 00:38:07.710 Annette Clapsaddle: You know male cousins I have two boys that I’m raising you to know I’m really I’ve been inundated.

00:38:08.760 –> 00:38:09.570 Annette Clapsaddle: With a male.

00:38:09.960 –> 00:38:17.190 Annette Clapsaddle: voice in perspective but, and you know also want to be respectful that I’m doing it accurately so.

00:38:18.000 –> 00:38:25.410 Joseph McElroy: I think it’s I think that your interaction with your students, has been a tremendous benefit for you in terms of writing and then I’ve seen some of the.

00:38:26.190 –> 00:38:34.590 Joseph McElroy: Reference things I love the story of your student who’s on a zoom call with some new Yorkers and references prep his preference pronoun is yours.

00:38:37.170 –> 00:38:37.890 Annette Clapsaddle: story.

00:38:39.600 –> 00:38:42.630 Annette Clapsaddle: We were very rural hospital.

00:38:43.980 –> 00:38:53.850 Annette Clapsaddle: Family in the mountains and were paired with Fieldston in New York City, which some of your listeners may be familiar with a private school.

00:38:55.560 –> 00:39:11.490 Annette Clapsaddle: And you know the New York kids were like automated that they gave their pronouns and in our students, this was a few years ago to were taken aback when that question came up on this thing called.

00:39:14.130 –> 00:39:16.620 Annette Clapsaddle: This kid he just said, my pronouns y’all.

00:39:19.980 –> 00:39:20.670 Joseph McElroy: hey good.

00:39:22.530 –> 00:39:22.980 Joseph McElroy: Good.

00:39:27.270 –> 00:39:29.520 Joseph McElroy: Well that’s great, so I think that’s.

00:39:31.140 –> 00:39:35.460 Joseph McElroy: I think that says a lot about she was a great writer and as a teacher that your students are.

00:39:37.590 –> 00:39:54.480 Joseph McElroy: letters are you know that are really involved and really able to you’ve really educated them to deal with the society, and you know and they’ve been helped you bring that into your writing so congratulations I think that’s that is the definition of success, I think.

00:39:56.010 –> 00:40:10.200 Joseph McElroy: So life is going great for you and you’ve been a great teacher for over a decade living your dream in the smokies with your husband who’s also a teacher and your sons and your debut is a huge success.

00:40:11.940 –> 00:40:17.010 Joseph McElroy: This year you’ve sort of turned things upside down, did you decide to retire from teaching.

00:40:18.810 –> 00:40:20.730 Joseph McElroy: Writing and family and other projects.

00:40:21.150 –> 00:40:24.030 Annette Clapsaddle: yeah my husband says, I can’t use the word retire.

00:40:25.530 –> 00:40:26.070 Joseph McElroy: Okay.

00:40:26.370 –> 00:40:28.920 Annette Clapsaddle: not officially retired and no.

00:40:31.110 –> 00:40:45.090 Annette Clapsaddle: It was a tough decision, I really do love teaching I love my students, and but I, you know the book came out in 2020 and since then it’s been a full sprint just with and.

00:40:45.900 –> 00:40:56.310 Annette Clapsaddle: publicity for the book and then it’s led to other opportunity writing opportunities public speaking teaching workshops and you know I don’t want.

00:40:56.820 –> 00:41:10.260 Annette Clapsaddle: You know I guess it came down to a decision, and then I would have to choose one or the other, I cannot keep up the pace of full-time teaching and pursuing writing you know you get the next novel out.

00:41:11.730 –> 00:41:24.030 Annette Clapsaddle: as well, and you know if you are in education or you know anyone in education, you know that the last few years have been incredibly difficult and there.

00:41:24.540 –> 00:41:34.770 Annette Clapsaddle: For me, there was not an end in sight to that to that difficulty of being a public school teacher it’s just kind of getting harder and harder.

00:41:35.310 –> 00:41:47.340 Annette Clapsaddle: And and and you know I don’t like to be pessimistic about it because I want to encourage people and but I can’t do it in it yeah just couldn’t do it anymore if I wanted to continue writing.

00:41:48.510 –> 00:41:55.500 Annette Clapsaddle: You know, it is about time but it’s also just about like brain space and energy and excuse me to put.

00:41:56.880 –> 00:42:00.810 Joseph McElroy: it’s a real shame that you have to be at the forefront of cultural wars.

00:42:01.440 –> 00:42:05.550 Joseph McElroy: Right in school that’s just not fair to the public, teachers, yes.

00:42:07.680 –> 00:42:14.100 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah and it’s really a misplaced fear that somehow you’re you know you’re destroying our children is.

00:42:14.100 –> 00:42:15.570 Annette Clapsaddle: ridiculous yeah.

00:42:19.020 –> 00:42:19.800 Annette Clapsaddle: I couldn’t do it.

00:42:21.450 –> 00:42:27.330 Joseph McElroy: I mean the bane of my existence and people can throw darts at me and want it, but I hate homeschooling.

00:42:27.840 –> 00:42:41.940 Joseph McElroy: I met too many people that are like not even high school graduates are homeschooling their kids I’m saying homeschooling to be what you know it’s like yeah yeah you’re going to do more damage than me, you know train teacher with that sorry I’m.

00:42:42.270 –> 00:42:43.200 Annette Clapsaddle: i’m being a little political.

00:42:43.440 –> 00:42:45.180 Joseph McElroy: don’t generally do about this issue.

00:42:45.570 –> 00:43:02.940 Joseph McElroy: yeah since I got three and a half-year-old twins that got to go through you know life your schooling I’m I am yeah I understand where you’re coming from and I appreciate the work that you did, and I can also understand you know, taking the opportunity to retire from that.

00:43:07.470 –> 00:43:12.570 Joseph McElroy: So we’re gonna take a break now and come back and find out what you’re doing next and talk a little bit about mountain bike.

00:45:15.780 –> 00:45:29.940 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies these podcasts and my guest Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, so Annette, what’s next for you as a writer you’re working on a new book right Is it based on.

00:45:30.960 –> 00:45:37.170 Annette Clapsaddle: yeah absolutely and I’ve been working on one for a little while now, but again I had to put it aside.

00:45:38.100 –> 00:45:53.160 Annette Clapsaddle: For the full-time job but um yeah this next novel is contemporary was a female protagonist set in Cherokee so it’s pretty close to home, I got to make sure I stay far enough back from it.

00:45:54.570 –> 00:45:55.050 Annette Clapsaddle: But.

00:45:57.030 –> 00:46:00.150 Annette Clapsaddle: I am fairly early in the process, but it’s.

00:46:01.470 –> 00:46:20.700 Annette Clapsaddle: kind of being it’s inspired by some of our traditional stories it’s not a retelling of those stories, but I have mine those for the values that they instill in our culture and I’m kind of overlaying it on a contemporary and political landscape and cheer up that way.

00:46:22.320 –> 00:46:23.730 Annette Clapsaddle: So that’s what I’m working on.

00:46:24.480 –> 00:46:26.400 Joseph McElroy: Your First Non historical fiction.

00:46:28.500 –> 00:46:29.460 Annette Clapsaddle: yeah exactly.

00:46:31.980 –> 00:46:34.080 Annette Clapsaddle: The time he ruined may be historical.

00:46:37.230 –> 00:46:40.590 Joseph McElroy: These will suck to the years of the crisis.

00:46:42.900 –> 00:46:45.960 Annette Clapsaddle: yeah because in here and now back to rethink.

00:46:47.010 –> 00:46:49.470 Annette Clapsaddle: Whether you know how could this plays into this.

00:46:50.070 –> 00:46:51.990 Joseph McElroy: Is covid character yeah.

00:46:52.260 –> 00:46:54.510 Annette Clapsaddle: yeah so I have to do a lot of.

00:46:55.920 –> 00:47:02.700 Annette Clapsaddle: nonfiction writing for regional magazines and things like that and I’m a.

00:47:03.810 –> 00:47:18.840 Annette Clapsaddle: An editor for the Appalachian future series and through the university press of Kentucky so stay pretty busy with different writing projects, but the main one that forces me that focus on the new novel.

00:47:20.190 –> 00:47:24.630 Joseph McElroy: that’s great and are you doing, are you doing how are things like workshops and.

00:47:25.110 –> 00:47:26.100 Annette Clapsaddle: Yes, yes.

00:47:26.430 –> 00:47:33.390 Annette Clapsaddle: cool yeah I think it’s nice to be able to continue to teach and even though I’ll be out of.

00:47:34.770 –> 00:47:44.850 Annette Clapsaddle: A public high school right so teaching workshops actually leave Friday and for.

00:47:46.050 –> 00:47:47.370 Annette Clapsaddle: LMU for.

00:47:48.720 –> 00:48:01.590 Annette Clapsaddle: For the festival there I’ll be teaching workshops and then I’ll be teaching a full week at John C Campbell folks school in Brasstown and North Carolina starting Sunday so.

00:48:01.980 –> 00:48:09.570 Joseph McElroy: That Bob’s been trying to put together a literary conference here, I hope you participate in that that’d be you’d be a wonderful part of it yeah.

00:48:11.010 –> 00:48:17.010 Joseph McElroy: That should be good so so I want to talk about you are my mountain biking.

00:48:19.050 –> 00:48:23.040 Joseph McElroy: enthusiastic yeah, what do you like most about that sport.

00:48:24.420 –> 00:48:34.800 Annette Clapsaddle: um well I like being in the middle of the woods and feeling very isolated from everything but also going super fast.

00:48:39.720 –> 00:48:53.610 Annette Clapsaddle: superfast downhill and it’s I think it’s because it is contradictory to how I normally am you know planner and I’m fairly cautious and.

00:48:55.050 –> 00:48:58.410 Annette Clapsaddle: This is this forces me out of that comfort zone.

00:48:59.790 –> 00:49:03.780 Annette Clapsaddle: And I mean I could talk for days about all the things I love about it, I just started.

00:49:04.740 –> 00:49:21.510 Annette Clapsaddle: writing about five years ago and, and you know, first and foremost, for even for my health I’m a former athlete I used to play basketball, but my knees can’t take that anymore I lost about 60 pounds when I started mountain biking.

00:49:24.990 –> 00:49:25.530 Joseph McElroy: I have a.

00:49:25.560 –> 00:49:29.700 Joseph McElroy: three-and-a-half-year-old son named Henry that’s challenging you to a race right now.

00:49:30.210 –> 00:49:32.070 Annette Clapsaddle: oh three.

00:49:33.510 –> 00:49:37.800 Annette Clapsaddle: My student this semester, it was on my bike and he was running.

00:49:39.660 –> 00:49:41.850 Annette Clapsaddle: He thought he could beat me that didn’t happen.

00:49:46.770 –> 00:49:48.360 Joseph McElroy: He loves to go fast.

00:49:49.980 –> 00:49:52.950 Joseph McElroy: So, what are your favorite local or regional trails.

00:49:53.520 –> 00:50:01.260 Annette Clapsaddle: And what I consider my home trail is fire mountain trail system and Cherokee and it’s really kind of.

00:50:01.950 –> 00:50:20.820 Annette Clapsaddle: When that trail system, open and I started learning more about mountain biking in general, so it’s just a few minutes from my house I get there, myself and I are Sali and near Bryson city and the Fontana area I do a lot of writing out there.

00:50:23.460 –> 00:50:37.320 Annette Clapsaddle: And oh gosh there’s Dupont and regard, and you know we’re really lucky to have so many trails around here and yeah and you know my favorite ones, or maybe not the ones that are more.

00:50:39.750 –> 00:50:46.200 Joseph McElroy: that’s why, but if you try out some of the new ones up like the new pipe parking chest up the mountain and they would challenge you just.

00:50:46.230 –> 00:50:53.040 Annette Clapsaddle: Barely I mean so all of these there yeah there are lots of new places it seems like in the last year and a half.

00:50:53.430 –> 00:50:59.040 Annette Clapsaddle: And so, all these places are kind of on my list I’m excited to have a little more flexibility in my schedule.

00:50:59.340 –> 00:51:13.590 Annette Clapsaddle: And he had to make some of those day trips and hopefully out with some of my riding buddies may be to go check them out there’s a and a group of predominantly ladies that I ride with we like to check out new trails.

00:51:14.580 –> 00:51:16.890 Joseph McElroy: cool do you have your son’s right as well?

00:51:17.550 –> 00:51:19.350 Annette Clapsaddle: They do, and they.

00:51:20.550 –> 00:51:28.110 Annette Clapsaddle: know the ride, and you know for a while, then they’ll get interested in something else, but they both had bikes so.

00:51:29.130 –> 00:51:34.890 Annette Clapsaddle: They don’t always go on trails with me and that they’re all over our property.

00:51:36.630 –> 00:51:39.720 Annette Clapsaddle: at nine and 13 Charlie and Ross

00:51:40.170 –> 00:51:42.210 Joseph McElroy: All right, almost teenage.

00:51:46.050 –> 00:52:03.120 Joseph McElroy: There you go so what’s good, and you, is there any is there, you know, one of the things I’d like to ask is a recommendation for a place to eat for people listening to the show for coming to your part of the country out in the cloud qualified and boundary the Cherokee reservation.

00:52:03.870 –> 00:52:05.670 Annette Clapsaddle: All right, and.

00:52:07.110 –> 00:52:08.730 Annette Clapsaddle: I feel like I’m sitting on the spot here.

00:52:08.940 –> 00:52:10.050 I know I know.

00:52:12.690 –> 00:52:17.190 Annette Clapsaddle: I don’t know what this one just popped into my head and we’re not talking like gourmet food, but.

00:52:18.870 –> 00:52:19.170 Joseph McElroy: I think.

00:52:19.230 –> 00:52:33.390 Annette Clapsaddle: The people that joy that’s all yes that’s a sunflower is like a sandwich shop not like a sandwich shop, it is isn’t it shop and near the entrance to the great smoky mountain National Park in the snake village area sassy sunflowers a very.

00:52:34.950 –> 00:52:40.680 Annette Clapsaddle: Great sandwich place and then I have to say, if you want, like the quintessential.

00:52:42.450 –> 00:52:52.470 Annette Clapsaddle: Country Buffet, that has been around since the beginning of time, you have to go to grandma’s kitchen and get pie for dessert you got to get high.

00:52:52.980 –> 00:52:54.960 Joseph McElroy: Five you got to get a pie yeah.

00:52:56.400 –> 00:53:04.680 Joseph McElroy: cool fabulous well this now, we gotta shout outs, you want to mention how people get in contact with you find out more about your book that sort of stuff.

00:53:05.190 –> 00:53:12.060 Annette Clapsaddle: So I have a website it’s a new asaunookeclapsaddle.com and luckily I have one of.

00:53:13.200 –> 00:53:25.260 Annette Clapsaddle: The most unusual names, so you can pretty easily find me on Google search but I’ll be updating that website and the coming weeks, speaking of students.

00:53:25.560 –> 00:53:31.950 Annette Clapsaddle: And that’s that website was developed by a former student of mine, so I gotta get to updating it with.

00:53:32.730 –> 00:53:50.760 Annette Clapsaddle: Events going on I’ll be busy all summer with festivals and workshops and things like that and also I’m on Facebook and on Instagram and I just use my name I don’t do anything special so Twitter also so just it’s Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle easy to find.

00:53:51.390 –> 00:54:04.440 Joseph McElroy: cool well Thank you so much for being on the show today it’s been a wonderful conversation I’m gonna look forward to finishing your book, especially sits in it’s in the North Asheville area where I just moved to find out a little bit about the history of that area.

00:54:05.700 –> 00:54:12.720 Joseph McElroy: yeah glad to be too, and hopefully we will continue having conversations, and now have you have your Conference at the Meadowlark

00:54:13.530 –> 00:54:14.040 yeah.

00:54:15.360 –> 00:54:17.610 Annette Clapsaddle: Maybe like doing you love to do that cool.

00:54:18.090 –> 00:54:33.180 Joseph McElroy: So this podcast is the gateway to the smokies it’s live-streamed on facebook.com/gatewaytothesmokiespodcasts as well as on talkradio.NYC, which is a network of live podcasts.

00:54:34.800 –> 00:54:43.590 Joseph McElroy: And I recommend you take a chance to look at that network there are a lot of great podcasts to listen to live, which I find to be a very dynamic format.

00:54:44.430 –> 00:55:00.900 Joseph McElroy: And I think interesting if you want to be involved in conversations that seem real and they range from small business self-help to pet care to any number of things and it’s I think it’s a wonderful network to become aware of and join in.

00:55:02.130 –> 00:55:08.160 Joseph McElroy: I also have another podcast and it’s never called wise content creates wealth, I have a marketing company that specializes in.

00:55:08.820 –> 00:55:28.110 Joseph McElroy: content and memorable tourism experiences for travel and I talked about that quite a bit on wise content create wealth so and that’s on Fridays from noon until one, and this podcast gateway to the smokies every week Tuesdays from six to seven on this network.

00:55:29.130 –> 00:55:39.690 Joseph McElroy: And I hope you will join me again next week for another great guest, and another great conversation, thank you very much it’s been nice having you here.

00:55:40.680 –> 00:55:44.460 Annette Clapsaddle: yeah, thank you for having me really enjoy it you’re welcome.

GUEST: Louisa Branscomb

In this episode, you'll learn about the changing environment of songwriting retreats, what motivates someone to bring their talent for writing music to share in an artistic retreat-like environment and the importance of having a mentor guiding your creative efforts.

Joseph is joined by our special guest Louisa Branscomb, an Award-Winning Songwriter, Musician, Bandleader, Teacher, Psychologist, Author, and Pioneer Trailblazer in Bluegrass music. She is a Grammy-winning songwriter behind such iconic songs as "Steel Rails," made famous by Allison Krause. Louisa was one of the first females to ever front their own bluegrass band, while also writing original material and playing the banjo.

Louisa has spent the past 33 years combining her talents and passions to lead songwriting events at her artist retreat—first at Woodsong Farm, in north Georgia, and today at Lyric Mountain Songwriter Retreat near Asheville, N.C. Still active as a performer and writer, she has mentored over 1,000 songwriters during the course of her storied career, including several multiple generational students.

Don't miss this episode!

Website: https://louisabranscomb.com/

‍Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

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Joseph mentions his sponsor, the Meadowlark Motel and smokiesadventure.com. Some upcoming events include Slingshots in the Smokies from May 31st to June 4th. There's also the Plottfest Reunion Weekend from June 3rd to the 5th. He also introduces his guest, Louisa Branscomb, an Award-Winning Songwriter, Musician, Bandleader, Teacher, Psychologist, Author, and Pioneer Trailblazer in Bluegrass music. Lousia started writing melodies at the age of four. She says that we hear melodies all around us and especially as a child, we have the freedom to be tuned in. Louisa says that one of the key ingredients of songwriting is putting yourself in someone else's shoes. She also mentions Davy Crockett is one of her favorite songs she would sing as a kid.

At age 11, Louisa won first place at the Alabama Student Music Composition Contest and performed with the Birmingham Symphony in front of a large crowd of about 2,000 people. Louisa says that when you compose, it connects you to other people. Music brings people together. Louisa also talks about going to Randolph College because she loved the Appalachians. After graduating, she ended up in North Carolina. Louisa says that she learned to play bluegrass music during college with a good friend who was a banjo player and fell in love with it. They even created a small band together. She went to N.C to play bluegrass along with the band and had written hundreds of songs by then. Her first chart hit was in Japan and the song was called “Blue Ridge Memories.” Louisa also talks about her reason for pursuing education and psychology. She always had a fascination with people and the human spirit. She also had been on the road for 10 years and felt like she needed a break from it. But she says that being a woman on the road in the 70s was incredible and inspiring. When asked about how she did both play bluegrass and study psychology and education, she says that her heart has always had two directions and an interest in how we transform our lives as well as how we use our creativity. She also mentions being inspired by her father.

Louisa talks about starting the Woodsong Farm Songwriters Retreat in North Georgia in 1987. She admits that many things that she has done in her life are because she is simply drawn to them or moved by some kind of passion about it. Her creativity comes out in nature like being on her farm. Those moments when we have that connection with what makes us most human, that's usually the best place to write from. She wanted to share the farm as a place that nurtured people as writers. Louisa says that songwriters who have been to her retreat on this farm have described it as safe and inspiring with nature all around whenever they would pass by and make their way in. There was an implicit trust that the farm gave and it let them give up their guard and let down their normal defenses that we all have sometimes to protect ourselves from the world. It allowed them to connect with each other and songs. Some of the things that Louisa hopes made her a good teacher as a songwriter instructor are the same ingredients that made her interested in connecting with people through sharing and understanding people's journeys as a psychologist. They also discuss the incredible impact of going to retreats not only for creativity but for life in general. Louisa hasn’t done a retreat again since the pandemic began, but she also speaks about trying to find herself within these times as well. She’ll return to doing the retreats in the Asheville area at Lyric Mountain starting in July. Lousia also sings a beautiful song for us. The process with this song was her asking how can you do justice in a song to everything going on right now? She describes it as images of it all and describes some of the unfortunate events in the world today which has also reminded her about the power of music to transform and heal. The song she sings is called “Gold in the Dark.” You can find out more about Louisa at louisabranscomb.com. You can also search for her on Facebook and her email is branscombmusic@gmail.com

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00:00:29.880 –> 00:00:41.880 Joseph McElroy: howdy welcome to the gateway to the smokies podcast this podcast is about america’s most visited National Park, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the surrounding towns.

00:00:42.360 –> 00:00:50.880 Joseph McElroy: these areas are filled with ancient natural beauty, a deep-storied history, and rich mountain cultures that we explore with the weekly episodes.

00:00:51.630 –> 00:01:02.640 Joseph McElroy: I am Joseph Franklyn McElroy, a man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains. My family has lived in the Great Smokies for over 200 years. My business is in travel, but my heart is in culture.

00:01:03.270 –> 00:01:08.880 Joseph McElroy: Today we are going to talk about Lyric Mountain and Woodsong Songwriting Retreats but first a little bit of.

00:01:12.750 –> 00:01:24.330 Joseph McElroy: Over overhead we got to talk about, first of all, this is my last podcast in New York City I don’t know you know I’ve been doing it between New York and North Carolina but now.

00:01:24.990 –> 00:01:36.750 Joseph McElroy: we’re me and my family we’re all moving down to Western North Carolina and, hopefully, I can maybe have some of the podcasts out in my backyard, which is just a forest so we’ll see.

00:01:37.680 –> 00:01:49.650 Joseph McElroy: But I will talk to you to tell you a little bit about some sponsors First, we want you to imagine a place evocative of motor courts of the past, yet modern and vibrant with a “Chic Appalachian” feel.

00:01:50.280 –> 00:02:01.740 Joseph McElroy: A place for adventure and for relaxation. Imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream, grill the catch on a fire, and eat accompanied by fine wine or craft beers.

00:02:02.370 –> 00:02:14.760 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place with old-time music and world cultural sounds. There is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley, NC – your Smoky Mountain Adventures Start with Where You Stay.

00:02:15.630 –> 00:02:21.570 Joseph McElroy: Another sponsor is smokiesadventure.com that’s smokies plural adventure singular calm.

00:02:21.960 –> 00:02:35.160 Joseph McElroy: The Smoky Mountains and surrounding area is a vacation destination for all seasons. Some of the nation’s best hiking trails, waterfalls, outdoor adventures, and family entertainment can be found right here.

00:02:35.760 –> 00:02:43.110 Joseph McElroy: Start your adventure by using SmokiesAdventure.com to explore all the wonderful features of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park:

00:02:43.740 –> 00:02:51.660 Joseph McElroy: trails, waterfalls, Cades Cove, and more. Then check out all the awesome family attractions and entertainment you and your entire family can enjoy.

00:02:52.020 –> 00:03:07.440 Joseph McElroy: And then, if you have outdoor life events like weddings honeymoons romantic adventures, you can find more information about great places to have that the goal that smokies adventures, be the leading information portal for adventures and experiences in the great smoky mountain.

00:03:08.610 –> 00:03:09.900 Joseph McElroy: there are some events coming up.

00:03:10.950 –> 00:03:20.010 Joseph McElroy: In Maggie Valley, there’s a Maggie Valley festival grounds that hosts world-class entertainment events such as arts, crafts, car shows, and music concerts.

00:03:20.550 –> 00:03:31.230 Joseph McElroy: And so on May 31 to June 4 heaven slingshots into smokies, which is a slingshot or type of motorcycle I think they’re known for the three being three wheelers and.

00:03:31.740 –> 00:03:38.820 Joseph McElroy: A dangerous thing shots in the smokies is, which is known as the super bowl slingshots events will be taking place in Maggie Valley.

00:03:40.470 –> 00:03:51.840 Joseph McElroy: And there’ll be some new editions this year, and there will be some music and shows and food and all sorts of stuff so check it out.

00:03:52.800 –> 00:04:04.890 Joseph McElroy: May 31st through June 4 and at the Meadowlark June 3rd to the 5th we’re having the PlottFest Reunion weekend the Plott dog

00:04:06.120 –> 00:04:27.090 Joseph McElroy: Is the State dog of the North Carolina and the family that brought the dog, to the United States is the Plott family who resided for the most part in Haywood County, and Bob Plott, who is the General Manager of the Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center and he is leading a.

00:04:29.160 –> 00:04:37.440 Joseph McElroy: event to bring hot hand aficionados and fans together to celebrate the Plott hound where they’ll have.

00:04:38.790 –> 00:04:50.040 Joseph McElroy: The officially sanctioned UKC bed show other compact competitions are very special warfare is raffled there’ll be Roundtable discussions with.

00:04:50.490 –> 00:05:02.460 Joseph McElroy: The Plott breed icons over history programs will be a free Barbecue dinner and there’ll be a traditional country music concert featuring Will Ritter and Tim McWilliams, on Saturday night.

00:05:03.060 –> 00:05:10.230 Joseph McElroy: This is, this is a huge event last year, everybody loved it, it takes you back in time to hound dogs on the farm.

00:05:11.490 –> 00:05:16.470 Joseph McElroy: And you get to learn a lot about things and get some memorable story because everybody there’s a storyteller.

00:05:17.580 –> 00:05:22.530 Joseph McElroy: Also to Meadowlark and August 12 and 13th, we’re having a Songwriters Camp.

00:05:23.550 –> 00:05:34.590 Joseph McElroy: it’s a songwriters camp in concert with Grammy-winning artist Jim Lauderdale and Charles Humphrey III along with Award-winning artists, such as Darren Nicholson, Clay Mills, and Charles Chamberlain.

00:05:35.130 –> 00:05:39.660 Joseph McElroy: it’s a two-day event of interactive songwriting structure of world-class musicians.

00:05:40.110 –> 00:05:47.070 Joseph McElroy: And a DEMO tape will produce will be produced for each participant and there’ll be a concert of songs from the road band on Friday night.

00:05:47.490 –> 00:05:57.480 Joseph McElroy: And a Barbecue dinner, and also our concert on Saturday night there’s going to be a unique event like no other in space will be limited to ensure individual attention is given to all participants.

00:05:57.960 –> 00:06:08.670 Joseph McElroy: The price of $670 per person includes all the activities and DEMO dates and concerts and Barbecue dinner and then their special pricing for rooms.

00:06:09.000 –> 00:06:20.130 Joseph McElroy: And there’ll be room packages as well call 8289261717 for details and there’s also a limited amount of concert tickets available for the general public and

00:06:20.670 –> 00:06:28.680 Joseph McElroy: Those are available on both Friday and Saturday night then they’re $30 each and again, you can reserve your spot by calling 82896 1717.

00:06:29.970 –> 00:06:37.860 Joseph McElroy: So somebody who knows about songwriting probably should be teaching that songwriting player to care for having a row.

00:06:39.600 –> 00:06:49.680 Joseph McElroy: She is Louisa Branscomb, Alabama native Louisa Branscomb, is a Grammy-award-winning songwriter, musician, bandleader, teacher, psychologist, author,

00:06:49.980 –> 00:06:57.330 Joseph McElroy: and a pioneer trailblazer in the bluegrass music and clinical psychology fields.

00:06:57.870 –> 00:07:11.670 Joseph McElroy: She has spent the past 33 years combining her talents and passions to lead songwriting events at her artist’s retreat—first at Woodsong Farm, in north Georgia, and today at Lyric Mountain Songwriter Retreat near Asheville, North Carolina.

00:07:12.270 –> 00:07:19.200 Joseph McElroy: She has mentored over 1000 songwriters during her storied career. Hello, Louisa.

00:07:19.770 –> 00:07:22.230 Louisa Branscomb: Good evening nice to see you here.

00:07:22.320 –> 00:07:35.760 Joseph McElroy: Yes, good, hey I read somewhere that you started writing melodies at the age of four now I have, I have a daughter about to turn four making up songs is that for 10 well?

00:07:37.500 –> 00:07:51.300 Louisa Branscomb: I think you know we hear melodies all around us, we just don’t call the melodies whether it’s the refrigerator or the birds or and I think you know in kids have the freedom to be tuned in their thinking and melodies from age four yeah I think it’s great.

00:07:52.020 –> 00:07:58.440 Joseph McElroy: it’s great, what do you remember your first saw me from or maybe soon after where you can post something.

00:07:58.920 –> 00:08:03.600 Louisa Branscomb: Yes, I do remember it or what it was about because it’s not very profound.

00:08:04.080 –> 00:08:05.940 Joseph McElroy: that’s all right What was it?

00:08:06.570 –> 00:08:21.270 Louisa Branscomb: It was called the Is she the fishy and the funny thing is, I actually have learned some lessons about songwriting from this song and the song goes is she the fishy couldn’t be much thinner so we had her for our dinner.

00:08:23.910 –> 00:08:30.150 Louisa Branscomb: Now what you don’t want to do is try to pick a word that rhymes just because it rhymes like thinner and dinner

00:08:31.080 –> 00:08:39.630 Louisa Branscomb: But the truth of the matter is, I think one of the key ingredients of songwriting is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.

00:08:40.230 –> 00:08:54.030 Louisa Branscomb: In this case, fish and feel compassion and think about what it is like from their point of view so that’s empathy is what that is, and I think whether we’re writing about a tree or a fish, of course, they don’t have shoes.

00:08:55.350 –> 00:09:03.420 Louisa Branscomb: be able to n dwell on a person whose life is different from yours and then write about them.

00:09:04.440 –> 00:09:12.570 Louisa Branscomb: I think teaching our kids to have the freedom to be tuned in and feel compassion for things around them is just a wonderful thing.

00:09:13.110 –> 00:09:28.500 Louisa Branscomb: So that’s what I learned as an adult from is she the fishy it was at a birthday party and the poor fish was caught on a hook and, by the way, that that’s probably a metaphor to caught on the hook because of the first thing that happened a song as a hook.

00:09:30.990 –> 00:09:38.700 Joseph McElroy: Well that’s good that you remember it, you know I remember my first painting, you know I do a little bit of art and yeah I was, I was yeah.

00:09:39.300 –> 00:09:57.240 Joseph McElroy: You don’t want to get yeah and there’s one school of painting trying to evoke emotion right and yeah, and so I probably would have been probably sensors I myself in that school, but my first one was a little bit over the top, it was a flower with the tear on it.

00:10:01.260 –> 00:10:08.610 Louisa Branscomb: it’s over the top, compared to what we seem to value these days in the culture, but it’s really what’s needed, I think, is.

00:10:09.390 –> 00:10:19.830 Louisa Branscomb: You know, and that you know we look back on these stories and they seem kind of embarrassing, but really they have the ingredients for life, the ingredients for arts, job in the world, which is to bring us back.

00:10:20.220 –> 00:10:30.750 Louisa Branscomb: To the flower in the tier which reminds me of you know my favorite song was a Davy Crockett because I mean I thought the idea of a frontier was just awesome and only I thought it was fun tier.

00:10:31.080 –> 00:10:31.410 So.

00:10:32.550 –> 00:10:38.610 Louisa Branscomb: my grandmother saw me playing on the rug and I said I was singing Davy Crockett I just definitely wanted to be a pioneer and.

00:10:39.240 –> 00:10:50.400 Louisa Branscomb: I but I called her in from the kitchen and said what’s a frontier, and she said well like on this rug everything past the edge of the rug that’s the frontier, and I said grandmother it’s fontier, and she said.

00:10:53.130 –> 00:10:57.450 Louisa Branscomb: Oh, I thought you always have fun and but they’re still tears and I’m.

00:10:59.310 –> 00:10:59.760 Joseph McElroy: Good that.

00:11:02.100 –> 00:11:02.820 Joseph McElroy: you’re you.

00:11:03.000 –> 00:11:04.740 Joseph McElroy: You are getting deep early was to.

00:11:06.720 –> 00:11:26.220 Louisa Branscomb: figure it all out, you know I had had an interest in trying to understand, I think the unknown and, and so I don’t know if I was really cut out to be a pioneer or not, but it was my favorite song and you look back on these things and we find you know we were probably right.

00:11:28.440 –> 00:11:36.360 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know it’s funny that you say that you know my two children, I have two and a half year old, but you know actually three now what am I talking about.

00:11:37.590 –> 00:11:45.750 Joseph McElroy: That we named them, you know short interesting names, but there were sort of classic names and we and we started I started seeing a little tune to theirs.

00:11:46.050 –> 00:11:51.600 Joseph McElroy: To their names early on, I still do, to this day, they do it for both of them because I both want to have them.

00:11:51.990 –> 00:12:06.240 Joseph McElroy: You know, to try to figure out what that what it means, and a sense of adventure and flies and it’s to the tune of davy crockett now go Henry Henry Wyatt king of the wild frontier yeah on the Rose Queen of the wild frontier.

00:12:08.370 –> 00:12:10.140 Louisa Branscomb: I’m sure that’ll sink at some level.

00:12:10.200 –> 00:12:12.660 Joseph McElroy: At some point, that sometimes they’ll figure out.

00:12:13.350 –> 00:12:18.510 Louisa Branscomb: it’s going to be Joseph, hope you’ll like the unknown territory that they decide to jump into.

00:12:19.170 –> 00:12:21.420 Joseph McElroy: They are already doing it, let me tell you.

00:12:25.290 –> 00:12:41.040 Joseph McElroy: Well, listen, we have to take a break already it’s been interesting quite so far, and let’s get back into getting into clinical psychology and other things that you’re doing and talk about your course your music all right talk to you soon.

00:14:56.910 –> 00:15:10.740 Joseph McElroy: Howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the Gateway to the Smokies podcasts and my guest Louisa Branscomb so Louisa you were born out in the Adirondacks and then you got raised, mostly in Alabama.

00:15:12.120 –> 00:15:24.030 Joseph McElroy: And you were a prodigy at age 11 you won first place at the Alabama student music composition contest and perform with Birmingham simply before an audience of 2000 what was that, like for a young girl.

00:15:24.750 –> 00:15:26.880 Louisa Branscomb: Well, I sort of froze and.

00:15:27.900 –> 00:15:36.810 Louisa Branscomb: White about 65 and the conductor was trying to get me to play louder and I just got quieter and quieter and, at the end, he finished with a big flourish.

00:15:37.740 –> 00:15:46.380 Louisa Branscomb: And I don’t I don’t remember the rest of the day, but actually as I look back, I will you know he started looking back at some point in life, and you realize.

00:15:46.890 –> 00:15:57.150 Louisa Branscomb: There are lessons in the memories that we keep for some reason, I think that that blessing and that was the idea that I might create something that had worth.

00:15:58.470 –> 00:16:09.150 Louisa Branscomb: 11 and it was a tall order for me, I was very shy, but I learned about this thing that when you compose it connects you to other people and.

00:16:09.540 –> 00:16:22.380 Louisa Branscomb: Then they’re all these musicians playing my song and and at some level, I think I must have learned about how music brings people together and that’s been a theme of what i’ve wanted to do in my life, all my life really.

00:16:22.650 –> 00:16:24.120 Joseph McElroy: No, was it classical music.

00:16:24.420 –> 00:16:36.780 Louisa Branscomb: Yes, it would was well, I mean it had a melody I mean i’m very melodic I was making these but it yeah I played it on the piano when it has to be classical music it wasn’t very sophisticated so.

00:16:36.960 –> 00:16:38.400 Joseph McElroy: Well you’re 11 but.

00:16:39.960 –> 00:16:47.460 Joseph McElroy: You had a country I heard you had a country music and singing cousin the Texas named Ben who gave you your first guitar.

00:16:47.880 –> 00:16:51.180 Joseph McElroy: And he was he brought you into the country music world did he.

00:16:51.570 –> 00:17:01.770 Louisa Branscomb: Yes, he said, you can’t play that Mexican guitar with nylon strings anymore, and I got back to college and he had sent me a Martin double I 21 and I still have that guitar I love it.

00:17:02.610 –> 00:17:08.100 Joseph McElroy: And that’s you where at random woman’s calls now it’s known or unknown is Randolph college well why’d you go there.

00:17:08.970 –> 00:17:10.650 Louisa Branscomb: I love the Appalachians.

00:17:12.390 –> 00:17:15.420 Louisa Branscomb: I think, almost and looking back and actually it was yells.

00:17:15.930 –> 00:17:27.030 Louisa Branscomb: topics for tonight that made me recognize that I’ve been like the little pin that you put down on your GPS, you know I’ve been like this little pin that went up and down the Appalachians all my life from.

00:17:27.330 –> 00:17:34.170 Louisa Branscomb: sort of up in Virginia, all the way down to the ridges where the mountain starts in Alabama and right now.

00:17:35.190 –> 00:17:40.620 Louisa Branscomb: Asheville North Carolina and I guess, they must have sort of run through my soul.

00:17:42.270 –> 00:17:45.960 Louisa Branscomb: I wasn’t aware of that, I was sort of everywhere I’ve been it’s been.

00:17:46.890 –> 00:17:47.970 Joseph McElroy: let’s kind of interesting.

00:17:48.570 –> 00:17:59.760 Joseph McElroy: One you got a long way to go, cuz you know if you consider Appalachian you going all the way up with 3000 miles, all the way, but not only that like 100 million years ago there was even longer.

00:18:00.060 –> 00:18:09.330 Joseph McElroy: a trail that broken to in the continent split now the other parts over in Ireland and Scottish there’s an international Appalachian trail so you’ve got a lot of places yet to live.

00:18:12.150 –> 00:18:13.440 Louisa Branscomb: Those delta miles going.

00:18:14.100 –> 00:18:14.970 Joseph McElroy: To get those.

00:18:16.140 –> 00:18:23.130 Joseph McElroy: So, so you said that you ended up in North Carolina after you graduated What did you go to their specifically

00:18:24.150 –> 00:18:24.510 Joseph McElroy: Was it.

00:18:25.170 –> 00:18:25.830 Louisa Branscomb: took me there.

00:18:26.160 –> 00:18:27.330 Joseph McElroy: You guys took you there.

00:18:27.510 –> 00:18:36.510 Louisa Branscomb: I learned to play bluegrass at Randolph macon woman’s college, with a good friend named Sally one guy, who was a great banjo player and.

00:18:37.260 –> 00:18:47.370 Louisa Branscomb: And I just fell in love with it instantly, and so I got a flat pick and got my steel string guitar and we had a little band and but I went to.

00:18:47.940 –> 00:18:59.400 Louisa Branscomb: Winston Salem my first job was there at Bowman Gray school of medicine, but I really went there to play bluegrass it was a wonderful seat of bluegrass music and I’ve kind of found out that each Center of.

00:19:00.870 –> 00:19:15.450 Louisa Branscomb: Of acoustic music has its own personality, so I learned an awful lot in the beginning, from the Winston Salem mount airy hills dil de lacks fancy get players and we play a lot of square dances and that’s how I got my chops.

00:19:15.690 –> 00:19:16.140 Louisa Branscomb: And me.

00:19:16.380 –> 00:19:26.100 Louisa Branscomb: I was just on fire to the right, so I had written I guess about 500 songs that I had been careful with that time and I had written steel rails so that was in 1971.

00:19:26.790 –> 00:19:29.310 Joseph McElroy: what’s your first chart it was actually in Japan right.

00:19:30.390 –> 00:19:33.600 Louisa Branscomb: yeah amazing how much you know about me that I promise.

00:19:34.950 –> 00:19:38.850 Louisa Branscomb: It actually was, and it was a song called Blue Ridge memories, here we go again.

00:19:40.470 –> 00:19:54.000 Louisa Branscomb: It was, I signed that on our first second or first or second boot hill album That was the band I had in Winston Salem with Sam signer and played with throughout the 70s.

00:19:54.750 –> 00:20:00.900 Joseph McElroy: wow so, but you know also, at the same time, you made the decision to start.

00:20:01.950 –> 00:20:08.670 Joseph McElroy: Educational psychology and education, what was what spurred you to do that.

00:20:09.780 –> 00:20:18.300 Louisa Branscomb: Well, I had been on the road playing banjo for 10 years and I decided that I just couldn’t eat McDonald’s hamburgers and.

00:20:20.490 –> 00:20:27.510 Louisa Branscomb: It was true that I felt like I needed a break from the road being a woman and bluegrass in the 70s.

00:20:28.860 –> 00:20:30.420 Louisa Branscomb: It was incredible.

00:20:31.800 –> 00:20:38.400 Louisa Branscomb: edible to be a bluegrass musician during that very creative time and bluegrass moving.

00:20:38.430 –> 00:20:41.940 Joseph McElroy: Forward Sally with the first women’s bluegrass band right.

00:20:42.390 –> 00:20:55.080 Louisa Branscomb: We met, we had one, it certainly one of the first and we bluegrass liberation, we were 1971 and up but regardless of gender, just being in bluegrass in the seven was.

00:20:56.370 –> 00:21:07.320 Louisa Branscomb: It just was so inspiring to be in that shift in the music bringing more younger players on Sam Bush and others at that time, but I also felt like.

00:21:07.830 –> 00:21:16.170 Louisa Branscomb: Being on the road, I needed a little bright to figure out, who I was and I always had a fascination with people and learning about.

00:21:16.470 –> 00:21:26.700 Louisa Branscomb: People and kind of the human spirit, how do we survive at all, and so that’s part of what led me to go back to school and psychology but I kept playing I’ve never stopped performing and being in a band.

00:21:27.450 –> 00:21:34.050 Joseph McElroy: wow so you graduated in 88 with a Ph.D. impressive from Georgia state.

00:21:36.690 –> 00:21:48.360 Joseph McElroy: You know, thanks for that almost immediately started getting the real success we know they’re either huge song or steel rails with Alison Krauss reporting recorded that you wrote it in the 70s, but it became a big hit 91 didn’t.

00:21:49.290 –> 00:21:50.190 Louisa Branscomb: um well i’m.

00:21:51.300 –> 00:22:00.270 Louisa Branscomb: eternally grateful to what Allison did with the song 1991 it had been recorded quite a few times by Van starting with Mel Tillis, believe it or not.

00:22:01.500 –> 00:22:11.400 Louisa Branscomb: Who, I had the great fortune to meet and spend the day with, and he published on my songs he recorded steel rails, but he didn’t release it, although I do have it.

00:22:11.820 –> 00:22:28.410 Louisa Branscomb: And then, it was also recorded by the make peace brothers and by my band boot Hill and Allison heard my version of it and unbeknownst to me recorded it and then I found out one very memorable night at the station neon accidentally that she had this hit on steel, or else.

00:22:28.530 –> 00:22:29.280 Joseph McElroy: Oh wow.

00:22:29.880 –> 00:22:30.990 Joseph McElroy: And what do you think.

00:22:31.020 –> 00:22:36.420 Joseph McElroy: What do you think about her version why became such a hit and how it actually brought so many new people to bloom.

00:22:38.820 –> 00:22:41.490 Louisa Branscomb: In a word, because of Allison.

00:22:43.080 –> 00:22:52.740 Louisa Branscomb: she’s so beyond gifted I don’t think there’s a word for it and Whenever she touches a song, you know it turns to a sole goal or something like that.

00:22:54.390 –> 00:23:05.730 Louisa Branscomb: I’m saying the heart of that song and it’s a very simple song and as someone who can do simple elegance.

00:23:06.120 –> 00:23:23.010 Louisa Branscomb: Is Allison she’s always had been such a master of taste and knowing when not to sing and she was so wise beyond her time so to deliver a song that I always thought was sort of dorky and simple and make it.

00:23:24.300 –> 00:23:40.260 Louisa Branscomb: In her hands so elegant I think that’s a big part of it, but I’ve also you know also thought a lot about why that particular song would appeal to people and I’m still learning what it is that makes a song connect with other people so.

00:23:41.430 –> 00:23:52.890 Louisa Branscomb: And, and that song, for example, I think it’s the images that the song has almost no conversation almost no sentences as you speak to someone it’s just a string of images.

00:23:53.430 –> 00:24:04.710 Louisa Branscomb: And the powerful thing about an image is that it allows people to connect with this energy around the image, if you don’t have an image this is too tired.

00:24:05.400 –> 00:24:14.400 Louisa Branscomb: Or to obscure if you find an image that’s universal law like like the lamp behind me on the mantle, which is an image of that TIM O’Brien used brilliantly.

00:24:15.990 –> 00:24:27.750 Louisa Branscomb: The lamp is burning on the mantle, I believe, is one of his intro lines on a song and it allows people to immediately connect with their emotions and it bypasses the part of the brain that thinks too much.

00:24:29.670 –> 00:24:37.050 Louisa Branscomb: Is married time not like any other art form because it’s married to time it passes tied to time.

00:24:38.190 –> 00:24:52.140 Louisa Branscomb: Or the listener, they have to be able to get your song as it goes by, think of it as a train with windows, they have to get every window, as it goes by, because if they get lost they miss party or song.

00:24:53.430 –> 00:25:02.220 Louisa Branscomb: the beauty of a song is that most images are people can sort of go into their own reverie about what those images mean to them.

00:25:02.820 –> 00:25:19.650 Louisa Branscomb: So I asked Allison what’s what was the image that is what draws drew her to the song since I was the last night, and she said it was the line winding through the trees, like a ribbon and the wind, and so I always learned from my songs by people giving me feedback.

00:25:20.640 –> 00:25:36.330 Joseph McElroy: Oh that’s cool so so you mean it’s very interesting me because right about the same time that you, you know you got your Ph.D. in psychology the clinical psychology and you also started your your your first songwriting camp right.

00:25:37.860 –> 00:25:44.340 Joseph McElroy: What was it the what would what song farmer songwriting treat and you want to Georgia.

00:25:45.960 –> 00:25:53.550 Joseph McElroy: And it, you know, then there’s you know there’s a history of musicians getting their PhDs like I think Dr john starling.

00:25:54.480 –> 00:26:06.600 Joseph McElroy: With the classic seldom seen ban gave up touring because you know, he pursued his professional degree more than he was pursuing, but you seem to have managed to.

00:26:07.380 –> 00:26:15.420 Joseph McElroy: work at both of them simultaneously for the next 30 years how did you manage that what made you what why, why did you choose one and how did you manage it.

00:26:16.890 –> 00:26:28.080 Louisa Branscomb: All right, I think that’s a valid question and I’d probably say that my heart had two directions and to leave either one either.

00:26:28.530 –> 00:26:33.690 Louisa Branscomb: This desire to connect with people and learn about the resilience of the human spirit through.

00:26:34.440 –> 00:26:44.040 Louisa Branscomb: Being a clinical psychologist and also very interested in creativity and how people transform life, you know we live it’s hard for everyone so.

00:26:44.760 –> 00:27:02.100 Louisa Branscomb: I think art is one way we transform it and then the other side of me I think music is in my bones, I mean my father took me to blues joint in Birmingham, on the other side of what we used to say, the other side of the tracks where mom didn’t know he was taking me because.

00:27:03.300 –> 00:27:12.810 Louisa Branscomb: he knew a lot of the people in those clubs, and I was so lucky to be touched by the authenticity.

00:27:13.290 –> 00:27:31.470 Louisa Branscomb: Of the blues in the African American people in Birmingham is saying in these dives and my father knew, some of them, because he worked with them, they had TB and some of the illnesses that he treated, but my dad played harmonica he played blues harmonica and he played stride piano.

00:27:31.860 –> 00:27:39.930 Louisa Branscomb: So, and we would walk in, and I was 12 or 13 and they go hey Doc and dad would sit in and play with them and.

00:27:40.950 –> 00:27:53.280 Louisa Branscomb: Again it’s a story I look back on and think I learned something music joins us together it’s much more important how we’re alike in life than how we’re different.

00:27:54.330 –> 00:28:01.890 Louisa Branscomb: and seeing my dad I’m surrounded by so much love and the love that he had for other people through his work.

00:28:03.120 –> 00:28:10.020 Louisa Branscomb: Being a health provider and then through his music, I guess, I tried to carry on and wear both hats myself.

00:28:11.070 –> 00:28:16.890 Joseph McElroy: I think that’s lovely It makes me think that maybe we should have our politicians sing their position to talk about.

00:28:18.390 –> 00:28:21.780 Louisa Branscomb: Why them and we should require them to write a song the right.

00:28:23.190 –> 00:28:23.700 Louisa Branscomb: They are.

00:28:24.570 –> 00:28:29.220 Joseph McElroy: I will have to take another break and we’ll come back we’ll talk about your you’re your songwriting.

00:34:02.130 –> 00:34:13.830 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the Gateway to the Smokies Podcast and my guest Louisa Branscomb and I think we have to do everything twice right now right.

00:34:15.330 –> 00:34:21.810 Joseph McElroy: Get commercials tried twice again intros twice what else can we talk about toys but anyway.

00:34:25.170 –> 00:34:37.350 Joseph McElroy: So we’ll move on alright so Louise in 1987 mentioned before you started the wood song farm songwriters retreat in North Georgia.

00:34:38.370 –> 00:34:44.760 Joseph McElroy: So, what was the concept and how did you come to own the farm and or locate your retreats there.

00:34:45.900 –> 00:34:54.930 Louisa Branscomb: um well I probably have to be honest and say that in my life, a lot of times I do things simply because I’m drawn to them are moved by.

00:34:56.640 –> 00:34:57.390 Louisa Branscomb: some kind of.

00:34:58.440 –> 00:35:10.410 Louisa Branscomb: passion about it, but then I don’t figure out the concept until later So when I look back, I know that for me when I’m I do my best, creating when I’m in nature, or at least surrounded by.

00:35:11.370 –> 00:35:22.620 Louisa Branscomb: Nature in a beautiful setting where all of the stress of life seems way far away, and for me, that was my farm and I felt like my farm gave me this connection to my own.

00:35:23.160 –> 00:35:28.590 Louisa Branscomb: Humanity you know when we’re not stressed and we’re not having to be anxious and afraid about things around us.

00:35:29.310 –> 00:35:37.500 Louisa Branscomb: That really helps dissolve a lot of our defenses where we can be in touch with what makes us most human and those are usually.

00:35:37.830 –> 00:35:47.430 Louisa Branscomb: that’s usually the best place to write from, so I think I was probably wanting to share the farm as a place that nurtured people as writers.

00:35:47.730 –> 00:35:54.060 Louisa Branscomb: And there’s something about the past as well, like when we’re connected to two people in the past, who have had a hard-working.

00:35:54.630 –> 00:36:12.990 Louisa Branscomb: work ethic which is true of the Appalachians and true of North Georgia is in the southern tip of the Appalachians with cotton farming that my farm is the cotton farm it was 150 years old and had many relics around me I was only I was the first new families on it so.

00:36:14.460 –> 00:36:23.310 Louisa Branscomb: It gave me a connection deep deeper than my life, you know to other lives, where music was so important, were the two.

00:36:24.000 –> 00:36:35.880 Louisa Branscomb: Girls in the family, saying, listen to the mockingbird and put salt on there, you know they lift salt, out of a spoon because I thought it made me sing better and when they played on my album there was like salt all over the floor.

00:36:37.260 –> 00:36:44.880 Louisa Branscomb: You know these things that brought me back to the essential Appalachian heritage, like a song like listening to a mockingbird.

00:36:46.290 –> 00:36:50.040 Louisa Branscomb: That grounded me and my own creativity so though I’ve tried to be.

00:36:51.720 –> 00:36:55.590 Louisa Branscomb: New or have my own unique way of writing as we all do.

00:36:56.280 –> 00:37:04.440 Louisa Branscomb: I’m very aware that it comes from this thread that goes deep into the heart of the mountains, that I come from, and that that’s a big part of me, so I try to.

00:37:04.740 –> 00:37:16.410 Louisa Branscomb: I try to bring that setting to other writers and that that cultural history we don’t have to talk about you can just look at like the old ironing board in the corner over here, am I going to write why.

00:37:17.640 –> 00:37:20.250 Louisa Branscomb: you’re here it is over there.

00:37:21.270 –> 00:37:24.060 Louisa Branscomb: is a reminder of.

00:37:25.740 –> 00:37:35.910 Louisa Branscomb: When life was not easier, but more transparent, simpler than we all need, I think it helps us to reconnect with ourselves.

00:37:36.810 –> 00:37:49.860 Joseph McElroy: Is that what was the so bringing people into a sort of elemental environment was part of the plan for the songwriting retreat, it was actually a real retreat from everything.

00:37:50.430 –> 00:37:58.290 Louisa Branscomb: A real retreat and then we always had a theme that somehow was designed to make a place that was.

00:37:59.340 –> 00:38:02.880 Louisa Branscomb: nurturing and inspirational for songwriters and that.

00:38:03.540 –> 00:38:09.540 Louisa Branscomb: And I think that the farm itself was the biggest teacher without being spelled out when people.

00:38:09.810 –> 00:38:19.680 Louisa Branscomb: And I’ve had this feedback from songwriters now, for you know 35 years is that when they cross the threshold to the farm they felt in another world that was safe.

00:38:20.070 –> 00:38:30.000 Louisa Branscomb: and inspiring with nature all around and the songs of the birds and the songs of the attractor in the distance and the train and the distance all of these things.

00:38:31.260 –> 00:38:41.400 Louisa Branscomb: Let I think lead people dissolve these normal defenses that we have to protect us from the world, and let us connect more quickly with each other and trust each other.

00:38:42.420 –> 00:38:59.250 Louisa Branscomb: sort of there was just an implicit trust that the farm, I think, gave and that allowed us to be better songwriters and to listen to each other’s work and be inspired because you didn’t have to try to protect yourself a world away from the real world.

00:39:00.150 –> 00:39:04.620 Joseph McElroy: And and did you combine your psychology into your retreats as well.

00:39:05.370 –> 00:39:17.310 Louisa Branscomb: But not in an intentional way again and I think, looking back on some of the things that I hope make me a good teacher as a songwriter instructor.

00:39:18.300 –> 00:39:29.040 Louisa Branscomb: These are the same ingredients that have made me interested in connecting with people through sharing people’s journeys as a psychologist and understanding people’s journeys.

00:39:29.460 –> 00:39:46.320 Louisa Branscomb: I feel more of a facilitator than a teacher and I think that’s when we’re our best is when we’re listening to the other person and trying to understand what they’re trying to say whether it’s a conversation or a song or someone sharing their journey and their hardship.

00:39:47.670 –> 00:39:55.830 Louisa Branscomb: I worked a lot with veterans and I work with veterans at a very young age, because I felt like I was out singing songs about peace.

00:39:56.160 –> 00:40:04.020 Louisa Branscomb: during the Vietnam War and I wasn’t very grown up and I didn’t really realize what the hardship of war was, and so I wanted to pay it.

00:40:04.560 –> 00:40:17.430 Louisa Branscomb: forward by working with veterans as a psychologist and I learned so much about how people transform hardship because veterans know about that better than most of us.

00:40:18.150 –> 00:40:27.690 Louisa Branscomb: And so I was often inspired or I worked with a veteran to help them tell their own story and I’d say hey if you put that in one line.

00:40:28.140 –> 00:40:43.830 Louisa Branscomb: What would that line be and that’s the hook, and any of us, you can do this yourself if I ask you right now, what is one line that captures how you are in this moment hey I’ll put you on the spot, Joseph What would it be, and you know it’s words or less.

00:40:44.280 –> 00:40:45.390 Joseph McElroy: Of a transition.

00:40:46.020 –> 00:40:51.030 Louisa Branscomb: yeah OK so moving on or our transition was a little long for.

00:40:51.690 –> 00:40:53.250 Joseph McElroy: Moving on to the new phase of life.

00:40:53.640 –> 00:41:13.800 Louisa Branscomb: yeah you know new phase of life there you have it, a new phase of the moon, and you know there’s a lot of you know, the eclipses over you phase of life so when you work with those images and but back to something more important, which is as humans, we get so cut off from our humanity.

00:41:14.970 –> 00:41:20.790 Louisa Branscomb: Because we’re so busy trying to protect ourselves from that onslaught of information and.

00:41:21.270 –> 00:41:30.180 Louisa Branscomb: In the hardship around us and all around the world, and so we need these places where we can let down and find our creativity.

00:41:30.750 –> 00:41:47.160 Louisa Branscomb: and find our own humanity and that’s the thread that connects us to some universal experience or image that that’s what a song touches other people with so there’s an intimate connection between being safe and the natural world.

00:41:48.210 –> 00:41:50.160 Louisa Branscomb: I believe, to be creative.

00:41:50.700 –> 00:42:00.030 Joseph McElroy: So you’ve done it several times here you’ve connected music to healing and you know, and you know, and you know.

00:42:02.760 –> 00:42:07.860 Joseph McElroy: Experience internal experience that produces a better world and things like that.

00:42:08.970 –> 00:42:14.760 Joseph McElroy: Do you have at your retreats jeff’s specific examples of where people have been changed?

00:42:16.050 –> 00:42:22.650 Louisa Branscomb: I’ve been very touched by some of the stories that I get on after my retreat.

00:42:24.510 –> 00:42:38.610 Louisa Branscomb: Many times I’ve heard you know I thought I was coming to learn to write songs and I left transform and now, who I am is different, so how I write songs is very different, and that always touches me to here again I.

00:42:39.840 –> 00:42:54.120 Louisa Branscomb: I just try to create a place and but I’m pretty focused on how I do, that I don’t allow like a lot of interference coming in from other things and I try to establish a set of trust.

00:42:54.690 –> 00:43:08.880 Louisa Branscomb: I’ve also heard that people came to I thought to learn about songwriting but they felt healed from something in their life in the process of connecting with what they wanted to say in the song.

00:43:09.390 –> 00:43:09.750 Joseph McElroy: So I.

00:43:09.960 –> 00:43:15.360 Louisa Branscomb: think that I’ve heard a lot that the songs they wrote it my retreat we’re transforming for them.

00:43:15.840 –> 00:43:22.860 Louisa Branscomb: And through this, I’ve learned that not only do we transform life by taking a little piece of it and putting it on a song.

00:43:23.250 –> 00:43:32.250 Louisa Branscomb: But, but our songs transform us and people don’t talk about that much, but I have learned so much by listening to my songs.

00:43:33.060 –> 00:43:45.690 Louisa Branscomb: That might sound kind of like well, are you listening to yourself, not really in my way of thinking, because, again, I think all of this is creating an open channel through something bigger than me to come through.

00:43:46.440 –> 00:43:52.710 Louisa Branscomb: something about that, whatever your spirituality is your collective unconscious or the universal human condition.

00:43:53.130 –> 00:43:54.030 Louisa Branscomb: or odd.

00:43:55.530 –> 00:44:14.220 Louisa Branscomb: When that’s flowing because I’m open enough for the flow then often I’m surprised by what my song says and they make me feel better they make me know myself better, so I think, maybe that’s the thing, people are picking up on when I say that about the week retreats that I have.

00:44:14.910 –> 00:44:24.150 Joseph McElroy: Well, I think that you know, I think that retreats are actually incredibly important for people to take in their life right, especially ones that are dealing around creativity, I mean I’ve had some.

00:44:24.690 –> 00:44:32.310 Joseph McElroy: yeah some fundamental experiences, you know after my second wife died and we’ve been married for 20 years I went to Joseph Campbell’s you know heroes journeys retreat.

00:44:32.760 –> 00:44:39.450 Joseph McElroy: which was about exploring creativity in life, but the one point they had us do a funeral for something we won’t like go.

00:44:40.020 –> 00:44:48.450 Joseph McElroy: And you know I just a year earlier than a funeral from my wife, it was I got to thinking about that, but what I ended up doing a funeral for was.

00:44:49.290 –> 00:45:02.310 Joseph McElroy: For the Mr. and Mrs. Joseph McElroy the identity, the identity that I’d had for 20 years which I hadn’t let go and I needed to say goodbye to properly to move on in my life.

00:45:02.670 –> 00:45:12.180 Joseph McElroy: And it was a transcendent experience, and that was you know, a creative retreat I think what use what you described here can produce that kind of profound effects for people, I believe.

00:45:14.160 –> 00:45:23.010 Louisa Branscomb: You just said it brilliantly and not coincidentally I’m hugely influenced by Joseph Campbell’s model of the hero’s journey, and I believe that.

00:45:23.490 –> 00:45:41.250 Louisa Branscomb: It takes a lot of courage to engage with the one we’re in a huge life transition I’m in one right now, so I don’t feel courageous every day, but I do feel like I’m at that point in the journey when we’re in the dark night of the soul like we’re in the middle of change.

00:45:41.610 –> 00:45:44.250 Louisa Branscomb: And we’re not to the next place yet like.

00:45:44.280 –> 00:45:53.940 Louisa Branscomb: There is a death, there is a death of ourselves, and we don’t get to hold on to you know we’re not like those mountain climbers and they’re in a sling and somebody’s going to.

00:45:54.450 –> 00:46:04.200 Louisa Branscomb: pull the rope it feels like we’re falling off the mountain because we can’t use the same solutions that we had before because we’re changing.

00:46:04.740 –> 00:46:15.390 Louisa Branscomb: And in the model of the hero’s journey, you have to have that freefall and then you find what it is, you need to say and what it is, you need to do in your life.

00:46:15.870 –> 00:46:24.000 Louisa Branscomb: That moves your journey forward, and we have to be willing to take the risk of that or like back to Davy Crockett.

00:46:24.780 –> 00:46:34.830 Louisa Branscomb: One of the wild frontiers of our souls to do that and it’s very uncomfortable and this whole last two and a half years has been very uncomfortable because.

00:46:35.220 –> 00:46:46.890 Louisa Branscomb: I myself find found I couldn’t stay stuck, because how I was in the world was changing too much, and so I had to find a new part of me to be with the new world.

00:46:47.520 –> 00:46:48.120 Joseph McElroy: Where you move.

00:46:48.480 –> 00:46:51.840 Joseph McElroy: To a new is that why you moved here to die schmo with.

00:46:53.370 –> 00:47:08.220 Louisa Branscomb: I’m in part, yes, yes I wanted some different things in my life than I could find in the rural area that I was in Georgia, but I also, I think the pandemic was a big part of it happened after I knew it, so I.

00:47:09.540 –> 00:47:15.540 Louisa Branscomb: have not done a workshop in two years, not just because of the pandemic, but because I didn’t know who I was.

00:47:16.860 –> 00:47:19.050 Louisa Branscomb: And I also haven’t written very many songs so.

00:47:21.300 –> 00:47:33.690 Louisa Branscomb: Actually, it was a song that I wrote about a week ago that I’m kind of clarified to me where I’m at it’s like when you write a song you’re it’s kind of like the guy on the top of the mountain and he’s putting a stake.

00:47:34.170 –> 00:47:37.920 Louisa Branscomb: This is me right now I’m On top of this, a mountain I know who I am.

00:47:38.370 –> 00:47:44.400 Louisa Branscomb: And I’m fascinated by these mountain climbing movies go figure I watch Netflix people climbing mountains, all the time.

00:47:44.940 –> 00:48:02.160 Louisa Branscomb: But um you know because I think I like to understand these amazing things we do as human beings that do bring out our core self and so once I finally had the images come to me in this new song which is the one we talked about me playing.

00:48:03.570 –> 00:48:11.400 Louisa Branscomb: I was ready to do a retreat so after I wrote this song about a week ago and I don’t even know if it’s a good song, yet it might not be but.

00:48:11.970 –> 00:48:25.500 Louisa Branscomb: It clarified it spoke to me and said, this is who you are This is where you are, and now I can authentically bring people back together again and do a new retreat and I know what we’ll be talking about.

00:48:26.160 –> 00:48:37.710 Joseph McElroy: wow was that I mean that I mean I think that’s a good illustration of what artists go through in their life having those moments where they feel.

00:48:38.790 –> 00:48:44.340 Joseph McElroy: lost when they’re able to find their way back again in a different way, so that’s fabulous.

00:48:46.200 –> 00:48:52.680 Joseph McElroy: So you know we’re having a new retreat at what’s I’m sorry I’m losing the name of it right, the second.

00:48:53.910 –> 00:48:54.600 Louisa Branscomb: Mountain.

00:48:54.960 –> 00:48:57.990 Joseph McElroy: Mountain and that’s going to be in the Asheville area.

00:48:58.740 –> 00:49:06.750 Louisa Branscomb: Yes, that’s I’m sitting at lyric mountain right now and we were in spot on our which is close to Asheville and black mountain and.

00:49:07.410 –> 00:49:17.370 Louisa Branscomb: it’s a little mountain farm instead of a big goal experience in Georgia cotton environment is it’s lovely and we’ve been working on the main House here all year and getting it ready so.

00:49:18.480 –> 00:49:20.580 Joseph McElroy: It will be natural I’m gonna have to come out and visit right.

00:49:20.760 –> 00:49:21.000 Okay.

00:49:22.890 –> 00:49:23.400 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:49:24.660 –> 00:49:29.130 Joseph McElroy: Bring the kids out there for a little that sort of thing so what’s the first retreat.

00:49:29.850 –> 00:49:47.040 Louisa Branscomb: I’m thinking it that it will be the second weekend in July July 8 weekend and my friends Johnny and Jeanette Williams, who are wonderful Appalachian players are all levels of songs from traditional to cutting-edge.

00:49:48.210 –> 00:49:53.550 Louisa Branscomb: Johnny and Jeanette are from Danville and they’re coming down I’ve been on my retreats for many, many years and.

00:49:54.390 –> 00:50:05.610 Louisa Branscomb: we’ll have a small group and it’ll be an experiential workshop and plenty of time to share songs and enjoy the new setting and maybe the new setting will inspire us and some different ways we’ll probably talk about that too.

00:50:06.480 –> 00:50:08.100 Joseph McElroy: Well that’d be great I mean that.

00:50:10.350 –> 00:50:19.980 Joseph McElroy: I look forward to hearing how that comes out so you know you mentioned that you had a song to sing us sing that song.

00:50:20.670 –> 00:50:22.920 Louisa Branscomb: I think I’d be glad to try it out on you.

00:50:25.980 –> 00:50:30.540 Louisa Branscomb: My process with this song is how do you write.

00:50:32.160 –> 00:50:37.500 Louisa Branscomb: How can you do justice and a song to everything going on right now around us.

00:50:38.940 –> 00:50:50.550 Louisa Branscomb: there’s been where we’re in a new era, I think sometime in the darkness of the pandemic, we all got catapulted into a new era and we’re waking up to.

00:50:51.240 –> 00:50:56.850 Louisa Branscomb: What it even is we don’t even know how to be yet it’s such a profound quantum.

00:50:57.480 –> 00:51:12.960 Louisa Branscomb: change, and so I didn’t know how to write a song capture that and then I realized going back to steel rails it’s just images that we can connect with that make us feel compassion and a sense of meaning and that’s all this song is as a couple of those images, but.

00:51:14.550 –> 00:51:22.470 Louisa Branscomb: One of them came from a show, I saw the iceberg melting another came from the.

00:51:23.580 –> 00:51:31.680 Louisa Branscomb: newscast I saw it on Anderson Cooper you may have seen it on any channel it’s a little girl in Ukraine standing on the table and singing.

00:51:32.520 –> 00:51:41.490 Louisa Branscomb: She was five years old, seven years old, and this bombed-out basement with all these people crowd it in with wounds and bleed.

00:51:42.180 –> 00:51:47.700 Louisa Branscomb: blasted and tattered I’m sure you know a lot of people saw this beautiful news clip.

00:51:48.300 –> 00:52:05.130 Louisa Branscomb: And you saw the spirit of humanity just wake up and everyone in that room when that little girl started singing and one more time, I was reminded about the incredible power of music to transform and heal so that’s in the song too and it’s called gold in the dark

00:52:10.980 –> 00:52:14.760 Louisa Branscomb: I don’t know watch come over me.

00:52:17.820 –> 00:52:20.250 Louisa Branscomb: I just can do nothing right.

00:52:21.750 –> 00:52:28.470 Louisa Branscomb: seems like the world is burning and likewise clock stopped turn and clockwise.

00:52:29.610 –> 00:52:32.400 Louisa Branscomb: we’re all ships in the night.

00:52:34.380 –> 00:52:44.430 Louisa Branscomb: At the edge of the mountain made a wrong, I can count on me your face and the wind on my heart.

00:52:46.230 –> 00:52:56.550 Louisa Branscomb: stairs know when and when the wars one and you and I don’t need one and you’re my gold in the dark.

00:53:00.000 –> 00:53:03.600 Louisa Branscomb: By their last run out of time.

00:53:05.880 –> 00:53:08.670 Louisa Branscomb: She was women for her life.

00:53:10.950 –> 00:53:18.690 Louisa Branscomb: Like every homeless so with nowhere else to go all she needed was.

00:53:20.160 –> 00:53:20.640 Louisa Branscomb: high.

00:53:22.650 –> 00:53:32.760 Louisa Branscomb: At the edge of the mountain I need a rock I can count on need your face at the window of my heart and.

00:53:34.440 –> 00:53:43.980 Louisa Branscomb: there’s no when the wars one year and I don’t need one and your my gold in the dark

00:53:46.860 –> 00:53:49.230 Louisa Branscomb: mom is out of town.

00:53:50.340 –> 00:53:54.450 Louisa Branscomb: Will just call somewhere where everything was hopeless and.

00:53:55.470 –> 00:53:56.490 Louisa Branscomb: So wrong.

00:53:58.860 –> 00:54:08.670 Louisa Branscomb: a seven-year-old girls she stood up on a chair there and efficiently began to sing this song.

00:54:09.720 –> 00:54:20.010 Louisa Branscomb: I’m at the edge of the mountain need a rock I can count on need your face at the window of my heart.

00:54:21.480 –> 00:54:28.230 Louisa Branscomb: Because there’s no when and when this was done and you and I don’t need one and you’re my gold in the dark. you’re my gold in the dark.

00:54:43.200 –> 00:54:48.120 Joseph McElroy: Oh, my goodness that was fantastic oh Thank you so much, that was an honor to have that played on the show.

00:54:49.860 –> 00:54:50.250 Joseph McElroy: You know.

00:54:51.270 –> 00:54:54.240 Joseph McElroy: that’s there’s not really much to say after that.

00:54:57.900 –> 00:55:09.030 Joseph McElroy: it’s been wonderful talking to you, is there a is there ways people can find out more about what you do and information to follow up from this program a website, or something like that.

00:55:09.600 –> 00:55:18.480 Louisa Branscomb: my website is Louisa Branscom online and my Facebook page is of course I’m visible on Facebook and my.

00:55:19.320 –> 00:55:25.410 Louisa Branscomb: email is branscombmusic@gmail.com and i’d love to hear from anyone about anything related to songwriting.

00:55:25.680 –> 00:55:35.760 Louisa Branscomb: we’re a community and not I’ve never met a songwriter I didn’t really like or anyone who’s interested in helping a songwriter and being part of the Community and I sure appreciate what you guys are doing to.

00:55:36.510 –> 00:55:40.050 Joseph McElroy: Thank you it’s we are a Community of art and.

00:55:42.870 –> 00:55:46.110 Joseph McElroy: Culture and it’s sort of special so.

00:55:47.550 –> 00:55:54.390 Joseph McElroy: This is the gateway to the smokies podcast we’re on Facebook.com/gatewayto thesmokiespodcast

00:55:55.800 –> 00:56:05.250 Joseph McElroy: we’re also on talkradio.NYC where the live broadcast goes out to many people in New York City and others around the world.

00:56:06.000 –> 00:56:13.650 Joseph McElroy: The talkradio.nyc network is interesting Okay, but I recommend going to look at the many other programs, they have they’re all live podcasts.

00:56:13.920 –> 00:56:19.800 Joseph McElroy: ranging from self-help the small business to other travel shows, I have another one on here as well, called wise content creates wealth.

00:56:20.280 –> 00:56:30.240 Joseph McElroy: Which is about marketing and the age of Ai and content and next week we’ll have another next week is a rerun because I am moving next week.

00:56:31.110 –> 00:56:49.410 Joseph McElroy: Now to Asheville North Carolina but then the week after that we’ll have a live program on Tuesdays for a gateway to the smokies from six until 7 pm and again thank you Louisa for being on the show today it’s been a pleasure, I look forward to seeing you again.

GUEST: BRENDA ANDERS

 If you love crafts or have an interest or family tradition in making crafts, you are going to love this episode! You'll learn Dogwood Crafters Cooperative featuring Brenda Anders.

In today's episode, Joseph is joined by our special guest Brenda Anders, she is a true daughter of the Smokies who has lived in WNC since 1978 when her husband took a job with WCU. Not long after that, Brenda joined Dogwood Crafters, one of the most storied crafts cooperatives in the Southeast, located in historic Dillsboro, N.C. Since then Brenda has played an integral role in the success of the business --which was first formed in 1976 –serving in various key leadership positions including President and Chairman of the Board, along with heading multiple operational committees within the organization.

Website: https://dogwoodcrafters.com

Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

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Joseph begins by mentioning the sponsor, The Meadowlark Motel as well as smokiesadventure.com and some upcoming events. On May 13th and 14th, they're having the Icons of Hotrodding Festival. Also May 31st -June 4, they'll have an event called Slingshots in the Smokies and more festivals and camps later in the summer. Joseph also reads a poem related to today’s topic and events by Marcus B. Christian called “The Craftsman.” He introduces his guest, Brenda Anders, who has lived in WNC since 1978 when her husband took a job with WCU. Not long after that, Brenda joined Dogwood Crafters, one of the most storied crafts cooperatives in the Southeast, located in historic Dillsboro, N.C. Brenda grew up in Tennessee and says that she didn't realize how lucky she was. Sometimes she forgets to look at the mountains and realize the beauty of the environment but is always reminded when she has company in the car with her as she rides. Brenda moved to Western North Carolina when her husband got a job as the director of the Computer Center. She got involved with Dogwood Crafters after falling in love with the art there. She explains the workplace then and now with her team and how they've stayed successful.

Brenda says that there is one active original member in Dogwood Crafters, who also helped get the organization started with their husband. She also mentions another crafter who recently came back, Don Wood, who now does beekeeping. Brenda explains what artists must go through when wanting to create something and be a part of Dogwood Crafters. When you are interested, she says that you would go to Dogwood and fill out an application and bring the item you want to make. A jury committee made up of anonymous crafters, look it over and make sure that it is some time that has not already been offered to make. She mentions having a coordinator for every room in the log cabin where they work and have the chance to showcase everyone's work and sell a variety of items. Brenda also talks about using recycled items. On the Facebook Livestream, she shows us several items like a pair of mittens that were made by using a couple of different sweaters. They can make something with just about everything!

Brenda explains how she and her team were able to acquire all 12 rooms in the log cabin which was once a motel. Everyone in the organization works very hard on keeping things in order from building to supplies, maintenance, flower boxes, and more. Dogwood Crafters also offer free classes to anyone as long as you pay for the supplies that you would be using. They also have a scholarship committee where they give money to different schools and students wanting to learn the Appalachian craft. They have different projects that they do in order to earn this money. They come up with different ideas, for example, she says that they also sell jams and jellies. As a nonprofit, they don't have a lot of money, but the percentages that they earn comes from the crafters and their pantry. Brenda also mentions how Dogwood has been involved in the North Carolina Mountain State Fair. She also talks with Joseph about the rooms in the log cabin and how they are all themed differently.

Brenda talks with Joseph about Mary’s Garden. Mary Nolan was a member of Dogwood Crafters for many years and when she passed away, they wanted to pay tribute to her. So they had their side yard bricked and they have a plaque with her photograph on it and it's called Mary’s Garden. It keeps Mary with them, and Brenda says that everyone in Dogwood is like family. She also mentions supporting customers by continuing to have good quality crafts and each crafter comes up with new ideas. They also talk about Dogwood being a part of festivals. In Dillsboro, they are part of three main festivals. One of them is Front Street in July, Colorfest in October, and Luminaire which takes over the first two weekends in December. Dogwood tries to connect with its community and show people that all of its work is handmade. She mentions the different events that they do like the Easter Parade where hundreds of people join in, being a free event for families. Brenda says that her vision for this co-op and Dogwood Crafters is that they continue to recruit crafters, continue to carry on its legacy and keep it there for generations to come. Although it's hard work and hard to get young people into crafting, she says that they do their best to show them that they can craft their own rug, socks, and much more than they think. You can find out more by searching for Dogwood Crafters on Facebook as well as their website dogwoodcrafters.com.

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00:00:45.450 –> 00:00:56.640 Joseph McElroy: Howdy, welcome to the gateway to the smokies podcast this podcast is about America’s most visited National Park and the Great Smoky Mountains National park and the surrounding towns.

00:00:57.030 –> 00:01:06.660 Joseph McElroy: This area is filled with ancient natural beauty, a deep-storied history, and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes.

00:01:07.110 –> 00:01:14.490 Joseph McElroy: I’m Joseph Franklyn McElroy a man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains my family is living in great smokies for over 200 years.

00:01:15.030 –> 00:01:27.360 Joseph McElroy: My business is in travel, but my heart is in culture today we’re gonna be talking about the dogwood crafters cooperative with Brenda Anders but first I got some messages from sponsors and some events.

00:01:29.760 –> 00:01:39.870 Joseph McElroy: imagine a place evocative of motor courts of the past, yet modern and vibrant with the “Chic Appalachian” feel. A place for adventure and for relaxation.

00:01:40.470 –> 00:01:49.050 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on a fire and eat accompanied by fine wine or craft beers.

00:01:49.830 –> 00:02:02.400 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place with old-time music and world cultural sounds. There is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley North Carolina. Your Smoky Mountain Adventure starts with where you stay.

00:02:04.620 –> 00:02:09.540 Joseph McElroy: Another Sponsor is SmokiesAdventure.com. The smoky mountains and surrounding areas are a vacation destination for all seasons.

00:02:10.260 –> 00:02:17.070 Joseph McElroy: Some of the nation’s best hiking trails, waterfalls, outdoor adventures, and family entertainment can be found, right here.

00:02:17.580 –> 00:02:28.230 Joseph McElroy: start your adventure by using smokiesadventure.com, smokies plural adventure singular.com to explore all the wonderful features of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

00:02:28.620 –> 00:02:37.770 Joseph McElroy: trails waterfalls, Cades Cove, and more. Then check out all the awesome family attractions and entertainment you and your entire family can enjoy.

00:02:38.160 –> 00:02:48.360 Joseph McElroy: And if you’re looking for places to have a wedding or an outdoor life event or a honeymoon or romantic getaway check it out there are places that you can go to do that there’s well.

00:02:48.630 –> 00:02:56.430 Joseph McElroy: The goal of smokies adventure.com is to become a leading information portal for adventures and experiences in the great smoky mountains.

00:02:57.120 –> 00:03:06.600 Joseph McElroy: Now I mentioned some events coming up in Maggie Valley knowing we have this great festival and the May 13 and 14th for having the icons of a pop music festival.

00:03:07.020 –> 00:03:29.340 Joseph McElroy: And then, in the 1950s and 1960s hot rod and custom cars trucks and vans for cars and vehicles, all of them 1969 and then they’ll be 50s and 60s music automotive vintage vendors kids drivers food vendors judging with awards and trophies presentation it’s a family-friendly.

00:03:31.560 –> 00:03:40.680 Joseph McElroy: urging you to come on down and check it out and then on May 31 of June 4 we have slingshots in the smokies and see and know slingshots in the smokies.

00:03:41.850 –> 00:03:47.370 Joseph McElroy: is known as the super bowl for slingshot of its for those who don’t know slingshots or a sort of a.

00:03:49.200 –> 00:03:58.710 Joseph McElroy: motorcycle on three wheels, and so this will take place in the Maggie Valley festival grounds and again we’ll have all sorts of wonderful things going on.

00:04:00.510 –> 00:04:07.620 Joseph McElroy: Since we’re talking about crafts, I need to talk about July 9 and 10th on Maggie Valley festival grounds, you have the annual.

00:04:08.280 –> 00:04:24.390 Joseph McElroy: Maggie Valley arts and crafts show it’s the largest Maggie Valley largest gathering of artisans and crafters it comes to go to the seller handmade treasures artists and small the southeast attendance and there’ll be chains are demonstrations of lots of festivals.

00:04:26.010 –> 00:04:39.540 Joseph McElroy: So you can go to maggievalleyfestivalgrounds.com to find out more about all the festivals coming to Maggie Valley, which is where you can go and how you can partake in enjoying all these different things now the Meadowlark is, as announced a big.

00:04:40.710 –> 00:04:51.270 Joseph McElroy: big event coming up in August we’re going to have a Songwriters Camp and Concert with Grammy-award winning artist Jim Lauderdale and Charles Humphrey III

00:04:51.660 –> 00:05:03.690 Joseph McElroy: Along with other award-winning artists like Darren Nicholson and Balsam Range, Clay Mills, and Charles Chamberlain. it’s a two-day event of interactive songwriting instruction from world-class musicians.

00:05:04.350 –> 00:05:14.250 Joseph McElroy: a DEMO tape produced for each participant, and concerts by Songs from the Road Band on Friday night and a Barbecue dinner, and also our concert on Saturday night.

00:05:14.910 –> 00:05:21.420 Joseph McElroy: This is a unique event like no other and space will be limited to ensure individual attention is given to all participants.

00:05:21.720 –> 00:05:31.050 Joseph McElroy: the price is $675 per person including all activities and DEMO tape, two world-class concerts, and the Barbecue dinner on Saturday night.

00:05:31.470 –> 00:05:43.980 Joseph McElroy: And then their special room prize packages are offered from different kinds of places to stay to include lodging providing for Friday and Saturday night call 8289261717 for details.

00:05:44.400 –> 00:05:55.110 Joseph McElroy: And there’s also a limited amount of concert tickets available for the concerts and Friday Saturday night so check it out again and reserve your spot at 8289261717 so.

00:05:56.220 –> 00:06:08.370 Joseph McElroy: Now, you know that I like to introduce some times what’s coming up with the bed with a poem I might write your fine I found that interesting going by a guy named Marcus B. Christian written in 1970 is called the Craftsman

00:06:10.320 –> 00:06:19.650 Joseph McElroy: It goes like this, I ply with all the cunning of my art. This little thing, and with consummate care, I fashion it—so that when I depart,

00:06:20.100 –> 00:06:35.070 Joseph McElroy: Those who come after me shall find it fair And beautiful. It must be free of flaws—Pointing no laborings of weary hands; And there must be no flouting of the laws Of beauty—as the artist understands.

00:06:35.670 –> 00:06:46.530 Joseph McElroy: Through passion, yearnings infinite – yet dumb-

I left you from the depths of my own mind And gild you with my soul’s white heat to plumb, The souls of future men.

00:06:47.160 –> 00:07:02.250 Joseph McElroy: I leave behind this thing that in return, this solace gives:

“He who creates true beauty ever lives.”

wonderful poem little focused on one gender but it applies I think across the board.

00:07:03.720 –> 00:07:09.570 Joseph McElroy: So somebody has a lot about crafts and we’ve introduced today is our guest her name is Brendan Anders.

00:07:10.710 –> 00:07:19.770 Joseph McElroy: She’s a Maryville Tennessee native and then a true daughter of the smokies who’s lived in Western North Carolina since 1978.

00:07:20.490 –> 00:07:26.190 Joseph McElroy: Since then Brenda has played an integral role in the success of Dogwood Crafters Cooperative,

00:07:27.000 –> 00:07:34.440 Joseph McElroy: One of the most storied crafts cooperatives in the southeast, located in historic Dillsboro, N.C.

00:07:34.950 –> 00:07:45.690 Joseph McElroy: Brenda has served in various key leadership positions including President and Chairman of the Board, along with heading multiple operational committees within the organization.

00:07:46.260 –> 00:07:58.470 Joseph McElroy: For more than four decades Brenda’s work and leadership with Dogwood Crafters have created a template for many other artists and crafts cooperatives to follow throughout the country.

Hello Brenda, how are you doing?

00:07:59.220 –> 00:08:03.300 Brenda Anders: I’m doing just fine glad to be here and share the story of dogman crafters.

00:08:03.480 –> 00:08:09.060 Joseph McElroy: I’m glad to hear about a little learn a little bit about yourself first you grew up in Maryville Tennessee.

00:08:10.380 –> 00:08:22.170 Brenda Anders: I did, and I went to business college with my husband’s cousin and he came upon a fishing trip to visit his uncle he likes to say he used the wrong bank and got married instead.

00:08:23.550 –> 00:08:34.080 Brenda Anders: And we did get married shortly after we only had about six dates, as he went into the air force, and then we got married moved to Texas for 13 years.

00:08:34.530 –> 00:08:41.520 Joseph McElroy: Well yeah sometimes I mean, I had the opposite experience, I met married my first wife within six weeks.

00:08:43.980 –> 00:08:45.390 Joseph McElroy: didn’t last for three years, but.

00:08:46.920 –> 00:08:52.050 Joseph McElroy: I learned a lot from it so sometimes you learn lots of times you find your life mate right.

00:08:52.470 –> 00:08:52.920 Right.

00:08:53.970 –> 00:08:57.840 Joseph McElroy: So you wrote they’re having grown up in the foothills of those folks.

00:08:58.530 –> 00:09:02.760 Brenda Anders: Well, to me, I didn’t realize at the time how lucky I was.

00:09:03.270 –> 00:09:09.900 Brenda Anders: It was just a natural thing it’s just like right now, when I drive around in the mountains, sometimes I forget to look at them.

00:09:10.320 –> 00:09:12.120 Brenda Anders: Until I have company in the car with.

00:09:12.120 –> 00:09:19.980 Brenda Anders: me and they start commenting on how pretty it is, and I have to jerk myself up and check myself and look around a little bit to appreciate what I have.

00:09:20.670 –> 00:09:26.160 Joseph McElroy: Now America was a sort of a suburb of Nashville right wasn’t more suburb or more role and your.

00:09:27.180 –> 00:09:27.660 Brenda Anders: role.

00:09:27.990 –> 00:09:35.400 Joseph McElroy: yeah and so you got to do all the good home cooking and all that sort of stuff that we all familiar with, he grew up in the mountains.

00:09:36.300 –> 00:09:41.640 Brenda Anders: As the iron, my mother did all the cooking but back in those days, we had to iron.

00:09:42.330 –> 00:09:47.370 Joseph McElroy: Oh, there you go did you have an electric guard do you have to use it like the one here.

00:09:48.300 –> 00:09:49.380 Brenda Anders: I’m not quite that old.

00:09:54.630 –> 00:09:56.280 Joseph McElroy: So when did you read Maryville?

00:09:57.210 –> 00:09:59.460 Brenda Anders: And I married in 1965.

00:10:00.060 –> 00:10:00.480 Okay.

00:10:01.620 –> 00:10:02.280 Joseph McElroy: go around.

00:10:03.510 –> 00:10:06.690 Brenda Anders: He worked for champion paper cut me for just about a month.

00:10:07.710 –> 00:10:18.600 Brenda Anders: Until his school started it and then he was in school got a job at the computer Center and then he’s been in computer work ever since until he retired.

00:10:19.200 –> 00:10:23.700 Joseph McElroy: was good, so what brought you to Western North Carolina.

00:10:25.170 –> 00:10:28.800 Brenda Anders: He was it got a job as Director of the Computer Center at Western.

00:10:29.370 –> 00:10:31.080 Brenda Anders: Ah, and I followed him.

00:10:31.590 –> 00:10:33.030 Joseph McElroy: I guess you had to, right?

00:10:37.290 –> 00:10:39.690 Joseph McElroy: Did you end up in Dillsboro for that time or was.

00:10:40.770 –> 00:10:50.160 Brenda Anders: About four miles, out of a Dillsboro in a town called Sylva all the surrounding areas of Sylva and we have little communities like Webster and Dillsboro.

00:10:51.750 –> 00:11:06.930 Joseph McElroy: I love Sylva and those are there, wonderful little towns so so you got involved with the dogwood craft cooperative I saw it just a couple of years after he’s found it so you are your sort of a founder of it honestly.

00:11:07.980 –> 00:11:14.310 Brenda Anders: Now I wasn’t that lucky I wish I could have said, I was part of the 12 who got that started.

00:11:14.880 –> 00:11:25.710 Brenda Anders: But I was a member of the newcomers club index and county and we had a field trip, one day, and we went into dogwood crafters and I just fell in love with the art.

00:11:26.640 –> 00:11:41.040 Brenda Anders: There, and my question was who does the decorating here and Rosemary jar or who was President that day or that year, she says, I think you do because you’re the first one that ever mentioned that word.

00:11:42.150 –> 00:11:46.200 Brenda Anders: up to that point, the crafters had to get this stuff off of the street.

00:11:47.520 –> 00:11:48.450 Brenda Anders: legs.

00:11:49.500 –> 00:11:52.740 Brenda Anders: The plastic legs things and they were great jewelry over it.

00:11:54.240 –> 00:12:05.220 Brenda Anders: Raw the things that you put electrical wire around the big round things they drug everything they could dig it dogwood started and that.

00:12:06.270 –> 00:12:12.810 Brenda Anders: is a tribute to them, but I got there about three or four years later and I’ve been happy there ever since.

00:12:13.830 –> 00:12:17.970 Joseph McElroy: Oh, you successfully know I’m an artist myself.

00:12:19.980 –> 00:12:24.420 Joseph McElroy: you’re in a speakeasy down there at the Bellagio look around a lot of those are by my paintings.

00:12:25.800 –> 00:12:36.990 Joseph McElroy: And you know it I’ve been involved in a few artists and craft things and they don’t a lot of them have a moment in the sun, then they just disappear, so you guys are really done something.

00:12:37.890 –> 00:12:48.210 Joseph McElroy: To it intrigues me that you managed to create something this last this long list and so successful, and in fact, you’ve sort of become a model across the country for how to run.

00:12:48.870 –> 00:13:02.400 Joseph McElroy: A cooperative so so you know I look forward to this conversation find out more so, so you basically started with land and paper.

00:13:03.150 –> 00:13:11.580 Brenda Anders: Yes, a little ad that says, if you have handmade crafts and that you’d like to sell them, will you come to a meeting at the library.

00:13:12.000 –> 00:13:27.660 Brenda Anders: And 12 people came and they set up the rules and the regulations over the next little while that we still go by today and they started meeting in a House there in Dillsboro that is chocolate factory now, but they would come set up their little.

00:13:28.710 –> 00:13:40.230 Brenda Anders: TV trays and tables they had their own cash box and they sat and visited and, at the end of the day, they fold everything up and took it home pretty soon I realized that.

00:13:40.650 –> 00:13:57.750 Brenda Anders: If I took turns and helped each other like you’d be homemaking crafts, the rest of the tap so that was the word cooperative that we still go back today, because without each and every one of the members of chocolate it couldn’t operate the way it is.

00:13:58.950 –> 00:14:14.400 Brenda Anders: Basically, we have two crafters every day working the front counter a cashier and a bagger, and we have only one paid employee, no one was foolish enough to sign up to do the bookkeeping of the record-keeping of.

00:14:14.850 –> 00:14:26.400 Brenda Anders: club thousands of items that we have a dogwood that the word volunteer and everyone are this thing is the key to the success of Dogwood Crafters.

00:14:26.610 –> 00:14:27.870 Joseph McElroy: Cool. Well, we got to take a break now.

00:14:29.310 –> 00:14:39.060 Joseph McElroy: and come back we’ll talk more about how you how it works and what the insights you gained and then the how’s that actually propagated in the world.

00:14:40.260 –> 00:14:40.770 Brenda Anders: Okay.

00:16:56.790 –> 00:17:04.890 Joseph McElroy: Howdy, I’m Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and My guest Brenda Anders.

00:17:05.910 –> 00:17:19.860 Joseph McElroy: So Brenda I know that you joined in 1978 how many original members have you had what 12 members and what do you have about 90 now, is there any original members left.

00:17:20.520 –> 00:17:29.880 Brenda Anders: We have one very active original Member her name is Patricia Calvin and she and her husband are very active and getting dogwood started, he was a lawyer.

00:17:30.420 –> 00:17:54.150 Brenda Anders: And he helped get our policies and bio all set up and for years did leather working and she paints on glass, so we have one and another crafter who has recently come back Don Wood he was helpful in getting the Co-op started and he is now a retired from the University does beekeeping.

00:17:54.960 –> 00:17:55.320 Joseph McElroy: Oh wow. You know I’m a beekeeper

00:17:58.080 –> 00:17:58.830 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah.

00:18:00.660 –> 00:18:12.330 Joseph McElroy: I did I put these in the South Bronx and actually got some recognition for that, because you know we got help the local communities do some beekeeping.

00:18:13.830 –> 00:18:15.750 Brenda Anders: Those babies when you meant to ask for.

00:18:16.170 –> 00:18:25.680 Joseph McElroy: Well, about you know, the thing is, I would create it I would enjoy it for a while and then I would train somebody in the Community, one of the Community gardens how to take it over and they take it over.

00:18:27.270 –> 00:18:39.900 Joseph McElroy: And then I create another one that now I just made now that I’m now I’m coming down there and create some beehives at the Meadowlark and or at my place and then at nine enough but.

00:18:41.520 –> 00:18:57.300 Joseph McElroy: So you know, I understand that you guys are not like a fleet right you actually your bylaws required I think for homeless originally right that all the artists must be Cherokee an art jury community and then must be the highest quality How does that work.

00:18:58.260 –> 00:19:03.810 Brenda Anders: Well, when you voice an interest you come to that word and you get an application.

00:19:05.160 –> 00:19:18.360 Brenda Anders: You fill out the application and bring one or two items that you want to make a jury committee made up of three anonymous crafters no one wants to know who they are so they can’t blame them if they’re not accepted.

00:19:18.900 –> 00:19:26.400 Brenda Anders: But they look the craft over they make sure that it’s not something already offered in dogwood and you’re in, and you can be.

00:19:26.820 –> 00:19:40.290 Brenda Anders: A 20% crafter means we take 20% of your money at the end of the month, and you promised to work 176 hours a year keeping the shop open working at the counter.

00:19:40.770 –> 00:19:54.480 Brenda Anders: Are you can join as a 40% or you might be older, you might have a real job this a lot of different complications that don’t allow you to work and we take 40% of that application.

00:19:55.470 –> 00:20:04.890 Brenda Anders: So that’s how you become a member, and then, once you’re a member you’re sucked in there to help us work to volunteer on our committees and get things done.

00:20:05.760 –> 00:20:07.410 Joseph McElroy: And why do you mean.

00:20:08.610 –> 00:20:13.650 Joseph McElroy: Why do you think that originally I mean why you know that originally, why did they decide to make it.

00:20:15.030 –> 00:20:23.580 Joseph McElroy: You know, instead of just being a sort of craft a flea market and make it into this real sort of excellent source of art.

00:20:25.170 –> 00:20:33.390 Brenda Anders: Well, we wanted to be the best that we could we have a coordinator now for every room, we have 12 rooms in this log cabin.

00:20:34.560 –> 00:20:50.220 Brenda Anders: That has used to being cannons cottages an overnight stay staying place back in the 30s we joined us with the help of our very helpful landlord three of those log cabins and then built a big room onto the back.

00:20:50.760 –> 00:21:03.630 Brenda Anders: And every room has a different theme and every room has a coordinator that comes and redecorates the room about every six weeks after every major holiday and we did not want everything lined up.

00:21:04.890 –> 00:21:23.100 Brenda Anders: Like a grocery store all the band-aids on one jail all the baskets on one shelf we decorate according to theme and color and that drugs, it gives everybody a fair chance to have their crafts highlighted in the spotlight it’s worked and it works well.

00:21:24.150 –> 00:21:30.090 Joseph McElroy: that’s great is there any restrictions on the materials or what can be displayed they’re.

00:21:31.170 –> 00:21:32.040 Brenda Anders: Not so far.

00:21:32.190 –> 00:21:32.520 yeah.

00:21:36.840 –> 00:21:39.210 Joseph McElroy: Well, you said there might be room for art, you know what I do.

00:21:42.030 –> 00:21:44.490 Brenda Anders: In the first place it’s too big you’ll have you’d have.

00:21:44.550 –> 00:21:46.890 Brenda Anders: To do some smaller to get into our lives.

00:21:48.630 –> 00:21:49.620 Joseph McElroy: A little flower vase.

00:21:51.360 –> 00:21:54.750 Joseph McElroy: But I’m saying you have a Christmas shop right.

00:21:55.830 –> 00:21:56.280 Joseph McElroy: yeah your.

00:21:56.910 –> 00:21:58.650 Joseph McElroy: Christmas selection.

00:21:58.890 –> 00:22:10.470 Brenda Anders: Yes, we have a room that is called the Christmas room and we sell more Christmas items throughout the year, than we actually do Christmas, because during Christmas people mostly look for gifts.

00:22:11.160 –> 00:22:30.780 Brenda Anders: What what I like about dogwood is working behind the counter and the door opens and somebody walks in, and I said oh you’re still here and I said oh you’ve been here before, and he says, my parents, dragged me in here as a child and then during dragging my children in

00:22:31.740 –> 00:22:41.820 Brenda Anders: Where is the toy room now that’s it usually it’s the same place so it’s good that children remember and come back to us.

00:22:42.480 –> 00:22:56.850 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah yeah that’s part of the Meadowlark charm too we had people that had honeymoons in the 60s and they bring their children back and their grandchildren back and they’ll be coming back for you know our whole lives it’s kind of Nice.

00:22:58.500 –> 00:23:08.460 Joseph McElroy: So I understand that you guys take a great deal of pride and using a lot of recycled products very hard to just hold them off the handle of a cane or something like that.

00:23:08.820 –> 00:23:19.110 Brenda Anders: We do like this, this pair of mittens are made out of old sweaters and there are about five or six different sweaters here and there, NASA morn and.

00:23:20.100 –> 00:23:32.820 Brenda Anders: This is not really a recycled item but this little Christmas ornament it’s a pine Cone it’s been run over years and years and it’s really flat and it’s called a roadkill Santa.

00:23:34.740 –> 00:23:44.340 Brenda Anders: And we have a man who recycles concrete nails and missionary nails and he makes this cute little reindeer we recycle.

00:23:45.330 –> 00:24:07.710 Brenda Anders: lot boat doorknobs just a lot of things, and this day in town when people are cleaning out their parent’s house we get a lot of items donated to us fabric yarn and everything and we share those and then pass them on to other crafters and things, so we have about 17 items

00:24:08.730 –> 00:24:13.260 Brenda Anders: Different types of items using recycled material wow.

00:24:13.350 –> 00:24:19.920 Joseph McElroy: Do you have like a little warehouse of recycled material that artists can come to find for them.

00:24:20.190 –> 00:24:29.730 Brenda Anders: We have a very small office when the public brings things to us, we put it in their free atoms somebody might say.

00:24:30.330 –> 00:24:36.840 Brenda Anders: Even a half a bushel basket of light bulbs and bring them in and say we don’t know why we save these, but here you are.

00:24:37.230 –> 00:24:52.560 Brenda Anders: Because we, this is a shop and we say that you, you make things out of lot books so it’s a pass-along thing our customers and the public helps us but recycle we collect liquor bottles from restaurants that.

00:24:53.190 –> 00:24:53.670 Joseph McElroy: For you.

00:24:55.650 –> 00:24:56.700 Joseph McElroy: So you say.

00:24:58.230 –> 00:24:58.590 Brenda Anders: well.

00:24:59.310 –> 00:25:06.390 Brenda Anders: they’re painted with alcohol eighth and little bitty lots put them in them and they make that real beautiful nightlife so.

00:25:07.530 –> 00:25:12.660 Brenda Anders: We can make something out of just about everything, our crafters are very, very smart.

00:25:13.950 –> 00:25:20.250 Joseph McElroy: that’s cool are most of your Members from the area, how far spread is your membership.

00:25:20.970 –> 00:25:29.310 Brenda Anders: Since everyone is in charge of their own inventory and when you join and you’re trained to be a dogwood crafter you’re trying to about.

00:25:29.760 –> 00:25:43.800 Brenda Anders: How the shop is laid out and when you come the next time you put your own crafts out, knowing that you can move some another crafter item over a little bit, but you can’t just throw it to the side or move it to the next room so.

00:25:46.200 –> 00:25:49.380 Brenda Anders: We learned to do that now I forgot your question.

00:25:49.650 –> 00:25:57.510 Joseph McElroy: Of course, it was how big of an area or you remember part of are they like, I mean, how do they live, just to build for the little.

00:25:57.990 –> 00:26:04.950 Brenda Anders: Oh yes, I’m sorry, they have to live within 175 miles.

00:26:06.210 –> 00:26:17.610 Brenda Anders: Of the shop in Hillsboro because we require them to take an active part you can’t just come and drop your things off and that’s the last, we see it, for a year.

00:26:18.780 –> 00:26:26.280 Brenda Anders: If you’re not able to come and work, we require you to come and do other things like donating money for cookies far luminary are.

00:26:27.420 –> 00:26:34.050 Brenda Anders: We make sure that you do something I just a little bit extra because you’re part of the volunteer organization.

00:26:34.440 –> 00:26:42.690 Joseph McElroy: Right, so that means you get, mind you might get people from my bills coming from Cherokee from Asheville your way.

00:26:44.400 –> 00:26:44.820 Brenda Anders: Yes.

00:26:45.150 –> 00:26:45.630 Brenda Anders: Very good.

00:26:46.050 –> 00:26:49.200 Joseph McElroy: As a good diversity to as well as your charity or as.

00:26:50.310 –> 00:27:06.210 Brenda Anders: Well, your you mentioned Cherokee we have Joseph red cloud who cars that lady train whistles and things we don’t have near enough of these things, but you cannot make a crafter craft unless they’re in the right mind.

00:27:06.690 –> 00:27:12.150 Brenda Anders: right but local craft local crafters is what we like recently we’ve had.

00:27:13.200 –> 00:27:18.450 Brenda Anders: A little lady join Alva Houston, and this is her hickory nut doll.

00:27:18.720 –> 00:27:20.190 Brenda Anders: You know, want to hickory night is.

00:27:20.580 –> 00:27:23.040 Brenda Anders: yeah okay her face.

00:27:23.910 –> 00:27:33.600 Brenda Anders: From hickory net and it’s an everything is here is made from her legs from a pipe cleaner covered and hose right up to the little quilt that she’s making.

00:27:33.990 –> 00:27:50.070 Brenda Anders: And that was very good fun, for us, and we have a husband and wife team that makes baskets and canes chairs, this is called the Blue Ridge basket a very sturdy basket with a wooden bottle and bottom and.

00:27:50.730 –> 00:28:06.420 Brenda Anders: She designed that in Chicago at the Blueridge basket and one of our most popular things for people to watch when we’re demonstrating is this braided rug and the children come in and they say oh look that lady’s making a carpet.

00:28:07.020 –> 00:28:11.490 Brenda Anders: You know, we love for the kids to see us ironing.

00:28:12.540 –> 00:28:23.760 Brenda Anders: cutting out things seeing a sewing machine and seeing things that are not exposed to now, so I thought that was very funny one the man says look she’s making carpet.

00:28:25.110 –> 00:28:30.660 Brenda Anders: crafter to make socks hats, we just have an abundance of different items.

00:28:31.290 –> 00:28:46.680 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know that there’s a lot of people that don’t you don’t understand our warcraft and they just deal with it on the superficial level which is you know that’s okay, too, but you know I always like to find people in know also the beauty inherent value of what people create.

00:28:47.520 –> 00:28:49.800 Brenda Anders: Like to be proud of the time.

00:28:49.830 –> 00:29:08.850 Brenda Anders: I went to my girlfriend’s house and her mother and aunt had a bad full of quilts and pillows and I said, what can you do with these well we just make them like nobody’s going to want them, but this, so I talked him into joining and those sisters were two of the most popular.

00:29:09.900 –> 00:29:25.350 Brenda Anders: counter workers that there was an in the shop and they sold the whole bed, full of pillows and blankets and at that time, the government wasn’t involved, and we could sell our homemade jams and jellies.

00:29:26.010 –> 00:29:27.360 Brenda Anders: Well, Miss Verily.

00:29:28.380 –> 00:29:37.230 Brenda Anders: Would not cus, no matter what, so there was a man standing and looking at her Delhi and he said this verily coke must be one hell of a cook.

00:29:39.420 –> 00:29:44.190 Brenda Anders: The expression on her face was something that I’ll never forget it’s such pride.

00:29:44.640 –> 00:30:01.740 Brenda Anders: And, seeing that the people who came in and bought something that they created I’m a firm believer that there is gold in these mountains and it’s up to us to find those people and sell what is so rich in the past that alone on things that are handmade.

00:30:02.280 –> 00:30:07.110 Brenda Anders: Because it’s very hard to keep people interested in handmade crafts.

00:30:07.380 –> 00:30:18.750 Joseph McElroy: yeah well, we have to take a break now all right, well, we come back we’ll talk more about the nature of handmade crafts and further what you guys are doing in Dillsboro.

00:32:26.220 –> 00:32:43.200 Joseph McElroy: Howdy, this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with a Gateway to the Smokies Podcasts and my guest Brenda Anders, so Brenda you mentioned earlier about a 12-room log building I guess it was formerly cabins and motel, it was a tourist motel.

00:32:43.860 –> 00:32:45.900 Brenda Anders: yeah yes I’m not cannons cottage.

00:32:47.100 –> 00:32:48.000 Brenda Anders: belong to the.

00:32:48.030 –> 00:33:00.690 Brenda Anders: a family who had become our landlord for all these years, Mr. Wade Wilson, and his wife Becky and like I said, we have, first in the little house one street over and.

00:33:01.230 –> 00:33:22.500 Brenda Anders: He loves dogwood and the concept of having bills for becoming craft capital, so he asked us if we’d like to move over there, pretty soon we expanded and got the next cabin joined together it end up, we took three cabins and we’re still in and that today and.

00:33:24.900 –> 00:33:26.370 Joseph McElroy: The rest of the campus still runs.

00:33:28.140 –> 00:33:29.490 Brenda Anders: No. Without the hall, we have.

00:33:30.660 –> 00:33:31.230 Joseph McElroy: just gone in.

00:33:33.180 –> 00:33:36.090 Brenda Anders: a while back he met me on the street, and he says.

00:33:37.380 –> 00:33:46.200 Brenda Anders: I want to sell your dog crafters and I said but it’s family-owned property how are you going to do that he says, I want it done.

00:33:47.130 –> 00:34:12.480 Brenda Anders: And so, he named his price $350,000 we went to work, having garage sales we learn how to ask for grants and we got it down to a word we only owed $100,000 and our bank Suntrust bank loans are little craft cooperatives $100,000 and within seven years we had our building paid for.

00:34:13.110 –> 00:34:13.320 that’s fabulous, that’s fabulous!

00:34:15.060 –> 00:34:21.240 Joseph McElroy: You guys take care of everything volunteers do everything building flower boxes main interest really sort of.

00:34:21.240 –> 00:34:28.290 Brenda Anders: Special, that is true that’s why I say I’ve been everything from the groundskeeper right on it, because.

00:34:29.220 –> 00:34:36.570 Brenda Anders: We do have grounds that we have to keep and like you said, the flower boxes, as someone orders all of our supplies.

00:34:37.200 –> 00:34:46.050 Brenda Anders: Another lady is in charge of all of our classes and we offer free classes to anyone who would like to come, they only have to pay for the supplies.

00:34:46.740 –> 00:34:56.520 Brenda Anders: They use during that we have a scholarship committee we give them a lot of money to John Campbell Haywood Tech Southwestern.

00:34:57.060 –> 00:35:06.720 Brenda Anders: To students wanting to learn and the Appalachian craft and so uh we have different projects, in order to earn money for that craft.

00:35:07.230 –> 00:35:16.650 Brenda Anders: And of course, we love to advertise and we have one project that we do every year for special expensive advertising, and that is, we sell.

00:35:17.130 –> 00:35:31.320 Brenda Anders: quilt tickets for a raffle quilt and our craft or one of our oldest crafters Laurie Walter who lives in wine soul, has made those quilts for the last five or six years we used to come together as a group, and make that but he says.

00:35:32.400 –> 00:35:39.450 Brenda Anders: I don’t understand it, but he says, the women talk too much and if I would send them home he’d make the damn quilts itself.

00:35:42.060 –> 00:35:51.810 Brenda Anders: So that’s what he’s done and we sell raffle tickets all year long so he can, so we can have special advertising the.

00:35:52.890 –> 00:36:00.660 Brenda Anders: We come up with different ideas such as that to make money but makes me the shop is run by ours.

00:36:02.250 –> 00:36:06.720 Brenda Anders: percentages from our crafters and we also sell jams and jellies.

00:36:09.510 –> 00:36:10.740 Joseph McElroy: Most of the money comes from.

00:36:10.890 –> 00:36:12.810 Joseph McElroy: Yes, so.

00:36:13.350 –> 00:36:14.340 Brenda Anders: As a nonprofit.

00:36:14.400 –> 00:36:16.530 Brenda Anders: we’re not supposed to have a whole lot of money.

00:36:16.800 –> 00:36:18.690 Brenda Anders: So we don’t.

00:36:19.200 –> 00:36:25.170 Brenda Anders: But we needed more so we needed those the money came from jam and jelly so we have a crafter.

00:36:25.710 –> 00:36:33.600 Brenda Anders: A Joan Marston who has volunteered and she orders jams and jellies, we looked all over the country and we found a little shop and tiger Georgia.

00:36:33.960 –> 00:36:46.050 Brenda Anders: still makes her jellies and little for four-gallon pots so it’s as close to homemade is, as we can get and when the man walks in the door, they just go straight to across the hall to our pantry and start.

00:36:46.530 –> 00:36:55.230 Brenda Anders: buying the jelly and the Barbecue sauces and things like that, without the money that we earn from our jams and jellies, it would be hard for us.

00:36:56.250 –> 00:36:59.130 Brenda Anders: To make our quota of expenses.

00:36:59.880 –> 00:37:00.600 Joseph McElroy: Now I hear.

00:37:01.620 –> 00:37:05.700 Joseph McElroy: You so you sell cookbooks and that you have begun writing those Is that true.

00:37:06.840 –> 00:37:17.460 Brenda Anders: here’s the cookbook one of my favorite simply because of the color we’ve had five cookbooks and I think we, we have, four now, that are in print.

00:37:18.000 –> 00:37:35.310 Brenda Anders: I did not write them at all, but I do have recipes in them our customers have recipes on our different crafters have recipes and cookbooks sales are we’ve sold thousands of cookbooks and because of the cookbooks we have.

00:37:36.780 –> 00:37:44.100 Brenda Anders: Well it’s a whole story, I could talk for another hour and how we got to this, but we were on Carolina kitchen.

00:37:45.570 –> 00:37:57.630 Brenda Anders: On WLOS TV every day, they have a five-minute segment of recipes and cookies so I was privileged to go over there and I did that way back in the.

00:37:58.830 –> 00:38:05.340 Brenda Anders: I’ve done it for about 20 years, of course, the code would put a stop to that for right now but I’m trying to figure out a way how.

00:38:06.390 –> 00:38:08.940 Brenda Anders: I don’t want them to come and gentlemen, my house.

00:38:10.590 –> 00:38:12.120 Brenda Anders: That would require housekeeping.

00:38:12.150 –> 00:38:15.090 Joseph McElroy: detail now, oh no you’re an expert at zoom just do it.

00:38:16.470 –> 00:38:20.430 Brenda Anders: Oh I’m at your friend’s place doing this.

00:38:21.630 –> 00:38:22.710 Brenda Anders: On a flip phone.

00:38:24.390 –> 00:38:26.910 Joseph McElroy: Well, you did a zoom on a flip phone.

00:38:27.360 –> 00:38:28.500 Brenda Anders: No, no, no I have a flip phone.

00:38:32.160 –> 00:38:41.400 Joseph McElroy: By my father still on a flip phone too so yeah you know it’s funny that they’re now making smartphones to look like and flip like a flip phone.

00:38:42.660 –> 00:38:45.630 Joseph McElroy: gen Z loves the concept of the flip phone.

00:38:45.960 –> 00:38:46.950 Joseph McElroy: Not knowing that.

00:38:48.000 –> 00:38:49.470 Joseph McElroy: That we had that 30 years ago.

00:38:50.340 –> 00:39:03.030 Joseph McElroy: yeah right yeah so, but so so you guys do that’s really nice do all this promotion, with the cooking it’s really you know we’re wanting to do some interesting mountain cooking

00:39:03.870 –> 00:39:12.120 Joseph McElroy: recipes for any restaurant come in the Meadowlark so I definitely want to see your cookbook to see if we can find some things that might be interesting for that.

00:39:14.610 –> 00:39:14.940 Joseph McElroy: and

00:39:16.170 –> 00:39:26.760 Brenda Anders: That over crafters are good cooks and we have many recipes in our fast cookbooks that come from our mothers and grandmothers so we’ll help you out on that.

00:39:28.290 –> 00:39:29.040 Joseph McElroy: So tell me.

00:39:30.390 –> 00:39:38.610 Joseph McElroy: How you know I just moved to Asheville so I know you have a moment in the mountain seekers it’s a national it’s a pretty nice event yes.

00:39:38.640 –> 00:39:43.920 Brenda Anders: dogwood has gone to the North Carolina mountain state fair since it began.

00:39:45.330 –> 00:39:58.260 Brenda Anders: I’m not good at naming dates, but about 27 years and we started out, we had loose on the dirt there in the arena, and now we have a wonderful new building built by.

00:40:00.690 –> 00:40:10.140 Brenda Anders: The North Carolina folks that they in the regulators from Raleigh and about four or five years ago dogwood was asked to take over the.

00:40:10.860 –> 00:40:27.540 Brenda Anders: historic heritage crafters there, which was a real privilege for us and we are in constant search of heritage crafters and we have so much fun working 13 days 10 days 13 hours a day.

00:40:28.980 –> 00:40:34.830 Brenda Anders: selling and meeting the folks and introducing them to traditional mountain crafts.

00:40:35.220 –> 00:40:36.810 Joseph McElroy: And when is that usually held

00:40:38.130 –> 00:40:42.060 Brenda Anders: It starts Thursday after Labor day and for the next 10 days.

00:40:43.470 –> 00:40:44.970 Brenda Anders: I expect you to be coming there.

00:40:45.330 –> 00:40:47.430 Joseph McElroy: I will be coming there we live right there.

00:40:50.070 –> 00:40:56.070 Joseph McElroy: I got a balloon and off I’m on my second rodeo and I got three and a half-year-old twins

00:40:57.150 –> 00:41:03.840 Joseph McElroy: So so I’ll be bringing them to show them all sorts of mountain culture, I think they’ll get a kick out that I look forward to.

00:41:05.580 –> 00:41:16.350 Brenda Anders: they’ll love it, they have the last birthing of the cows, then calves and pig races and but don’t forget to bring them to Virginia been building and say that crafters.

00:41:17.760 –> 00:41:29.910 Joseph McElroy: So you, you mentioned, going back to you know I love Cabin right, so what I wanted to ask about that he said the rooms were thinking about doing things, what are the themes of your rooms?

00:41:30.540 –> 00:41:37.560 Brenda Anders: Well, as you enter the room it’s the main room and we live near Eastern we have that decorated for Easter.

00:41:38.250 –> 00:41:46.590 Brenda Anders: mother’s day father’s day and, as you enter then go to the right, we have the lodge a lot of people who come and visit us want.

00:41:47.580 –> 00:42:08.070 Brenda Anders: To decorate their lodge so we have that than around the fireplace we have our Christmas room and then into the next room is our children’s and toy room, we have our pantry with jams and jellies, we have a room that has handmade soap pillows and.

00:42:09.510 –> 00:42:18.510 Brenda Anders: Some jewelry items and things, then we have the traditional large room, which has the baskets brand new drugs, and things like that.

00:42:19.080 –> 00:42:27.570 Brenda Anders: Then we have the bouquet of handmade hats and gloves and dresses and aprons and then we have a kitchen, which has.

00:42:28.170 –> 00:42:47.520 Brenda Anders: kitchen items handmade kitchen items and then you’re not going to find stainless steel spoons or anything everything in our shop is handmade, then the big room that we built on to the cabins out to the back it’s called the gallery, and we call it that, because.

00:42:48.600 –> 00:42:50.610 Brenda Anders: It has lots of walls that.

00:42:51.810 –> 00:43:04.290 Brenda Anders: We can hang photographs and original paintings and prints and things like that, but we did have to put tables and shells in there because we have to have room for crafts.

00:43:05.760 –> 00:43:17.520 Joseph McElroy: that’s fabulous well, we got to take one last break here we’ll come back we’ll talk a little bit about you know other things going on and how people find out of that all right.

00:43:17.700 –> 00:43:18.210 Okay.

00:45:21.630 –> 00:45:29.970 Joseph McElroy: Howdy, this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the Podcast Gateway to the Smokies with my guest Brenda Anders so Brenda.

00:45:30.990 –> 00:45:37.500 Joseph McElroy: I read that you added a new feature to the Co-op and that’s Mary’s Garden, what does that how did it come about.

00:45:39.000 –> 00:45:51.900 Brenda Anders: Mary Nolan was a member of dogwood for many, many years, and when she passed away, we wanted to pay tribute to her in a special way, so we had our side yard brick.

00:45:52.680 –> 00:45:57.180 Brenda Anders: And we have a black with her photograph on it, and everything is just called Mary’s garden.

00:45:57.720 –> 00:46:11.130 Brenda Anders: And we’re a firm believer at the dogwood that if you make the men comfortable sitting out on a patio with a good comfortable bench daily deal long while you’re in the shot buying things so mary’s garden has.

00:46:12.330 –> 00:46:25.560 Brenda Anders: It keeps Mary with us, she was very important to us as dogwood every Member when you become a member of a dog and you become a member of dogwood your family when you’re sick we help you.

00:46:25.950 –> 00:46:45.420 Brenda Anders: When when you have a death in the family, we help you and you are as important there’s no one there are people like me, have a good mouth and can talk about dogwood and things, but each and every Member of dogwood makes it a volunteer cooperative shop.

00:46:46.620 –> 00:46:47.460 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:46:49.080 –> 00:46:57.570 Joseph McElroy: it’s obviously real dedication to your Members, but I also feel like the last this long your real dedication to your customers, how do you support them?

00:46:58.710 –> 00:47:23.970 Brenda Anders: We support them by continuing to have good quality crafts, we try each of our crafters come up with new ideas and our longtime customers notice when they come in, they say Oh well, this is new and every item has a tag on it and that crafters name is on the tech, so they know that.

00:47:25.410 –> 00:47:36.870 Brenda Anders: Geneva has a new chair, or Judy Horn has some new gourds or they identify by name, not just a number on the tag so.

00:47:38.340 –> 00:47:48.720 Brenda Anders: We try to support them by having new things and staying open it’s really hard to stay open as a business now and it’s a privilege to say that we.

00:47:49.080 –> 00:47:59.700 Brenda Anders: have made this happen for as many years, as we have when we first started well not when we first started, but about 20 years into it handmade in America became very popular.

00:48:00.420 –> 00:48:12.480 Brenda Anders: And they asked us to help other craft cooperatives get started so Mary and I would take these trips to different towns all around and.

00:48:13.500 –> 00:48:24.300 Brenda Anders: We would talk to them about how we got started and what we did, and one of our Members Susie Ray wrote a book dogwood crafters our first 25 years.

00:48:24.840 –> 00:48:39.480 Brenda Anders: And in that book, it tells exactly how we got started our recommendations of how a craft cooperative works, and you can take that look, and you can find a good location in your own town, and you can have your own doctor crafters cooperatives.

00:48:40.260 –> 00:48:47.280 Joseph McElroy: fabulous that’s fabulous and you know, in your own town, but you go around the festivals as well.

00:48:48.450 –> 00:48:51.210 Joseph McElroy: Yes, a big holiday, can you tell me about those?

00:48:52.260 –> 00:48:52.950 Brenda Anders: Dillsboro

00:48:54.270 –> 00:49:04.470 Brenda Anders: has three main festivals, we have a front street in July color fest in October, and our luminary, which is the first two full weekends in

00:49:05.310 –> 00:49:24.810 Brenda Anders: December and that is where the streets are all by candles and white bags to thousands and thousands of fit and the shops offer refreshments and when we can get the horses to work there are horse-drawn buggy rides and everything and.

00:49:26.610 –> 00:49:36.840 Brenda Anders: While the train comes to Dillsboro we like to have demonstrations, so the spring fling and fall fling has started and that’s just on.

00:49:37.320 –> 00:49:49.200 Brenda Anders: Certain Saturdays I can’t remember the dates, right now, but we have crafters and in the front of each shop we don’t cross the streets off for those things but.

00:49:50.160 –> 00:50:07.590 Brenda Anders: Again we’re trying to let people say that hey things are handmade and we have several good shops in town that, of course, they don’t all carry handmade things but they’re good quality shops that are restaurants can be beaten in Dillsboro

00:50:08.370 –> 00:50:09.630 Joseph McElroy:Dillsboro

00:50:11.250 –> 00:50:13.380 Joseph McElroy: has nice restaurants there Okay, yes.

00:50:14.130 –> 00:50:19.770 Joseph McElroy: yeah I can’t speak more highly of it and you gotta you have a brewery there now to innovation.

00:50:20.880 –> 00:50:22.050 Joseph McElroy: Innovation right brewery.

00:50:22.350 –> 00:50:22.770 Yes.

00:50:24.000 –> 00:50:29.790 Joseph McElroy: it’s good time to visit, then people should visit and then go to the go-to coop and buy some crafts would be a.

00:50:29.790 –> 00:50:30.030 Brenda Anders: Great.

00:50:30.570 –> 00:50:31.830 Joseph McElroy: A great day trip.

00:50:32.040 –> 00:50:33.480 Joseph McElroy: And a fun thing that we have.

00:50:34.710 –> 00:50:47.880 Brenda Anders: A fun thing that we have is the Easter parade and that got started 37 years ago when several shops decided well we’ll just have our own parade, and so they put on funny hats and they marched around town.

00:50:48.150 –> 00:50:56.520 Brenda Anders: Oh now, we continue to have that, and hundreds of people come our state magazine came and interviewed and stayed all day.

00:50:56.520 –> 00:51:07.590 Brenda Anders: And took pictures and it’s a free event for families and it’s always the Saturday before Easter this year, we had a goat come.

00:51:09.030 –> 00:51:17.910 Brenda Anders: Last year, oh, and we have a cat that has been coming up for five years, her name is a bonus, and she walks around on the leash last year at a chicken come.

00:51:18.330 –> 00:51:27.690 Brenda Anders: So it’s always fun to see who shows up and watch shows up that it’s a good Dillsboro is a walkabout town it’s too long blocks.

00:51:28.680 –> 00:51:40.320 Brenda Anders: front and back street and that, where you can park your car and go in and out all these shops and stop to eat and have a really good day that away from the maddening crowds.

00:51:40.950 –> 00:51:43.140 Joseph McElroy: So what’s the future for the Coop.

00:51:44.910 –> 00:51:45.660 Joseph McElroy: what’s your vision?

00:51:46.770 –> 00:52:03.720 Brenda Anders: My vision is that we can continue to recruit crafters to carry on dogwood crafters as it has been for the last since 76 and keep it there for generations to come it’s hard work.

00:52:05.100 –> 00:52:15.510 Brenda Anders: Getting younger people to want to make a craft that’s why we have to demonstrate and show that you can make carpet and you can make your own socks and crochet your own hat and.

00:52:16.230 –> 00:52:24.540 Brenda Anders: Dollies I love Dollies I can have a lot of deaths, but I dare say that a lot of people don’t know what a dollies is

00:52:25.260 –> 00:52:25.620 Brenda Anders: and

00:52:26.460 –> 00:52:28.080 Brenda Anders: We just want to keep that alive.

00:52:28.500 –> 00:52:38.700 Brenda Anders: And if we can do that the dog will be there for another 25 or 75 years I won’t be meaning for crafters won’t be but dogwood will be there.

00:52:39.120 –> 00:52:45.330 Joseph McElroy: For you on the next generation that’s important So how do people find out more about you?

00:52:46.410 –> 00:52:54.780 Brenda Anders: Well, Facebook or dogwood crafters are on Facebook, we have a website dogwoodcrafters.com.

00:52:57.810 –> 00:53:12.330 Brenda Anders: And we still are old fashion and have brochures and some of the welcome centers and things like that, but I think, where people can just Google it and find us in Dillsboro.

00:53:12.870 –> 00:53:18.630 Joseph McElroy: Well, I invite you to bring your quilt raffle tickets over the Meadowlark and try to sell some for it.

00:53:19.020 –> 00:53:20.280 Joseph McElroy: Okay, and.

00:53:21.180 –> 00:53:22.140 Brenda Anders: we’re very lucky.

00:53:22.290 –> 00:53:30.660 Brenda Anders: Where we’re located we’re on how by 441 at the red light, there were three hours from Charlotte three hours from Atlanta three hours from.

00:53:32.520 –> 00:53:42.420 Brenda Anders: major hubs one hour from Asheville so if you’re wanting to go to Cherokee stop 14 miles before you get to Cherokee and you’ll find dogwood crafters.

00:53:42.540 –> 00:53:43.710 Joseph McElroy: And of course, you’re pretty close to.

00:53:45.810 –> 00:53:50.280 Joseph McElroy: Maggie Valley you know I hope you guys come to our craft and arts and crafts show.

00:53:51.960 –> 00:53:56.850 Joseph McElroy: All right, good well it’s been a pleasure, having you on the show today Thank you so much.

00:53:58.440 –> 00:54:08.730 Joseph McElroy: I’ve learned a lot it’s nice to know about you that stimulates things in my brain, you know I’m involved in the arts and crafts, so I definitely come and check you out and see what’s going on.

00:54:09.960 –> 00:54:17.760 Joseph McElroy: So thank you again, this is the gateway to the smokies podcast you can find out more about us at.

00:54:20.520 –> 00:54:27.540 Joseph McElroy: Talkradio. NYC, is a network of live podcasts about what happened there every day.

00:54:28.590 –> 00:54:42.330 Joseph McElroy: During every day of the week, where you’ll find out information that’s interesting they talk about small business and talk about you have self help it talks about cats, dogs and animals and all sorts of different things.

00:54:43.800 –> 00:54:44.250 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:54:47.190 –> 00:54:48.810 Joseph McElroy: it’s a pleasure to have you here.

00:54:49.860 –> 00:54:59.670 Joseph McElroy: And and have you should listen to the show, so I encourage you to go see and listen to other podcasts on the network, I.

00:55:00.780 –> 00:55:08.610 Joseph McElroy: This specific show has a Facebook page facebook.com/gatewaytothesmokiespodcast where you find the.

00:55:08.940 –> 00:55:15.870 Joseph McElroy: The local live broadcasts and everything else we’re also smokiesadventure.com there’s a link that shows all the previous.

00:55:16.560 –> 00:55:25.230 Joseph McElroy: podcasts and transcripts, as well as information that’s useful my mutual to us, was events know things going on and I.

00:55:26.040 –> 00:55:31.080 Joseph McElroy: I have another podcast on this network that can wise content creates wealth which is about.

00:55:31.590 –> 00:55:39.540 Joseph McElroy: Using AI and behavioral science to help marketing your business So if you get a chance to look at look for that podcast on Fridays from.

00:55:40.170 –> 00:55:56.100 Joseph McElroy: From noon to one, this podcast is on Tuesdays from six to seven every week and it’s been a pleasure letting you into our world here, and hopefully, you’ll come to visit us and I’ll talk to you next week.

GUEST: MATTHEW SHIREY

In this episode, you will learn about the art of blacksmithing and metalworking in the Smoky Mountains. 

Matthew Shirey is an Award-winning Blacksmith and Metalworking Artist who has resided in Sylva, N.C. for over 15 years. A native of Pennsylvania, Matthew has been a full-time craftsman since 2017 and the Owner of Shira Forge since 2005. 

Matthew was also the winner of the 2022 season premiere of the History Channel hit television show –Forged in Fire! He will discuss what it means to be a blacksmith in the 21st century and see how he forged his career out of metal at an early age.

Website: https://www.shiraforge.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthew.shirey.54

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shiraforge/

Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

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Joseph Franklin McElroy kicks off the show by mentioning the sponsor of the show, which is of course his own, the Meadowlark Motel and also smokiesadventure.com. Some upcoming events at the motel include this weekend, May 6th through the 8th called Wildcrafting and Mother Nature’s natural garden program honoring women empowerment and celebrating Mother’s Day. The poem Joseph reads to us today is by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called The Village Blacksmith. The poem talks about being proud of the things you've done in your life and being a role model. He introduces his guest, Matthew Shirey, owner of Shira Forge since 2005. Matthew grew up in Pennsylvania and went to college there as well. He also spent time in Montana and Oregon. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do, but he did know that he wanted to do blacksmithing as his career. At one point, he threw whatever he could in the back of his van and traveled to Waynesville, North Carolina when an opportunity came up from a friend who needed a blacksmith. Before this, he spent several years working with kids, and different faculties did carpentry work, washed dishes in kitchens, and more.

Matthew got into archeology and history while in high school which got him interested in blacksmithing. He walked into a heritage center in his hometown where they had a blacksmithing class. He spent a weekend one summer doing this and knew this was what he wanted to do for his career. Shirey says that it's the magic of forging, getting a steel pot, and being able to manipulate it. He also has always had an obsession with knives and metal and what you can create with them. Shirey talks about blacksmithing in the 18th and 19th century as well as today. He mostly learned a lot on his own through books, going to other blacksmiths, picking their brains, and the use of the internet. Shirey mentions Herschel, Frank, and John, otherwise known as the House Brothers, as influences. They make flintlock rifles, knives, axes, and other early American tools. Shirey’s main focus of what he makes are knives, axes, and carbon steel frying pans. He also explains the difference between carbon steel pans and cast iron pans. Carbon steel pans are super strong and have a little more advantage in various ways.

Shirey talks a bit about his business, Shira Forge, and not going into it full-time until about 2017. He mentions that he had a teaching job with Southwestern Community College and was enjoying it. He also worked as a welder and carpenter. Shirey also talks about the name of his business which is paying homage to his ancestors as well as being a part of the show Forged in the Fire on the History Channel in season 9. He applied twice to be in the show and was able to be a part of the show in 2021. In the show, there are three rounds of competition and 4 bladesmiths. In the first round, you would have three hours to forge and heat treat a knife within whatever challenge was set forth. In the second round for Shirey, he had to put a handle and guard on a knife within a limited time frame. The final two competitors would go home to their own shop for a couple of days and forge whatever weapon was given to them as a challenge. The judges would look at not only the aesthetic of tools but also the functionality. The grand prize was 10,000 dollars which allowed Shirey to invest in his business and own tools.

Shirey talks about wanting to get back into teaching such as maybe offering small workshops in his shop and reconnecting with other schools around the country. He may also be interested in creating YouTube videos as well. In the Great Smoky Mountains, Shirey likes to hunt and fish and just be outside whenever possible. In Sylva, he enjoys eating at the Guadalupe Café. Joseph also talks with Shirey about his favorite entertainment places to visit. They also talk about a celebration for Shirey’s win in the competition show which was held at the Lazy Hiker Taproom in Sylva. Shirey thanks Joseph for bringing him on the show to share his passion. You can find more about Matthew Shirey and his work at shiraforge.com, and on Instagram at Shiraforge.

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00:00:40.710 –> 00:00:42.060 Joseph McElroy: howdy welcome to

00:00:42.240 –> 00:00:52.500 Joseph McElroy: The gateway to the smokies podcast this podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the surrounding towns.

00:00:53.040 –> 00:01:01.350 Joseph McElroy: This area is filled with ancient natural beauty and deep-storied history and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes.

00:01:01.680 –> 00:01:12.630 Joseph McElroy: I’m Joseph Franklyn McElroy a man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains my family’s lived in these great smokies for over 200 years my business is in travel but my heart is in culture.

00:01:13.380 –> 00:01:22.320 Joseph McElroy: Today we’re gonna be talking about forging a blacksmithing career in the smoky mountains, but first I got a message from our sponsor which happens to be me.

00:01:23.670 –> 00:01:34.200 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place evocative of motor courts in the past yet modern and vibrant with a Chic Appalachian feel, a place for adventure and full relaxation.

00:01:34.860 –> 00:01:43.710 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on fire and eat accompanied by a fine wine or craft beers.

00:01:44.160 –> 00:01:58.380 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place that old-time music and world cultural sound, there is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley North Carolina your smoky mountain adventures start with where you stay.

00:01:59.460 –> 00:02:08.160 Joseph McElroy: and other sponsors smokiesadventure.com the smoky mountains in the surrounding areas of vacation destination for all season.

00:02:09.210 –> 00:02:15.510 Joseph McElroy: Some of the nation’s best hiking trails waterfalls outdoor adventures and family entertainment can be found, right here.

00:02:15.900 –> 00:02:27.390 Joseph McElroy: start your adventure by using smokiesadventure.com that’s smokies plural adventure singular dot com to explore all the wonderful features of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

00:02:27.840 –> 00:02:32.730 Joseph McElroy: trails, waterfalls, cade’s cove, they got elk and historic.

00:02:33.450 –> 00:02:40.230 Joseph McElroy: buildings and more than check out the awesome family attractions and entertainment, you and your entire family can enjoy.

00:02:40.560 –> 00:02:50.940 Joseph McElroy: And if you’re looking to have an interesting life event you can find places to have interesting outdoor weddings or allotments or honeymoons or just romantic getaway.

00:02:51.690 –> 00:02:58.800 Joseph McElroy: The goal of smokiesadventure.com is to become the leading information portal for adventures in the great smoky mountains.

00:02:59.700 –> 00:03:19.500 Joseph McElroy: will tell you about a few minutes events coming up here at the Meadowlark Motel we’re going to have a wonderful event for the celebration of mother’s day this weekend may 6 to the eighth 2022 is called wildcrafting in mother nature’s natural garden program with Illa Hatter

00:03:21.630 –> 00:03:25.860 Joseph McElroy: And it’s a weekend honoring female empowerment and iconic Appalachian women.

00:03:26.460 –> 00:03:31.710 Joseph McElroy: And that’s what better time to do that and mother’s day it kicks off Friday night when we will have.

00:03:32.100 –> 00:03:42.060 Joseph McElroy: acclaimed author wilderness survival expert Haywood County search and rescue team Member and record-setting endurance athlete Nancy East to present our Program.

00:03:42.600 –> 00:03:49.500 Joseph McElroy: moms moving mountains and she will experience to share experiences in the great outdoors as well as her.

00:03:49.890 –> 00:03:58.440 Joseph McElroy: amazing endurance hiking achievements and and a lot of our search and rescue stories that are quite interesting and then she’ll have a book signing of her.

00:03:59.340 –> 00:04:09.360 Joseph McElroy: New book and that’s $10 for admission and it’s free for the guests in the motel and then on Saturday in the afternoon we’re going to have a whole.

00:04:11.700 –> 00:04:25.620 Joseph McElroy: adventure with Illa Hatter who’s a legendary wildcrafting expert renowned author filmmaker instructor and tour guide for the great smoky mountains National Park at their elite field school.

00:04:26.640 –> 00:04:43.650 Joseph McElroy: she’s an expert on edible pan plants medicinal herbs and new things for tape pertaining to wildcraft foraging and Appalachian plants trees and flowers she’s been on TV shows and videos and books and has worked on his advisor for movies and TV shows.

00:04:45.030 –> 00:04:52.650 Joseph McElroy: And she will be presenting her beloved program mother’s nature natural garden and leading, which is talking about forging and all the things that.

00:04:53.310 –> 00:05:05.670 Joseph McElroy: You know that you can do with those plants and herbs in the mountains and then she’s actually going to lead a tour on the grounds of the Meadowlark Motel which has a large wooden recreation area and a.

00:05:06.870 –> 00:05:16.170 Joseph McElroy: Natural mountain heritage trout stream was and identifying nature’s bounty so you can actually get hands-on experience finding these things right in your backyard.

00:05:16.620 –> 00:05:25.500 Joseph McElroy: And then it will there will be that all will culminate with a free Barbecue supper and music by Michael Ogletree and friends and the admission, for that is $20 or.

00:05:26.190 –> 00:05:36.570 Joseph McElroy: Is free for motel guests, and then on Sunday morning, we have a mother’s brunch where they can have a enjoy cake and champagne at the motel so please come by if you can.

00:05:37.770 –> 00:05:49.500 Joseph McElroy: upcoming events at the festival grounds on March 13 and 14th there are the icons of hot rodding festival well you’ll get the 50s and 60s hot Rod and custom cars truck events.

00:05:50.640 –> 00:06:07.590 Joseph McElroy: And for models or 1969 and older and it’ll be the 50s and 60s music vintage vendors pinstripe or food vendors judging awards and presentations and so that I will look forward to that very much um, as you know, sometimes I’d like to do a poem.

00:06:09.630 –> 00:06:27.510 Joseph McElroy: About about that’s related to the content of the show that we’re gonna be doing and I found one is by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who’s around for making their 1807-1882 and it’s called “the village blacksmith” but you know it’s I’m also.

00:06:28.800 –> 00:06:45.300 Joseph McElroy: It talks about you know it also talks a lot about do you know have lived life and to be proud of your accomplishments and the things that you’ve done and work every day with pride in that you know and some of that I, you know I spent 27 years in New York.

00:06:46.350 –> 00:06:52.290 Joseph McElroy: You know, doing a lot of things there and a mouse seasons come where I’m moving back to North Carolina.

00:06:52.890 –> 00:07:03.210 Joseph McElroy: And will be full time in the smoky mountain area now we’re actually gonna be living in Ashville and somehow this spoke to me as well, so let me tell you about this poem is.

00:07:03.720 –> 00:07:17.430 Joseph McElroy: Under a spreading chestnut tree, The village smithy stands; the Smith, a mighty man is he, With large and sinewy hands, And the muscles of his brawny arms, Are strong as iron bands.

00:07:18.330 –> 00:07:28.350 Joseph McElroy: His hair is crisp and black, and long; His face is like the tan;

His brow is wet with honest sweat, He earns whatever he can,

00:07:29.190 –> 00:07:44.880 Joseph McElroy: And looks the whole world in the face, For he owes not any man. Week in, week out, from morn till night, You can hear his bellows blow; You can hear him swing his heavy sledge, With measured beat and slow,

00:07:45.420 –> 00:07:50.160 Joseph McElroy: Like a sexton ringing the village bell, the evening sun is low.

00:07:50.610 –> 00:08:04.710 Joseph McElroy: And children coming home from school look in at that open door they love to see that flaming forge and hear the bellows roar and catch the burning sparks that fly like chaff from a threshing floor.

00:08:05.580 –> 00:08:18.720 Joseph McElroy: He goes on Sunday to the church and sits amongst his boys; he hears the parson pray and he hears his daughter’s voice Singing in the village choir, and it makes his heart rejoice.

00:08:19.170 –> 00:08:32.490 Joseph McElroy: It sounds to him, like his mother’s voice, Singing in Paradise!

He needs must think of her once more, How in the grave she lies; And with his hard, rough hand he wipes, A tear out of his eyes.

00:08:33.870 –> 00:08:48.030 Joseph McElroy: Toiling,—rejoicing,—sorrowing, Onward through life he goes; Each morning sees some task begin, Each evening sees it close; Something attempted, something done,

00:08:49.110 –> 00:09:11.160 Joseph McElroy: Has earned a night’s repose. Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend, For the lesson thou hast taught! Thus at the flaming forge of life,  Our fortunes must be wrought; Thus on its sounding anvil shaped Each burning deed and thought.

00:09:13.320 –> 00:09:18.210 Joseph McElroy: So, today our guest is Matthew Shirey.

00:09:18.720 –> 00:09:21.930 Joseph McElroy: is an award-winning blacksmith and metalworking artist

00:09:21.960 –> 00:09:32.610 Joseph McElroy: who has resided in Sylva, N.C. for over 15 years and native of Pennsylvania, Matthew has been a full-time craftsman since 2017

00:09:32.970 –> 00:09:47.370 Joseph McElroy: and owner of Shira Forge since 2005. He is a member of the American Bladesmith Society and attended the John C. Campbell Folk School and Penland School of Craft. yeah, both of which we mentioned in this program before.

00:09:48.330 –> 00:09:56.730 Joseph McElroy: and breaking news he was also the winner of the 2022 Season 9 premiere of the History channel’s hit show Forged in Fire!

00:09:58.170 –> 00:10:09.330 Joseph McElroy: Matthew’s unique style is the result of studying 18th and 19th-century ironwork and cutlery combined with the lessons learned while forging all his products literally by hand.

00:10:10.290 –> 00:10:21.690 Joseph McElroy: And when he was in creating major function art in any shape he enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife and a notable Sylva photographer– and their two children. Hello Matthew!

00:10:22.200 –> 00:10:23.910 Joseph McElroy: hi how are you doing today.

00:10:23.970 –> 00:10:24.900 Mathew Shirey: I’m doing great.

00:10:25.320 –> 00:10:39.930 Joseph McElroy: yeah well you know, obviously we were talking about your recent national TV show, but I want to explore what you’ve done before that because I think the richness of your life is more important than the transit glory of a media these days.

00:10:41.100 –> 00:10:42.300 Joseph McElroy: But congrats on that.

00:10:43.590 –> 00:10:48.360 Joseph McElroy: So let’s talk about your journey, you came from Pennsylvania, where in Pennsylvania?

00:10:49.200 –> 00:10:55.620 Mathew Shirey: And I grew up in a little village called Mayport in Clarion County Pennsylvania, is the western part of the state.

00:10:56.850 –> 00:10:59.010 Mathew Shirey: Is kind of the northern tip of Appalachia.

00:11:00.780 –> 00:11:06.180 Joseph McElroy: cool and where did you what was your journey from there where did you go? After Pennsylvania?

00:11:06.720 –> 00:11:11.190 Mathew Shirey: my gosh I went I went to college right there and clarion county kind of.

00:11:12.270 –> 00:11:15.990 Mathew Shirey: was in and out of school a few times and then.

00:11:17.190 –> 00:11:23.970 Mathew Shirey: I made a couple of journeys out West spend a little time in Montana, and then lived in Oregon for about a year and a half and

00:11:25.110 –> 00:11:28.800 Mathew Shirey: That kind of fell through for me and I moved back to Pennsylvania and.

00:11:30.150 –> 00:11:38.790 Mathew Shirey: I was kind of in limbo and didn’t really know what I was going to do, I just knew at that point, I set my sights on blacksmithing as a career and

00:11:39.900 –> 00:11:47.520 Mathew Shirey: A friend of mine worked at Camp Daniel Boone down here in Waynesville North Carolina and he called me up and said hey if you’re looking for work, they.

00:11:47.970 –> 00:11:58.650 Mathew Shirey: They have an 18th-century living history program called boots bro village and their blacksmith bail out at the last minute, and they need someone in four days to be down here and ready to work for the summer.

00:11:59.340 –> 00:12:04.770 Mathew Shirey: And so I threw my forge and anvil and everything I had in the back minivan and cruise on down here.

00:12:05.520 –> 00:12:08.640 Joseph McElroy: Wow it’s that that was an opportune moment for you huh.

00:12:09.060 –> 00:12:11.220 Mathew Shirey: yeah yeah it’s pretty serendipitous.

00:12:11.310 –> 00:12:12.570 Joseph McElroy: Oh cool and.

00:12:13.680 –> 00:12:23.490 Joseph McElroy: So before that you, you just you found your calling is a blacksmith he didn’t really have a career, other than so your your your focus has been what you’ve achieved all along, right,

00:12:24.390 –> 00:12:31.230 Mathew Shirey: yeah I spent a number of years working with kids and different faculties and.

00:12:32.580 –> 00:12:40.050 Mathew Shirey: You know wash dishes in kitchens and did carpentry work and did you know did whatever I do pay the bills until till.

00:12:40.590 –> 00:12:43.050 Joseph McElroy: The other any other crafts, that you explored.

00:12:44.190 –> 00:12:59.310 Mathew Shirey: A I’ve done a lot of woodworking as well, I was, I was a shop teacher for six years before I made the jump into smithing full time, and so I did a lot of wind turning on the lane and got into building some banjos and you know I built.

00:13:00.450 –> 00:13:07.770 Mathew Shirey: an addition on our house and some other you know some other carpentry framing kind of work so we’ve done a lot of what as well cool.

00:13:08.280 –> 00:13:17.040 Joseph McElroy: Well we’re yeah I talked to a lot in this first segment, so now we have to explore how you came to blacksmithing and the next slide which we’re going to take a break right now okay.

00:15:33.030 –> 00:15:40.530 Joseph McElroy: Howdy, this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the Gateway to the Smokies podcast, and my guest Matthew Shirey.

00:15:41.490 –> 00:15:59.370 Joseph McElroy: Some of you know that I like to often have a beer craft beer local craft beer when I’m on the shows, and today I am having an IPA called the king of the mountain from a local brewery here and Haywood county called Buju brewery and I, I recommend it highly it’s really it’s kind of good.

00:16:00.690 –> 00:16:03.540 Joseph McElroy: And Matt are you drinking water, you got something else that.

00:16:03.780 –> 00:16:04.920 Mathew Shirey: i’ve got a cup of tea.

00:16:05.550 –> 00:16:06.000 Okay.

00:16:09.330 –> 00:16:13.260 Joseph McElroy: So you have a story about how you became interested in and.

00:16:14.730 –> 00:16:19.650 Joseph McElroy: In vaccinating attended a workshop at a State farm state park near your hometown.

00:16:20.670 –> 00:16:33.300 Mathew Shirey: yeah I had an in high school I got into the living history of experimental archaeology stuff you know dressing like a frontiersman of the 1800s shooting flintlock rifles and that stuff.

00:16:33.900 –> 00:16:43.230 Mathew Shirey: And so that got me interested in the blacksmithing and I started looking locally for anybody that could teach me anything and help me get-go and

00:16:44.250 –> 00:16:57.870Mathew Shirey: I happen to walk into like a heritage Center and cook for a state park and Northwest Pennsylvania, and they have some classes going on that summer and it just so happened they had a weekend blacksmith and class with a couple of local blacksmiths and.

00:16:58.890 –> 00:17:12.720Mathew Shirey: So I signed up and showed up and spend the weekend standing out in the hot sun fortune away and pretty much knew at the end of that weekend that this was something I had to do, and hopefully would someday be able to do it for a living and.

00:17:13.770 –> 00:17:18.720 Mathew Shirey: One of the blacksmiths that taught the class ended up calling me a week or two later he scored.

00:17:19.590 –> 00:17:39.090 Mathew Shirey: An old champion hand crank riveters forge and were nice enough to give it to me from 50 bucks when it was worth probably 200, and so I got home and set that up and somebody else gave me an anvil they had sitting in a barn forever and I that was it I bought a bag of coal and started forging.

00:17:39.600 –> 00:17:50.010 Joseph McElroy: fabulous So what do you think you know you said you had been would work or two is that the hands-on what separated from doing woodwork what made it your life’s calling.

00:17:51.600 –> 00:18:01.500 Mathew Shirey: I think, just the magic of forging you know just getting that steel pod and being able to manipulate it install it, and shape it into whatever I wanted.

00:18:01.860 –> 00:18:08.010 Mathew Shirey: and make something functional and I just, you know as long as I can remember, I always had an obsession with knives.

00:18:08.370 –> 00:18:22.560 Mathew Shirey: And one you know was always trying to make when my dad shop when I was a kid and whatnot frying and old files and saw blades and stuff so just you know woodworking is fine there’s a lot of things I like about what but metals just were attacked for me.

00:18:23.160 –> 00:18:29.790 Joseph McElroy: But you know I can understand you know, besides being a businessman right I’ve actually been an artist as well you know a few pieces here and there.

00:18:30.240 –> 00:18:40.050 Joseph McElroy: But the thing that was the essence, for me, was learning to really draw you know, and I tried lots of other things, but I started learning to draw and lots of media, and I just felt.

00:18:40.710 –> 00:18:55.170 Joseph McElroy: I felt like a real pleasant emotional experience when I just let myself get lost in that sort of right brain left brain dichotomy and you know it’s almost like there’s you get a buzz.

00:18:56.610 –> 00:19:04.860 Joseph McElroy: Right, so you know when you find your medium, you know it’s like seeing in your blood right.

00:19:05.100 –> 00:19:20.220 Mathew Shirey: yeah yeah getting in that creative zone, you know the rest of the world kind of disappears and you know I find myself up with a shot, two or three hours will go by and I’m kind of unaware of it, you know completely immersed in the process and kind of lose myself, you know.

00:19:20.940 –> 00:19:28.290 Joseph McElroy: But it’s interesting somebody could walk in and you bet you when you’re in that phase and then start talking to you, and you can look at them and you can’t even understand what they’re saying.

00:19:28.740 –> 00:19:29.610 Mathew Shirey: yeah sometimes.

00:19:31.140 –> 00:19:37.890 Joseph McElroy: Right it’s like it takes a second for you to switch your consciousness so that you could actually you know speaking the language.

00:19:38.400 –> 00:19:40.890 Mathew Shirey: Man yeah I’ve got to help her one day a week and.

00:19:42.300 –> 00:19:55.110 Mathew Shirey: Sometimes I run them out of their little earlier than I intended to you because I just need to have the space to myself and not have the distraction, you know and not have that kind of need to communicate I just need to be able to like focus on what I’m doing.

00:19:56.550 –> 00:20:03.120 Joseph McElroy: So that you say you I mean I read that you focus of your focus sort of like 18th-century blacksmithing right?

00:20:04.140 –> 00:20:11.100 Joseph McElroy: Is that different than the 1920 century blacksmithing or there’s it just the tools or what is it.

00:20:11.820 –> 00:20:18.000 Mathew Shirey: Well, you know I use modern tools I’ve got a hydraulic press and power hammer and belt Sander and all of that.

00:20:18.540 –> 00:20:27.780 Mathew Shirey: I’m not you know not doing everything in 18th-century manner, but a lot of the process is still the same as it was hundreds of years ago, I mean I’m still.

00:20:28.230 –> 00:20:43.050 Terri Clark: You know, forging and doing a lot of the same stuff and I think ultimately I’m a lot of times I’m trying to make things that fit into that time period are period direct for that time period and authentic for that time period.

00:20:44.520 –> 00:20:51.750 Joseph McElroy: So you went to I saw you with some really good craft schools is that how you learn or did you also learn a lot on your own.

00:20:53.130 –> 00:20:54.720 Mathew Shirey: I have mostly learned, on my own.

00:20:54.810 –> 00:21:04.350 Mathew Shirey: As a bigger yeah when I started, you know the Internet was kind of a new thing at our fingertips, and so I started digging on there and.

00:21:04.830 –> 00:21:15.270 Mathew Shirey: Any books, I could find on the blacksmithing and I was reading, and you know when I lived in Oregon I kind of found a couple of local blacksmiths and just started hanging out of their shop and.

00:21:15.840 –> 00:21:21.510 Mathew Shirey: Picking their brains as much as I could, but you know, mostly just hours and hours at the forge stumbling through it.

00:21:22.560 –> 00:21:29.460 Mathew Shirey: You know I’ve got scrapped knives and X is laying everywhere that are a failure, you know failed attempts.

00:21:31.740 –> 00:21:39.480 Mathew Shirey: Then you know when I when I moved here, I was here for a few years and took a class in school and a Penland, and you know, I was pretty.

00:21:40.800 –> 00:21:44.970 Mathew Shirey: Pretty established as a blacksmith by then, but those those classes definitely.

00:21:46.320 –> 00:21:49.050 Mathew Shirey: You know, improve my capabilities quite a bit.

00:21:49.440 –> 00:21:59.580 Joseph McElroy: They give you your classes and help you get into some specific texting techniques that that other person spent that time that you did on yours.

00:21:59.670 –> 00:22:07.770 Joseph McElroy: Right and you don’t have to spend that time, but you know you have a specific board or it could give you an idea of what you need to do for certain pieces that you’re working on.

00:22:08.130 –> 00:22:15.750 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah so that’s cool do you have any influences that you consider important to you.

00:22:18.810 –> 00:22:20.130 Joseph McElroy: there’s influences.

00:22:21.240 –> 00:22:21.990 Mathew Shirey: say that again.

00:22:22.380 –> 00:22:24.600 Joseph McElroy: mentors or influences, you know.

00:22:24.960 –> 00:22:30.360 Mathew Shirey: I again grew up with an interest in early American frontier stuff.

00:22:31.410 –> 00:22:36.720 Mathew Shirey: I don’t know if you’re familiar with the House brothers out of woodbury Kentucky herschel frank and john.

00:22:37.650 –> 00:22:54.000 Mathew Shirey They make flintlock rifles and knives and axes and kind of the whole gamut of early American tools and their work was always really inspiring to me again when I was in high school I discovered the Foxfire books.

00:22:54.360 –> 00:22:54.720 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah.

00:22:56.190 –> 00:23:00.630 Mathew Shirey: Those have been a an endless resource to me and a source of inspiration.

00:23:03.120 –> 00:23:20.730 Mathew Shirey: I outside of the early American kind of stuff I got into the work of our Paley alive when I first got started on his early stuff you know I did some architectural ironwork for a while so engage in fireplace screens and stuff and so His work was always really inspiring to me.

00:23:22.380 –> 00:23:24.570 Joseph McElroy: Well, it will come and what was the first thing you made?

00:23:25.770 –> 00:23:29.580 Mathew Shirey: The first thing I made in that workshop was a fork and a little bracelet.

00:23:30.150 –> 00:23:31.050 Joseph McElroy: Did you still have them.

00:23:31.710 –> 00:23:32.820 Mathew Shirey: I do not know.

00:23:32.910 –> 00:23:36.690 Mathew Shirey: Oh, I have no idea where those ended up, I actually may have them.

00:23:36.690 –> 00:23:38.370 Mathew Shirey: Somewhere but I don’t know where they’re at.

00:23:38.820 –> 00:23:41.220 Joseph McElroy: With one of the first things that you made it to still have.

00:23:42.600 –> 00:23:43.230 Mathew Shirey: gosh.

00:23:44.700 –> 00:23:50.130 Mathew Shirey: I still have a couple of knives I made years ago that I don’t think I would let see the light of day.

00:23:52.080 –> 00:24:02.850 Joseph McElroy: Listen i’m you know i’m sitting in a room in the motel where I’ve put a lot of my old artworks and you know I look at it there’s like this stuff is sucks but you know.

00:24:04.860 –> 00:24:11.760 Joseph McElroy: it’s also my private history now so it’s like I also remember the fun I had from discovering things from it so.

00:24:12.030 –> 00:24:18.750 Joseph McElroy: Right yeah so yeah you didn’t want it to get out of here and the commandment is burning when I die.

00:24:19.140 –> 00:24:19.800 Mathew Shirey: Here right.

00:24:22.320 –> 00:24:24.630 Joseph McElroy: So do you remember the first item, you so.

00:24:28.050 –> 00:24:39.840 Mathew Shirey: I think I think the first thing I ever sold was a friend of mine, asked me to make a dinner triangle, she wanted to hang and dinner triangle on the porch and I remember it being.

00:24:41.640 –> 00:24:44.460 Mathew Shirey: quite a bit lower on the bar than I was aiming for.

00:24:45.810 –> 00:24:48.420 Mathew Shirey: But she still was kind enough to pay me for it.

00:24:52.290 –> 00:24:56.460 Joseph McElroy: The first time I ever saw was my dad had you know somebody that was from.

00:24:58.140 –> 00:25:07.290 Joseph McElroy: Some car company and they wanted a little painting on a thing in their kitchen on the thing going over the sink, so I made it I got paid for it was like wow yeah.

00:25:09.030 –> 00:25:11.010 Joseph McElroy: They actually put it up, they actually put it up.

00:25:13.980 –> 00:25:18.150 Joseph McElroy: I was like dumbstruck that they actually thought it was worthwhile putting it up so that was fun.

00:25:19.920 –> 00:25:20.880 Joseph McElroy: So um.

00:25:24.480 –> 00:25:27.480 Joseph McElroy: What is the, what are the types of stuff that you make right now?

00:25:28.500 –> 00:25:33.480 Mathew Shirey: I am focused mainly on knives axes and carbon steel frying camps.

00:25:34.440 –> 00:25:42.570 Mathew Shirey: that’s really like I said I got into doing architectural ironwork for a little bit I kind of thought that was where I needed to go to make a living at it and.

00:25:42.960 –> 00:25:45.420 Mathew Shirey: A friend of mine who I think you’ve had on here, David Brew and.

00:25:46.380 –> 00:25:53.490 Mathew Shirey: He said listen, I spent most of my career doing architectural ironwork, and I wish I’d spent most of that time-making knives and axes

00:25:54.000 –> 00:26:03.210 Terri Clark: And he said, do what you love and you know it’ll come to fruition don’t get boxed into doing something that’s going to make you miserable.

00:26:03.720 –> 00:26:15.120 Terri Clark: And so I kind of stepped away from the architectural ironwork a few years ago and start focusing on knives and axes and got into making these frying camps because I saw that there was a market for it and.

00:26:16.470 –> 00:26:18.240 Terri Clark: I have no regrets, I really.

00:26:19.320 –> 00:26:26.190 Terri Clark: You know I think about still doing architectural ironwork I wouldn’t enjoy it anymore, and I wouldn’t you know I wouldn’t be happy doing it so.

00:26:26.460 –> 00:26:41.280 Joseph McElroy: Why would, I have a question, you know I’ve gotten interested in campfires and campfire cooking and you know cast iron cooking but I’ve been intrigued by the carbon steel stuff what’s the difference between the carbon steel pans in the cast iron pan.

00:26:42.090 –> 00:26:52.440 Terri Clark: The main difference is the creative process, you know cast iron is just that its desire and it’s been melted and forward into form and cast.

00:26:53.970 –> 00:27:03.570 Terri Clark: It tends to be you know more brittle than carbon steel cast iron pans can break, whereas carbon steel they’re forced to shape.

00:27:04.620 –> 00:27:18.690 Terri Clark: You could throw them against a brick wall and they are not going to break I mean they’re super strong functionally speaking they’re very similar my pans are probably a little lighter compared to the same size as cat and cast iron and.

00:27:19.980 –> 00:27:33.960 Terri Clark: I think the biggest advantage my pants have over cast iron is a longer handle so it doesn’t it’ll get warm and we’ll get hot if you’re cooking Heidi but, for the most part, you don’t ever need another name for it and they’re a little thinner and smoother than cast iron as well.

00:27:34.110 –> 00:27:38.040 Joseph McElroy: Can you saute with a cast with a carbon steel pan.

00:27:38.940 –> 00:27:39.420Mathew Shirey: Day.

00:27:39.540 –> 00:27:44.370 Joseph McElroy: make you can see her it’s hard to do it in a cast iron to do when you go shake it and all that stuff.

00:27:44.490 –> 00:27:45.660 Joseph McElroy: Right every right.

00:27:45.960 –> 00:27:48.750 Mathew Shirey: yeah yeah that’s something little handles hard to get Ahold of in.

00:27:48.750 –> 00:27:49.860 Mathew Shirey: My Nice.

00:27:49.920 –> 00:27:55.080 Mathew Shirey: curve handled, and you can get that I can’t do, but if you can do the flip you can do these.

00:27:55.620 –> 00:28:00.240 Joseph McElroy: You know I’m six foot five 300 pounds I got a little bit strange, but still even tough for me now.

00:28:00.570 –> 00:28:01.110 Mathew Shirey: So yeah.

00:28:02.610 –> 00:28:07.050 Joseph McElroy: Well, listen, we got to take another break we’ll come back we’ll talk more about your art the things that you’ve done.

00:30:13.500 –> 00:30:22.650 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast with my guest Matthew Shirey so Matthew.

00:30:23.580 –> 00:30:39.600 Joseph McElroy: I was reading on your website you formed here forge in 2005 but you didn’t actually go to in full time in 2017 so imagine having kids yeah things like that it took a while for the business build-up is that the reason you to get to be able to full time with that?

00:30:40.140 –> 00:30:55.200 Mathew Shirey: yeah and through the bulk of that time I had a teaching job with Southwestern Community College, I was teaching shop and local high school and yeah it was a really good job and I enjoyed it and so there’s no reason to give it up and then.

00:30:56.700 –> 00:31:07.110 Mathew Shirey: One day, the funding for a dried up and things changed, and I was out the door, so I spent a year or two working as a welder and as a carpenter and

00:31:07.800 –> 00:31:16.980 Mathew Shirey: I was driving all the way up to cashers every day and I was kind of sick of that so I said, you know what I’ve got a shop here that I can make a living in and so I took the leap.

00:31:17.970 –> 00:31:22.890 Joseph McElroy: that’s fabulous as I saw you one different you got lots of different recognition somebody should go to your

00:31:23.340 –> 00:31:34.770 Joseph McElroy: Your website we’ll talk about that the end see that all the pressure got you’ve done some fabulous thing that I think it’s pretty inspiring for anybody wanting to be in the craft a world that you can actually make a living at it right.

00:31:35.220 –> 00:31:38.880 Joseph McElroy: yeah so so you.

00:31:39.990 –> 00:31:43.290 Joseph McElroy: So what is where did the name Shira forged come from.

00:31:44.310 –> 00:31:45.600 Mathew Shirey: Shira forge and.

00:31:46.140 –> 00:31:47.640 Mathew Shireyk: Sorry sorry that’s okay.

00:31:49.380 –> 00:31:51.720 Mathew Shirey: it’s the original spelling of my last name.

00:31:52.860 –> 00:32:05.970 Mathew Shirey: my ancestors have been in western Pennsylvania, since the late 1700s and you know, over time, that name got changed to Shirey but the original spelling a few hundred years ago, was Shira so.

00:32:07.170 –> 00:32:11.400 Mathew Shirey: You know I’ve always been really fascinated with my ancestry and one on so it was kind of a.

00:32:12.690 –> 00:32:14.250 Mathew Shirey: paying homage to my ancestors.

00:32:14.970 –> 00:32:18.120 Joseph McElroy: that’s fabulous so you say your name I started saying the Shira right.

00:32:18.450 –> 00:32:25.950 Joseph McElroy: mm hmm yeah you know I get these I get you to know Bob Plott who’s the head of the smoky mountain.

00:32:28.770 –> 00:32:46.230 Joseph McElroy: Mountain Heritage Center for the Meadowlark you know introduces me to people and provides you know the background information and sometimes I don’t have the time because, like right now I’m moving into Asheville I don’t get to do the research on your name, so I apologize for not correct.

00:32:47.730 –> 00:32:57.090 Joseph McElroy: yeah so so life is good in the smoky mountains right I’m moving back, I obviously always wanted to be here, you know, but I had to try my

00:32:57.810 –> 00:33:11.550 Joseph McElroy: adventures in the world and the particular line of business, I was in required to be there, so what’s your careers for flourishing and then you got to be at a TV hit series, how did that happen forged by fire forge in the fire.

00:33:11.850 –> 00:33:19.020 Mathew Shirey: And so it’s been on you know, I was just on the season premiere of season nine so it’s been on eight years now.

00:33:20.580 –> 00:33:26.070 Mathew Shirey: And, of course, you know, being a blacksmith, I was interested in the show soon as I saw it and.

00:33:27.270 –> 00:33:38.070 Mathew Shirey: Five or six years ago I applied to be on it and I didn’t get a call back I interviewed and all that but I didn’t get a callback and then a couple of years ago, I decided to try again and.

00:33:39.300 –> 00:33:50.310 Mathew Shirey: got the interview, and they said we’ll be in touch and then the pandemic happened, and they said logo everything’s on hold, right now, but we’ll be in touch and so.

00:33:51.000 –> 00:34:02.610 Mathew Shirey: Last July I got the call from them had the plane ticket was all said to go film and two days before I was supposed to fly out I got tested positive for covid

00:34:03.480 –> 00:34:04.260 Mathew Shirey: Know anywhere.

00:34:04.560 –> 00:34:12.180 Mathew Shirey: yeah and then by the end of October, they called me again and said, are you ready, this time, and so it all came together.

00:34:12.750 –> 00:34:19.020 Joseph McElroy: cool and for people listening, can you explain the format of the show to us and how you participated.

00:34:19.320 –> 00:34:29.250 Mathew Shirey: Sure, so there are three rounds of competition there is four bladesmiths in the first round, you have three hours to forge and he treated a knife.

00:34:29.730 –> 00:34:44.730 Mathew Shirey: Within whatever parameters and challenge, they said for my episode, it was a crushed car challenge, so when we walked out on the floor, they uncovered a car that had been crushed and we had to salvage our steel for the night, out of that.

00:34:45.330 –> 00:34:46.350 Mathew Shirey: bed hidden some.

00:34:46.560 –> 00:34:51.600 Mathew Shirey: Some good pieces of steel in there, or you know, in my case, I found a piece in the front end.

00:34:52.770 –> 00:34:58.320 Mathew Shirey: CV joint That was really good steel that I can make a knife out of so anyway, the first round.

00:34:58.830 –> 00:35:11.700 Mathew Shirey: One person’s eliminated second round, you have we had two hours to put a handle and a guard on the knife and then they put it through some pretty severe testing and a second person was eliminated.

00:35:12.210 –> 00:35:25.020 Mathew Shirey: And then the final to go home to their own shot for four or five days and for whatever epic weapons they choose, and so, for us it was down to me and a fella named Mike from Nebraska.

00:35:26.370 –> 00:35:36.780Mathew Shirey: We had a fortune a pair of curve guitars which are a weapon from ancient India they had to match that have folders in the blades and some other parameters to follow.

00:35:37.680 –> 00:35:51.300 Mathew Shirey: So got back down here it’s been four days in the in my shop with a camera crew and forge these weapons went back up to the set and the judges put them through a final round of testing and then choose the winner.

00:35:52.080 –> 00:35:55.020 Joseph McElroy: Well, and what’s what are they what’s their criteria for the winner.

00:35:56.700 –> 00:36:02.460 Mathew Shirey: A they put it through you know it had to meet all the parameters blade length shape all that.

00:36:03.510 –> 00:36:10.590 Mathew Shirey: And then they put it through all kinds of testing of us there was like a stabbing test with the ballistics gummy.

00:36:11.730 –> 00:36:13.680 Mathew Shirey: A slicing test with.

00:36:15.150 –> 00:36:27.570 Mathew Shirey: Some some Kane kind of things, so you know they went through several different tests see how the knives perform, and then the judges kind of step away for a minute and make their decision.

00:36:28.650 –> 00:36:33.780 Mathew Shirey: So basically they’re judging not only the aesthetics, of the weapon, but the functionality of it so.

00:36:34.020 –> 00:36:42.030 Joseph McElroy: A little sort of a remote way it’s like the chef competition show that, were they going to cook based upon the parameters of the.

00:36:43.140 –> 00:36:43.560 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:36:43.680 –> 00:36:47.400 Joseph McElroy: Right, how did you know what to Qatar, it looks like or how.

00:36:48.390 –> 00:36:55.830 Mathew Shirey: I had a vague familiarity with them before you know the reveal on the final round.

00:36:57.390 –> 00:37:02.220 Mathew Shirey: And I did you know I I did a little research and looked at some Google images and whatnot.

00:37:03.540 –> 00:37:05.340 Mathew Shirey: And then just kind of went for it, you know.

00:37:05.850 –> 00:37:08.460 Joseph McElroy: cool how it was the grand prize.

00:37:09.030 –> 00:37:11.400 Joseph McElroy: $10,000 so bad right.

00:37:12.090 –> 00:37:13.710 Joseph McElroy: Nice forever right.

00:37:14.970 –> 00:37:18.390 Joseph McElroy: And you get to go back on future shows right we compete against other champions.

00:37:18.480 –> 00:37:32.490 Mathew Shirey: If they ever call me I’d be happy to go back often they do have you know, a championship round or a beat the judges round or something like that, where they call people back on you know, keeping my fingers crossed that I get that call next season or something.

00:37:33.090 –> 00:37:34.230 Joseph McElroy: And how is it.

00:37:35.280 –> 00:37:39.960 Joseph McElroy: How is it changed your life personally and professionally or are people asked every autograph now.

00:37:40.980 –> 00:37:45.540 Mathew Shirey: I’ve had one little boy, and my son at a soccer game asked for my autograph which was pretty funny.

00:37:48.090 –> 00:37:53.670 Mathew Shirey: You know professionally it’s allowed me to invest in my business a little bit more and upgrade some of my tooling and stuff.

00:37:54.810 –> 00:38:04.530 Mathew Shirey: And you know it’s here in the Sylva area I definitely have people I’ve never met before if come up and congratulate me and whatnot I feel like I’ve.

00:38:05.490 –> 00:38:16.440 Mathew Shirey: probably got more local business from it, than anything else you know, being in the local paper and whatnot it’s given me some exposure here in Western North Carolina and it’s been really good.

00:38:18.120 –> 00:38:19.350 Joseph McElroy: it’s helped your business that.

00:38:19.800 –> 00:38:21.390 Mathew Shirey: Sure sure absolutely.

00:38:21.960 –> 00:38:28.110 Joseph McElroy: cool I mean that’s good I mean yeah I mean these reality TV shows can be nice.

00:38:28.800 –> 00:38:33.960 Joseph McElroy: A nice thing, but they don’t really change your business like that much I have a friend of mine that we wonder.

00:38:34.470 –> 00:38:44.430 Joseph McElroy: What does that project runway or was in it really change your fashion life that much so she had one or two years of things, but it’s also good to have on your resume yeah.

00:38:44.610 –> 00:38:50.250 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah you’re still a fairly young man right, you are what your 30s.

00:38:50.280 –> 00:38:56.010 Joseph McElroy: Or maybe 44 So what are your future plans you got any projects you’re looking to do.

00:38:58.350 –> 00:39:07.680 Mathew Shirey: I plan on just continuing doing what I’m doing you know, trying to improve my craft get better what I’m doing you know I I’m.

00:39:08.160 –> 00:39:18.090 Mathew Shirey: I’m eligible at this point to test for my journeymen stamp with the American blade Smith society so in the next year or so I’m hoping to go through that process and get my journeymen stamp.

00:39:19.830 –> 00:39:24.330 Mathew Shirey: You know I’m hoping here in the next year or two to start teaching again.

00:39:25.800 –> 00:39:29.100Mathew Shirey: i’ve taught classes in different different places.

00:39:30.420 –> 00:39:35.610 Mathew Shirey: With the last one being Haywood Community college and flown tops and blacksmith and classes there and.

00:39:36.000 –> 00:39:47.310 Mathew Shirey: I took a break for the last two or three years, focused on my business, but I think you know the older I get more I’d like to get back into teaching some you know pass on what I’ve spent 20 years figuring out.

00:39:48.720 –> 00:39:51.030 Joseph McElroy: cool are you doing any other product bugs.

00:39:52.770 –> 00:39:54.630 Mathew Shirey: really what I’m trying to do now is.

00:39:56.550 –> 00:40:10.620 Mathew Shirey: make more one-off knives I’ve been kind of making them in batches and that sort of thing and I’m going to continue doing that, but I really want to get to the place where I can kind of make what I’m inspired to make and make some more one of a kind pieces.

00:40:11.040 –> 00:40:14.040 Joseph McElroy: I said, you made a lot of a belt, a lot of belt bags

00:40:15.450 –> 00:40:17.400 Joseph McElroy: Like what you’re wearing your belt was that with me.

00:40:17.880 –> 00:40:28.020 Mathew Shirey: yeah just kind of everyday carry a knife or running knife, you know I I like to carry a fixed blade knife so I’ve always got a little three or four-inch blade on me.

00:40:29.160 –> 00:40:31.350 Mathew Shirey: So I make a lot, a lot of knives like that.

00:40:32.340 –> 00:40:38.010 Joseph McElroy: You know now that I’m back in North Carolina could carry a knife with me all the time, you know New York, you have a limit of like four inches.

00:40:39.930 –> 00:40:50.070 Joseph McElroy: You know I want, I want to talk to you, I do want to you know I’m getting into the whole cast iron and cooking and heritage cooking and things like that I do want to talk to you about doing.

00:40:50.610 –> 00:41:00.750 Joseph McElroy: A custom, you know some sort of you know, this is it’s trivial but it’s I think it’s important to I want to do a knife that looks good on camera.

00:41:01.200 –> 00:41:09.390 Joseph McElroy: Right yeah right, I think that if we’re doing cooking shows this guy looks like oh wow that’s really cool what somebody looks at night right.

00:41:09.840 –> 00:41:12.570 Mathew Shirey: So maybe I’ve been messing with the mask is quite a bit lately.

00:41:13.380 –> 00:41:18.090 Mathew Shirey: You know, you know if you’re familiar with I’m sure you are made it looks pretty.

00:41:18.660 –> 00:41:19.740 Joseph McElroy: yeah right yeah.

00:41:20.280 –> 00:41:31.710 Joseph McElroy: Oh also you talking about mountain heritage is just look at things like the old hickory I mean I don’t know how good they are I don’t want to necessarily be that primitive but you know the same time there’s a sort of authenticity to that right.

00:41:32.010 –> 00:41:33.180 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah.

00:41:33.570 –> 00:41:35.970 Mathew Shirey: yeah and I do a lot of my knives I leave some.

00:41:35.970 –> 00:41:49.920 Mathew Shirey: forge texture you know I you know, some of them I clean up the whole way, but I really like that for texture and that kind of primitive natural look, you know I want I, like my knives and stuff to look like they belong when they’re in the woods, you know.

00:41:51.870 –> 00:42:02.850 Joseph McElroy: Oh that’s exactly the kind of thing that I think works well and you also do the senior he did butcher boots or whatever there are big butcher blades.

00:42:03.120 –> 00:42:04.740 Mathew Shirey: mm hmm like a cleaver.

00:42:04.920 –> 00:42:05.610 Joseph McElroy: Cleaver yeah.

00:42:05.700 –> 00:42:06.900 Joseph McElroy: yeah so.

00:42:08.490 –> 00:42:12.450 Joseph McElroy: From my own, I have had half the beer so I’m not drawing blanks on for certain.

00:42:14.250 –> 00:42:15.600 Mathew Shirey: that’s why I stuck with the tea.

00:42:17.190 –> 00:42:21.750 Joseph McElroy: Well, it makes me a little more loquacious but sometimes it makes me less intelligent.

00:42:25.440 –> 00:42:32.760 Joseph McElroy: yeah but it’s worthwhile right, I guess is that as a model not like I’m live wait wait wait I’m live but it’s maybe.

00:42:34.710 –> 00:42:39.480 Joseph McElroy: So so so that’s great and.

00:42:40.680 –> 00:42:59.520 Joseph McElroy: Now I am and what there was one of the lines you do can’t you’ve done some of those things like kitchen stuff and ironwork and things like that would you do anything like camp kitchen experiences, you know, like setups and stuff like that girl we’re.

00:42:59.520 –> 00:43:05.580 Mathew Shirey: not really you know my frying pan to work rate on an open fire, just as well as the stove.

00:43:06.720 –> 00:43:18.000 Mathew Shirey: In the past, I made some fireplace set or you know fire irons and whatnot for a campfire cooking but I don’t really do that kind of stuff for myself, these days, but I don’t really make them sell cool.

00:43:18.540 –> 00:43:31.320 Joseph McElroy: Well, we have to take our last break here and then we’ll come back and we’ll talk about you know some of the other things that you’ve done, and you know the things that you find appealing about the scope and so.

00:43:32.220 –> 00:43:32.940 Mathew Shirey: sounds good.

00:45:33.150 –> 00:45:40.620 Joseph McElroy: howdy, this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and my guest Matthew Shirey.

00:45:41.070 –> 00:45:41.820 Mathew Shirey: Shirey

00:45:42.060 –> 00:45:43.530 Joseph McElroy: Sorry sorry oh my.

00:45:45.180 –> 00:45:47.550 Mathew Shirey: The business is Shira the last name is Shirey

00:45:48.000 –> 00:45:52.980 Joseph McElroy: Shirey okay so Shirey okay, so I got it now I’ll remember it so.

00:45:54.180 –> 00:46:03.150 Joseph McElroy: we’re talking about blacksmithing in the mountains so um you mentioned, you want to get back into teaching you think you might open your own school.

00:46:04.230 –> 00:46:11.280 Mathew Shirey: Nah, I don’t think I have any interest in that I think I might start offering some small workshops in my shop.

00:46:12.330 –> 00:46:21.120Mathew Shirey: I can my shots pretty small, I can only accommodate probably three people in a class but i’m thinking about doing some like little weekend workshops in my shop and.

00:46:22.020 –> 00:46:30.300 Mathew Shirey: Maybe reconnecting with Haywood Community College and starting to reach out to John C Campbell folks school and some other schools around the country like that.

00:46:31.830 –> 00:46:32.040 Mathew Shirey: they’re there’s.

00:46:32.670 –> 00:46:34.800 Mathew Shirey: Some really great facilities out there, I don’t need to.

00:46:34.800 –> 00:46:35.430 Mathew Shirey: build one.

00:46:36.240 –> 00:46:44.220 Joseph McElroy: On my you know your shop could be a school, but it would be all the students would be online right you could do a YouTube thing.

00:46:44.370 –> 00:46:45.570 Mathew Shirey: Or you could be yeah.

00:46:45.630 –> 00:46:47.040 Joseph McElroy: You do live podcast.

00:46:47.070 –> 00:46:56.190 Mathew Shirey: Right yeah my 13-year-old is really getting into making videos and he’s been helping me with some videos and stuff so there may come a point where I start making some more YouTube.

00:46:56.760 –> 00:47:09.300 Joseph McElroy: So you have somebody that knows how to do YouTube videos and they have a wife that it’s great at the lighting I, you should be able, you know you should be able to do something, maybe you just might want to get somebody to help me write some scripts or something like that, but.

00:47:09.300 –> 00:47:11.220 Mathew Shirey: yeah I’ve got a couple of ideas.

00:47:11.250 –> 00:47:13.320 Mathew Shirey: just got to find time to make it happen.

00:47:15.330 –> 00:47:30.300 Joseph McElroy: cool so you know the show is also about a little bit about tourism in the mountains and I love talking to really great people and cultural icons and things but also So what do you enjoy doing in the Smoky Mountain?

00:47:32.310 –> 00:47:33.540 Mathew Shirey: Anything outside.

00:47:33.750 –> 00:47:34.470 Joseph McElroy: You know, we.

00:47:34.590 –> 00:47:38.490 Mathew Shirey: try to get on the lakes and rivers, as much as possible in the summer.

00:47:39.810 –> 00:47:44.610 Mathew Shirey: We do a lot of hiking I’m an avid hunter and fisherman when I can find time to do it.

00:47:45.930 –> 00:47:52.230 Mathew Shirey: Just you know the natural beauty of this place is what brought me here and we try to make the most of it.

00:47:52.470 –> 00:47:57.450 Joseph McElroy: cool and when you’re in Silva, what is your favorite place to get breakfast.

00:47:58.740 –> 00:48:02.520 Mathew Shirey: My favorite place to eat period and Sylvia Guadalupe CAFE.

00:48:02.970 –> 00:48:04.950 Mathew Shirey: Ah yeah mainstream.

00:48:05.100 –> 00:48:08.820 Joseph McElroy: I love you get that tray with the multiple salsas right.

00:48:09.120 –> 00:48:10.500 Joseph McElroy: yeah That is incredible.

00:48:12.750 –> 00:48:22.890 Joseph McElroy: yeah we went there during covid you know and you were still able to sit on a picnic table after and get that salsas those multiple VM and everything else there was great.

00:48:23.130 –> 00:48:23.460 yeah.

00:48:24.690 –> 00:48:29.730 Joseph McElroy: How about entertainment, what kind of it was a great entertainment place and so.

00:48:30.510 –> 00:48:36.180 Mathew Shirey: I innovation brewing both in Sylva their Hillsborough location, they often have music.

00:48:38.460 –> 00:48:44.610 Mathew Shirey: let’s see where else you know every Friday night, they have music down the bridge park in town in the summers.

00:48:46.020 –> 00:48:47.640 Mathew Shirey: So that’s you know.

00:48:48.660 –> 00:48:51.000 Mathew Shirey: Those are kind of our general go-to places.

00:48:52.230 –> 00:48:55.890 Mathew Shirey: Honestly, especially since the pandemic we don’t make it out very much but.

00:48:56.400 –> 00:48:56.790 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:48:56.940 –> 00:48:58.680 Mathew Shirey: When we do those are the places we had.

00:48:59.430 –> 00:49:02.790 Joseph McElroy: And now you know you’ve raised your children here in the smokies right.

00:49:03.210 –> 00:49:03.570 Mathew Shirey: mm hmm.

00:49:03.900 –> 00:49:14.430 Joseph McElroy: So now I’m would be bringing three and a half-year-olds here alright, so you had you’ve had children of that age, what are the things I should do with three and a half-year-olds in the smokies but can’t get anywhere else.

00:49:15.210 –> 00:49:19.470 Mathew Shirey: And this again getting on the lakes, is always fun.

00:49:19.530 –> 00:49:20.580 Joseph McElroy: You know what’s your favorite lake?

00:49:21.450 –> 00:49:23.760 Mathew Shirey: We go down to Fontana.

00:49:23.910 –> 00:49:24.630 quite a bit.

00:49:26.370 –> 00:49:28.680 Mathew Shirey: I’ve actually got a favorite late but I’m not going to tell you.

00:49:28.890 –> 00:49:29.490 Joseph McElroy: Ah.

00:49:29.550 –> 00:49:30.360 Mathew Shirey: got all the.

00:49:31.500 –> 00:49:32.700 Joseph McElroy: checks to me in the chat.

00:49:32.700 –> 00:49:32.880 For.

00:49:34.320 –> 00:49:34.890 Mathew Shirey: me.

00:49:35.100 –> 00:49:39.090 Mathew Shirey: it’s pretty tiny went around here and not many people know about it, I want to keep it that way.

00:49:39.900 –> 00:49:43.080 Joseph McElroy: Okay, but at the chat give me a break.

00:49:45.870 –> 00:49:55.890 Joseph McElroy: Oh so well that’s great I mean yeah like my parents go Have you had a place that we used to go to down in Georgia line with them you know.

00:49:57.120 –> 00:50:02.580 Joseph McElroy: drawing a blank on the name of it’s been a while so since we were there but they had a pontoon boat there’s always a blast.

00:50:02.820 –> 00:50:22.020 Joseph McElroy: yeah so you know we’re a building a Heritage Center right documentary to do the number talking about I want to do cooking yeah I was thinking of getting a you know, a sort of a large size camp kitchen built right with a cook set things like that any recommendations, how to do that.

00:50:25.980 –> 00:50:27.210 Mathew Shirey: Honestly, not really.

00:50:28.500 –> 00:50:34.650 Mathew Shirey: I mean there you know I think the sky’s the limit but i’ve never built an outdoor kitchen and don’t know you know a lot about it but.

00:50:37.560 –> 00:50:44.760 Mathew Shirey: If you get to that point, let me know, maybe I can you know, come up with some fire brokers and utensils and stuff like that for you.

00:50:45.150 –> 00:50:45.870 Joseph McElroy: Alright cool.

00:50:47.520 –> 00:51:00.960 Joseph McElroy: So you know I noticed that a local bar and restaurant is had a big screening and welcome home event for you after you want to convince your competition, I thought that was great what was a venue.

00:51:02.190 –> 00:51:05.040 Mathew Shirey: That was lazy hiker taproom on mainstream Sylva.

00:51:06.930 –> 00:51:21.180 Mathew Shirey: you know we small town, we know, everybody in the managers there and whatnot we went said hey we really like to have a party and invite all of our friends to come to watch this on the big screen there, so they were more than happy to make it happen cool.

00:51:21.810 –> 00:51:23.940 Joseph McElroy: Now How can people find out more about you.

00:51:25.320 –> 00:51:30.480 Mathew Shirey: My website are definitely the easiest way to find me www.shiraforge.com

00:51:31.950 –> 00:51:34.650 Joseph McElroy: And here is your Facebook.

00:51:35.400 –> 00:51:39.540 Mathew Shirey: I am on Facebook, I do most of my social media stuff on Instagram.

00:51:41.070 –> 00:51:44.550 Joseph McElroy: Okay lots of pictures of stuff that you produce that makes sense right.

00:51:46.320 –> 00:51:46.740 Joseph McElroy: and

00:51:47.910 –> 00:51:52.710 Joseph McElroy: Can people ask for custom work from you or just buy from that site what are they what can they do.

00:51:53.460 –> 00:52:01.800 Mathew Shirey: Both I’ve got you to know products listed on the website that they can order everything’s made to order I don’t really have anything in stock generally.

00:52:02.820 –> 00:52:10.170 Mathew Shirey: But if you have you know, a custom knife or ax or something you want to be made shoots me an email, and we can try and figure something out.

00:52:10.620 –> 00:52:13.350 Joseph McElroy: What do they need to provide you to make a custom product.

00:52:14.460 –> 00:52:24.660 Mathew Shirey: Generally, like they want a custom knife, you know I need to know if they want mono steel or Damascus, what kind of blade shape blade length handle material.

00:52:25.920 –> 00:52:34.260 Mathew Shirey: You know, handle construction whether it’s a full Tang or hidden Tang process, so you know just all those little details and then.

00:52:35.550 –> 00:52:41.400 Mathew Shirey: Sometimes we just go into the details and other times I can sketch something up if somebody wants to.

00:52:41.940 –> 00:52:46.620 Joseph McElroy: cool or well any other shoutouts you like to give.

00:52:48.300 –> 00:52:50.580 Mathew Shirey: Thanks to you, guys, for having me on here, I really appreciate it.

00:52:51.060 –> 00:52:53.820 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know I hope you’ll come by you know we’re doing.

00:52:54.540 –> 00:53:03.480 Joseph McElroy: At the smoky mountain heritage Center the bob’s doing we’re having events where they have things like you know reenactment so you mentioned earlier, that you are doing that they have.

00:53:03.900 –> 00:53:18.960 Joseph McElroy: yeah I think you’re gonna have blacksmithing things going on and you’re going to have you know all sorts of heritage events, I think you would enjoy, so we will come by and meet me in person, and we can you know talk about pans and knives

00:53:19.590 –> 00:53:25.650 Mathew Shirey: And I know I’d love to participate in some of the events you’ve got going on there, and maybe teach a class there at some point.

00:53:25.800 –> 00:53:31.530 Joseph McElroy: That would be fun, I mean we’re starting to do some really good classes like that, and I think that.

00:53:32.370 –> 00:53:41.340 Joseph McElroy: it’s beneficial for everyone involved because I really love celebrating the culture of these Appalachians and historical things and celebrating what’s good about our history.

00:53:41.820 –> 00:53:50.850 Joseph McElroy: And you know the craft was by far, one of the most beautiful things of our history yeah all right absolutely so we’re part of the.

00:53:52.740 –> 00:53:56.250 Joseph McElroy:talkradio.nycnetwork.

00:53:57.270 –> 00:54:14.370 Joseph McElroy: This podcast is every Tuesday from six to seven and there are many other podcasts on this network that I, you know enjoy we can try to convince you to see because it ranges from small business to other travel.

00:54:15.390 –> 00:54:21.420 Joseph McElroy: shows to self-help to know information about pets information about insurance.

00:54:22.560 –> 00:54:39.870 Joseph McElroy: Personal wellness spirituality so it’s not often you get a network that’s all live podcast, so I think there’s a dynamic there has to live that and yeah and less formality, that you can get you to know the host is on the show drinking.

00:54:41.370 –> 00:54:48.450 Joseph McElroy: And screwing up names and words, but it makes you It makes you off, but you also know that you get some authentic information it’s.

00:54:48.450 –> 00:54:49.050 Mathew Shirey: not right.

00:54:49.230 –> 00:55:00.720 Joseph McElroy: it’s not pre-planned media so anybody listening, please go to talkradio.nyc and find the shows that might be of interest to you or you can find out more about this podcast on

00:55:01.620 –> 00:55:17.580 Joseph McElroy: Facebook at facebook.com/gatewaytothesmokiespodcast where we will stream live every Tuesday and also have the previous episodes and other information about the smokies that you might find useful and the towns and crafts and things going on.

00:55:19.170 –> 00:55:25.740 Joseph McElroy: And we are also all our previous episodes are hosted on smokiesadventure.com.

00:55:26.100 –> 00:55:35.490 Joseph McElroy: If you go to that site smokiesadventure.com you’ll find a link at the top saying gateway to smokies podcast and you can go and see all the podcasts and we’ve had great people from.

00:55:35.790 –> 00:55:47.970 Joseph McElroy: pressman to politicians to outdoorsman to historians to book writers things like that we’re starting to get a nice inventory I think it’s well over 60 now of

00:55:49.530 –> 00:56:00.450 Joseph McElroy: shows that are not they’re not just tourism, you know oh look at this great place to come and see it gets into some bottom about.

00:56:00.930 –> 00:56:12.840 Joseph McElroy: The people here and representing well how you know, thoughtful intelligent and deep this mountain culture is and I encourage you to go there and.

00:56:13.440 –> 00:56:19.740 Joseph McElroy: I also run another podcast and talkradio.nyc called wise content creates wealth, I have to be a marketing expert and I’m

00:56:20.160 –> 00:56:28.590 Joseph McElroy: delving into the world of the AI artificial intelligence and how it’s changing content production and

00:56:29.280 –> 00:56:39.060 Joseph McElroy: And you know to search and marketing and how behavioral science and is used to switch reading so both from a business perspective.

00:56:39.360 –> 00:56:45.180 Joseph McElroy: And from understanding what’s happening to as you go to sites and going to information.

00:56:45.540 –> 00:57:00.480 Joseph McElroy: You know, to help you understand the world as it’s being presented to you it’s good I think it’s a good show alright, so thank you I’ll see you next time on the gateway to the smokies podcast from six to seven next week on Tuesday ciao.

GUEST: JOE SAM QUEEN

In this episode of Gateway to the Smokies Podcast featuring Joe Sam Queen, he discusses the cultural and historical side of his career and other aspects of his life that folks might not be aware of. You will learn from him about the responsibility of preserving our past to make room for our future. 

Joe Sam Queen is a renowned Architect, Historian, Dancer, Dance caller, and Politician – having served in both N.C. Senate and the N.C. House of Representatives –and is on the Traditional Artists Roster of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Association.

He has been director of the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival for over 30 years and has served on the Board of Directors for Folkmoot and the Shelton House, as well as playing an active role as an officer in the local Sons of the American Revolution chapter along with many other regional charities, clubs, and historical groups. 

Joe Sam's experiences growing up in Western North Carolina epitomize the cultural expression and deep-rooted tradition of the Smoky Mountains. Relive the past and learn about the future. 

Don't miss this incredible conversation with a great man!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-sam-queen-7b66a376/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joesam.queen 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joesamqueennc/?hl=en

Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

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Joseph talks about some upcoming events in Maggie Valley. On April 19th through May 1st there is a motorcycle rally called the Thunder in the Smokies. A new event will happen called Boho Hippie Fest with live music, vendors, bounce houses, food trucks, and more. At the Meadowlark Motel, there will be an event called Mom’s Moving Mountains and Mother Nature’s Natural Garden. There will also be an event featuring a wildcraft expert. Joseph also introduces his guest for today’s show, Joe Sam Queen. Joe Sam is a renowned Architect, Historian, Dancer, Dance caller, and Politician. Joe Sam talks about where his name comes from and his passion for dance and following in his grandfather’s footsteps in continuing the legacy and culture that is popular in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Joseph talks with Joe Sam about his family being some of the earliest settlers in Haywood County. His family settled close to Dellwood in Maggie Valley. He talks about his grandfather who put together a square dance team around a time when radio was emerging. Joe Sam also discusses the meaning of the different kinds of folk dance. Clogging, he says, comes from Scott-Irish-German ancestors. Flat footing, he says is a kind of dance that everyone does a little differently, and you can be very creative with it. Buck Dancing is an African American term. They discuss a little about the history of these dances and music. His grandfather created the group called the Soco Gap Cloggers. Joe Sam says that President Roosevelt made his grandfather famous and was beloved in the mountains. He tells a story of how Roosevelt invited the king and queen of England to the White House. Roosevelt changed the traditions and instead brought a square dance team to perform, which was Joe Sam’s grandfather’s dance group.

Joe Sam talks about sociability being the whole point of the Appalachian dance. He describes it as joining hands together, socializing and hospitality. Joseph makes a point that it can teach young people about manners, society, and of course, culture. Joe Sam mentions more different dances and music that tell a story about life and society. He also talks about what is in a square dance band. He says that square dance is very sociable and includes the banjo, bass, fiddle, and guitar. Joe Sam talks about being a dance caller as well. You're instructing, watching a certain dance, and calling it on the beat. There are also times when the caller may be dancing themselves. Joseph describes it as a man who is a dynamic composer.

Joe Sam talks about square dancing and fiddling in today’s day in age. He says that he doesn't think square dance is dying out which is one of the reasons why he does the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival. He is also involved in Folkmoot, something else that he is trying to be involved in this coming summer. Joe Sam passionately talks about the positivity of these kinds of events as well as the beauty of nature in North Carolina. He also mentions being a part of building the HART theater in Haywood County as well as a charitable foundation that he has with his wife called The Queen Family Foundation. They support things like Sons of the American Revolution and the Arts Council in Haywood County. From the traditions of mountain music and the stories behind them to the general passion for North Carolina and the Great Smoky Mountains, Joseph thanks Joe Sam Queen for joining him for today’s episode!

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00:00:19.980 –> 00:00:22.140 Joseph McElroy: Howdy! Welcome to the gateway to the.

00:00:22.140 –> 00:00:31.860 Joseph McElroy: smokies podcast this podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the great smoky mountains National Park in the surrounding towns.

00:00:32.640 –> 00:00:41.400 Joseph McElroy: This area is filled with ancient natural beauty a deep storied history and rich mountain cultures that we explore with the weekly episode.

00:00:42.060 –> 00:00:54.690 Joseph McElroy: I am Joseph Franklyn McElroy amount of the world, but also deep roots in these mountains my family is living the great smokies for over 200 years my businesses and travel, but my heart is a culture.

00:00:55.410 –> 00:01:05.040 Joseph McElroy: Today we’re going to be talking about preserving and perpetuating our culture and the great smoky mountains, but first a sponsor message or two, and the first sponsor is me.

00:01:06.120 –> 00:01:17.670 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place evocative of motor courts of the past, you had a modern environment with chic Appalachian and feel a place for adventure and for relaxation.

00:01:18.330 –> 00:01:27.540 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill a catch on fire and eat accompanied by fine wine or craft beer.

00:01:28.410 –> 00:01:41.460 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place with old-time music and world cultural sale, there is no other place like the metal art motel and Maggie valley North Carolina your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay.

00:01:43.020 –> 00:01:49.020 Joseph McElroy: and other sponsors smokies adventure.com at smokies plural adventure singular calm.

00:01:49.440 –> 00:02:02.010 Joseph McElroy: The smoky mountains and the surrounding area is a vacation destination for all seasons, some of the nation’s best hiking trails waterfalls outdoor adventures, and family entertainment be found, right here.

00:02:02.790 –> 00:02:13.890 Joseph McElroy: start your adventure by using smokies adventure calm to explore all the wonderful features of the great smoky mountain National Park trails and waterfalls kids code and more.

00:02:14.520 –> 00:02:19.710 Joseph McElroy: than you know right now check out the spring flowers that are coming in and crazy beauty.

00:02:20.280 –> 00:02:36.240 Joseph McElroy: And then check out all the awesome family attractions, entertainment and things you can do in the surrounding area with you and your family The goal is smokies adventures to become the leading information portal for adventure and ventures experiences and the great smoky mountain.

00:02:38.100 –> 00:02:44.970 Joseph McElroy: So, as you know, we’d like to publicize some events are coming up and Maggie valley happens to have a lot of festivals coming up.

00:02:46.530 –> 00:02:51.270 Joseph McElroy: April 19 through May 1 we have thunder and the smoky spring motorcycle rally.

00:02:51.810 –> 00:03:03.090 Joseph McElroy: You know the rides in the mountains of the Smokies are some of the best in the world we’re doing motorcycle rides or you know bicycle rides or any kind so a lot of people come here to celebrate.

00:03:03.900 –> 00:03:13.380 Joseph McElroy: Their passions and the thunder and the smokies is one of the oldest our rallies and Maggie valley and even the surrounding areas and it happens on.

00:03:14.070 –> 00:03:23.700 Joseph McElroy: Friday Saturday and Sunday and it has tour rides lots of vendors selling crafts includes and as bike shows and games and prizes and concerts.

00:03:24.060 –> 00:03:37.140 Joseph McElroy: Fire dancers and you know people jumping up and down and having a good time so come out and check out thunder in the smokies calm or call 828-246-2101 to find out more about it.

00:03:38.580 –> 00:03:47.430 Joseph McElroy: Now, this is a new event no not even sure what it’s about but it sounds interesting then on May 7 or have something called boho hippie fest.

00:03:48.270 –> 00:03:56.970 Joseph McElroy: Now I’m a man what I’m imagining is people and tie dye dancing and things like that, but they say it’s gonna be live music performance arts.

00:03:57.330 –> 00:04:10.530 Joseph McElroy: demonstration vendors bounce houses games food trucks so for more information call contact hothead events, a 28246 1978, which is a really good year.

00:04:11.340 –> 00:04:31.410 Joseph McElroy: or email hothead events@gmail.com and then another traditional one here in the mountains, is the kk O icons of hot rodding festival and that’s a May 13 and 14th, and this is 1950s and 1960s hot rods and custom cars trucks and vans.

00:04:32.550 –> 00:04:45.300 Joseph McElroy: with lots of 50s and 60s music vintage venter’s pinstripes food and vendors and every judging with awards and trophies reach out to H to custom camp of america.com.

00:04:46.530 –> 00:04:49.890 Joseph McElroy: With case, in place of the seas accepted America.

00:04:51.690 –> 00:05:01.470 Joseph McElroy: And then we have our own event the middle are coming out and that’s a mom is moving mountains and mother nature’s natural garden program with Nancy Eastern Iowa had her.

00:05:01.890 –> 00:05:11.880 Joseph McElroy: Some of you might remember Nancy East did a wilderness survival course here a few weeks back that was well attended and very popular she showed us how to survive.

00:05:12.300 –> 00:05:15.900 Joseph McElroy: The 10 things that you needed to go out in the wilderness how to build a fire how to build.

00:05:16.290 –> 00:05:27.030 Joseph McElroy: A camp, how do you know, save yourself would be broke your leg and stuck in the bottom of it somewhere and she’s just really knowledgeable she’s on the.

00:05:27.900 –> 00:05:34.590 Joseph McElroy: The rescue team here the search and rescue team here in a wood county and the smoky mountains and she goes on lots of.

00:05:36.930 –> 00:05:44.820 Joseph McElroy: search and rescue missions every season so she’s going to do on Friday night a whole presentation with pictures and everything of some of the more.

00:05:46.230 –> 00:05:53.130 Joseph McElroy: compelling stories that she has from those search and rescues and then on Saturday, May 7.

00:05:54.120 –> 00:06:03.570 Joseph McElroy: there’s a legendary wildcrafting expert here and she’s a renowned author filmmaker instructor and tour guide for the great smoky mountains National Park.

00:06:04.080 –> 00:06:13.290 Joseph McElroy: DSM field school is I had her and she’s an expert on edible plants medicinal herbs anything pertaining to wildcraft forward to.

00:06:13.800 –> 00:06:20.100 Joseph McElroy: Appalachian plants trees and flowers and she’s been on TV shows videos books.

00:06:21.090 –> 00:06:30.330 Joseph McElroy: And and she’s just really well known, on the subject and so she is going to present a program and tell mother nature’s natural garden.

00:06:30.720 –> 00:06:40.320 Joseph McElroy: And leading actually a tour of the grounds and area around here to find out what is the nature’s bounty that you can eat right in our own backyards.

00:06:40.830 –> 00:06:49.800 Joseph McElroy: And then we’ll have that and I will culminate with a free Barbecue supper maybe a few of the dishes from what we find in the music by Mike Ogletree.

00:06:50.250 –> 00:06:54.810 Joseph McElroy: And some of his friends on Saturday, you can reach out to the metal log motel.

00:06:55.500 –> 00:07:07.470 Joseph McElroy: at eight to 89261717 to reserve rooms day or if you’re just a local monochrome its $20 per person, and you can reach out to reserve your space, but call me to 89261717.

00:07:07.800 –> 00:07:14.970 Joseph McElroy: And then, a mother’s day we’re going to have a cake and cookies and cake and champagne in the lounge along with our traditional breakfast.

00:07:15.750 –> 00:07:22.530 Joseph McElroy: So today we have a great yes he’s a legend in these mountain Parts I think the whole state, maybe even the name.

00:07:23.250 –> 00:07:30.990 Joseph McElroy: His name is Joe Sam Queen and he has deep family roots in Haywood county dating back to the revolutionary war born in Waynesville.

00:07:31.920 –> 00:07:40.020 Joseph McElroy: And he’s a graduate of nc state and architecture and he’s a renowned architect historian dancer collar and politician.

00:07:40.500 –> 00:07:50.070 Joseph McElroy: having served in both the nc state Senate and the nc House of Representatives and he’s on the traditional artist’s rosters of the blue Ridge and national heritage.

00:07:50.820 –> 00:08:00.030 Joseph McElroy: heritage association has been the director of the folk’s smoky mountain folk festival for over 50 years and has served on the board of directors, for the folk.

00:08:01.650 –> 00:08:08.910 Joseph McElroy: folk route and the Shell, the House as well wills played an active role as an officer in the local songs of the American Revolution chapter.

00:08:10.560 –> 00:08:27.630 Joseph McElroy: When he isn’t working in this business or these other organizations he enjoys calling dances dancing spending time as a family, working with his wife herself or an accomplished woman Dr. K queen on their own terrible foundation, how you doing Sam Joe Joe Sam.

00:08:29.130 –> 00:08:31.020 Joe Sam Queen: Sam queen a little dough rain me.

00:08:31.140 –> 00:08:31.980 Joseph McElroy: yeah there you.

00:08:32.340 –> 00:08:41.940 Joe Sam Queen: I’m doing great it’s great to be on your show it’s great to promote all the good heritage and culture of Western North Carolina We really are.

00:08:43.110 –> 00:08:44.130 Joe Sam Queen: A hotspot.

00:08:45.180 –> 00:08:48.030 Joe Sam Queen: Welcoming the world so come and see us cool.

00:08:48.420 –> 00:08:52.290 Joseph McElroy: Well we’re so glad to have you to tell me, you know how did you get the name, Joe Sam.

00:08:53.460 –> 00:08:54.600 Joseph McElroy: that’s an interesting name.

00:08:54.900 –> 00:08:58.260 Joe Sam Queen: Well, just my grandfather was Sam Sam.

00:08:58.980 –> 00:09:11.310 Joe Sam Queen: A great name, my father was saying, love doing your he didn’t like being a junior and his best GI but he was demon marine my father is his best buddy was.

00:09:12.990 –> 00:09:32.460 Joe Sam Queen: Terry jump Johnson Cherokee friend over cross so go gap and so I’m named after his best buddy Terry Joe Johnson, and it just call me Joe and my and Sarah went down to the Clerk of the Court and said that’s not enough name for a boy, we got to add a Sam in there.

00:09:32.850 –> 00:09:45.510 Joe Sam Queen: So they gave me a little del Rey me Joe Sam Queen and the homeland as an architect, I think a Frank Lloyd Wright and it just a great name, so I can.

00:09:45.750 –> 00:09:49.470 Joseph McElroy: read it does have a rhythm to it it’s like it’s a song when you.

00:09:49.470 –> 00:09:50.250 Joe Sam Queen: Say his.

00:09:50.400 –> 00:09:52.050 Joe Sam Queen: Name you’re young and with a little poem.

00:09:52.080 –> 00:10:04.230 Joseph McElroy: that’s a good beer, so you know we we we have a lot of common and having a deep heritage and Haywood county and we both you know the different ways, I mean I think you’re more accomplished at it, but in.

00:10:05.520 –> 00:10:24.540 Joseph McElroy: sharing a passion for preserving and perpetuating our culture, but making people aware of the cultural history by encouraging them to create our own smoky mountain experiences and you have you do a lot of educating folks in the area right yeah well.

00:10:24.570 –> 00:10:36.090 Joe Sam Queen: You know my passion is that our region dance with you it’s often referred to as the big brown but it’s a southern Appalachian square dance.

00:10:36.750 –> 00:10:51.540 Joe Sam Queen: it’s an American dance it’s a melting pot bands, it has Scotch Irish it has Cherokee it has African American roots, but it’s an American dance and its hotspot is right here, and they would camp.

00:10:52.230 –> 00:11:03.930 Joe Sam Queen: Oh, and I follow a sword in my grandfather’s footsteps because he made famous a Maggie valley square dance team, called the soco gap cloggers which.

00:11:05.010 –> 00:11:11.700 Joe Sam Queen: You know he was part of the cultural revival that radio started.

00:11:12.960 –> 00:11:24.690 Joe Sam Queen: With the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers and the early roots of country music and the radio and dancing you didn’t have.

00:11:25.710 –> 00:11:36.240 Joe Sam Queen: Music unless you had dance that the musicians follow the dancers, that it was a social event and the dance was so important, and this is a.

00:11:37.200 –> 00:11:51.840 Joe Sam Queen: Social dances we call it on the streets of Wayne’s when we come out it’s our institution of hospitality, that the let’s all join hands and one big circle that’s our motto up here in Western North Carolina.

00:11:52.380 –> 00:12:01.920 Joseph McElroy: Well, I think it’s great and it’s interesting talking about radio introducing that I was reading I think it was in today’s papers how back in 1870 some people came up from.

00:12:02.550 –> 00:12:11.520 Joseph McElroy: You know from the North and wrote deep stories and about the mountains and one of them was Waynesville really painted us as a violent.

00:12:11.850 –> 00:12:20.370 Joseph McElroy: painter crowd, and so it took a while, for it to penetrate back into the the the whole United States and hey maybe there’s more going on here.

00:12:20.790 –> 00:12:29.790 Joseph McElroy: You know the great smoky mountains, opening up and you know the great things coming out and then people find it out there’s wonderful this dance and everything else.

00:12:30.390 –> 00:12:37.170 Joseph McElroy: When we come back you have a story about Roosevelt and your grandfather that I think people will be interesting to hear about.

00:14:54.180 –> 00:15:14.490 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with my guest Joe Sam queen on the gateway to the smokies podcast so Joe Sam you know talking about you know history your family, the Queen family, but some of the early settlers here in our regions right we.

00:15:14.550 –> 00:15:30.420 Joe Sam Queen: We followed referred I’ve been known representative for the Cherokee and Haywood county so I don’t call myself a native there the natives but we wrote in 1776 and we haven’t left.

00:15:31.230 –> 00:15:38.130 Joseph McElroy: 1776 and they haven’t left wow so I knew where did they first settling the account.

00:15:38.880 –> 00:15:49.590 Joe Sam Queen: Well, they settled in what they call raccoon co out by that well known as the test farm area that was my first settling family yeah.

00:15:49.890 –> 00:16:03.120 Joe Sam Queen: They settled down and finds creek and then crabtree and finally got to do, and which is head and Maggie Valley, as you know, and so we’re known as deal with Queens in the last couple of generations.

00:16:03.600 –> 00:16:10.410 Joseph McElroy: yeah queen family sort of became famous for dancing and really popularized the whole thing.

00:16:10.620 –> 00:16:15.990 Joe Sam Queen: yeah my grandfather was the great leader there I sort of fell I hit him, and he was the.

00:16:16.080 –> 00:16:17.040 Joe Sam Queen: He was the legend.

00:16:17.460 –> 00:16:19.590 Joe Sam Queen: But he was born in 1888 and.

00:16:20.280 –> 00:16:27.690 Joe Sam Queen: grew up in a time when square dancing was really the most important social institution of the Community.

00:16:28.440 –> 00:16:42.210 Joe Sam Queen: that’s how people gather together that’s how they courted that’s how they educated their children, at the square dance moves are a pre-literate institution to train the young people.

00:16:42.540 –> 00:16:52.200 Joe Sam Queen: How to import how to have manners how to join the Community has how to how to be a man and a woman in the Community and.

00:16:52.980 –> 00:17:00.150 Joe Sam Queen: And of course, it was all about the fiddle and then banjo and the music that went with it and the good times and.

00:17:01.050 –> 00:17:15.240 Joe Sam Queen: And in the early days, you know there were no big square dance halls that the big fan square dance halls followed the railroad they didn’t get here to you know at the 1910s or something get up over the mountain if they were late.

00:17:15.660 –> 00:17:28.320 Joe Sam Queen: So they developed some hotels and have big fan rooms, that you can have a big square dancing but prior to that you, you answer a little on your porch in front of your fireplace is to the fiddled in the banjo and.

00:17:29.370 –> 00:17:38.820 Joe Sam Queen: and learn the clock and do the little step but, but my grandfather came along, you know, in the 20s and 30s like I said, with the radio and.

00:17:39.210 –> 00:17:52.890 Joe Sam Queen: In the advent of these fun hotels and they develop the dance ethic, and he put together a square dance team, and they can all dance and they all but dance together in a.

00:17:52.920 –> 00:18:07.050 Joe Sam Queen: district-wide open to the music, he said he never gave a lesson you got went with him took me around advance some just pay attention you dance with your partner in the circle and the music that’s all you need to know.

00:18:08.070 –> 00:18:08.550 Joe Sam Queen: Well, let me.

00:18:08.610 –> 00:18:19.650 Joseph McElroy: Let me just clarify some things you know, because you know I know what it means, but a lot of people don’t you have clogging book dancing square dancing flat-footing now what are all those.

00:18:19.740 –> 00:18:20.760 Joe Sam Queen: Well they’re all.

00:18:21.810 –> 00:18:22.650 Joe Sam Queen: Community of.

00:18:23.940 –> 00:18:33.510 Joe Sam Queen: Terms clogging comes from the sort of our Scotch Irish German ancestors, and again they had would choose and they call.

00:18:34.680 –> 00:18:44.220 Joe Sam Queen: A bit you know they danced but their shoes weren’t good leather shoes and they’re there and they were on a small porch or a little cobblestone street.

00:18:44.700 –> 00:18:48.690 Joe Sam Queen: Now we didn’t have any streets out in western North Carolina we were yard dancers.

00:18:49.230 –> 00:19:00.840 Joe Sam Queen: Yet a fine sheared sheep cheered pastor the dancing before we had wood floors so we had a big dance and we took from the Cherokee the big circle.

00:19:01.350 –> 00:19:11.250 Joe Sam Queen: The big circle is a Cherokee contribution and there are plenty of moves like that the big black snake, which we call when the clock, a lot of time, but.

00:19:11.610 –> 00:19:20.760 Joe Sam Queen: They call up the Cherokee friendship dance but it’s the same thing we integrated into the American square dance the Appalachian square dance and.

00:19:22.050 –> 00:19:41.370 Joe Sam Queen: But then there’s flat-footing, which is a little softer version, a little more musical jazzy version of flat-footing it’s quite creative everybody does it a little differently, you as a flat footer you develop your style you develop your few little steps you’re a little lip, as they say.

00:19:41.790 –> 00:19:42.180 and

00:19:44.160 –> 00:20:00.660 Joe Sam Queen: And and and if you’re in a circle nobody’s the some of the modern teams all dance precision, but that’s very contemporary that traditional teams every dancer dance to the music his own way, have, as he heard it in.

00:20:01.590 –> 00:20:03.030 Joseph McElroy: A book dancing was.

00:20:03.690 –> 00:20:11.610 Joe Sam Queen: dancing is another term again it’s an African American term the African American was the buck, where the buck wouldn’t allow in.

00:20:12.630 –> 00:20:22.020 Joe Sam Queen: You know before integration to enter the circle, but they were often the musicians and they were often great dancers, so they danced.

00:20:22.440 –> 00:20:30.930 Joe Sam Queen: And even on Main Street, they would you go to them when I was a little boy we go to Wayne’s world to get a haircut and in the barbershop then be a.

00:20:31.350 –> 00:20:47.850 Joe Sam Queen: lad China and choose with can slap the rhythm with his rag on the shoe or he can play the harmonica and my grandfather gets up and dance and in the African American to shatter get up and try it out dancing and they would that’s what to call but dancing.

00:20:48.420 –> 00:20:48.870 Joe Sam Queen: So I.

00:20:49.200 –> 00:21:01.230 Joseph McElroy: used to I used to tell people, you know that you know, in the mountains, yeah you know you know you don’t America lot of times ago there was a reputation that white men don’t dance right or old good.

00:21:02.040 –> 00:21:07.680 Joseph McElroy: we’ll get up and dance by themselves, I said hey listen, I was born and raised bantam by myself doing some God book this.

00:21:09.270 –> 00:21:16.710 Joe Sam Queen: Money comes from there, the African American tradition because they often my grandfather was taught how to call by.

00:21:17.190 –> 00:21:21.090 Joe Sam Queen: An African American fiddler and blacksmith when he would just a little more.

00:21:21.600 –> 00:21:33.600 Joe Sam Queen: He never got to join the circle, but he was a fiddler so is often the musician on the side of the dance, and so we knew the dance he knew the call so he gave my grandfather some lessons.

00:21:34.170 –> 00:21:47.970 Joe Sam Queen: And my grandmother, my grandfather’s mother, my great grandmother his mother taught him to do the flat-footed and to follow the step in the barn off because that is the only wooden floor the head is much counter dancing.

00:21:49.410 –> 00:21:51.030 Joe Sam Queen: And we had dances in the barn law.

00:21:52.290 –> 00:21:54.300 Joe Sam Queen: Today in tobacco we’d have a dance.

00:21:55.080 –> 00:22:07.050 Joseph McElroy: But you know it’s interesting that so many people don’t really know that there’s a lot of West African tradition in mountain culture, you know, like bluegrass itself the banjo was from West Africa.

00:22:07.110 –> 00:22:07.500 Joe Sam Queen: that’s why.

00:22:07.530 –> 00:22:17.100 Joseph McElroy: And, you know it really took Scottish Irish ballad music and added a beat to it rhythm right and that’s whole new music, this is a crazy all over the nation.

00:22:17.130 –> 00:22:25.680 Joe Sam Queen: c are real and we don’t have a drum we have the foot, we have the clock step and then the banjo had the banjo head, so you could wrap it with your finger.

00:22:26.430 –> 00:22:40.350 Joe Sam Queen: And slap it if you want it to and, but it was African and in origin, and it really took off in the civil war, what when soldiers could carry it in 42 around hmm.

00:22:40.950 –> 00:22:48.900 Joseph McElroy: So your grandfather just sort of put all this together, and really started you create The SOFA gap cloggers so.

00:22:49.950 –> 00:22:51.780 Joseph McElroy: sort of became sort of famous right.

00:22:51.840 –> 00:23:01.770 Joe Sam Queen: They were awesome they could dance like nobody else everybody’s trying to be what those guys could gown and the fellows they could just dance-like.

00:23:02.250 –> 00:23:10.860 Joe Sam Queen: or wins will they my grandfather put this team together and they and Roosevelt made him famous quote Franklin.

00:23:11.610 –> 00:23:23.610 Joe Sam Queen: Roosevelt was beloved in the mountains, he brought us out of the Great Depression my father and uncle Richard de la they were G is a love Roosevelt well Roosevelt and 39 was.

00:23:24.120 –> 00:23:40.920 Joe Sam Queen: Was was trying to get the Congress, which was pacifist and an obstructionist, and then it’s time he was trying to get them to pass the land lease provision, so I could help Great Britain survive and they were being very.

00:23:42.210 –> 00:23:52.350 Joe Sam Queen: reluctant, so he invited Roseville I did the King Queen of England, for the only Royal visit in history in 1939 and part of Roosevelt’s.

00:23:52.980 –> 00:24:01.110 Joe Sam Queen: Cultural diplomacy was that, instead of having a black tarball for the King and Queen of England, which would be kind of traditional.

00:24:01.830 –> 00:24:06.690 Joe Sam Queen: He decided to have an American square dance in the White House for the kings and Queens.

00:24:07.530 –> 00:24:18.120 Joe Sam Queen: So he could show that that the people of the British Isles and the American people will one people that’s what that was part of Roosevelt’s political genius and.

00:24:18.660 –> 00:24:25.530 Joe Sam Queen: His cultural diplomacy, so my grandfather went up there with the soco gap Congress and their and their band was the.

00:24:26.370 –> 00:24:35.340 Joe Sam Queen: The concrete sisters of an all-women’s string band out of Kentucky and they they’re famous number is how many biscuits can eat.

00:24:35.850 –> 00:24:46.140 Joe Sam Queen: You know, a half a dozen and a half of me, you know they were great, and that was the primary entertainment for the King Queen of England, for their.

00:24:46.980 –> 00:24:58.170 Joe Sam Queen: What would have been a black tie ball and he went on the Newsreels and all over the world and laugh and post, and it was a big deal, so the circle gap Congress became.

00:24:59.460 –> 00:25:04.950 Joe Sam Queen: The rave of the nation and my grandfather was there that was their leader.

00:25:05.730 –> 00:25:10.530 Joseph McElroy: that’s fantastic I heard that your grandmother was also quite a dancer to she was dancing 96.

00:25:11.550 –> 00:25:14.310 Joe Sam Queen: Well, my his mother.

00:25:15.060 –> 00:25:15.870 Joseph McElroy: His mother.

00:25:16.470 –> 00:25:26.220 Joe Sam Queen: Clean she was the famous dancer and my grandmother would dance little but she pretty much let Sam carry on and he’s on the way I say it was a.

00:25:28.500 –> 00:25:46.860 Joe Sam Queen: force of nature they’ll we call him the old man Sam but he handsome Sam locally because my father was Sam I’m a Sam we’re the same queen brand so you got to kind of distinguish one generation from the other but Sally was a great dancer too.

00:25:47.910 –> 00:25:48.780 Joseph McElroy: cool it and.

00:25:48.960 –> 00:26:03.540 Joseph McElroy: She was dancing till 9696 wow so yeah there’s a lot of dance styles that are sort of in a way, considered indigenous the United States, even though that’s very debatable, which have Western square dance.

00:26:04.050 –> 00:26:13.080 Joseph McElroy: And you have, and then you have you know things that people claim or you know similar, which is the Irish dancing how are these all different from what we know is square dance.

00:26:13.140 –> 00:26:23.490 Joe Sam Queen: Well, again, our dance the the the people here settled in Maggie valiant Haywood county and Western were Scotch Irish we came in with rutherford on.

00:26:24.570 –> 00:26:40.380 Joe Sam Queen: Scotch Irish trail we settle early they lack the isolation and that and the fertility of the mountains it’s Monday to their homeland and a lot of Germans that we had cloggers from German we had Scotch I never.

00:26:40.920 –> 00:26:46.860 Joe Sam Queen: The Scottish and Irish were not very URBAN, particularly the Scots they were rural.

00:26:47.280 –> 00:26:52.950 Joe Sam Queen: So they were yard dancers, I said they dance in the pasture and they were big circle dancers.

00:26:54.750 –> 00:27:12.870 Joe Sam Queen: A lot of the Germans in anybody came from town they would dance in an on a cobblestone street with things like the real of Virginia real is a linear that but our dance is not linear and it’s not defined by size it’s not an eight couple bands it’s it can be 200 couples.

00:27:13.170 –> 00:27:26.340 Joe Sam Queen: We have the big circle dance, and we really got that from the Cherokee the cherokee friendship dance and in their large circle dance around their fire and their social celebrations so.

00:27:26.370 –> 00:27:27.240 Joseph McElroy: I think that’s good.

00:27:27.330 –> 00:27:33.600 Joe Sam Queen: African Americans brought a ton of steps along with the Irish, along with the German.

00:27:34.710 –> 00:27:45.510 Joe Sam Queen: Along with even the English and well chanda certain amount of fiddling and step dance, and that they did any sort of it melted in the milk great American.

00:27:46.140 –> 00:27:50.820 Joe Sam Queen: Part of American and the reason we have a color is the color.

00:27:51.300 –> 00:28:00.120 Joe Sam Queen: decides what you’re going to dance if you were coming from a German village you knew your dance nobody had to call it, you have started and you went through it to the end.

00:28:00.420 –> 00:28:13.050 Joe Sam Queen: By the time you were old enough to dance you you you learn to dance, but in America, they share little pieces from everybody’s cultural little German little stocks little Irish little African American little Cherokee.

00:28:13.980 –> 00:28:19.290 Joe Sam Queen: And they mixed it all together, so you always had a caller that that managed the mix.

00:28:19.770 –> 00:28:25.200 Joseph McElroy: cool, but we have to take another break and we’ll call it will come back we’ll talk more about call it a square there.

00:28:25.740 –> 00:28:26.220 Joe Sam Queen: Thank you.

00:28:31.980 –> 00:28:37.560 00:28:38.070 –> 00:28:49.860

00:28:51.240 –> 00:28:55.620 www.00:28:58.590 –> 00:29:12.120

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00:29:58.140 –> 00:30:06.870 :30:31.650 –> 00:30:40.860 Joseph McElroy: Howdy this is Joseph Franklin mcilroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast and I guess job Sam queen a musical note.

00:30:42.390 –> 00:30:47.460 Joseph McElroy: So you know I read on the blue Ridge heritage, you know the cultural site.

00:30:48.690 –> 00:30:52.320 Joseph McElroy: You have an entry about being you know, an area.

00:30:53.940 –> 00:31:11.670 Joseph McElroy: craftsman and I’m an entertainer and everything else, and you said social sociability is the whole point of the Appalachian dance is that really the essence of it is getting together to be sociable and bring people in.

00:31:12.930 –> 00:31:22.320 Joe Sam Queen: that’s right, it is a, it is our social institution of hospitality it’s an institution of hospitality but I’ll just give you an example.

00:31:23.310 –> 00:31:38.790 Joe Sam Queen: The opening line is let’s all join hands in one big circle Community let’s join hands together it’s sort of like tabor fellow table fellowship and then you then the women wrote a lot of the dance calls they help them and, like.

00:31:39.870 –> 00:31:42.480 Joe Sam Queen: You go right hands across and halfway back.

00:31:43.620 –> 00:31:57.840 Joe Sam Queen: Well halfway back is the first lesson in life, you can change your mind and then then it’s ladies in front and Jim’s spine, but the next lesson laughing gentlemen, you need to learn to follow you latency you know you’re not always the one out front and then.

00:31:59.310 –> 00:32:17.790 Joe Sam Queen: it’s honor your partner honor your opposite around hands across with a, how do you do I left pans back with a fine Thank you that’s a little low a little lesson in in in hospitality and manners so it’s socializing country bumpkins you know.

00:32:18.120 –> 00:32:18.360 I.

00:32:19.440 –> 00:32:19.980 Joe Sam Queen: learned that.

00:32:20.160 –> 00:32:31.560 Joe Sam Queen: They got to learn to come and Courtney and not getting a fistfight over the girl next door, you know they gotta be I got to share in the dance Oh, my goodness well that’s one lesson and laugh or an Appalachian mail.

00:32:32.370 –> 00:32:41.850 Joseph McElroy: that’s I mean that’s interesting that’s like the teaching the youth and especially teenagers, you know how to be more civilized.

00:32:42.150 –> 00:32:44.070 Joseph McElroy: I didn’t think about that that is a.

00:32:45.990 –> 00:32:51.240 Joe Sam Queen: Very literate institution of instruction and socializing.

00:32:52.440 –> 00:32:54.720 Joe Sam Queen: And being sociable intergenerational.

00:32:58.290 –> 00:33:07.530 Joe Sam Queen: The first move is the grand right and left where you go one way the girls go one way and the boys go together and they all the girls made all the boys.

00:33:07.890 –> 00:33:18.810 Joe Sam Queen: Because when you entered the dance you probably dancing with your first cousin but you’re looking around for some other Gal dance within she’s grabbed that start with her, but she’s looking around for the Lambda.

00:33:19.980 –> 00:33:20.430 Joe Sam Queen: Around there too.

00:33:21.690 –> 00:33:38.340 Joe Sam Queen: And these are guys up the hall that you only see a few times when you get together with some local musicians, to have a little dance that’s the only society going around and rural Appalachian in the 1800s.

00:33:39.000 –> 00:33:41.430 Joseph McElroy: or limited time to get them social.

00:33:43.800 –> 00:34:00.330 Joe Sam Queen: And it’s usually fun, I mean it’s not land dancing it’s not you, you squeeze these gals, you know as my grandpa says, you can tell their weight by golly when you get done with this dance, you can tell they’re done and.

00:34:01.620 –> 00:34:07.740 Joe Sam Queen: it’s very sociable dance it’s sort of hold off a little deer in code because it is so.

00:34:09.990 –> 00:34:11.880 Joe Sam Queen: we’re hoping to start it back this summer.

00:34:14.220 –> 00:34:28.200 Joseph McElroy: I was reading today that this last thing of covert 75% of kids that you know I got three year old so they caught it this last one, there you know 75% 75% of kids caught it so it’s pretty much done for kids.

00:34:29.490 –> 00:34:32.490 Joseph McElroy: So you should be able to get together, but you know The thing that.

00:34:33.750 –> 00:34:41.820 Joseph McElroy: struck me is that do you teach teaching people nursery rhymes and back in the day was also about teaching and a lot of nursery rhymes actually we’re.

00:34:42.150 –> 00:34:53.790 Joseph McElroy: Dealing with how to you know deal with some dark stuff is, is there any kind of that tradition in the music as well to deal with some dark emotions and things like that the dark events.

00:34:57.570 –> 00:35:11.340 Joe Sam Queen: I like to say yeah the four leaf clover I like to introduce it’s you all join hands all for its two couples, the American square dance.

00:35:11.940 –> 00:35:20.460 Joe Sam Queen: The Appalachian square dance is a big round, so you start with a big round everybody mute in the circle does one, and then you break up into figure for.

00:35:21.090 –> 00:35:34.530 Joe Sam Queen: You and your partner and an opposite cup and then you change after every figure for well the four leaf clover is y’all just the four of you join hands and you turn yourself inside out and tie yourself into a not.

00:35:35.130 –> 00:35:46.830 Joe Sam Queen: We back off and it looks like a four-leaf clover, then you back out and untie yourself from that not and so you tie yourself into not and you untie yourself and you never break fellowship.

00:35:47.190 –> 00:36:00.870 Joe Sam Queen: So that is another little story of how you navigate life and then it’s done for the Austrian up to the clam and throw away the old him can’t and that that’s kind of a pollution story, you know.

00:36:01.200 –> 00:36:01.950 Joseph McElroy: Oh interesting.

00:36:03.750 –> 00:36:04.200 Joe Sam Queen: and

00:36:05.220 –> 00:36:05.700 Joe Sam Queen: The.

00:36:07.380 –> 00:36:10.560 Joe Sam Queen: there’s a ton of them and shoot the buffalo.

00:36:11.700 –> 00:36:24.930 Joe Sam Queen: Which is like our ocean way, we have a lot of in the mountains, we have a lot of moves like a move like ocean way we’re a long way from the ocean, but the Scotch Irish all live.

00:36:25.410 –> 00:36:44.340 Joe Sam Queen: by the sea and a lot of the Germans and other immigrants did so they tell about the sea to their children and family in the mountains of North Carolina even though we’re a long way from it, a lot of never got to see again but they still dance to the thought.

00:36:45.330 –> 00:36:53.430 Joseph McElroy: wow you know, I was talking to some I was talking to so we had some you know some musicians that are pretty good come over a bluegrass musicians come.

00:36:54.630 –> 00:37:01.230 Joseph McElroy: Back come to the motel and play you know, during Nicholson some of his fellows and things I.

00:37:01.230 –> 00:37:02.310 Joseph McElroy: was talking to me.

00:37:02.310 –> 00:37:04.140 Joe Sam Queen: So some range, we got some great.

00:37:04.560 –> 00:37:12.420 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah they said, you know, and bluegrass there’s a tradition of what a band can comprise of it if you go away from that tradition.

00:37:12.720 –> 00:37:25.860 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah the bluegrass mafia comes after you now in square dancing I mean it’s pretty much a lot of times bluegrass, but what is the, what are the requirements of a blue square dance band, what are the instruments.

00:37:26.280 –> 00:37:27.180 Joseph McElroy: Is there well.

00:37:27.270 –> 00:37:41.010 Joe Sam Queen: There the classic bluegrass fallen from all time old time music is folk music and it’s dance music it’s got a dance rhythm, a lot of bluegrass is so fast, you have to be a weed eater if you gotta keep up with.

00:37:41.220 –> 00:37:41.910 Joseph McElroy: Right yeah.

00:37:42.000 –> 00:37:58.920 Joe Sam Queen: Excellent square dance music as a nice beat it’s very sociable you can dance with your partner keep the beat that’s why you say flat-footed is tap into music it’s the banjo the fiddle the base the stand-up bass and guitar.

00:37:59.220 –> 00:38:00.630 Joe Sam Queen: Right no it’s a.

00:38:01.230 –> 00:38:03.750 Joseph McElroy: Number of drawing ever a drummer anything like that.

00:38:03.750 –> 00:38:04.050 Joseph McElroy: ever.

00:38:04.260 –> 00:38:27.510 Joe Sam Queen: Ever ever ever so often they’ll play a paper sack family or the spoons or they’ll wrap the head of a banjo and then and then it’s and then it’s the cog step is as the drum but no there’s no real drum to traditional music wow.

00:38:27.990 –> 00:38:40.830 Joseph McElroy: So now color’s your ears beer a color right now How do people become collars to leave these things this experience, or that they studied, or what was the requirements well.

00:38:41.100 –> 00:38:48.210 Joe Sam Queen: Most of them it just experienced you go to a lot of dances you get the sense of it, you like you got a decent memory.

00:38:51.990 –> 00:39:06.750 Joe Sam Queen: You can sort of live to pay attention because you’re instructing and watching the circle dance and colonnade on beat so it moves appropriately with the music and has a nice flow to it it’s not hard to be a color, but you have to sort of pay attention.

00:39:07.980 –> 00:39:14.820 Joe Sam Queen: As my grandfather said, yet it adds an inner circle with your partner, and to the music that’s all you need to know.

00:39:16.620 –> 00:39:20.580 Joseph McElroy: But wasn’t a color like almost a band vocalist I mean it is sort of the.

00:39:20.640 –> 00:39:21.150 Oh, you can.

00:39:22.680 –> 00:39:26.250 Joe Sam Queen: You get to sing the song you get to make up the tunes you know.

00:39:27.930 –> 00:39:39.300 Joe Sam Queen: Lady around the lady in the gym don’t go lady around the gym in the gym go slow that’s one where you let your partner go around the opposite man and look mo.

00:39:39.900 –> 00:39:50.430 Joe Sam Queen: Then come back in a circle, then the opposite lady gets to come around you but you don’t get to go so it’s a way to let the ladies have a turn in smoking over the gentleman.

00:39:52.560 –> 00:40:02.610 Joe Sam Queen: Which is usually the opposite the way it is again the ladies road, a lot of these little duties to strain they’re going to be respectful.

00:40:02.700 –> 00:40:10.920 Joseph McElroy: be respectful oh that’s interesting so a caller had to learn, I mean how many different calls are there, do you know.

00:40:11.520 –> 00:40:19.620 Joe Sam Queen: Oh there’s probably scores and scores for sure you know, in a dance you end up calling them.

00:40:21.480 –> 00:40:22.800 Joe Sam Queen: The primary doesn’t.

00:40:23.280 –> 00:40:33.600 Joe Sam Queen: Because you were allowed with if you do, that many you know like we do a two-hour street dance in Waynesville we’d probably call four to five sets.

00:40:34.230 –> 00:40:49.530 Joe Sam Queen: Because we, you have the figure four and then you have the big circle dances which is really just lots of fun you all join hands it’s it, you know we do folk move here in Western North Carolina which is international folk dance.

00:40:49.770 –> 00:41:02.760 Joe Sam Queen: Right, those were a hotspot of traditional folk dance our Appalachian American authentic folk dance is right here, so we welcome the world to bring their so they come from.

00:41:03.180 –> 00:41:11.040 Joe Sam Queen: They come from Ukraine they’ve been from Ukraine they’ve come from Lebanon they’ve come from Australia they’ve come from China and.

00:41:11.430 –> 00:41:27.960 Joe Sam Queen: And and South America, a lot of folk dances have this big circle gathering for sure they often have little sets the American square dance team is eight to 10 and couples, but the actual social dance, it has no limit, you can have.

00:41:30.720 –> 00:41:31.890 Joe Sam Queen: couples in a dance.

00:41:32.130 –> 00:41:34.260 Joseph McElroy: Now these other traditions have a color.

00:41:34.740 –> 00:41:39.570 Joe Sam Queen: And that the American tradition has callers, but most of the other traditions done.

00:41:41.100 –> 00:41:49.500 Joe Sam Queen: That because they all come from a village or a single place where America is really the melting pot we he Pluribus Unum.

00:41:50.640 –> 00:41:56.070 Joe Sam Queen: Out of many one, so we need a color to set the tone and.

00:41:56.130 –> 00:41:56.610 Joseph McElroy: If I have.

00:41:57.750 –> 00:41:59.820 Joseph McElroy: Both so the color is dynamic.

00:41:59.820 –> 00:42:01.590 Joe Sam Queen: composer he’s a composer.

00:42:01.650 –> 00:42:02.400 Joe Sam Queen: He really is.

00:42:02.970 –> 00:42:08.340 Joe Sam Queen: wow he will make the poem he’ll make the the the the.

00:42:09.390 –> 00:42:18.510 Joe Sam Queen: he’ll make this the motion to some little poetry and it helps you remember to help you keep it straight in the in day.

00:42:19.680 –> 00:42:24.510 Joseph McElroy: wow well I guess the colors are traditionally have been pretty much in demand.

00:42:25.440 –> 00:42:30.180 Joe Sam Queen: Well, they are they help my grandfather was in huge demand.

00:42:30.300 –> 00:42:41.010 Joe Sam Queen: Oh yeah he danced somewhere from 1935 to 1955 he dad somewhere almost every night of the week.

00:42:41.820 –> 00:42:50.550 Joe Sam Queen: Go to one big hotel on big dance hall after another, he would go all around I mean if you had a big political event, you had a big square dance I.

00:42:51.000 –> 00:43:07.560 Joe Sam Queen: You know I politic by let’s all join hands in one big circle that’s my political monster that’s my social monitor that’s who asked that’s what I stand for so it’s a great metaphor for Community and in and politics but Franklin.

00:43:08.220 –> 00:43:11.760 Joseph McElroy: cool well, we got to take another break and we’ll come back and.

00:43:12.990 –> 00:43:19.530 Joseph McElroy: talk a little bit more about calling and other stories that you might have to get it, thank you.

00:43:23.040 –> 00:43:32.01000:43:32.700 –> 00:43:46.380

00:43:49.980 –> 00:43:52.770 00:43:53.190 –> 00:43:59.190

00:43:59.490 –> 00:44:08.70000:44:09.150 –> 00:44:15.300

00:44:22.200 –> 00:44:23.340

00:44:24.540 –> 00:44:39.510 00:44:40.710 –> 00:44:45.240 00:44:48.690 –> 00:44:57.000 :45:20.520 –> 00:45:39.990 Joseph McElroy: Howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with gateway to the smokies podcast and my My guess the legendary Joe Sam queen so Joe talking about calling and Square and square dancing and the music, are you finding that young people today are becoming collars and becoming.

00:45:41.010 –> 00:45:43.770 Joseph McElroy: fillers and stuff in a squared answer is dynamic.

00:45:45.600 –> 00:45:45.930 Joe Sam Queen: Now.

00:45:47.010 –> 00:46:00.870 Joe Sam Queen: We work to keep it alive that’s why I do the smoky mountain folk festival to keep young musicians coming forward, we have the junior Appalachian musicians, which we teach string music.

00:46:02.160 –> 00:46:12.150 Joe Sam Queen: I mean that’s the fiddle the banjo the bass guitar in a little ensemble band after school after school program Appalachian music.

00:46:13.470 –> 00:46:21.270 Joe Sam Queen: week we always part of our folk festival, we have a little outside tent we let the young folks come in, have a little part of the show.

00:46:22.260 –> 00:46:28.980 Joe Sam Queen: their elders are on the main stage but beforehand, we let everybody have a little stir so we keep bringing it on that were.

00:46:29.760 –> 00:46:47.700 Joe Sam Queen: an active group of square dances were trying to bounce back after coded I mean coven square dancing was definitely a spreader event so once I’ve laid low for the last couple of years, but we’re feeling fairly comfortable that this summer, will be a summer to dance again.

00:46:48.120 –> 00:46:50.220 Joseph McElroy: No more sociability distancing.

00:46:51.120 –> 00:46:52.800 Joe Sam Queen: No more sociability and the.

00:46:54.210 –> 00:46:56.070 Joe Sam Queen: square dancing is not this it’s.

00:46:56.940 –> 00:46:57.420 Joseph McElroy: too close.

00:46:57.780 –> 00:47:03.780 Joseph McElroy: together so so are you got some little collars coming up some good ones yeah we.

00:47:03.930 –> 00:47:16.770 Joe Sam Queen: You know, cars are there they’re not just a dime a dozen good ones they never have been a lot of good bands and you don’t have good music, if you don’t have dance, so my grandfather.

00:47:17.280 –> 00:47:27.630 Joe Sam Queen: He kept a lot of musicians alive, because in the 30s and 40s and you didn’t have any money floating around, but you can have a dance you could pass the hat.

00:47:28.050 –> 00:47:36.690 Joe Sam Queen: In in and they could get enough for fifth the liquor you know before the knives out, you know so they kind of data big success and had a big time doing it.

00:47:38.520 –> 00:47:40.950 Joseph McElroy: Well cool so you’re building a lot of things.

00:47:41.190 –> 00:47:43.590 Joseph McElroy: You know you mentioned folk mood your involvement.

00:47:43.680 –> 00:47:46.620 Joseph McElroy: You know that it’s coming back this summer is going to be.

00:47:47.010 –> 00:47:47.430 Joe Sam Queen: they’re gonna.

00:47:47.460 –> 00:48:04.200 Joe Sam Queen: they’re trying, you know they have been had a couple of double whammy is at 911 which really interrupting international travel what folk movie is for people that don’t know if we are here in Haywood county we have the international folk festival the finest one in America.

00:48:05.460 –> 00:48:18.510 Joe Sam Queen: In the northern hemisphere for that question it’s right here it’s in western North Carolina we go to 20 communities when they’re here we have an old elementary school we’ve taken over and we house.

00:48:20.850 –> 00:48:33.960 Joe Sam Queen: Eight or 10 dancing sometimes it does and from all over the world they’re all internationals they come they bring their musicians every dancing has a band with them, I mean we’ve had some.

00:48:35.190 –> 00:48:36.150 Joseph McElroy: Dependence it’s just.

00:48:36.540 –> 00:48:54.330 Joe Sam Queen: Really submit, and we, and we, and we look at this as world where the world meets on mainstream, just like the sociability for our people, we do this for the world, right here, because dancing all joining hands in one big circle is a world monitor.

00:48:54.420 –> 00:48:54.930 Joseph McElroy: It is.

00:48:55.080 –> 00:49:06.270 Joseph McElroy: My at my wife is from Trinidad and there’s a bazillion drummer now and see I got her to come to Maggie the first time because of food so yeah really.

00:49:06.600 –> 00:49:08.130 Joseph McElroy: You know when we were dating.

00:49:08.160 –> 00:49:18.900 Joseph McElroy: You know it’s like wow they do this international thing and he’s from Trinidad so you know it’s The thing that makes people feel welcome I think it’s one of the best things we’ve ever done here yeah yeah.

00:49:21.480 –> 00:49:22.110 Joe Sam Queen: I agree.

00:49:23.550 –> 00:49:32.460 Joe Sam Queen: And it’s still coming back so people just keep your ears open we’re going to bring it back you know I’ll say this a little bit you started off with some of your sponsors.

00:49:33.030 –> 00:49:44.700 Joe Sam Queen: Another international hotspot we are for birds we kneel tropical warblers hotspot in this hemisphere, the western hemisphere.

00:49:45.570 –> 00:49:56.820 Joe Sam Queen: Coming up from South America crossing the Gulf and they nest in this great smoky mountains these little warblers seeing their magnificence right now the month.

00:49:57.420 –> 00:50:03.960 Joe Sam Queen: of May is the time to see them because they come in the leaves haven’t hardly gotten out so you can find them.

00:50:04.320 –> 00:50:11.370 Joe Sam Queen: they’re small they’re very vocal and sociable little creature and they’re calling and they’re vocalizing and.

00:50:11.850 –> 00:50:23.490 Joe Sam Queen: and capturing their territory and their mate and they sing like you know songbirds there, they are the songbirds of the world, right here in Western North Carolina, we have more than any other place in the world.

00:50:24.570 –> 00:50:37.230 Joseph McElroy: Literally, if you go in the backyard and our wooded area you’ll see the dozen different types of warblers I mean it’s you know and it’s not it’s, not even the even it’s, not even the right into the smoky mountains it’s incredible.

00:50:38.550 –> 00:50:41.820 Joe Sam Queen: feat you rise, you get another population of different birds.

00:50:41.910 –> 00:50:42.330 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:50:42.420 –> 00:50:52.740 Joe Sam Queen: And we have like at least four or five tiers of barbers that come, all the way across the Gulf every summer to nest in the great smokers.

00:50:53.370 –> 00:51:03.960 Joseph McElroy: Well we’re going to run out of time, I wanted to hit one other thing that you, you you’re involved with you know I I was in Waynesville has a pretty well known did are called heart theater.

00:51:04.140 –> 00:51:16.140 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah and back in the day I did a couple performances in there and I’m you know and then last one decade or two you’ve built a theater and actual real great facility and you were involved in that.

00:51:16.140 –> 00:51:23.970 Joe Sam Queen: Right, I was their architect, and in its is fine, an Appalachian structure of wood, as you will find in America so come to the heart theater.

00:51:24.480 –> 00:51:34.260 Joe Sam Queen: anything we do, there is good, I can take anything we have won the national community theater award at that theater twice in the last eight or nine years.

00:51:35.010 –> 00:51:48.300 Joe Sam Queen: we’ve represented America in Edinburgh, the famous Scottish the universal in Prague for the famous European theater festival so anything we do is great, if you want to be, it is really.

00:51:49.620 –> 00:51:54.120 Joe Sam Queen: An a thing not to miss and Haywood county the heart theater cool.

00:51:54.420 –> 00:52:01.740 Joseph McElroy: And we just have a couple maybe a minute or two, so you and your wife, Dr. K queen have a charitable foundation, what can you tell us about that.

00:52:02.280 –> 00:52:04.770 Joe Sam Queen: Well, you know we’ve enjoyed.

00:52:06.900 –> 00:52:23.160 Joe Sam Queen: doing well, by doing good our whole life practice architecture she’s a doctor and we support lots of things from the sons of the American revolution to Shelton house the heart theater to the arts counts in Haywood county.

00:52:25.170 –> 00:52:29.280 Joe Sam Queen: You know this lots of good things we just try to be part of the Community.

00:52:30.600 –> 00:52:37.110 Joe Sam Queen: As I think so many Americans do it’s just it’s a great heritage in America to give back.

00:52:37.620 –> 00:52:39.060 Joseph McElroy: And what’s the name of your foundation.

00:52:39.420 –> 00:52:44.100 Joe Sam Queen: it’s just the the the Queen family foundation week or.

00:52:44.610 –> 00:52:45.720 Joseph McElroy: So is there any other.

00:52:46.740 –> 00:52:50.910 Joseph McElroy: Things you’d like to shout out links websites and social media anything you want to mention.

00:52:51.660 –> 00:52:53.130 Joe Sam Queen: Well vote democrat and I’ll.

00:52:53.130 –> 00:52:53.550 Joseph McElroy: tell you.

00:52:55.590 –> 00:52:56.910 Joe Sam Queen: it’s not a political show but.

00:52:57.090 –> 00:52:57.690 Joseph McElroy: Yes.

00:52:57.870 –> 00:53:00.180 Joe Sam Queen: it’s important, and you know.

00:53:02.430 –> 00:53:14.790 Joe Sam Queen: At your place metal are not too long ago we honored Charles Miller and in are landing and they are both friends of the American revolution, so I I am we’re just.

00:53:15.990 –> 00:53:24.480 Joe Sam Queen: Four or five years from the the 200 and 50th 50th anniversary of the American revolution, so we are, we are trying to.

00:53:25.230 –> 00:53:32.580 Joe Sam Queen: expand on our revolutionary war heritage here in North Carolina, particularly Western North Carolina where we had the militia.

00:53:33.510 –> 00:53:48.840 Joe Sam Queen: And in the flintlock rifle I mean the reason we have the second amendment is the flintlock rifled gun was a very different weapon, then the musket and they were deadly and sharp and.

00:53:49.950 –> 00:53:54.480 Joe Sam Queen: And, and the British didn’t like them at all, because they could shoot die out an office.

00:53:54.720 –> 00:54:03.870 Joseph McElroy: yeah well that’s good, well, thank you so much for being on the show it’s been a pleasure talking to learn about you know the traditions of mountain music and.

00:54:04.530 –> 00:54:16.710 Joseph McElroy: And I’m very, very proud of the accomplishments you have done for Haywood county and North Carolina and the United States and, as I said, your legend and you deserve any accolades that you get.

00:54:18.330 –> 00:54:18.780 Joseph McElroy: and

00:54:18.960 –> 00:54:20.220 Joe Sam Queen: you’re so kind Thank you.

00:54:20.610 –> 00:54:36.240 Joseph McElroy: Thank you you’re welcome this is the gateway to the smokies podcast and you can find out more about@facebook.com slash gateway to the smokies podcast or you go to talk radio dot nyc and find the show there and it’s.

00:54:36.990 –> 00:54:52.800 Joseph McElroy: it’s streamed live talk radio dot nyc is a great network of free live podcasts every day that range from self-help to small business to travel too.

00:54:53.400 –> 00:55:03.660 Joseph McElroy: Politics to pets, you know it’s one of those talk networks that you, you don’t know what you might hear here next though it’s all scheduled out.

00:55:04.290 –> 00:55:15.840 Joseph McElroy: This podcast is every Tuesday at six until seven talking about the smoky mountains, I also run another podcast called wise content creates well.

00:55:16.140 –> 00:55:24.900 Joseph McElroy: Which is about marketing and content, marketing and the coming evolution of Ai into marketing and insights of how you can take advantage of that.

00:55:25.170 –> 00:55:36.210 Joseph McElroy: To build your business and your nonprofit and your opportunities, so I hope you’ll show up for that and that’s on Fridays from noon until one, and I thank you for listening to this show and I’ll see you next week.

In this episode, you'll discover the Great Smoky Mountain region is home to some of the most remarkable riding destinations in the world. A land of enchanting beauty and endless possibilities for adventure on two wheels. A space to explore your greatest passions surrounded by the natural beauty of majestic mountain ranges, endlessly winding roads, and rustic cabins.

We are joined by our special guest, Chris Parker, who is the Founder and Chief Designer of Road Wolf Design, a company based in Greer S.C. that he founded in 2007. His clients include Texas Pete Hot Sauces, Touring Sport BMW, Spartanburg Regional Health Care System, and Beowulf Technologies-- among many others.

Prior to starting his own company, Chris spent over a decade working as a designer and artist in some of the top art departments in his industry. Chris is an avid BMW motorcycle enthusiast who has spent a large part of his adult life riding his bike in the Great Smoky Mountain region of WNC and East Tennessee, as well as in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia and across the United States. 

We will discuss the upcoming Rally in Valley scheduled for May, as well as his expertise in creating memorable riding adventures in the Great Smokies.

Website: http://roadwolfdesign.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-parker-8442179/

Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

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Joseph opens up to upcoming events happening at the Great Smoky Mountains over the next couple of weeks: ranging from motorcycle to Mother’s Day events. Following, he transitions into introducing his guest, Chris Parker, who is the owner and Chief Designer of Road Wolf Design. It is a creative design company based in Greer, South Carolina, that Parker founded in 2007. Chris is an avid motorcycle enthusiast who has spent much of his adult years riding in The Great Smoky Mountains and across the U.S. Chris has been to the Smokies countless times since he started riding in Western Carolina in 2000. Originally from Scotland, Chris has moved around a lot. He has lived in South Carolina since 1991.

Chris has been riding motorcycles for 22 years, his first bike was a used Honda Pacific Coast. Within 9 months he moved to a BMW bike, which he stayed on since. Chris obtained his BMW from a mutual work colleague who called a friend of his, saying his father-in-law was downsizing and moving, and he had an old 1998 BMW R-11 Hundred GS which he wanted to sell. After seeing photos, Chris’s interest grew, and a friendship sparked with the bike’s original owner. The two made a deal for Chris to buy the bike but as the friendship grew the owner offered the bike for free, with Chris only paying for the service. He flew to CA to pick up the bike, making a stop to meet the original owner in person. He then drove the bike across the country back home to S. Carolina in 6 days. Chris still owns the bike and says he will never get rid of it. Joseph shares his own interesting story. A friend of his was getting married, and he had a Yamaha 185 dirt bike which his wife was making him get rid of. During this friend’s bachelor party, Joseph drunkenly bought the bike. Three years later, Joseph was getting married and his friend was getting divorced, leading his friend to buy the bike back from him. They continue to share some motorcycle adventure stories– including one of an intense accident with a deer. Chris works for the BMW RA Organization. He is involved with the club and magazine. Chris has been the art director for the magazine for the past four years, and recently became the editor for the mag. as well. His first issue was the March/April ‘22 issue. The club is one of 2 motorcycle clubs that are national and are under the international umbrella, The BMW Club Council out of Germany. Chris describes the club as an enthusiast club that supports the love of all things BMW motorcycles.

Joseph starts the segment by talking about the National BMW RA Rally which was held in September 2021 at Hayward County. There are plans for the rally to be held around the fall of ‘22 for a third year however it’s not confirmed yet. There were several factors that went into the organization choosing Hayward County for setup, the roads being the main factor for motorcyclists. The theme of the upcoming rally will be celebrating 50 years of the organization and ride attitude, for the enthusiast motorcycle club which is made up of riders who put in serious miles. The location provides them the epic opportunity to enjoy legendary roads, with people alike. The organization is looking into doing weekend getaways to make up for those who can’t make the once-a-year rally. The RA organization is also planning an upcoming regional event at the Meadowlark Hotel in Maggie Valley, to which Joseph is connected to. Joseph says they look forward to it. The area and the hotel are extremely motorcycle friendly. The big Steakhouse, Jay Arthurs, in the Valley is going to host them a big steak dinner, with live music, and a speakeasy area. This will be the first event Chris will host as a rally chair. They plan to end the rally with a challenging ride. This is the first announcement of this activity. Chris and others are going to be test driving this route this upcoming weekend. It’s about a 4-hour ride. Riding the Smokies is a magical experience.

Chris shares some safety tips for riding in the Smokies–two of which are, pacing yourself, especially in unknown areas, and wearing your safety gear at all times when riding. There are hidden gem roads that can be found and taken once people get to know the area, which can avoid some traffic. Joseph shares that the Bear Water Brewery is a great place for motorcyclists to have a meal and enjoy the ambiance of the mountain. He asks Chris what are some of his favorite places to make a stop in the Smokies. A favorite of Chris’s is in North Carolina, a restaurant in a gas station called Café Rell. The chef was originally from Atlanta. He left city life and returned back to his hometown, opening up this French cuisine café. The location is surprising but the food is even more so. In Downtown Waynesville, he recommends Beach Mountain Diner. In closing the episode, Chris shares that people can join the RA via their website www.bmwra.org, there is an event tab where you can find the upcoming events that people can register for. He clarifies riders do not have to have a BMW to join, any motorcycle is welcomed.

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00:00:41.040 –> 00:00:43.410 Joseph McElroy: Howdy! Welcome to the Gateways to the Smokies Podcast.

00:00:43.410 –> 00:00:53.700 Joseph McElroy: This podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the surrounding towns.

00:00:54.450 –> 00:01:04.500 Joseph McElroy: This area is filled with ancient natural beauty a deep storied history and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes.

00:01:05.310 –> 00:01:26.520 Joseph McElroy: I am Joseph Franklyn McElroy, a man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains my family is living the great smokies for over 200 years my business is in travel, but my heart is in culture. today we’re going to talk about smoky mountain motorcycle adventures.

00:01:27.660 –> 00:01:34.350 Joseph McElroy: But first, a couple of sponsors messages and then some events that are upcoming that you might find interesting.

00:01:35.280 –> 00:01:48.450 Joseph McElroy: First, imagine a place evocative of motor courts of the past in modern and vibrant with Chic Appalachian feel a place for adventure for relaxation.

00:01:49.170 –> 00:02:01.860 Joseph McElroy: imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on a fire eat accompanied by fine wine or craft beers.

00:02:02.490 –> 00:02:16.020 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place in the old-time music world cultural sounds, there is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley North Carolina, your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay!

00:02:17.400 –> 00:02:29.460 Joseph McElroy: and other sponsors smokies adventure.com smokies plural adventure singular the smoky mountains and surrounding area or areas of vacation destination for all seasons.

00:02:30.000 –> 00:02:39.480 Joseph McElroy: Some of the nation’s best hiking trails waterfalls, outdoor adventures, and family entertainment can be found, right here in these mountains.

00:02:40.200 –> 00:02:48.870 Joseph McElroy: start your adventure by using smokiesadventure.com to explore all the wonderful features of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

00:02:49.500 –> 00:03:01.230 Joseph McElroy: trails, waterfalls, caves cove or the elk are and more than check out all the awesome family attractions and entertainment, you and your entire family can enjoy.

00:03:02.550 –> 00:03:09.900 Joseph McElroy: The goal is smokiesadventure.com is to become the leading information portal for adventures and experiences in the great smoky mountains.

00:03:10.710 –> 00:03:21.660 Joseph McElroy: Now some events coming up most of these events are at the Maggie Valley festival grounds and it’s now become the big festival season in the mountains and the smoky mountain area.

00:03:22.440 –> 00:03:37.440 Joseph McElroy: April 22nd to 24th is the Annual Southeastern mini trucking nationals it’s an open car and truck show featuring food and vendors and many trucks which are a hoot.

00:03:38.760 –> 00:03:51.690 Joseph McElroy: April 19th to May 1st is Thunder in the Smokies Spring Motorcycle Rally, this is a Big Motorcycle Rally about three times a year and it’s the largest and oldest rally in Maggie Valley.

00:03:52.200 –> 00:04:01.740 Joseph McElroy: And it’s all day Friday and Saturday and half the day on Sunday is got tour rides vendors bike shows games prizes concerts.

00:04:02.190 –> 00:04:10.470 Joseph McElroy: Fire dancers, the latest bikes and motor products on display, and more you can go to thunderinthesmokies.com to find out more.

00:04:11.100 –> 00:04:26.940 Joseph McElroy: May 7th is a new event that I haven’t during know where it is called the boho hippie feast it’s got live music performances art demonstrations vendors bounce houses games food trucks and more sounds like it’s going to be sort of a Bohemian.

00:04:28.080 –> 00:04:46.890 Joseph McElroy: arts and crafts show with lots of fun so I’m looking forward to checking that out, and they may 13 to the 14th is the kk OA icons of the hot rodding festival, and this is going to be the 1950s and 1960s hot-rodding custom cars and trailer trucks and then have it.

00:04:48.210 –> 00:04:59.730 Joseph McElroy: For models that are older than 1969 have automotive and vintage vendors pinstripe burrs and food vendors awards and trophies and all sorts of things.

00:05:00.990 –> 00:05:11.160 Joseph McElroy: Now the Meadowlark you know, we have the Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center where we have lots of mountain heritage and music events so in.

00:05:12.510 –> 00:05:13.230 Joseph McElroy: In May.

00:05:14.310 –> 00:05:30.930 Joseph McElroy: On May 6th through the 8th we’re going to have mother’s day events and it’s gonna have moms moving mountains and mother nature’s natural garden programs Nancy East and Ila Hatter.

00:05:32.310 –> 00:05:50.370 Joseph McElroy: So first one there on a Friday night may six-seven acclaimed authors and wilderness survival expert Nancy East will be presenting mom’s moving mountains and she will share her experiences in the great outdoors as well as her amazing endurance hiking achievements.

00:05:51.780 –> 00:06:03.630 Joseph McElroy: This is serious just here doing what wilderness survival is course is hugely valuable and she has some great adventures to talk about the show you picture things like that, then a May 7.

00:06:04.320 –> 00:06:14.130 Joseph McElroy: The afternoon will feature legendary wildcrafting expert and renowned author filmmaker instructor and tour guide for the general some great smoky mountain National Park elite.

00:06:14.940 –> 00:06:24.120 Joseph McElroy: GSM Field School Illa Hatter. Ila is an expert on edible plants, medicinal herbs, and anything pertaining to wildcraft foraging and Appalachian plants, trees, and flowers.

00:06:24.600 –> 00:06:32.010 Joseph McElroy: she’s been featured in a lot of stuff like TV shows, and things like that.

00:06:32.880 –> 00:06:44.100 Joseph McElroy: But she will be presenting your her beloved program Mother Nature natural garden and leading a short tour of the grounds, identifying nature’s bounty that can be found in our own backyards.

00:06:44.610 –> 00:06:49.470 Joseph McElroy: And then we’ll have a combination with the free Barbecue separate music on Saturday night.

00:06:49.950 –> 00:07:06.720 Joseph McElroy: So reach out and then In mother’s day in the morning will have will be having cake and champagne for people as they’re leaving in the morning, so come and reach out to meadowlarkmotel.com call 8289261717 to find out more and reserve your spot for these programs.

00:07:08.970 –> 00:07:18.090 Joseph McElroy: I don’t know if everybody knows, but one of the best motorcycle museums in the country, if not the world is located right next to the Meadowlark motel.

00:07:18.720 –> 00:07:31.380 Joseph McElroy: And it’s called the wheels through time museum and it’s home to the world’s premier collection of rare American motorcycles memorabilia and a distinct array of unique one-off American automobiles.

00:07:32.940 –> 00:07:56.040 Joseph McElroy: It has a collection of over 350 rare machines comprised of 25 makes including Harley Davidson Indian excelsior Henderson Popeil crocker flying Merkel and many, many more, it was opened on July 4 2002 in a 38,000 square foot facility, and now it says 15th year of operation.

00:07:57.270 –> 00:08:02.070 Joseph McElroy: it’s gotten worldwide media attention and brought hundreds of thousands of visitors to Maggie Valley.

00:08:02.520 –> 00:08:16.740 Joseph McElroy: And it’s a unique display it has events going on thrill rides and all the machines run even the older some of the rarest in the world have been made into working order and every day.

00:08:17.370 –> 00:08:24.360 Joseph McElroy: Thursday through Monday, they will actually get some of these different old machines running so you can hear how they sound.

00:08:24.600 –> 00:08:35.400 Joseph McElroy: feel their vibrations, you know feel like a part of it, and then and the museum itself is a really wonderful experience because you’re walking through something that’s almost like a giant garage.

00:08:35.700 –> 00:08:45.870 Joseph McElroy: Then it has art and automobiles represent a representative of the times right and motorcycles representative of the time in the exhibits.

00:08:46.890 –> 00:08:55.620 Joseph McElroy: It was founded by Dale Walker who recently died, but his son has taken over who’s also an accomplished motorcycle.

00:08:56.310 –> 00:09:04.680 Joseph McElroy: Now expert knowledge, so I recommend coming to stay in the Meadowlark and going over the wheels through the time museum to get your motorcycle on.

00:09:05.520 –> 00:09:09.480 Joseph McElroy: Somebody knows about motorcycles our guest today his name is Chris Parker.

00:09:10.050 –> 00:09:24.840 Joseph McElroy: Chris Parker is the owner and Chief Designer of Road Wolf Design it’s a creative design company based in Greer South Carolina where he was founded in 2007 his clients include Texas Pete Hot Sauces yay I love hot sauces, Texas Pete.

00:09:26.430 –> 00:09:34.650 Joseph McElroy: touring sport BMW, and many others, Chris is an avid BMW motorcycle enthusiast who has been a large part of his adult life.

00:09:35.040 –> 00:09:45.900 Joseph McElroy: riding his bike in the great smoky mountains regions and all across the United States now Chris has partnered with the staff of the Meadowlark Motel Maggie Valley to create a new event.

00:09:46.320 –> 00:09:58.020 Joseph McElroy: For this prestigious group called the BMWRA group on May 12-15 2022 and at the Meadowlark Motel Maggie Valley and so hello, Chris how are you doing?

00:09:58.680 –> 00:10:00.210 Chris Parker: Great good to be here.

00:10:00.570 –> 00:10:05.730 Joseph McElroy: cool we are thrilled to have you with us here today, Chris and we’re.

00:10:06.300 –> 00:10:19.410 Joseph McElroy: we’re really just like so I mean I’m very excited to discuss your upcoming rally in the valley scheduled for May and as well as you share your expertise and you know, creating memorable riding adventure so let’s get started.

00:10:20.640 –> 00:10:25.890 Joseph McElroy: You live in a relatively short ride from Maggie valley when was your first trip to our region?

00:10:27.450 –> 00:10:41.610 Chris Parker: Well, I’ve been up there so many times I’ve lost count been riding in western North Carolina since 2000, 22 years easily hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of miles.

00:10:43.020 –> 00:10:49.620 Chris Parker: Maggie Valley, Waynesville area, a lot, because of the roads are just their epic so yeah.

00:10:50.280 –> 00:10:52.680 Joseph McElroy: Are you originally from Greer or Where are you from originally.

00:10:53.550 –> 00:11:06.960 Chris Parker: um well as a navy brat I was born in Scotland and moved around and then eventually made it to the US, but I’ve been living in the southeast primarily since the mid-70s, hence the accent.

00:11:08.040 –> 00:11:19.020 Chris Parker: And in South Carolina since 1981 so I’m in the upstate of South Carolina which when you explain to people South Carolina they automatically assume you’re from Charleston or the beach.

00:11:19.410 –> 00:11:30.030 Chris Parker: And you have to remind them that there’s the upstate which is mountainous it’s at the foothills of the mountains of where you’re at and North Carolina so you know you.

00:11:30.360 –> 00:11:40.110 Joseph McElroy: Did you when you’ve been visiting if you get a chance to hook up with Mike Ogletree he’s our artist in residence and he was born in Scotland and played with a lot of Scottish bands.

00:11:40.260 –> 00:11:45.540 Chris Parker: Did you get the time I met him, I met him last September, when I came up to visit the motel.

00:11:46.020 –> 00:12:01.980 Chris Parker: and his background, when I found out who he was with I just my jaw dropped simple minds, I mean who doesn’t know who that band is and then he’s from Scotland and he’s got the accent I don’t, but we did have a chat he’s a nice guy.

00:12:02.280 –> 00:12:18.240 Joseph McElroy: Oh good well that’s I mean yeah that’s yeah there’s actually a lot of Scottish heritage in the mountains right, so you probably find a little bit of that connecting up with people and you should go by the Scottish Tartan Museum in Franklin it’s.

00:12:19.290 –> 00:12:19.620 Chris Parker: Like.

00:12:20.250 –> 00:12:23.670 Joseph McElroy: it’s the greatest Tartan collection in the world, I think right.

00:12:24.180 –> 00:12:31.770 Joseph McElroy: it’s pretty it is pretty impressive you know, we had him out for the Burn’s Day celebration of Robert Burns and.

00:12:32.160 –> 00:12:36.930 Joseph McElroy: They brought some tartans and they brought some pictures and they did a whole discussion, so it was pretty cool.

00:12:37.860 –> 00:12:53.730 Joseph McElroy: Pretty cool opportunity to find more about and I recommend people find out about that museum, because we know it’s of all the many museums, we have in the mountains that’s one of them that’s I think is pretty special hey so I’ve talked a lot, so we have to take our first break.

00:12:55.170 –> 00:13:00.750 Joseph McElroy: And then we’ll come back and we’ll find more will find a little bit more about you and then writing BMW is in the mountains.

00:13:02.070 –> 00:13:02.460 Okay.

00:15:17.460 –> 00:15:27.660 Joseph McElroy: Howdy! this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the Gateway to the Smokies Podcast and my guest Chris Parker so Chris how long have you been riding motorcycles?

00:15:29.790 –> 00:15:30.990 Chris Parker: 22 years.

00:15:31.500 –> 00:15:34.590 Joseph McElroy: 22 years and did was a BMW your first one.

00:15:35.550 –> 00:15:53.400 Chris Parker: No, it wasn’t I bought a used Honda Pacific coast and learn to ride on that, and within nine months and about 15,000 miles later I moved to a BMW pretty quick and pretty much stayed on them for the last 22 years.

00:15:54.090 –> 00:15:56.040 Joseph McElroy: Now, Bob folks,

00:15:57.810 –> 00:16:12.750 Joseph McElroy: involved and helped me put together these programs he’s also Bob Plott and he’s also general manager of the smoky mountain heritage Center so he told me, you have a really unique story about how you obtain your BMW bite that you know that you now own so what’s that story.

00:16:13.620 –> 00:16:16.080 Chris Parker: that’s a pretty long one, but I’ll try to give you the.

00:16:16.860 –> 00:16:20.970 Chris Parker: Two-second versions I had a mutual work colleague.

00:16:22.050 –> 00:16:22.860 Chris Parker: call me.

00:16:24.120 –> 00:16:33.990 Chris Parker: A friend of mine last March 2021 said that he had his father-in-law, was downsizing and they were moving him from California to North Carolina.

00:16:34.350 –> 00:16:43.620 Chris Parker: And he had an old BMW that he was trying to sell figure out the value of it, he knew I knew bikes being very bikes and show me some pictures and I saw it, and I was like wow that’s a really nice.

00:16:45.090 –> 00:17:03.420 Chris Parker: BMW or 1100 G, yes, which is there on road offered by and it was a mint condition and I saw the odometer reading on it, it said 13,191 miles, and I was like wow so I did my due diligence getting some pricing and one thing led to another and.

00:17:04.740 –> 00:17:18.030 Chris Parker: Because of my interest in it, it looked like I was going to be the guy that bought it and I did well sort of I’m in talks with the owner of the bike gab widening of Earl picture.

00:17:18.690 –> 00:17:33.240 Chris Parker: He and I struck up a really nice friendship and through a series of conversations and circumstances I ended up getting a call from him when the bike was picked up from the local dealer in.

00:17:34.350 –> 00:17:41.970 Chris Parker: BMW dealer in Temecula California and they went over it, and they said God this thing is a time capsule it is meant.

00:17:43.470 –> 00:17:45.690 Chris Parker: can’t believe the condition is in and.

00:17:46.920 –> 00:17:51.960 Chris Parker: So in talking with them, we had struck up a deal that I would buy the bike for a really good price.

00:17:52.500 –> 00:18:02.730 Chris Parker: And he would pay for the bike to be serviced and I just couldn’t believe he was willing to do that, but once we got to know each other, he called me after the bike was a.

00:18:03.540 –> 00:18:12.690 Chris Parker: checked out by the dealership and he surprised me with the gift of saying hey Chris why don’t you pay for the service and after the service, the bike is yours.

00:18:13.680 –> 00:18:24.570 Chris Parker: I stood there in my living room and I heard him say those words and I didn’t quite understand what he was talking about and he’s I said what I don’t What do you mean he says I’m giving you the bike.

00:18:25.320 –> 00:18:26.070 Joseph McElroy: Oh wow.

00:18:26.340 –> 00:18:34.800 Chris Parker: I’m like why he said, well, I checked you out, I know that you’re with a BMW riders association you do the magazine.

00:18:35.460 –> 00:18:53.490 Chris Parker: And then you had a deer strike in 2018 on your GPS adventure and you use it almost total G, but you got back on the horse and you continue to ride and you’re my kind of guy in terms of you keep riding and you’ll take care of this body, so I flew out.

00:18:54.600 –> 00:19:03.810 Chris Parker: With my gear and toe and I landed in Temecula and got the bike it was exactly as you described and I rode it.

00:19:04.320 –> 00:19:21.180 Chris Parker: From the dealership to his place in palm desert California and I met him and I got to eat dinner with him and spend a night and we had breakfast and then I run cross country on that bike from California to South Carolina in six days.

00:19:21.780 –> 00:19:25.890 Chris Parker: wow so it’s uh I’ll never get rid of that by that bike is.

00:19:26.190 –> 00:19:35.220 Joseph McElroy: it’s already a part of you now, so you know I have my interesting story is buys a number, there was a big bike rider back in my youth.

00:19:35.670 –> 00:19:47.160 Joseph McElroy: A friend of mine was getting married in here to Yamaha 185 right which is a dirt bike and he said, well, I gotta get rid of it my wife and we have it so I’m drinking his bachelor party and I buy it right.

00:19:47.940 –> 00:19:56.070 Joseph McElroy: I had it for about three years and then I started to get married he now is going through a divorce, where the best of my bachelor party and he buys it back from me.

00:19:59.820 –> 00:20:09.750 Joseph McElroy: So meant for a single guy going out and taking a little adventure, but you know this story of dear what happened with that what happened, my dear jumped out in front of you.

00:20:10.230 –> 00:20:22.140 Chris Parker: yeah this was coming up four years ago, I was actually heading to the BMW writers association national rally in Wellsboro Pennsylvania.

00:20:22.890 –> 00:20:29.220 Chris Parker: And I was going to do it in two days and stayed my first night at a really nice motorcycle campground that I love and

00:20:29.940 –> 00:20:39.720 Chris Parker: metals of Dan Virginia called will do and I had written I don’t like leaving at night, but my workday was such that I left late in the afternoon.

00:20:40.200 –> 00:20:48.300 Chris Parker: which would have me arriving there late at night and I had written about 260 miles, with five more miles to go.

00:20:49.080 –> 00:21:00.600 Chris Parker: And next thing I know I’m calling out of the ditch and wondering what happened and trying to flag someone down to help me and I was my whole left side was on fire.

00:21:01.200 –> 00:21:09.600 Chris Parker: didn’t know what would have happened if I like passing out or well in this instance, I found out with a guy come in to rescue me.

00:21:11.040 –> 00:21:15.360 Chris Parker: telling me they don’t move to help us on the way and I asked him.

00:21:16.380 –> 00:21:18.990 Chris Parker: What happened, he said dude you hit a deer.

00:21:19.410 –> 00:21:20.100 Joseph McElroy: Oh well.

00:21:20.220 –> 00:21:29.340 Chris Parker: Like a 200-pound Oh, and I was airlifted to Winston Salem and I stayed there for two weeks and broke ribs front and rear.

00:21:30.660 –> 00:21:45.990 Chris Parker: shoulder blade fracture it and then broke my collarbone and I lacerated my spleen which they were able to repair that without we’re moving in and since then and back at it, since it was three months later, I.

00:21:47.220 –> 00:21:59.910 Chris Parker: You know, I was wondering if I was going to quit riding or if I was going to take a hiatus and I knew that wasn’t going to work because I was spending my wee hours of the morning on my computer looking at you know bikes.

00:22:01.140 –> 00:22:03.930 Chris Parker: trying to figure out what I was going to get and return to so.

00:22:04.260 –> 00:22:10.680 Joseph McElroy: Is that something that you can avoid is there or is it just that that’s just the one that’s a freak accident.

00:22:10.740 –> 00:22:21.570 Chris Parker: It was a freak accident, plus there are things that you can mitigate it like don’t ride at night or in the morning and then, of course, in the fall with dears running.

00:22:22.230 –> 00:22:25.590 Chris Parker: they’re out a little more than they would be throughout the rest of the year.

00:22:26.220 –> 00:22:34.800 Chris Parker: And you just kind of get a feel for it’s your spidey sense is going off and you’re like yeah they got probably need to not be out and I just ignored.

00:22:35.340 –> 00:22:51.720 Chris Parker: I’d probably did I did everything right in that I had all the gear I wear full Armor I actually wear a neck brace when I arrived, which is a preventive measure, and I was wearing it and it’s to keep you from injury your cervical spine around your neck so that you don’t have any.

00:22:52.020 –> 00:22:59.460 Joseph McElroy: that’s amazing because you know the sounds from the accident that was expecting yeah like spinal, but it was, like all sort of.

00:22:59.910 –> 00:23:08.730 Joseph McElroy: Except for the spleen things sort of like super you know, like for the better words minor praise, but I mean they weren’t minor but they were yeah they were.

00:23:09.420 –> 00:23:18.360 Joseph McElroy: They were not in you know you didn’t get peril paralysis and all that sort of stuff so and predictive stuff sounds like it really works that’s great.

00:23:19.080 –> 00:23:27.030 Chris Parker: yeah it was pretty emotional to come home after being away from my kids those two weeks and I got home, I can.

00:23:29.700 –> 00:23:37.200 Joseph McElroy: You know, a mutual friend who introduced us Larry Schatz had an accident not too far ago he’s backed upright and again.

00:23:37.770 –> 00:23:42.060 Chris Parker: yeah actually ride with him fairly regularly and he’s amazing.

00:23:43.020 –> 00:23:43.950 Joseph McElroy: How did you meet him.

00:23:45.210 –> 00:23:46.680 Chris Parker: He joined.

00:23:47.730 –> 00:23:58.500 Chris Parker: A group of writers, that I have been writing with for 20 plus years and he heard about us through social media, and then we actually met him.

00:23:59.040 –> 00:24:10.290 Chris Parker: On a ride several years ago, he was new to the area coming back well moved from New York City Manhattan to near Asheville.

00:24:11.160 –> 00:24:30.390 Chris Parker: He was looking for like-minded writers and we met through Facebook, I think it was and then, of course, with that, we’ve written many times with him he’s just he’s a fast rider as you know, an accident can happen.

00:24:30.720 –> 00:24:36.480 Chris Parker: but also his skill level is like I’m here and he’s up here.

00:24:36.960 –> 00:24:39.030 Chris Parker: That it doesn’t track day so.

00:24:39.480 –> 00:24:40.890 Joseph McElroy: He admits that he led his.

00:24:40.890 –> 00:24:43.770 Joseph McElroy: ego gets ahead of him, and then there’s Ryan, he was.

00:24:43.800 –> 00:24:53.490 Joseph McElroy: Trying to keep up with somebody he said I can’t do that anymore, he said he admitted that he actually when he gets his training so now that.

00:24:54.300 –> 00:25:12.810 Joseph McElroy: that’s you know that happens to everybody so but he’s back on and he’s riding again and I’m glad he introduced this and we’re you know we you got your work, you work with BMWRA you also the board and you also added the magazine right.

00:25:13.860 –> 00:25:16.080 Chris Parker: I’m not a board member, but I am a.

00:25:17.640 –> 00:25:27.150 Chris Parker: a person involved with the club in two areas, one of which, for the last four years I’ve been the art director for the magazine, so I laid it out.

00:25:28.440 –> 00:25:41.700 Chris Parker: I’ve been doing that, since March, April 2018, and then an esteemed editor that was under the most of those four years John Flores he.

00:25:42.420 –> 00:25:55.680 Chris Parker: of New Jersey, an amazing photographer and mono journalist, stepped down due to just his workload and he let me know that you know.

00:25:56.550 –> 00:26:13.440 Chris Parker: I think it was November of last year, and I was like holy crap, what are we gonna do now, and he said, Chris, you should take it on, and I was like an editor and he said yeah I think you did great at it and so I’m now, the editor of the magazine my first issue was.

00:26:14.700 –> 00:26:18.750 Chris Parker: The March, April of 2022 it’s been in the hands of the Members.

00:26:19.830 –> 00:26:24.030 Chris Parker: For about a month now, and I’m working on my second issue now it’s going to the printer this week.

00:26:24.420 –> 00:26:28.050 Joseph McElroy: So congratulations, so can you tell us.

00:26:28.110 –> 00:26:34.830 Chris Parker: Real quick also help out with related graphics that are outside of the magazine.

00:26:36.000 –> 00:26:41.070 Joseph McElroy: Can you tell us you know a little bit about what the BMWRA organization is.

00:26:42.090 –> 00:26:47.400 Chris Parker: Well it’s a BMW motorcycle club that’s been in existence since 1972.

00:26:48.450 –> 00:27:00.570 Chris Parker: We are one of two motorcycle clubs that are national and we are actually under the international umbrella of the BMW club Council out of Germany.

00:27:01.290 –> 00:27:25.080 Chris Parker: BMW motor add is the motorcycle division of BMW AG so everyone hears that you know there are cars, but they also make motorcycles, in fact, that and making motorcycles longer than I have been making cars and so we’re an enthusiast club that supports the love of all things BMW motorcycles.

00:27:26.400 –> 00:27:32.700 Chris Parker: it’s the Riders association and we just shorten it to ra but everyone knows who we are cool.

00:27:33.090 –> 00:27:37.290 Joseph McElroy: And you, you had your national rally in Haywood County this last year did.

00:27:38.040 –> 00:27:42.930 Chris Parker: We did in Waynesville at the Smoky Mountain Event Center off of two.

00:27:44.370 –> 00:27:46.710 Chris Parker: In August of last year .cool.

00:27:47.280 –> 00:27:54.480 Joseph McElroy: All right, well, we, I want to talk more about that, but we got to take a break real quick and then we’ll come back we’ll talk about why you guys decided to come to play with.

00:30:01.020 –> 00:30:08.910 Joseph McElroy: Howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the Gateways to the Smokies Podcasts and my guest Chris Parker.

00:30:09.300 –> 00:30:22.560 Joseph McElroy: So, Chris we were talking about the national BMWRA Rally that was held in Haywood County I think in September 2021 and I think you have it has plans for at least 2022 and 2023 right?

00:30:23.550 –> 00:30:41.820 Chris Parker: Well, definitely for 2022 there are discussions for maybe possibly returning the third year we don’t know that for sure, but right now, I know that this coming fall it’ll actually be later in the year it’ll be in September September 29 through October, the second.

00:30:43.170 –> 00:30:44.610 Chris Parker: location so.

00:30:44.940 –> 00:30:46.920 Joseph McElroy: same weekend as well fest so.

00:30:48.300 –> 00:30:52.380 Joseph McElroy: Why did you why BMWRA choose Haywood County?

00:30:53.940 –> 00:31:07.200 Chris Parker: Well, obviously there have to be several factors involved, one of which is a location that can accommodate anywhere from 1200 to 1500 people camping and facilities for vendors.

00:31:08.370 –> 00:31:18.330 Chris Parker: But really the ideal setup was the roads, because of the legendary roads that are within striking distance of that location.

00:31:19.230 –> 00:31:39.360 Chris Parker: There are famous it’s not just people in the United States that come here to the southeast arrived these words I actually have a friend, that is from Germany and the comments on the fact that these roads have a nature of a quality that would go up against stuff in the House.

00:31:40.590 –> 00:31:52.380 Chris Parker: they’ll fly here and they’ll come to Western North Carolina Southwest Virginia Eastern Tennessee Northeast Georgia because of what’s around you guys in.

00:31:54.090 –> 00:32:02.700 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know there’s some really famous one like with a tail of the dragon and the rattler and a copperhead is there any other there that you think are particularly famous that.

00:32:03.990 –> 00:32:04.350 Joseph McElroy: That.

00:32:04.380 –> 00:32:07.170 Chris Parker: Well, I don’t want to announce them too much, because then.

00:32:07.200 –> 00:32:07.620 Once you.

00:32:09.450 –> 00:32:11.700 Chris Parker: they’re no longer your personal roller coaster but.

00:32:11.730 –> 00:32:18.270 Chris Parker: Right, there are some roads that are they don’t really have names assigned to them like the rattler or.

00:32:19.620 –> 00:32:23.190 Chris Parker: deals gaps Taylor dragon or the moon Shauna which is.

00:32:24.630 –> 00:32:35.430 Chris Parker: going through parts of South Carolina and Western North Carolina but I’ll just throw out some names North Carolina to anyone North Carolina 215

00:32:37.680 –> 00:32:48.780 Chris Parker: Those are some pretty epic roads that will actually have people pointing him to take when we have an event at your at the Meadowlark.

00:32:49.890 –> 00:32:51.810 Joseph McElroy: Well you’re planning so.

00:32:52.950 –> 00:33:03.210 Joseph McElroy: let’s just sit back for an SEC, I want to talk about the plans that they’ve been learned Oh, you know you would say that the national event that it made sense to do a regional event here right.

00:33:04.380 –> 00:33:17.280 Chris Parker: yeah so the thinking here with the RA’s is so just a little background on the RA’s it’s a national organization it’s been around we’re celebrating our 50th year this year, and so the.

00:33:18.240 –> 00:33:31.650 Chris Parker: The theme for the rally in Waynesville is going to be 50 years of the RIED attitude RIED and the RA is known as a just enthusiast

00:33:32.550 –> 00:33:54.690 Chris Parker: motorcycle club, the people that come to this event arm riders they put on serious miles and coming to Western North Carolina game is just providing them an epic opportunity to enjoy these legendary roads in the have four days at the campground at the smoky mountain Center.

00:33:55.710 –> 00:34:04.950 Chris Parker: Doing you know hanging out there’s going to be food and all that kind of stuff, and so the idea of them coming back I know people when they heard the announcement.

00:34:05.460 –> 00:34:19.620 Chris Parker: They were shocked that we were coming back because they’ve never really done that, before, but then I think the overall vibe of the reaction was yeah, this is a good move because of you know you’re from this area, you know what it’s like.

00:34:19.800 –> 00:34:20.490 Joseph McElroy: yeah right.

00:34:21.570 –> 00:34:24.450 Joseph McElroy: And then, and then do it a regional one made sense as well right.

00:34:24.900 –> 00:34:34.440 Chris Parker: Oh yeah so yeah the question was why a regional event in that the national rally is once a year, and sometimes people can’t make that.

00:34:35.220 –> 00:34:45.030 Chris Parker: So we were we’re opening up the possibility of doing these smaller weekend getaways and because of the connection with Larry new and I.

00:34:45.690 –> 00:34:53.250 Chris Parker: It was just assumed that it would make sense to do one and Maggie Valley, even though it’s close to where the national rally would be at a different time of the year.

00:34:53.640 –> 00:35:03.930 Chris Parker: And then, because of what I think is going to be a successful event in Meadowlark with the registrations that we have so far and the reaction to this event they’re going to do more of these.

00:35:04.050 –> 00:35:08.820 Chris Parker: And so, in September in the upper peninsula of.

00:35:10.290 –> 00:35:23.070 Chris Parker: Michigan there’s going to be an event that’s sponsored by the RA that’s going to be at a place called big snow resort in Wakefield Michigan and then there’s a possibility of one in Virginia near.

00:35:24.810 –> 00:35:28.620 Chris Parker: West Virginia and Virginia up in the Shenandoah Valley.

00:35:29.100 –> 00:35:29.850 Chris Parker: So we’re.

00:35:29.910 –> 00:35:31.680 Chris Parker: we’re in early stages of that.

00:35:32.430 –> 00:35:40.740 Joseph McElroy: Well cool well the Meadowlark you know we know Maggie Valley itself is considered like the best motorcycle town.

00:35:41.280 –> 00:35:52.200 Joseph McElroy: In Western North Carolina and because it’s near all those famous roads, easy access big road to get in and out of you know, has it actually has a festival grounds that holds a lot of.

00:35:53.970 –> 00:36:01.500 Joseph McElroy: You know trucking and motorcycle events and the culture are very conducive to yeah motorcyclists enjoying.

00:36:02.790 –> 00:36:07.050 Joseph McElroy: You know, restaurants and everything are very motorcycle friendly.

00:36:08.100 –> 00:36:13.230 Joseph McElroy: You know people do things like you know the motels do things like have you know motorcycle rags and little.

00:36:13.710 –> 00:36:21.090 Joseph McElroy: Little buckets right outside the room, so they can clean and wash their motorcycles and stuff like that which I think that yeah it’s just a.

00:36:21.510 –> 00:36:32.010 Joseph McElroy: it’s a really nice environment, you know and we’re and you know we’re putting together so that people have stepped up in the valley of the big steak house J Arthur’s is going to host all you guys for a big steak dinner.

00:36:32.370 –> 00:36:39.570 Joseph McElroy: And then we have a pavilion we’re gonna have live music poetry Michael Ogletree, and I think he’s gonna do a simple mind acoustic concert.

00:36:40.200 –> 00:36:53.940 Joseph McElroy: Right and we’ve opened up a new speakeasy which you didn’t even know about before where you know, on the later in the evening come in, listen to really cool music and hang back and have nice drinks and things like that so we’re looking forward to it.

00:36:55.500 –> 00:37:01.650 Joseph McElroy: So, but you are also planning some things for the event, you were talking about a special ride you put together.

00:37:02.670 –> 00:37:21.570 Chris Parker: yeah, so this is being the first event that I’ve ever hosted I’m being a rally chair, we were trying to figure out a group of us who are behind the scenes, putting the pieces together what we can add to the already announced.

00:37:22.830 –> 00:37:24.960 Chris Parker: Activities you know the dinners.

00:37:26.130 –> 00:37:27.300 Chris Parker: The live music.

00:37:28.350 –> 00:37:37.770 Chris Parker: Some of the vendors that are going to be on-site that on the 14th the last full day of the rally we’re going to have the rally in the valley challenge ride

00:37:38.460 –> 00:37:47.970 Chris Parker: And it’s going to be a way to snag some extra door prize tickets raffle prize tickets by participating in it and so we’ve.

00:37:48.450 –> 00:37:57.900 Chris Parker: come up with a route that’s gonna be about 160 something miles, that if you take it and you follow it and take proof.

00:37:58.590 –> 00:38:12.090 Chris Parker: of taking it by stopping in some waypoints take pictures of you and your bike and then will you know for each one of those if you stop at we will award you an extra ticket for a chance to win some really awesome prizes.

00:38:12.540 –> 00:38:16.650 Chris Parker: I’ll tell you more about what those are looking like right.

00:38:17.700 –> 00:38:28.260 Chris Parker: So that’s news that it’s not been announced until this podcast that we’re planning on In fact this Thursday about four of us are going to do a test ride.

00:38:28.740 –> 00:38:39.030 Chris Parker: To make sure that the route that we’ve planned has a quality we just been doing it, the mapping software, and now we’re going to go and test it this coming week.

00:38:39.510 –> 00:38:40.620 Joseph McElroy: How long the riders and.

00:38:41.520 –> 00:38:51.060 Chris Parker: it’s gonna be about four hours it’s a loop that takes you northeast of Maggie Valley and it’ll take you into.

00:38:52.290 –> 00:39:02.940 Chris Parker: close to the Tennessee state line it’ll sneak around some of the brands, which will be on our two and on obviously North kind of 63, which is a trust.

00:39:04.080 –> 00:39:12.060 Chris Parker: there’s some dirt roads that you can take for extra bonus points for those that don’t know this BMW has a lot of bikes called GSS.

00:39:12.390 –> 00:39:27.840 Chris Parker: And they’re the type of bike that wants to pay money Angie you keep going so if you want to go down for us but we’ve got a few things set up in the round so that that is going to be a new feature to the to the rally and then.

00:39:28.890 –> 00:39:39.630 Chris Parker: I mentioned vendors, we have about five that are committed to showing up the main one in terms of what people would recognize as.

00:39:40.230 –> 00:39:58.290 Chris Parker: wonderfully USA there is a BMW motorcycle accessories company out of Germany and their North American headquarters is in Hendersonville was nearby and they’re going to be there with their products, their tents and people to you know talk about what they offer for BMW motorcycles.

00:39:59.250 –> 00:40:08.610 Joseph McElroy: cool and do you ever have besides, you know people going out writing do you have any other plan activities for people coming besides, you know the dinner we’ve set up and that sort of thing.

00:40:09.270 –> 00:40:20.670 Chris Parker: Well it’s going to be had laid back in that with the way these guys I’m imagining gals and guys come in they’re going to ride to the location and they’re going to want to rest and relax.

00:40:21.180 –> 00:40:37.290 Chris Parker: And they’re on their own there’s a dinner Friday night and then there’s a dinner on Saturday night there’s also going to be continental breakfast provided by the Meadowlark in the overflow hotels, that may be handling people will have access to that.

00:40:38.430 –> 00:40:43.320 Chris Parker: But as far as anything outside of that we will have a local.

00:40:44.760 –> 00:40:55.200 Chris Parker: vendor from Waynesville Wayne Bush of America rods maps his maps are epic for the BMW Roddick community and other motorcycle brands.

00:40:56.040 –> 00:41:02.640 Chris Parker: They love is matt he’s going to be on hand and the talk is that he’s going to be debuting a new APP.

00:41:03.240 –> 00:41:17.160 Chris Parker: That he wants to have you know the to unveil at the event, we still don’t know if that’s a done deal but he’s going to be there on hand and then the other thing a good friend of mine who lives in balsam which is not far from Maggie Valley.

00:41:18.420 –> 00:41:25.830 Chris Parker: harkens back, he is a God moto journalist all-around good guy and a stand-up comedian.

00:41:27.180 –> 00:41:31.350 Chris Parker: he’s going to be there on Saturday night at J Arthur’s.

00:41:32.550 –> 00:41:35.730 Chris Parker: doing a every team.

00:41:36.810 –> 00:41:51.570 Chris Parker: he’s uh he’s written three books on writing in the southeast and he’s going to have them on hand to talk about and to help people out with you know where do you go, you know what’s around here, he knows all the relatives so.

00:41:53.040 –> 00:41:58.770 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah well you know riding around the smoky mountains it’s just a joyous experience you know.

00:41:59.280 –> 00:42:07.710 Joseph McElroy: there are so many places to go see I mean oftentimes you can just stop and spur the moment and see a magnificent waterfall right.

00:42:08.580 –> 00:42:14.430 Joseph McElroy: Or you know you may walk 100 feet into the forest and boom there it is it’s just huge right.

00:42:15.120 –> 00:42:20.220 Joseph McElroy: In fact, we have one right up above Maggie called Soco falls it’s right off the road.

00:42:20.640 –> 00:42:29.460 Joseph McElroy: You can people can go up there, and just jump out yeah park will walk you know few hundred feet and boom here this magnificent waterfall near the mountains are.

00:42:29.880 –> 00:42:39.480 Joseph McElroy: known for those waterfalls So hopefully people can get a combined outdoor road experience little that little outdoor adventure experienced it right.

00:42:41.010 –> 00:42:49.290 Joseph McElroy: And i’d encourage people to you know to also if they want some relaxation time don’t forget that there’s fishing at the Meadowlark

00:42:49.860 –> 00:42:55.260 Joseph McElroy: You know, you can put you can do some real trial, we just had a fish camp and people were catching fish there

00:42:55.950 –> 00:43:10.320 Joseph McElroy: Nice rainbows and some brown trouts right there in the backyard there’s a little bait shop tackle shop right up the road from us so hopefully, they can experience a little bit of everything the mountain culture has are going to music and we’ll have food.

00:43:11.670 –> 00:43:14.700 Joseph McElroy: You know waterfalls and riding the road so.

00:43:16.260 –> 00:43:18.300 Joseph McElroy: I look forward to you guys coming in here so.

00:43:19.500 –> 00:43:26.040 Joseph McElroy: we’re going to take another break right now and come back we’ll finish up talking about some of your favorite spots in the smokies.

00:43:27.180 –> 00:43:29.760 Joseph McElroy: Anything else you want to mention some shoutouts for things that.

00:43:30.870 –> 00:43:32.430 Joseph McElroy: You want us to pay attention to.

00:43:34.050 –> 00:43:35.580 Chris Parker: Okay sounds good.

00:45:33.870 –> 00:45:40.860 Joseph McElroy: Howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the Gateway to the Smokies Podcast and my guest Chris Parker.

00:45:41.400 –> 00:45:48.600 Joseph McElroy: So, Chris you know we got little people listening to this and we’re talking about coming up motorcycling in the smokies and I think it’s a great thing but.

00:45:48.990 –> 00:45:56.730 Joseph McElroy: You know, but yeah I think we should mention just briefly what are some safety tips for coming up or writing in the smokies do you have some.

00:45:58.500 –> 00:45:59.100 Chris Parker: well.

00:46:00.240 –> 00:46:08.520 Chris Parker: Especially if you’re running in a group Roger override make sure that you don’t like we know a mutual friend get in over their head.

00:46:09.720 –> 00:46:20.550 Chris Parker: The roads here are pretty technical but also you can ride at your own pace there are some roads that are like I think in the notes for this.

00:46:21.540 –> 00:46:37.500 Chris Parker: podcast tonight someone who said what about the Chair of the hollow skyway over there, near robin’s Ville and TELCO planes, it is 50 something miles of sweepers roads that are at high elevation but they aren’t as titan twisty as fields gap.

00:46:38.760 –> 00:46:43.560 Chris Parker: Just be prepared to see a lot of traffic on the road and stay in your lane.

00:46:45.270 –> 00:46:59.760 Chris Parker: If you aren’t sure where you’re at just dial it down a bit and it’s better to take a slower pace and arrive in one piece stand to the Ricky racer on the road and end up in an ambulance heading to the nearest hospital.

00:47:00.960 –> 00:47:10.350 Chris Parker: and always obviously with the BMW crowd typically they’re known for wearing their gear we look like the Power Rangers set with our vortex.

00:47:12.300 –> 00:47:30.150 Chris Parker: outfits our helmets glove Armor you know we tend to be one of the more safety-conscious types of motorcycle groups out there and you’ll see a lot of that when you see a show up you’re going to like think we’re you know rejects from NASA’s Space Program.

00:47:32.070 –> 00:47:36.660 Joseph McElroy: Well, have you had that experience with a dear how often are little animals dirt out on the road.

00:47:37.320 –> 00:47:48.540 Chris Parker: that’s it’s It really is the law of averages if you ride more like I do you’re going to see more of it it’s if you’re out as an occasional rider and you’ll see it occasionally.

00:47:48.960 –> 00:48:00.000 Chris Parker: But as you rack up the miles and you put on as many miles, as someone like myself, has you’re more prone to see everything from squirrels two rabbits dogs to dear.

00:48:00.450 –> 00:48:03.240 Chris Parker: yeah I’ve actually seen a bear once.

00:48:03.540 –> 00:48:03.960 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:48:04.290 –> 00:48:08.190 Chris Parker: Okay that’ll be hard to get I mean not hard to hit, but if.

00:48:08.220 –> 00:48:15.480 Joseph McElroy: You hit that that’s good well you know we get some big elk and Maggie value coming up the middle of that road sometimes you have to watch out for that.

00:48:16.740 –> 00:48:19.050 Chris Parker: I don’t wanna I don’t want to let that dissuade people.

00:48:19.050 –> 00:48:23.820 Joseph McElroy: From no, it’s not that prevalent and most of the time, you can see it coming.

00:48:24.390 –> 00:48:33.030 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah how about other drivers in the smokies, if you found them to be these are there are they swivel in your head looking stuff too much.

00:48:34.440 –> 00:48:48.870 Chris Parker: Well it’s a mixed bag, obviously, if you like, to go at a brisk pace, it can be a bit of an irritant but at the same time, you know the rules of the road, are what they are, you know they’re driving have as much right to the road as we, and vice versa.

00:48:50.460 –> 00:49:03.870 Chris Parker: But in the fall you tend to see more traffic because of the leaf papers, the colors changing in the mountains so you’ll see an increased amount of traffic, especially if you’re on like the Blueridge parkway.

00:49:05.010 –> 00:49:12.360 Chris Parker: But there are hidden gems that you can take once you start to know the roads in the area that will be.

00:49:12.870 –> 00:49:29.100 Chris Parker: kind of the traffic, the level of traffic will be less than some of the more scenic routes like I know people will talk about deals gap and I actually think the road to deals gap is a better road, because how a 28 from.

00:49:31.110 –> 00:49:33.000 Chris Parker: Bryson city area.

00:49:33.240 –> 00:49:44.370 Chris Parker: Of Fontana damn is brilliant and it’s actually a less travel road and then to align which you’re familiar with on the rattler going to hot springs.

00:49:44.520 –> 00:49:45.600 Joseph McElroy: yeah I love that right.

00:49:45.690 –> 00:49:51.510 Chris Parker: You know that that road you know they’ll have traffic, but you know you can get around it, you can manage it.

00:49:52.440 –> 00:50:03.870 Joseph McElroy: yeah it’s not that bad of traffic it’s I mean it is there some is too little, too late and winding road and the only reason it gets backed up sometimes is this person a little bit nervous coming down and going up it but.

00:50:04.290 –> 00:50:05.310 Joseph McElroy: For the most part it’s a.

00:50:05.310 –> 00:50:17.850 Joseph McElroy: pretty good it’s a pretty yeah I’ve gone through very busy times and then hot springs as a little town we’re stopping that it’s got some good food there and it’s got the hot springs resort so which you can usually jump into to get a little spray.

00:50:19.260 –> 00:50:29.580 Chris Parker: I’ll add I was tickled pink when they select Waynesville to and on the smoky mountain event Center and.

00:50:30.690 –> 00:50:41.820 Chris Parker: I just laughed I was like these guys are the attendees to the rally are going to leave the parking lot the entrance turn right and then for 25 miles to hot springs.

00:50:41.880 –> 00:50:43.050 Joseph McElroy: It was a perfect that was.

00:50:43.050 –> 00:50:46.980 Joseph McElroy: A perfect thing right it’s like and it was perfect yeah.

00:50:48.630 –> 00:50:53.760 Joseph McElroy: So that’s good, and one thing I do I mentioned to people is that you know, in the mountains, especially in the summer.

00:50:54.120 –> 00:51:03.750 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah we get we haven’t funny whether we’re pretty dry, but then we’ll usually just about five days out of the week have a big thunderstorm pop up for about an hour, and then disappear.

00:51:04.830 –> 00:51:17.400 Joseph McElroy: So you need to be aware that you know you want to have rain gear and be prepared for a sudden weather change when you ride around but it’s not very long and it goes away real quick.

00:51:20.190 –> 00:51:34.830 Joseph McElroy: So, what are your you know, I think that the bear water brewery Maggie Valley is a great place for motorcycles to go and have a meal and you’ll be able to park and you know even sit down in a deck and just enjoy the ambiance of the mountains right.

00:51:36.150 –> 00:51:42.210 Joseph McElroy: What are some other great places that you like, to stop at in your motorcycling travels through the smokies.

00:51:43.680 –> 00:51:58.230 Chris Parker: was a favorite of mine in my writing group it’s epic and it’s an I imagine people that know the area Franklin North Carolina there is a restaurant that’s in a gas station called CAFE rel.

00:51:58.860 –> 00:51:59.550 Chris Parker: Now.

00:51:59.670 –> 00:52:13.470 Chris Parker: And I was there for the first time, five or six years ago and it’s a four-star five-star chef from Atlanta who left the big city life, he was from Franklin and he returned.

00:52:14.010 –> 00:52:27.780 Chris Parker: back to his hometown and open up this French cuisine CAFE at reasonable prices, but the food is amazing when it’s as attached to a hotspot gas station as you would not think that would.

00:52:27.840 –> 00:52:29.850 Joseph McElroy: be a place that so what’s the name of the place.

00:52:30.120 –> 00:52:37.380 Chris Parker: CAFE Rel and it’s R EL and it’s the abbreviation of the guide and Richard E Long.

00:52:37.680 –> 00:52:39.120 Joseph McElroy: I’m gonna have to go check that out.

00:52:39.150 –> 00:52:39.660 yeah.

00:52:40.680 –> 00:52:47.970 Chris Parker: they’re closed on Wednesdays and their close Sundays and Mondays and they only pay cash they don’t take debit.

00:52:47.970 –> 00:52:57.780 Joseph McElroy: we know what if you get a chance to go to Wayne’s will go to hazelwood smokehouse which has been top 20 Barbecue places in the nation.

00:52:58.230 –> 00:53:08.940 Chris Parker: And then for near nearby I mean there’s a lot of restaurants and Maggie Valley, that will have access to so there’s that you place in downtown Waynesville is.

00:53:10.170 –> 00:53:11.310 Chris Parker: beach mountain diner.

00:53:11.550 –> 00:53:15.120 Chris Parker: Oh yeah that’s good yeah.

00:53:15.240 –> 00:53:24.570 Joseph McElroy: Well we’re coming to a close, here I want you to do some shout-outs, where people can find out more about what you’re doing or your club, but how can they find out more.

00:53:25.290 –> 00:53:39.960 Chris Parker: Well, you can join the RA at BMWRA.org, and then there is the events tab at the top that shows the activities of the club, the national rally this one is called the rally in the valley.

00:53:40.530 –> 00:53:49.590 Chris Parker: And you can register there, we still have plenty of spots where we’re going to take onsite registration last minute.

00:53:50.310 –> 00:54:01.230 Chris Parker: There might be an issue with you getting a meal if you wait till the last minute to register and then we are also selling a T-shirt that if you want to get one you have to.

00:54:02.190 –> 00:54:15.960 Chris Parker: Let us know by tomorrow, and you can get your name in the hat for a shirt so you can join the club there if you’re not a Member Oh, an important you do not have to ride a BMW to come to this.

00:54:16.200 –> 00:54:17.460 Chris Parker: We will allow.

00:54:17.490 –> 00:54:19.740 Chris Parker: Anybody allow.

00:54:19.830 –> 00:54:26.910 Chris Parker: We will accept and welcome anybody on any kind of bike so don’t feel like you have to have a BMW, to be able to attain cool.

00:54:27.150 –> 00:54:31.680 Joseph McElroy: And then, what is your image shout out your for your design company’s website.

00:54:32.310 –> 00:54:38.730 Chris Parker: As roadwolfdesign.com or roadwolfdesigned.com.

00:54:38.850 –> 00:54:42.330 Joseph McElroy: cool and I’m assuming you also got some Facebook and that sort of stuff people.

00:54:43.260 –> 00:54:51.930 Joseph McElroy: Alright cool well, thank you very much for being on the show I’m looking forward to the event in May, and I think it’s gonna be fantastic and you’ve.

00:54:52.800 –> 00:55:04.890 Joseph McElroy: represented Well now, this program is the Gateway to the Smokies Podcast you can find it on Facebook.com/gatewaytothesmokiespodcast it’s also.

00:55:05.700 –> 00:55:17.490 Joseph McElroy: On the episodes listed on smokiesadventure.com there’s a tab at the top, it allows you to click into a listing of all the episodes with some reason transcripts, and video.

00:55:18.510 –> 00:55:25.350 Joseph McElroy: That we are part of the talkradio.NYC network, which is a radio network of the live podcasts that happen, you know every day.

00:55:25.770 –> 00:55:38.880 Joseph McElroy: And I encourage you to look at them they’re small business ones there’s lifestyle there’s you know politics there’s a self help all sorts of different programs on this network it’s a good network to hear some great podcast.

00:55:39.690 –> 00:55:48.930 Joseph McElroy: it’s talkradio.nyc I have another one on this network called wise content creates wealth, which is about content marketing and Ai.

00:55:49.650 –> 00:55:58.620 Joseph McElroy: And that’s on Fridays from noon to one, and this podcast gateway to the smokies is always on Tuesday from six to seven and I’ll look forward to seeing you.

00:55:59.130 –> 00:56:12.000 Joseph McElroy: Next week we’ll have another great guest, it’s a legend in this in the mountains, look forward to having you meet and hear him talk to you later.

Jackson County is a wonderful area to live, work, and have fun in! Beautiful waterfalls, excellent stores, fantastic restaurants, and wonderful companies abound in that area. This week's episode features a special guest, Kelly Donaldson. He will be bringing you up to speed on all the big things happening in town. You'll learn about the best waterfalls to check out, where to grab a bite to eat and what businesses have the best gifts.

Kelly Donaldson is the Assistant Director of the Jackson County, N.C. Chamber of Commerce –a job he has held for the past eight years. Kelly’s wife, Julie Donaldson is the Executive Director of the same organization and has served in that role for 23 years. Kelly spent 15 years as a Sports Journalist and Editor for various publications in WNC—as well as in Gainesville, Georgia, before embarking on his career with the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce in 2014. 

Kelly’s hobbies include photography, attending WCU sporting events, and spending time with his family, along with an impressive resume of volunteer work in the community he loves and promotes so well. He will keep you up to date on all the great things happening in Jackson County that you need to know about. So, tune in and don't miss out!

Websites: https://www.mountainlovers.com/ 

https://www.nctroutcapital.com/

https://www.hooklinedrinkerfest.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mountainlovers/

https://www.facebook.com/ConcertsOnTheCreek

Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

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Joseph as always begins with the sponsor, his own, the Meadowlark Motel and smokiesadventure.com. He also mentions upcoming events such as a fly fishing camp weekend and being one with the river while witnessing a valuable ecosystem. He also reads a poem by Eunice Lamberton called “Trout Fishing”. Joseph also introduces his guest, Kelly Donaldson, the Assistant Director of the Jackson County, N.C. Chamber of Commerce. Kelly started his career as a technical writer and then became an executive assistant in sales and marketing. Kelly says that he always believed that he'd be in a career dealing with media in some way. When making a jump to being a sports editor, Kelly says that he got to work for Transylvania Times after graduating from college. He started covering local college sports and high school sports as well as other topics like music while getting to interact with the community. He worked for a few years in places like Gainsville, Georgia for a daily newspaper, getting into bigger sports teams and games.

Kelly speaks about moving from working with The Crossroads Chronicle newspaper as an editor to doing more community work. He got more involved with the community along with the Chamber of Commerce in Sylva, North Carolina. Kelly would be involved in planning events, writing press releases, and taking pictures and videos. Kelly and Joseph talk about using media to promote yourself, business, and in Kelly's case, Jackson County. Kelly also talks about working with his wife, Julie Donaldson, who is the Executive Director of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce. Kelly describes being able to balance work and life together with his wife as they work together in the same organization. He also speaks about some projects they are working on like at Pinnacle Park where there may be a mountain bike trail. They speak about the area being great for adding mountain biking as a focus as well as trouting.

Joseph mentions Jackson County having the Greening up the Mountains Festival. Kelly says that they will be having it again soon this month of April to celebrate the mountains turning green but also the people turning green with the environment. They have music, vendors, information about greenery, and much more. Kelly says that you can visit greeningupthemountains.com to learn more about this exciting event. Kelly is also involved with the Concerts on the Creek Series, something that his wife started and it’s now in its 13th year. They speak about some bands and artists that they’ve been involved with like Darren Nicholson and Balsam Range. They also discuss some of Kelly’s favorite waterfalls as well as areas for hiking. Kelly also mentions a program that his wife started where each business can showcase itself and where other businesses come together for networking.

Kelly talks about more exciting things that happen in Jackson County throughout the year. He says that they have a big concert in Sylva on the 4th of July and they also have a lot of fireworks that the community could get a great view of. He also mentions having fireworks during the holidays. He also discusses great things in Dillsboro, a town in the county. Kelly also mentions still doing editing work while working on the Our Town publication and Eating out in Jackson County Guide. To learn more about Jackson County and the Chamber of Commerce at mountainlovers.com. Joseph thanks Kelly Donaldson for this great conversation!

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00:00:41.040 –> 00:00:43.410 Joseph McElroy: Howdy! Welcome to the Gateways to the Smokies Podcast.

00:00:43.410 –> 00:00:53.700 Joseph McElroy: This podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the surrounding towns.

00:00:54.450 –> 00:01:04.500 Joseph McElroy: This area is filled with ancient natural beauty a deep storied history and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes.

00:01:05.310 –> 00:01:26.520 Joseph McElroy: I am Joseph Franklyn McElroy, a man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains my family is living the great smokies for over 200 years my business is in travel, but my heart is in culture. today we’re going to talk about smoky mountain motorcycle adventures.

00:01:27.660 –> 00:01:34.350 Joseph McElroy: But first, a couple of sponsors messages and then some events that are upcoming that you might find interesting.

00:01:35.280 –> 00:01:48.450 Joseph McElroy: First, imagine a place evocative of motor courts of the past in modern and vibrant with Chic Appalachian feel a place for adventure for relaxation.

00:01:49.170 –> 00:02:01.860 Joseph McElroy: imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on a fire eat accompanied by fine wine or craft beers.

00:02:02.490 –> 00:02:16.020 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place in the old-time music world cultural sounds, there is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley North Carolina, your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay!

00:02:17.400 –> 00:02:29.460 Joseph McElroy: and other sponsors smokies adventure.com smokies plural adventure singular the smoky mountains and surrounding area or areas of vacation destination for all seasons.

00:02:30.000 –> 00:02:39.480 Joseph McElroy: Some of the nation’s best hiking trails waterfalls, outdoor adventures, and family entertainment can be found, right here in these mountains.

00:02:40.200 –> 00:02:48.870 Joseph McElroy: start your adventure by using smokiesadventure.com to explore all the wonderful features of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

00:02:49.500 –> 00:03:01.230 Joseph McElroy: trails, waterfalls, caves cove or the elk are and more than check out all the awesome family attractions and entertainment, you and your entire family can enjoy.

00:03:02.550 –> 00:03:09.900 Joseph McElroy: The goal is smokiesadventure.com is to become the leading information portal for adventures and experiences in the great smoky mountains.

00:03:10.710 –> 00:03:21.660 Joseph McElroy: Now some events coming up most of these events are at the Maggie Valley festival grounds and it’s now become the big festival season in the mountains and the smoky mountain area.

00:03:22.440 –> 00:03:37.440 Joseph McElroy: April 22nd to 24th is the Annual Southeastern mini trucking nationals it’s an open car and truck show featuring food and vendors and many trucks which are a hoot.

00:03:38.760 –> 00:03:51.690 Joseph McElroy: April 19th to May 1st is Thunder in the Smokies Spring Motorcycle Rally, this is a Big Motorcycle Rally about three times a year and it’s the largest and oldest rally in Maggie Valley.

00:03:52.200 –> 00:04:01.740 Joseph McElroy: And it’s all day Friday and Saturday and half the day on Sunday is got tour rides vendors bike shows games prizes concerts.

00:04:02.190 –> 00:04:10.470 Joseph McElroy: Fire dancers, the latest bikes and motor products on display, and more you can go to thunderinthesmokies.com to find out more.

00:04:11.100 –> 00:04:26.940 Joseph McElroy: May 7th is a new event that I haven’t during know where it is called the boho hippie feast it’s got live music performances art demonstrations vendors bounce houses games food trucks and more sounds like it’s going to be sort of a Bohemian.

00:04:28.080 –> 00:04:46.890 Joseph McElroy: arts and crafts show with lots of fun so I’m looking forward to checking that out, and they may 13 to the 14th is the kk OA icons of the hot rodding festival, and this is going to be the 1950s and 1960s hot-rodding custom cars and trailer trucks and then have it.

00:04:48.210 –> 00:04:59.730 Joseph McElroy: For models that are older than 1969 have automotive and vintage vendors pinstripe burrs and food vendors awards and trophies and all sorts of things.

00:05:00.990 –> 00:05:11.160 Joseph McElroy: Now the Meadowlark you know, we have the Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center where we have lots of mountain heritage and music events so in.

00:05:12.510 –> 00:05:13.230 Joseph McElroy: In May.

00:05:14.310 –> 00:05:30.930 Joseph McElroy: On May 6th through the 8th we’re going to have mother’s day events and it’s gonna have moms moving mountains and mother nature’s natural garden programs Nancy East and Ila Hatter.

00:05:32.310 –> 00:05:50.370 Joseph McElroy: So first one there on a Friday night may six-seven acclaimed authors and wilderness survival expert Nancy East will be presenting mom’s moving mountains and she will share her experiences in the great outdoors as well as her amazing endurance hiking achievements.

00:05:51.780 –> 00:06:03.630 Joseph McElroy: This is serious just here doing what wilderness survival is course is hugely valuable and she has some great adventures to talk about the show you picture things like that, then a May 7.

00:06:04.320 –> 00:06:14.130 Joseph McElroy: The afternoon will feature legendary wildcrafting expert and renowned author filmmaker instructor and tour guide for the general some great smoky mountain National Park elite.

00:06:14.940 –> 00:06:24.120 Joseph McElroy: GSM Field School Illa Hatter. Ila is an expert on edible plants, medicinal herbs, and anything pertaining to wildcraft foraging and Appalachian plants, trees, and flowers.

00:06:24.600 –> 00:06:32.010 Joseph McElroy: she’s been featured in a lot of stuff like TV shows, and things like that.

00:06:32.880 –> 00:06:44.100 Joseph McElroy: But she will be presenting your her beloved program Mother Nature natural garden and leading a short tour of the grounds, identifying nature’s bounty that can be found in our own backyards.

00:06:44.610 –> 00:06:49.470 Joseph McElroy: And then we’ll have a combination with the free Barbecue separate music on Saturday night.

00:06:49.950 –> 00:07:06.720 Joseph McElroy: So reach out and then In mother’s day in the morning will have will be having cake and champagne for people as they’re leaving in the morning, so come and reach out to meadowlarkmotel.com call 8289261717 to find out more and reserve your spot for these programs.

00:07:08.970 –> 00:07:18.090 Joseph McElroy: I don’t know if everybody knows, but one of the best motorcycle museums in the country, if not the world is located right next to the Meadowlark motel.

00:07:18.720 –> 00:07:31.380 Joseph McElroy: And it’s called the wheels through time museum and it’s home to the world’s premier collection of rare American motorcycles memorabilia and a distinct array of unique one-off American automobiles.

00:07:32.940 –> 00:07:56.040 Joseph McElroy: It has a collection of over 350 rare machines comprised of 25 makes including Harley Davidson Indian excelsior Henderson Popeil crocker flying Merkel and many, many more, it was opened on July 4 2002 in a 38,000 square foot facility, and now it says 15th year of operation.

00:07:57.270 –> 00:08:02.070 Joseph McElroy: it’s gotten worldwide media attention and brought hundreds of thousands of visitors to Maggie Valley.

00:08:02.520 –> 00:08:16.740 Joseph McElroy: And it’s a unique display it has events going on thrill rides and all the machines run even the older some of the rarest in the world have been made into working order and every day.

00:08:17.370 –> 00:08:24.360 Joseph McElroy: Thursday through Monday, they will actually get some of these different old machines running so you can hear how they sound.

00:08:24.600 –> 00:08:35.400 Joseph McElroy: feel their vibrations, you know feel like a part of it, and then and the museum itself is a really wonderful experience because you’re walking through something that’s almost like a giant garage.

00:08:35.700 –> 00:08:45.870 Joseph McElroy: Then it has art and automobiles represent a representative of the times right and motorcycles representative of the time in the exhibits.

00:08:46.890 –> 00:08:55.620 Joseph McElroy: It was founded by Dale Walker who recently died, but his son has taken over who’s also an accomplished motorcycle.

00:08:56.310 –> 00:09:04.680 Joseph McElroy: Now expert knowledge, so I recommend coming to stay in the Meadowlark and going over the wheels through the time museum to get your motorcycle on.

00:09:05.520 –> 00:09:09.480 Joseph McElroy: Somebody knows about motorcycles our guest today his name is Chris Parker.

00:09:10.050 –> 00:09:24.840 Joseph McElroy: Chris Parker is the owner and Chief Designer of Road Wolf Design it’s a creative design company based in Greer South Carolina where he was founded in 2007 his clients include Texas Pete Hot Sauces yay I love hot sauces, Texas Pete.

00:09:26.430 –> 00:09:34.650 Joseph McElroy: touring sport BMW, and many others, Chris is an avid BMW motorcycle enthusiast who has been a large part of his adult life.

00:09:35.040 –> 00:09:45.900 Joseph McElroy: riding his bike in the great smoky mountains regions and all across the United States now Chris has partnered with the staff of the Meadowlark Motel Maggie Valley to create a new event.

00:09:46.320 –> 00:09:58.020 Joseph McElroy: For this prestigious group called the BMWRA group on May 12-15 2022 and at the Meadowlark Motel Maggie Valley and so hello, Chris how are you doing?

00:09:58.680 –> 00:10:00.210 Chris Parker: Great good to be here.

00:10:00.570 –> 00:10:05.730 Joseph McElroy: cool we are thrilled to have you with us here today, Chris and we’re.

00:10:06.300 –> 00:10:19.410 Joseph McElroy: we’re really just like so I mean I’m very excited to discuss your upcoming rally in the valley scheduled for May and as well as you share your expertise and you know, creating memorable riding adventure so let’s get started.

00:10:20.640 –> 00:10:25.890 Joseph McElroy: You live in a relatively short ride from Maggie valley when was your first trip to our region?

00:10:27.450 –> 00:10:41.610 Chris Parker: Well, I’ve been up there so many times I’ve lost count been riding in western North Carolina since 2000, 22 years easily hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of miles.

00:10:43.020 –> 00:10:49.620 Chris Parker: Maggie Valley, Waynesville area, a lot, because of the roads are just their epic so yeah.

00:10:50.280 –> 00:10:52.680 Joseph McElroy: Are you originally from Greer or Where are you from originally.

00:10:53.550 –> 00:11:06.960 Chris Parker: um well as a navy brat I was born in Scotland and moved around and then eventually made it to the US, but I’ve been living in the southeast primarily since the mid-70s, hence the accent.

00:11:08.040 –> 00:11:19.020 Chris Parker: And in South Carolina since 1981 so I’m in the upstate of South Carolina which when you explain to people South Carolina they automatically assume you’re from Charleston or the beach.

00:11:19.410 –> 00:11:30.030 Chris Parker: And you have to remind them that there’s the upstate which is mountainous it’s at the foothills of the mountains of where you’re at and North Carolina so you know you.

00:11:30.360 –> 00:11:40.110 Joseph McElroy: Did you when you’ve been visiting if you get a chance to hook up with Mike Ogletree he’s our artist in residence and he was born in Scotland and played with a lot of Scottish bands.

00:11:40.260 –> 00:11:45.540 Chris Parker: Did you get the time I met him, I met him last September, when I came up to visit the motel.

00:11:46.020 –> 00:12:01.980 Chris Parker: and his background, when I found out who he was with I just my jaw dropped simple minds, I mean who doesn’t know who that band is and then he’s from Scotland and he’s got the accent I don’t, but we did have a chat he’s a nice guy.

00:12:02.280 –> 00:12:18.240 Joseph McElroy: Oh good well that’s I mean yeah that’s yeah there’s actually a lot of Scottish heritage in the mountains right, so you probably find a little bit of that connecting up with people and you should go by the Scottish Tartan Museum in Franklin it’s.

00:12:19.290 –> 00:12:19.620 Chris Parker: Like.

00:12:20.250 –> 00:12:23.670 Joseph McElroy: it’s the greatest Tartan collection in the world, I think right.

00:12:24.180 –> 00:12:31.770 Joseph McElroy: it’s pretty it is pretty impressive you know, we had him out for the Burn’s Day celebration of Robert Burns and.

00:12:32.160 –> 00:12:36.930 Joseph McElroy: They brought some tartans and they brought some pictures and they did a whole discussion, so it was pretty cool.

00:12:37.860 –> 00:12:53.730 Joseph McElroy: Pretty cool opportunity to find more about and I recommend people find out about that museum, because we know it’s of all the many museums, we have in the mountains that’s one of them that’s I think is pretty special hey so I’ve talked a lot, so we have to take our first break.

00:12:55.170 –> 00:13:00.750 Joseph McElroy: And then we’ll come back and we’ll find more will find a little bit more about you and then writing BMW is in the mountains.

00:13:02.070 –> 00:13:02.460 Okay.

00:15:17.460 –> 00:15:27.660 Joseph McElroy: Howdy! this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the Gateway to the Smokies Podcast and my guest Chris Parker so Chris how long have you been riding motorcycles?

00:15:29.790 –> 00:15:30.990 Chris Parker: 22 years.

00:15:31.500 –> 00:15:34.590 Joseph McElroy: 22 years and did was a BMW your first one.

00:15:35.550 –> 00:15:53.400 Chris Parker: No, it wasn’t I bought a used Honda Pacific coast and learn to ride on that, and within nine months and about 15,000 miles later I moved to a BMW pretty quick and pretty much stayed on them for the last 22 years.

00:15:54.090 –> 00:15:56.040 Joseph McElroy: Now, Bob folks,

00:15:57.810 –> 00:16:12.750 Joseph McElroy: involved and helped me put together these programs he’s also Bob Plott and he’s also general manager of the smoky mountain heritage Center so he told me, you have a really unique story about how you obtain your BMW bite that you know that you now own so what’s that story.

00:16:13.620 –> 00:16:16.080 Chris Parker: that’s a pretty long one, but I’ll try to give you the.

00:16:16.860 –> 00:16:20.970 Chris Parker: Two-second versions I had a mutual work colleague.

00:16:22.050 –> 00:16:22.860 Chris Parker: call me.

00:16:24.120 –> 00:16:33.990 Chris Parker: A friend of mine last March 2021 said that he had his father-in-law, was downsizing and they were moving him from California to North Carolina.

00:16:34.350 –> 00:16:43.620 Chris Parker: And he had an old BMW that he was trying to sell figure out the value of it, he knew I knew bikes being very bikes and show me some pictures and I saw it, and I was like wow that’s a really nice.

00:16:45.090 –> 00:17:03.420 Chris Parker: BMW or 1100 G, yes, which is there on road offered by and it was a mint condition and I saw the odometer reading on it, it said 13,191 miles, and I was like wow so I did my due diligence getting some pricing and one thing led to another and.

00:17:04.740 –> 00:17:18.030 Chris Parker: Because of my interest in it, it looked like I was going to be the guy that bought it and I did well sort of I’m in talks with the owner of the bike gab widening of Earl picture.

00:17:18.690 –> 00:17:33.240 Chris Parker: He and I struck up a really nice friendship and through a series of conversations and circumstances I ended up getting a call from him when the bike was picked up from the local dealer in.

00:17:34.350 –> 00:17:41.970 Chris Parker: BMW dealer in Temecula California and they went over it, and they said God this thing is a time capsule it is meant.

00:17:43.470 –> 00:17:45.690 Chris Parker: can’t believe the condition is in and.

00:17:46.920 –> 00:17:51.960 Chris Parker: So in talking with them, we had struck up a deal that I would buy the bike for a really good price.

00:17:52.500 –> 00:18:02.730 Chris Parker: And he would pay for the bike to be serviced and I just couldn’t believe he was willing to do that, but once we got to know each other, he called me after the bike was a.

00:18:03.540 –> 00:18:12.690 Chris Parker: checked out by the dealership and he surprised me with the gift of saying hey Chris why don’t you pay for the service and after the service, the bike is yours.

00:18:13.680 –> 00:18:24.570 Chris Parker: I stood there in my living room and I heard him say those words and I didn’t quite understand what he was talking about and he’s I said what I don’t What do you mean he says I’m giving you the bike.

00:18:25.320 –> 00:18:26.070 Joseph McElroy: Oh wow.

00:18:26.340 –> 00:18:34.800 Chris Parker: I’m like why he said, well, I checked you out, I know that you’re with a BMW riders association you do the magazine.

00:18:35.460 –> 00:18:53.490 Chris Parker: And then you had a deer strike in 2018 on your GPS adventure and you use it almost total G, but you got back on the horse and you continue to ride and you’re my kind of guy in terms of you keep riding and you’ll take care of this body, so I flew out.

00:18:54.600 –> 00:19:03.810 Chris Parker: With my gear and toe and I landed in Temecula and got the bike it was exactly as you described and I rode it.

00:19:04.320 –> 00:19:21.180 Chris Parker: From the dealership to his place in palm desert California and I met him and I got to eat dinner with him and spend a night and we had breakfast and then I run cross country on that bike from California to South Carolina in six days.

00:19:21.780 –> 00:19:25.890 Chris Parker: wow so it’s uh I’ll never get rid of that by that bike is.

00:19:26.190 –> 00:19:35.220 Joseph McElroy: it’s already a part of you now, so you know I have my interesting story is buys a number, there was a big bike rider back in my youth.

00:19:35.670 –> 00:19:47.160 Joseph McElroy: A friend of mine was getting married in here to Yamaha 185 right which is a dirt bike and he said, well, I gotta get rid of it my wife and we have it so I’m drinking his bachelor party and I buy it right.

00:19:47.940 –> 00:19:56.070 Joseph McElroy: I had it for about three years and then I started to get married he now is going through a divorce, where the best of my bachelor party and he buys it back from me.

00:19:59.820 –> 00:20:09.750 Joseph McElroy: So meant for a single guy going out and taking a little adventure, but you know this story of dear what happened with that what happened, my dear jumped out in front of you.

00:20:10.230 –> 00:20:22.140 Chris Parker: yeah this was coming up four years ago, I was actually heading to the BMW writers association national rally in Wellsboro Pennsylvania.

00:20:22.890 –> 00:20:29.220 Chris Parker: And I was going to do it in two days and stayed my first night at a really nice motorcycle campground that I love and

00:20:29.940 –> 00:20:39.720 Chris Parker: metals of Dan Virginia called will do and I had written I don’t like leaving at night, but my workday was such that I left late in the afternoon.

00:20:40.200 –> 00:20:48.300 Chris Parker: which would have me arriving there late at night and I had written about 260 miles, with five more miles to go.

00:20:49.080 –> 00:21:00.600 Chris Parker: And next thing I know I’m calling out of the ditch and wondering what happened and trying to flag someone down to help me and I was my whole left side was on fire.

00:21:01.200 –> 00:21:09.600 Chris Parker: didn’t know what would have happened if I like passing out or well in this instance, I found out with a guy come in to rescue me.

00:21:11.040 –> 00:21:15.360 Chris Parker: telling me they don’t move to help us on the way and I asked him.

00:21:16.380 –> 00:21:18.990 Chris Parker: What happened, he said dude you hit a deer.

00:21:19.410 –> 00:21:20.100 Joseph McElroy: Oh well.

00:21:20.220 –> 00:21:29.340 Chris Parker: Like a 200-pound Oh, and I was airlifted to Winston Salem and I stayed there for two weeks and broke ribs front and rear.

00:21:30.660 –> 00:21:45.990 Chris Parker: shoulder blade fracture it and then broke my collarbone and I lacerated my spleen which they were able to repair that without we’re moving in and since then and back at it, since it was three months later, I.

00:21:47.220 –> 00:21:59.910 Chris Parker: You know, I was wondering if I was going to quit riding or if I was going to take a hiatus and I knew that wasn’t going to work because I was spending my wee hours of the morning on my computer looking at you know bikes.

00:22:01.140 –> 00:22:03.930 Chris Parker: trying to figure out what I was going to get and return to so.

00:22:04.260 –> 00:22:10.680 Joseph McElroy: Is that something that you can avoid is there or is it just that that’s just the one that’s a freak accident.

00:22:10.740 –> 00:22:21.570 Chris Parker: It was a freak accident, plus there are things that you can mitigate it like don’t ride at night or in the morning and then, of course, in the fall with dears running.

00:22:22.230 –> 00:22:25.590 Chris Parker: they’re out a little more than they would be throughout the rest of the year.

00:22:26.220 –> 00:22:34.800 Chris Parker: And you just kind of get a feel for it’s your spidey sense is going off and you’re like yeah they got probably need to not be out and I just ignored.

00:22:35.340 –> 00:22:51.720 Chris Parker: I’d probably did I did everything right in that I had all the gear I wear full Armor I actually wear a neck brace when I arrived, which is a preventive measure, and I was wearing it and it’s to keep you from injury your cervical spine around your neck so that you don’t have any.

00:22:52.020 –> 00:22:59.460 Joseph McElroy: that’s amazing because you know the sounds from the accident that was expecting yeah like spinal, but it was, like all sort of.

00:22:59.910 –> 00:23:08.730 Joseph McElroy: Except for the spleen things sort of like super you know, like for the better words minor praise, but I mean they weren’t minor but they were yeah they were.

00:23:09.420 –> 00:23:18.360 Joseph McElroy: They were not in you know you didn’t get peril paralysis and all that sort of stuff so and predictive stuff sounds like it really works that’s great.

00:23:19.080 –> 00:23:27.030 Chris Parker: yeah it was pretty emotional to come home after being away from my kids those two weeks and I got home, I can.

00:23:29.700 –> 00:23:37.200 Joseph McElroy: You know, a mutual friend who introduced us Larry Schatz had an accident not too far ago he’s backed upright and again.

00:23:37.770 –> 00:23:42.060 Chris Parker: yeah actually ride with him fairly regularly and he’s amazing.

00:23:43.020 –> 00:23:43.950 Joseph McElroy: How did you meet him.

00:23:45.210 –> 00:23:46.680 Chris Parker: He joined.

00:23:47.730 –> 00:23:58.500 Chris Parker: A group of writers, that I have been writing with for 20 plus years and he heard about us through social media, and then we actually met him.

00:23:59.040 –> 00:24:10.290 Chris Parker: On a ride several years ago, he was new to the area coming back well moved from New York City Manhattan to near Asheville.

00:24:11.160 –> 00:24:30.390 Chris Parker: He was looking for like-minded writers and we met through Facebook, I think it was and then, of course, with that, we’ve written many times with him he’s just he’s a fast rider as you know, an accident can happen.

00:24:30.720 –> 00:24:36.480 Chris Parker: but also his skill level is like I’m here and he’s up here.

00:24:36.960 –> 00:24:39.030 Chris Parker: That it doesn’t track day so.

00:24:39.480 –> 00:24:40.890 Joseph McElroy: He admits that he led his.

00:24:40.890 –> 00:24:43.770 Joseph McElroy: ego gets ahead of him, and then there’s Ryan, he was.

00:24:43.800 –> 00:24:53.490 Joseph McElroy: Trying to keep up with somebody he said I can’t do that anymore, he said he admitted that he actually when he gets his training so now that.

00:24:54.300 –> 00:25:12.810 Joseph McElroy: that’s you know that happens to everybody so but he’s back on and he’s riding again and I’m glad he introduced this and we’re you know we you got your work, you work with BMWRA you also the board and you also added the magazine right.

00:25:13.860 –> 00:25:16.080 Chris Parker: I’m not a board member, but I am a.

00:25:17.640 –> 00:25:27.150 Chris Parker: a person involved with the club in two areas, one of which, for the last four years I’ve been the art director for the magazine, so I laid it out.

00:25:28.440 –> 00:25:41.700 Chris Parker: I’ve been doing that, since March, April 2018, and then an esteemed editor that was under the most of those four years John Flores he.

00:25:42.420 –> 00:25:55.680 Chris Parker: of New Jersey, an amazing photographer and mono journalist, stepped down due to just his workload and he let me know that you know.

00:25:56.550 –> 00:26:13.440 Chris Parker: I think it was November of last year, and I was like holy crap, what are we gonna do now, and he said, Chris, you should take it on, and I was like an editor and he said yeah I think you did great at it and so I’m now, the editor of the magazine my first issue was.

00:26:14.700 –> 00:26:18.750 Chris Parker: The March, April of 2022 it’s been in the hands of the Members.

00:26:19.830 –> 00:26:24.030 Chris Parker: For about a month now, and I’m working on my second issue now it’s going to the printer this week.

00:26:24.420 –> 00:26:28.050 Joseph McElroy: So congratulations, so can you tell us.

00:26:28.110 –> 00:26:34.830 Chris Parker: Real quick also help out with related graphics that are outside of the magazine.

00:26:36.000 –> 00:26:41.070 Joseph McElroy: Can you tell us you know a little bit about what the BMWRA organization is.

00:26:42.090 –> 00:26:47.400 Chris Parker: Well it’s a BMW motorcycle club that’s been in existence since 1972.

00:26:48.450 –> 00:27:00.570 Chris Parker: We are one of two motorcycle clubs that are national and we are actually under the international umbrella of the BMW club Council out of Germany.

00:27:01.290 –> 00:27:25.080 Chris Parker: BMW motor add is the motorcycle division of BMW AG so everyone hears that you know there are cars, but they also make motorcycles, in fact, that and making motorcycles longer than I have been making cars and so we’re an enthusiast club that supports the love of all things BMW motorcycles.

00:27:26.400 –> 00:27:32.700 Chris Parker: it’s the Riders association and we just shorten it to ra but everyone knows who we are cool.

00:27:33.090 –> 00:27:37.290 Joseph McElroy: And you, you had your national rally in Haywood County this last year did.

00:27:38.040 –> 00:27:42.930 Chris Parker: We did in Waynesville at the Smoky Mountain Event Center off of two.

00:27:44.370 –> 00:27:46.710 Chris Parker: In August of last year .cool.

00:27:47.280 –> 00:27:54.480 Joseph McElroy: All right, well, we, I want to talk more about that, but we got to take a break real quick and then we’ll come back we’ll talk about why you guys decided to come to play with.

00:30:01.020 –> 00:30:08.910 Joseph McElroy: Howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the Gateways to the Smokies Podcasts and my guest Chris Parker.

00:30:09.300 –> 00:30:22.560 Joseph McElroy: So, Chris we were talking about the national BMWRA Rally that was held in Haywood County I think in September 2021 and I think you have it has plans for at least 2022 and 2023 right?

00:30:23.550 –> 00:30:41.820 Chris Parker: Well, definitely for 2022 there are discussions for maybe possibly returning the third year we don’t know that for sure, but right now, I know that this coming fall it’ll actually be later in the year it’ll be in September September 29 through October, the second.

00:30:43.170 –> 00:30:44.610 Chris Parker: location so.

00:30:44.940 –> 00:30:46.920 Joseph McElroy: same weekend as well fest so.

00:30:48.300 –> 00:30:52.380 Joseph McElroy: Why did you why BMWRA choose Haywood County?

00:30:53.940 –> 00:31:07.200 Chris Parker: Well, obviously there have to be several factors involved, one of which is a location that can accommodate anywhere from 1200 to 1500 people camping and facilities for vendors.

00:31:08.370 –> 00:31:18.330 Chris Parker: But really the ideal setup was the roads, because of the legendary roads that are within striking distance of that location.

00:31:19.230 –> 00:31:39.360 Chris Parker: There are famous it’s not just people in the United States that come here to the southeast arrived these words I actually have a friend, that is from Germany and the comments on the fact that these roads have a nature of a quality that would go up against stuff in the House.

00:31:40.590 –> 00:31:52.380 Chris Parker: they’ll fly here and they’ll come to Western North Carolina Southwest Virginia Eastern Tennessee Northeast Georgia because of what’s around you guys in.

00:31:54.090 –> 00:32:02.700 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know there’s some really famous one like with a tail of the dragon and the rattler and a copperhead is there any other there that you think are particularly famous that.

00:32:03.990 –> 00:32:04.350 Joseph McElroy: That.

00:32:04.380 –> 00:32:07.170 Chris Parker: Well, I don’t want to announce them too much, because then.

00:32:07.200 –> 00:32:07.620 Once you.

00:32:09.450 –> 00:32:11.700 Chris Parker: they’re no longer your personal roller coaster but.

00:32:11.730 –> 00:32:18.270 Chris Parker: Right, there are some roads that are they don’t really have names assigned to them like the rattler or.

00:32:19.620 –> 00:32:23.190 Chris Parker: deals gaps Taylor dragon or the moon Shauna which is.

00:32:24.630 –> 00:32:35.430 Chris Parker: going through parts of South Carolina and Western North Carolina but I’ll just throw out some names North Carolina to anyone North Carolina 215

00:32:37.680 –> 00:32:48.780 Chris Parker: Those are some pretty epic roads that will actually have people pointing him to take when we have an event at your at the Meadowlark.

00:32:49.890 –> 00:32:51.810 Joseph McElroy: Well you’re planning so.

00:32:52.950 –> 00:33:03.210 Joseph McElroy: let’s just sit back for an SEC, I want to talk about the plans that they’ve been learned Oh, you know you would say that the national event that it made sense to do a regional event here right.

00:33:04.380 –> 00:33:17.280 Chris Parker: yeah so the thinking here with the RA’s is so just a little background on the RA’s it’s a national organization it’s been around we’re celebrating our 50th year this year, and so the.

00:33:18.240 –> 00:33:31.650 Chris Parker: The theme for the rally in Waynesville is going to be 50 years of the RIED attitude RIED and the RA is known as a just enthusiast

00:33:32.550 –> 00:33:54.690 Chris Parker: motorcycle club, the people that come to this event arm riders they put on serious miles and coming to Western North Carolina game is just providing them an epic opportunity to enjoy these legendary roads in the have four days at the campground at the smoky mountain Center.

00:33:55.710 –> 00:34:04.950 Chris Parker: Doing you know hanging out there’s going to be food and all that kind of stuff, and so the idea of them coming back I know people when they heard the announcement.

00:34:05.460 –> 00:34:19.620 Chris Parker: They were shocked that we were coming back because they’ve never really done that, before, but then I think the overall vibe of the reaction was yeah, this is a good move because of you know you’re from this area, you know what it’s like.

00:34:19.800 –> 00:34:20.490 Joseph McElroy: yeah right.

00:34:21.570 –> 00:34:24.450 Joseph McElroy: And then, and then do it a regional one made sense as well right.

00:34:24.900 –> 00:34:34.440 Chris Parker: Oh yeah so yeah the question was why a regional event in that the national rally is once a year, and sometimes people can’t make that.

00:34:35.220 –> 00:34:45.030 Chris Parker: So we were we’re opening up the possibility of doing these smaller weekend getaways and because of the connection with Larry new and I.

00:34:45.690 –> 00:34:53.250 Chris Parker: It was just assumed that it would make sense to do one and Maggie Valley, even though it’s close to where the national rally would be at a different time of the year.

00:34:53.640 –> 00:35:03.930 Chris Parker: And then, because of what I think is going to be a successful event in Meadowlark with the registrations that we have so far and the reaction to this event they’re going to do more of these.

00:35:04.050 –> 00:35:08.820 Chris Parker: And so, in September in the upper peninsula of.

00:35:10.290 –> 00:35:23.070 Chris Parker: Michigan there’s going to be an event that’s sponsored by the RA that’s going to be at a place called big snow resort in Wakefield Michigan and then there’s a possibility of one in Virginia near.

00:35:24.810 –> 00:35:28.620 Chris Parker: West Virginia and Virginia up in the Shenandoah Valley.

00:35:29.100 –> 00:35:29.850 Chris Parker: So we’re.

00:35:29.910 –> 00:35:31.680 Chris Parker: we’re in early stages of that.

00:35:32.430 –> 00:35:40.740 Joseph McElroy: Well cool well the Meadowlark you know we know Maggie Valley itself is considered like the best motorcycle town.

00:35:41.280 –> 00:35:52.200 Joseph McElroy: In Western North Carolina and because it’s near all those famous roads, easy access big road to get in and out of you know, has it actually has a festival grounds that holds a lot of.

00:35:53.970 –> 00:36:01.500 Joseph McElroy: You know trucking and motorcycle events and the culture are very conducive to yeah motorcyclists enjoying.

00:36:02.790 –> 00:36:07.050 Joseph McElroy: You know, restaurants and everything are very motorcycle friendly.

00:36:08.100 –> 00:36:13.230 Joseph McElroy: You know people do things like you know the motels do things like have you know motorcycle rags and little.

00:36:13.710 –> 00:36:21.090 Joseph McElroy: Little buckets right outside the room, so they can clean and wash their motorcycles and stuff like that which I think that yeah it’s just a.

00:36:21.510 –> 00:36:32.010 Joseph McElroy: it’s a really nice environment, you know and we’re and you know we’re putting together so that people have stepped up in the valley of the big steak house J Arthur’s is going to host all you guys for a big steak dinner.

00:36:32.370 –> 00:36:39.570 Joseph McElroy: And then we have a pavilion we’re gonna have live music poetry Michael Ogletree, and I think he’s gonna do a simple mind acoustic concert.

00:36:40.200 –> 00:36:53.940 Joseph McElroy: Right and we’ve opened up a new speakeasy which you didn’t even know about before where you know, on the later in the evening come in, listen to really cool music and hang back and have nice drinks and things like that so we’re looking forward to it.

00:36:55.500 –> 00:37:01.650 Joseph McElroy: So, but you are also planning some things for the event, you were talking about a special ride you put together.

00:37:02.670 –> 00:37:21.570 Chris Parker: yeah, so this is being the first event that I’ve ever hosted I’m being a rally chair, we were trying to figure out a group of us who are behind the scenes, putting the pieces together what we can add to the already announced.

00:37:22.830 –> 00:37:24.960 Chris Parker: Activities you know the dinners.

00:37:26.130 –> 00:37:27.300 Chris Parker: The live music.

00:37:28.350 –> 00:37:37.770 Chris Parker: Some of the vendors that are going to be on-site that on the 14th the last full day of the rally we’re going to have the rally in the valley challenge ride

00:37:38.460 –> 00:37:47.970 Chris Parker: And it’s going to be a way to snag some extra door prize tickets raffle prize tickets by participating in it and so we’ve.

00:37:48.450 –> 00:37:57.900 Chris Parker: come up with a route that’s gonna be about 160 something miles, that if you take it and you follow it and take proof.

00:37:58.590 –> 00:38:12.090 Chris Parker: of taking it by stopping in some waypoints take pictures of you and your bike and then will you know for each one of those if you stop at we will award you an extra ticket for a chance to win some really awesome prizes.

00:38:12.540 –> 00:38:16.650 Chris Parker: I’ll tell you more about what those are looking like right.

00:38:17.700 –> 00:38:28.260 Chris Parker: So that’s news that it’s not been announced until this podcast that we’re planning on In fact this Thursday about four of us are going to do a test ride.

00:38:28.740 –> 00:38:39.030 Chris Parker: To make sure that the route that we’ve planned has a quality we just been doing it, the mapping software, and now we’re going to go and test it this coming week.

00:38:39.510 –> 00:38:40.620 Joseph McElroy: How long the riders and.

00:38:41.520 –> 00:38:51.060 Chris Parker: it’s gonna be about four hours it’s a loop that takes you northeast of Maggie Valley and it’ll take you into.

00:38:52.290 –> 00:39:02.940 Chris Parker: close to the Tennessee state line it’ll sneak around some of the brands, which will be on our two and on obviously North kind of 63, which is a trust.

00:39:04.080 –> 00:39:12.060 Chris Parker: there’s some dirt roads that you can take for extra bonus points for those that don’t know this BMW has a lot of bikes called GSS.

00:39:12.390 –> 00:39:27.840 Chris Parker: And they’re the type of bike that wants to pay money Angie you keep going so if you want to go down for us but we’ve got a few things set up in the round so that that is going to be a new feature to the to the rally and then.

00:39:28.890 –> 00:39:39.630 Chris Parker: I mentioned vendors, we have about five that are committed to showing up the main one in terms of what people would recognize as.

00:39:40.230 –> 00:39:58.290 Chris Parker: wonderfully USA there is a BMW motorcycle accessories company out of Germany and their North American headquarters is in Hendersonville was nearby and they’re going to be there with their products, their tents and people to you know talk about what they offer for BMW motorcycles.

00:39:59.250 –> 00:40:08.610 Joseph McElroy: cool and do you ever have besides, you know people going out writing do you have any other plan activities for people coming besides, you know the dinner we’ve set up and that sort of thing.

00:40:09.270 –> 00:40:20.670 Chris Parker: Well it’s going to be had laid back in that with the way these guys I’m imagining gals and guys come in they’re going to ride to the location and they’re going to want to rest and relax.

00:40:21.180 –> 00:40:37.290 Chris Parker: And they’re on their own there’s a dinner Friday night and then there’s a dinner on Saturday night there’s also going to be continental breakfast provided by the Meadowlark in the overflow hotels, that may be handling people will have access to that.

00:40:38.430 –> 00:40:43.320 Chris Parker: But as far as anything outside of that we will have a local.

00:40:44.760 –> 00:40:55.200 Chris Parker: vendor from Waynesville Wayne Bush of America rods maps his maps are epic for the BMW Roddick community and other motorcycle brands.

00:40:56.040 –> 00:41:02.640 Chris Parker: They love is matt he’s going to be on hand and the talk is that he’s going to be debuting a new APP.

00:41:03.240 –> 00:41:17.160 Chris Parker: That he wants to have you know the to unveil at the event, we still don’t know if that’s a done deal but he’s going to be there on hand and then the other thing a good friend of mine who lives in balsam which is not far from Maggie Valley.

00:41:18.420 –> 00:41:25.830 Chris Parker: harkens back, he is a God moto journalist all-around good guy and a stand-up comedian.

00:41:27.180 –> 00:41:31.350 Chris Parker: he’s going to be there on Saturday night at J Arthur’s.

00:41:32.550 –> 00:41:35.730 Chris Parker: doing a every team.

00:41:36.810 –> 00:41:51.570 Chris Parker: he’s uh he’s written three books on writing in the southeast and he’s going to have them on hand to talk about and to help people out with you know where do you go, you know what’s around here, he knows all the relatives so.

00:41:53.040 –> 00:41:58.770 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah well you know riding around the smoky mountains it’s just a joyous experience you know.

00:41:59.280 –> 00:42:07.710 Joseph McElroy: there are so many places to go see I mean oftentimes you can just stop and spur the moment and see a magnificent waterfall right.

00:42:08.580 –> 00:42:14.430 Joseph McElroy: Or you know you may walk 100 feet into the forest and boom there it is it’s just huge right.

00:42:15.120 –> 00:42:20.220 Joseph McElroy: In fact, we have one right up above Maggie called Soco falls it’s right off the road.

00:42:20.640 –> 00:42:29.460 Joseph McElroy: You can people can go up there, and just jump out yeah park will walk you know few hundred feet and boom here this magnificent waterfall near the mountains are.

00:42:29.880 –> 00:42:39.480 Joseph McElroy: known for those waterfalls So hopefully people can get a combined outdoor road experience little that little outdoor adventure experienced it right.

00:42:41.010 –> 00:42:49.290 Joseph McElroy: And i’d encourage people to you know to also if they want some relaxation time don’t forget that there’s fishing at the Meadowlark

00:42:49.860 –> 00:42:55.260 Joseph McElroy: You know, you can put you can do some real trial, we just had a fish camp and people were catching fish there

00:42:55.950 –> 00:43:10.320 Joseph McElroy: Nice rainbows and some brown trouts right there in the backyard there’s a little bait shop tackle shop right up the road from us so hopefully, they can experience a little bit of everything the mountain culture has are going to music and we’ll have food.

00:43:11.670 –> 00:43:14.700 Joseph McElroy: You know waterfalls and riding the road so.

00:43:16.260 –> 00:43:18.300 Joseph McElroy: I look forward to you guys coming in here so.

00:43:19.500 –> 00:43:26.040 Joseph McElroy: we’re going to take another break right now and come back we’ll finish up talking about some of your favorite spots in the smokies.

00:43:27.180 –> 00:43:29.760 Joseph McElroy: Anything else you want to mention some shoutouts for things that.

00:43:30.870 –> 00:43:32.430 Joseph McElroy: You want us to pay attention to.

00:43:34.050 –> 00:43:35.580 Chris Parker: Okay sounds good.

00:45:33.870 –> 00:45:40.860 Joseph McElroy: Howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the Gateway to the Smokies Podcast and my guest Chris Parker.

00:45:41.400 –> 00:45:48.600 Joseph McElroy: So, Chris you know we got little people listening to this and we’re talking about coming up motorcycling in the smokies and I think it’s a great thing but.

00:45:48.990 –> 00:45:56.730 Joseph McElroy: You know, but yeah I think we should mention just briefly what are some safety tips for coming up or writing in the smokies do you have some.

00:45:58.500 –> 00:45:59.100 Chris Parker: well.

00:46:00.240 –> 00:46:08.520 Chris Parker: Especially if you’re running in a group Roger override make sure that you don’t like we know a mutual friend get in over their head.

00:46:09.720 –> 00:46:20.550 Chris Parker: The roads here are pretty technical but also you can ride at your own pace there are some roads that are like I think in the notes for this.

00:46:21.540 –> 00:46:37.500 Chris Parker: podcast tonight someone who said what about the Chair of the hollow skyway over there, near robin’s Ville and TELCO planes, it is 50 something miles of sweepers roads that are at high elevation but they aren’t as titan twisty as fields gap.

00:46:38.760 –> 00:46:43.560 Chris Parker: Just be prepared to see a lot of traffic on the road and stay in your lane.

00:46:45.270 –> 00:46:59.760 Chris Parker: If you aren’t sure where you’re at just dial it down a bit and it’s better to take a slower pace and arrive in one piece stand to the Ricky racer on the road and end up in an ambulance heading to the nearest hospital.

00:47:00.960 –> 00:47:10.350 Chris Parker: and always obviously with the BMW crowd typically they’re known for wearing their gear we look like the Power Rangers set with our vortex.

00:47:12.300 –> 00:47:30.150 Chris Parker: outfits our helmets glove Armor you know we tend to be one of the more safety-conscious types of motorcycle groups out there and you’ll see a lot of that when you see a show up you’re going to like think we’re you know rejects from NASA’s Space Program.

00:47:32.070 –> 00:47:36.660 Joseph McElroy: Well, have you had that experience with a dear how often are little animals dirt out on the road.

00:47:37.320 –> 00:47:48.540 Chris Parker: that’s it’s It really is the law of averages if you ride more like I do you’re going to see more of it it’s if you’re out as an occasional rider and you’ll see it occasionally.

00:47:48.960 –> 00:48:00.000 Chris Parker: But as you rack up the miles and you put on as many miles, as someone like myself, has you’re more prone to see everything from squirrels two rabbits dogs to dear.

00:48:00.450 –> 00:48:03.240 Chris Parker: yeah I’ve actually seen a bear once.

00:48:03.540 –> 00:48:03.960 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:48:04.290 –> 00:48:08.190 Chris Parker: Okay that’ll be hard to get I mean not hard to hit, but if.

00:48:08.220 –> 00:48:15.480 Joseph McElroy: You hit that that’s good well you know we get some big elk and Maggie value coming up the middle of that road sometimes you have to watch out for that.

00:48:16.740 –> 00:48:19.050 Chris Parker: I don’t wanna I don’t want to let that dissuade people.

00:48:19.050 –> 00:48:23.820 Joseph McElroy: From no, it’s not that prevalent and most of the time, you can see it coming.

00:48:24.390 –> 00:48:33.030 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah how about other drivers in the smokies, if you found them to be these are there are they swivel in your head looking stuff too much.

00:48:34.440 –> 00:48:48.870 Chris Parker: Well it’s a mixed bag, obviously, if you like, to go at a brisk pace, it can be a bit of an irritant but at the same time, you know the rules of the road, are what they are, you know they’re driving have as much right to the road as we, and vice versa.

00:48:50.460 –> 00:49:03.870 Chris Parker: But in the fall you tend to see more traffic because of the leaf papers, the colors changing in the mountains so you’ll see an increased amount of traffic, especially if you’re on like the Blueridge parkway.

00:49:05.010 –> 00:49:12.360 Chris Parker: But there are hidden gems that you can take once you start to know the roads in the area that will be.

00:49:12.870 –> 00:49:29.100 Chris Parker: kind of the traffic, the level of traffic will be less than some of the more scenic routes like I know people will talk about deals gap and I actually think the road to deals gap is a better road, because how a 28 from.

00:49:31.110 –> 00:49:33.000 Chris Parker: Bryson city area.

00:49:33.240 –> 00:49:44.370 Chris Parker: Of Fontana damn is brilliant and it’s actually a less travel road and then to align which you’re familiar with on the rattler going to hot springs.

00:49:44.520 –> 00:49:45.600 Joseph McElroy: yeah I love that right.

00:49:45.690 –> 00:49:51.510 Chris Parker: You know that that road you know they’ll have traffic, but you know you can get around it, you can manage it.

00:49:52.440 –> 00:50:03.870 Joseph McElroy: yeah it’s not that bad of traffic it’s I mean it is there some is too little, too late and winding road and the only reason it gets backed up sometimes is this person a little bit nervous coming down and going up it but.

00:50:04.290 –> 00:50:05.310 Joseph McElroy: For the most part it’s a.

00:50:05.310 –> 00:50:17.850 Joseph McElroy: pretty good it’s a pretty yeah I’ve gone through very busy times and then hot springs as a little town we’re stopping that it’s got some good food there and it’s got the hot springs resort so which you can usually jump into to get a little spray.

00:50:19.260 –> 00:50:29.580 Chris Parker: I’ll add I was tickled pink when they select Waynesville to and on the smoky mountain event Center and.

00:50:30.690 –> 00:50:41.820 Chris Parker: I just laughed I was like these guys are the attendees to the rally are going to leave the parking lot the entrance turn right and then for 25 miles to hot springs.

00:50:41.880 –> 00:50:43.050 Joseph McElroy: It was a perfect that was.

00:50:43.050 –> 00:50:46.980 Joseph McElroy: A perfect thing right it’s like and it was perfect yeah.

00:50:48.630 –> 00:50:53.760 Joseph McElroy: So that’s good, and one thing I do I mentioned to people is that you know, in the mountains, especially in the summer.

00:50:54.120 –> 00:51:03.750 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah we get we haven’t funny whether we’re pretty dry, but then we’ll usually just about five days out of the week have a big thunderstorm pop up for about an hour, and then disappear.

00:51:04.830 –> 00:51:17.400 Joseph McElroy: So you need to be aware that you know you want to have rain gear and be prepared for a sudden weather change when you ride around but it’s not very long and it goes away real quick.

00:51:20.190 –> 00:51:34.830 Joseph McElroy: So, what are your you know, I think that the bear water brewery Maggie Valley is a great place for motorcycles to go and have a meal and you’ll be able to park and you know even sit down in a deck and just enjoy the ambiance of the mountains right.

00:51:36.150 –> 00:51:42.210 Joseph McElroy: What are some other great places that you like, to stop at in your motorcycling travels through the smokies.

00:51:43.680 –> 00:51:58.230 Chris Parker: was a favorite of mine in my writing group it’s epic and it’s an I imagine people that know the area Franklin North Carolina there is a restaurant that’s in a gas station called CAFE rel.

00:51:58.860 –> 00:51:59.550 Chris Parker: Now.

00:51:59.670 –> 00:52:13.470 Chris Parker: And I was there for the first time, five or six years ago and it’s a four-star five-star chef from Atlanta who left the big city life, he was from Franklin and he returned.

00:52:14.010 –> 00:52:27.780 Chris Parker: back to his hometown and open up this French cuisine CAFE at reasonable prices, but the food is amazing when it’s as attached to a hotspot gas station as you would not think that would.

00:52:27.840 –> 00:52:29.850 Joseph McElroy: be a place that so what’s the name of the place.

00:52:30.120 –> 00:52:37.380 Chris Parker: CAFE Rel and it’s R EL and it’s the abbreviation of the guide and Richard E Long.

00:52:37.680 –> 00:52:39.120 Joseph McElroy: I’m gonna have to go check that out.

00:52:39.150 –> 00:52:39.660 yeah.

00:52:40.680 –> 00:52:47.970 Chris Parker: they’re closed on Wednesdays and their close Sundays and Mondays and they only pay cash they don’t take debit.

00:52:47.970 –> 00:52:57.780 Joseph McElroy: we know what if you get a chance to go to Wayne’s will go to hazelwood smokehouse which has been top 20 Barbecue places in the nation.

00:52:58.230 –> 00:53:08.940 Chris Parker: And then for near nearby I mean there’s a lot of restaurants and Maggie Valley, that will have access to so there’s that you place in downtown Waynesville is.

00:53:10.170 –> 00:53:11.310 Chris Parker: beach mountain diner.

00:53:11.550 –> 00:53:15.120 Chris Parker: Oh yeah that’s good yeah.

00:53:15.240 –> 00:53:24.570 Joseph McElroy: Well we’re coming to a close, here I want you to do some shout-outs, where people can find out more about what you’re doing or your club, but how can they find out more.

00:53:25.290 –> 00:53:39.960 Chris Parker: Well, you can join the RA at BMWRA.org, and then there is the events tab at the top that shows the activities of the club, the national rally this one is called the rally in the valley.

00:53:40.530 –> 00:53:49.590 Chris Parker: And you can register there, we still have plenty of spots where we’re going to take onsite registration last minute.

00:53:50.310 –> 00:54:01.230 Chris Parker: There might be an issue with you getting a meal if you wait till the last minute to register and then we are also selling a T-shirt that if you want to get one you have to.

00:54:02.190 –> 00:54:15.960 Chris Parker: Let us know by tomorrow, and you can get your name in the hat for a shirt so you can join the club there if you’re not a Member Oh, an important you do not have to ride a BMW to come to this.

00:54:16.200 –> 00:54:17.460 Chris Parker: We will allow.

00:54:17.490 –> 00:54:19.740 Chris Parker: Anybody allow.

00:54:19.830 –> 00:54:26.910 Chris Parker: We will accept and welcome anybody on any kind of bike so don’t feel like you have to have a BMW, to be able to attain cool.

00:54:27.150 –> 00:54:31.680 Joseph McElroy: And then, what is your image shout out your for your design company’s website.

00:54:32.310 –> 00:54:38.730 Chris Parker: As roadwolfdesign.com or roadwolfdesigned.com.

00:54:38.850 –> 00:54:42.330 Joseph McElroy: cool and I’m assuming you also got some Facebook and that sort of stuff people.

00:54:43.260 –> 00:54:51.930 Joseph McElroy: Alright cool well, thank you very much for being on the show I’m looking forward to the event in May, and I think it’s gonna be fantastic and you’ve.

00:54:52.800 –> 00:55:04.890 Joseph McElroy: represented Well now, this program is the Gateway to the Smokies Podcast you can find it on Facebook.com/gatewaytothesmokiespodcast it’s also.

00:55:05.700 –> 00:55:17.490 Joseph McElroy: On the episodes listed on smokiesadventure.com there’s a tab at the top, it allows you to click into a listing of all the episodes with some reason transcripts, and video.

00:55:18.510 –> 00:55:25.350 Joseph McElroy: That we are part of the talkradio.NYC network, which is a radio network of the live podcasts that happen, you know every day.

00:55:25.770 –> 00:55:38.880 Joseph McElroy: And I encourage you to look at them they’re small business ones there’s lifestyle there’s you know politics there’s a self help all sorts of different programs on this network it’s a good network to hear some great podcast.

00:55:39.690 –> 00:55:48.930 Joseph McElroy: it’s talkradio.nyc I have another one on this network called wise content creates wealth, which is about content marketing and Ai.

00:55:49.650 –> 00:55:58.620 Joseph McElroy: And that’s on Fridays from noon to one, and this podcast gateway to the smokies is always on Tuesday from six to seven and I’ll look forward to seeing you.

00:55:59.130 –> 00:56:12.000 Joseph McElroy: Next week we’ll have another great guest, it’s a legend in this in the mountains, look forward to having you meet and hear him talk to you later.

Zeb Smathers, discusses the economic development in Haywood County and the region, along with his work to open a new park in the area; Chestnut Mountain Park.

Our host Joseph McElroy, Owner of the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley, NC. is joined by an incredible guest, Zeb Smathers, he is a graduate of Duke University and UNC Law School who resides with his wife and son in Canton, N.C. Like his father, Patrick Smathers, before him, Zeb is currently Mayor of Canton, while also working as an Attorney with his dad. 

Zeb has guided an Economic Resurgence in Canton and recently spearheaded the efforts to open an incredible new park in Haywood County—Chestnut Mountain Park – while also helping steer rebuilding efforts through two epic floods that nearly destroyed downtown Canton and surrounding communities.  

Zeb is a highly respected community leader, renowned for his ability to avoid partisan politics while always working in the best interests of his constituents—regardless of party affiliation.

‍Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

Joseph kicks off the episode by mentioning the sponsor for the show, the Meadowlark Motel as well as upcoming events. This weekend, part 2 of the mountain heritage book series is happening at the motel. The following weekend, there's a fishing camp led by Grammy award-winning musician Charles Humphrey III. He also introduces his guest, Zeb Smathers, the mayor of Canton, North Carolina since 2017. Zeb also works as an attorney with his dad. Zeb was born and raised in Haywood County. He is also a graduate of Duke University and UNC Law School. He says that after the 90s, he was seeing a downhill spiral for the town of Canton. Buildings were breaking down and businesses were closing. When he returned home after finishing school, he noticed that there would be a change in Asheville. Around this time in 2008, President Barack Obama visited Ashville several times and Zeb knew that there would be growth and increases in housing and more. So he thought that Canton could also take advantage of this opportunity.

Joseph talks with Zeb about what it means for him to be from Haywood County and now mayor of Canton. Zeb says that it is something special and is proud of the community that he serves. He describes it as “what you see is what you get.” He describes everything about Canton and Haywood County as a place where people are sincere and real. When talking about his leadership skills, Zeb talks about his father who was always not afraid to talk about big ideas which pushed him to do the same. Zeb and Joseph also talk about other qualities in leadership like asking questions and listening and how our stories affect how leaders and communities can come together. Zeb also mentions more about his family’s legacy, what they have in Canton as well as some od Zeb’s accomplishments. They also discuss Haywood County being authentic and not too commercialized.

Zeb discusses more the comeback story of Canton and some new things within the town that he has been a part of bringing in along with the community. He mentions the Imperial, a building with a lot of history that is now a restaurant called Southern Porch. He mentions more food places as well as a coffee shop called Papertown Coffee. Joseph and Zeb also talk about other improvements that Zeb has helped with such as the environment. He also discusses the many challenges such as the recent flooding that brought losses for the community and how he and the community have been able to move forward.

Joseph mentions how Zeb was able to raise about $600,000 or more to build Chestnut Mountain Park. He says that this was accomplished with the help of the Southern Appalachian Conservancy, which help preserve mountain land. The park is 450 acres and will open this month. A major part of the park will be for mountain biking. Zeb also talks about the meaning behind the park and its location as well as the experience it provides for anyone passing through the Great Smoky Mountains. Zeb passionately talks about the local community and keeping the culture alive. Joseph thanks Zeb Smathers for being able to speak with him and loves what Zeb has been able to accomplish as mayor of Canton.

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00:00:26.910 –> 00:00:32.250 Joseph McElroy: Howdy, Thanks for joining us on this week’s episode of Gateway to the Smokies.

00:00:32.610 –> 00:00:40.500 Joseph McElroy: This podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the surrounding towns.

00:00:40.770 –> 00:00:48.960 Joseph McElroy: This area is filled with ancient natural beauty deep storied history and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes.

00:00:49.500 –> 00:01:00.060 Joseph McElroy: I’m Joseph Franklin McElroy a man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains my family’s lived in the great smoky for over 200 years my business is in travel, but my heart is in culture.

00:01:00.870 –> 00:01:10.980 Joseph McElroy: In today’s podcast where I talk about a little mountain town called Canton and then also about mountain biking but first let’s talk about our sponsor’s message, and this case happens to be me.

00:01:12.270 –> 00:01:19.890 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place evocative of motor courts of the past, you had modern and vibrant with a Chic Appalachian feel.

00:01:20.520 –> 00:01:33.030 Joseph McElroy: a place for adventure and for relaxation imagine a place where you can fish and a mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on fire and eat accompanied by a fine wine or craft beers.

00:01:33.630 –> 00:01:45.270 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place of old-time music and world cultural sounds, there is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley. Your Smoky Mountain Adventure Starts with Where you Stay.

00:01:46.440 –> 00:01:51.840 Joseph McElroy: and other sponsors smokies adventure that’s smokies plural adventure singular.com

00:01:52.380 –> 00:02:06.660 Joseph McElroy: The smoky mountains and surrounding area is a vacation destination for all seasons, some of the nation’s best hiking trails, motorcycle trails, waterfalls, outdoor adventures, and family entertainment can be found, right here.

00:02:07.140 –> 00:02:18.630 Joseph McElroy: start your adventure by using smokiesadventure.com to explore all the wonderful features of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the trails, the waterfalls, cade cove, the elk, and more.

00:02:18.990 –> 00:02:24.510 Joseph McElroy: then check out all the family attractions and entertainment, you and your entire family can enjoy in the area.

00:02:25.530 –> 00:02:31.830 Joseph McElroy: The goal of smokies adventures is to become the leading information portal for adventures and experiences, the great smoky mountain.

00:02:33.600 –> 00:02:38.970 Joseph McElroy: I wanted I there’s a there’s an event coming up this weekend, I want to let you know about there’s a.

00:02:39.660 –> 00:02:51.120 Joseph McElroy: in Meadowlark we have a heritage book series, and this one’s going to be presentation of the book the Legendary Hunters of the Southern Highlands a century of sport and survival and the great smokies.

00:02:51.630 –> 00:03:00.300 Joseph McElroy: From the heyday of the Cherokee nation and on through the 20th century, the great smoky have nurtured some of the most celebrated hundreds in American history.

00:03:00.870 –> 00:03:11.730 Joseph McElroy: predicting changes in the weather and almost telepathically sensing animal behavior this outdoorsman was linked inextricably with the land that is sustainable.

00:03:12.330 –> 00:03:20.460 Joseph McElroy: Local Author and General Manager of the Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center, Bob Plott lovingly recalls the tales.

00:03:20.910 –> 00:03:32.340 Joseph McElroy: Of those hundreds rife with characters like the honest job the bear whose habit of killing only enough livestock to eat it one sitting granted him a reputation as one.

00:03:32.670 –> 00:03:39.930 Joseph McElroy: At one chivalrous and menacing and little George Plott, a Legendary Marksman turns World War Two hero.

00:03:40.830 –> 00:03:44.190 Joseph McElroy: That linger among the region’s harbored for us and misty for.

00:03:44.670 –> 00:03:55.410 Joseph McElroy: These tales. Rediscover an era of self sufficient mountain living where folks labored in logging camps brewed moonshine hunted for survival and fought for what they believe it.

00:03:56.010 –> 00:04:09.450 Joseph McElroy: it’s April night this Saturday at 4 pm at the Meadowlark Motel and there’ll be followed by a book signing and a free Barbecue for the guests $10 for people that are not staying in the motel and then music at the Meadowlark.

00:04:10.980 –> 00:04:12.540 Joseph McElroy: So I hope to see you there.

00:04:13.620 –> 00:04:19.680 Joseph McElroy: Were also, next weekend, not this week next weekend we’re having I was having a fishing camp, with some acclaimed.

00:04:21.030 –> 00:04:38.910 Joseph McElroy: Fishing guides including Charles Humphrey III, who is also a Grammy award-winning musician call the motel for either one of these nights 82 89261717 to get to your place to be and stay, this is coming this April so.

00:04:40.470 –> 00:04:53.370 Joseph McElroy: We are, we are pleased to have a Leader of the Community and Haywood County specifically Canton his name is Zeb Smathers, he is a graduate of Duke University, hey Duke.

00:04:53.790 –> 00:05:12.270 Joseph McElroy: And UNC Law School who resides with his wife and son and Canton North Carolina. He is a working Attorney at Smathers and Smathers Law firm in Canada and he’s also been the Mayor of Canton since 2017, he’s been attracting national attention, since then hello Zeb, how are you doing?

00:05:12.840 –> 00:05:14.280 Zeb Smathers: Joseph, great to be here with you.

00:05:14.760 –> 00:05:23.430 Joseph McElroy: Oh, it is, I know that you’ve been suffering, some storm there just talking about and some hard weather down there hopefully the wind does it kick up like it’s been doing.

00:05:24.300 –> 00:05:34.500 Zeb Smathers: Yes, I said anytime it rains in Canton since the floods of August of 2021 every day, every time it rains I just get this bad my spider-sense goes off.

00:05:34.560 –> 00:05:35.250 Joseph McElroy: But yeah.

00:05:35.310 –> 00:05:36.390 Joseph McElroy: Right it’s like.

00:05:36.390 –> 00:05:36.990 Oh.

00:05:39.300 –> 00:05:42.930 Joseph McElroy: You know since that happened I look at the creek behind the Meadowlark and you know.

00:05:43.320 –> 00:05:53.430 Joseph McElroy: It has an escaped its banks and for 40 years my dad actually raised the ground about three feet all over the place, so you know but he’s been lucky.

00:05:53.790 –> 00:06:04.590 Joseph McElroy: I think the big thing is, we had all used to be bear mountains around there from logging, and now it’s all grown up, and I think that change the trajectory of the wash down and maybe didn’t get flooding anymore.

00:06:05.250 –> 00:06:16.170 Joseph McElroy: So I guess we’re lucky in that regard, but I think we’re excited I’m very excited we’re going to talk a little bit about the Chestnut Mountain Park that you folks are working on and we’re going to talk about the floods, but.

00:06:18.240 –> 00:06:32.700 Joseph McElroy: As a fellow Haywood County native and Duke Grad I’d like our visitors to get to know you better and then you know, and you know, and what will, how will a little bit about to so you were born and raised in Haywood County right, I mean I know your name, I have to, you have to be.

00:06:34.080 –> 00:06:38.910 Zeb Smathers: My son my two-year-old son. He actually is the not generation Smathers.

00:06:39.990 –> 00:06:48.990 Zeb Smathers: I tell people you know, I was, I was lucky to find a girl I wasn’t related to the Marry here and but no, I mean I was born in 1982.

00:06:50.160 –> 00:06:59.010 Zeb Smathers: My dad is an attorney my grandfather owned when the first modern supermarkets in Western North Carolina.

00:06:59.670 –> 00:07:12.840 Zeb Smathers: And you know I have memories of the store in the Canton in the late 80s, but also remember the ones in the early 90s, and it was a summary guard, I was a normal childhood and doing me to things you just you know advertised.

00:07:13.860 –> 00:07:25.800 Zeb Smathers: Your motel I mean just you know walking these mountains and playing in the streams and playing sports and the 90s, was a fun time to grow up with the birth of the Internet and just changes in movies and entertainment.

00:07:26.610 –> 00:07:33.900 Zeb Smathers: But that was more nationally, you know locally, we started watching the decline of Canton and Canton is a paper mill town.

00:07:34.740 –> 00:07:52.140 Zeb Smathers: And not you know much like other towns across North Carolina across the United States, these manufacturing towns these furniture towns, textiles, you know once employed so many people and so many you know, jobs and just the Center of culture, they started closing up.

00:07:53.190 –> 00:08:01.860 Zeb Smathers: A close to losing our paper mill camp is a paper mill currently evergreen packaging owns the paper mill here employees 1200 people.

00:08:02.400 –> 00:08:12.510 Zeb Smathers: But in our downtown, you started noticing boarded-up buildings and buildings falling down and just not just you know boarded-up windows.

00:08:12.960 –> 00:08:30.390 Zeb Smathers: But people’s spirits were broken and there wasn’t understanding, like so many places in the United States, our best days were behind us that there was simply no place for small towns, especially small manufacturing towns in the 21st century, and so I graduated Tesco High School in 2001

00:08:32.070 –> 00:08:43.890 Zeb Smathers: played football and basketball there you know your visitors, I mean the people listening, you know Canton and Haywood County is home to the greatest football rivalry in High School in the State of North Carolina.

00:08:44.040 –> 00:08:47.910 Joseph McElroy: And I happened to be on the other side of that equation, I went to test Cola.

00:08:49.560 –> 00:08:50.670 Zeb Smathers: No one’s perfect Joseph.

00:08:52.200 –> 00:08:58.860 Zeb Smathers: But you know we love work pays good and winds were Tesco, and that game draws anywhere from 13 to 15,000 people.

00:08:59.940 –> 00:09:00.840 Zeb Smathers: In so.

00:09:01.020 –> 00:09:02.580 Zeb Smathers: You know, after 2001.

00:09:03.990 –> 00:09:19.440 Zeb Smathers: Travel four hours away to Durham to Duke university graduated in 05 with a major in political science and modern history, then I traveled non-miles, the other direction to UNC-Chapel Hill to Law school.

00:09:19.650 –> 00:09:23.910 Joseph McElroy: why you made that decision I also went to Duke so.

00:09:25.560 –> 00:09:26.400 Zeb Smathers: Both blues.

00:09:27.840 –> 00:09:28.200 Joseph McElroy: But.

00:09:28.260 –> 00:09:37.530 Zeb Smathers: After that, you know I returned home, I always want to come home and practice law with my father, we have a general small-town practice a little bit of everything.

00:09:38.460 –> 00:09:49.050 Zeb Smathers: I ran for Alderman you know, which is our city council in 2013 because spending seven years in the Triangle Raleigh Durham Chapel hill.

00:09:49.470 –> 00:10:00.240 Zeb Smathers: I noticed, something I noticed these large metropolitan areas like Raleigh like Durham they were expanding they were suffering new you know, the new economy, new people you know.

00:10:00.300 –> 00:10:03.660 Joseph McElroy: I remember back then they were going crazy and expanded oh yeah.

00:10:03.900 –> 00:10:22.710 Zeb Smathers: And I noticed this, and so, when I returned home Canton is 20 minutes from Asheville an absolutely wonderful city with so much culture and art and craft brewing and it was in 2008 that’s when the Obama’s made several trips to Asheville I think really put Asheville on the map.

00:10:23.850 –> 00:10:27.030 Zeb Smathers: know, President Obama has his favorite Barbecue place in Ashville.

00:10:27.060 –> 00:10:30.360 Joseph McElroy: 12 bones know who they were 12 bones the bones right.

00:10:30.900 –> 00:10:35.880 Zeb Smathers: So I’m I had you know I put all that, together, and I said wait for a second here.

00:10:36.390 –> 00:10:52.620 Zeb Smathers: something’s getting ready to happen here ash Bergen county it’s going to grow it’s going to expand there are going to increase in housing and Lena let’s just logistic issues, and I said, you know if Canton if we play our cards right, we can take advantage of this.

00:10:52.800 –> 00:10:53.160 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:10:53.250 –> 00:10:57.210 Zeb Smathers: A lot of people looked at me as crazy luckily enough people who voted for me and didn’t think I was crazy.

00:10:58.260 –> 00:11:03.150 Zeb Smathers: But you know that, but you know you know that point is very important.

00:11:03.390 –> 00:11:10.650 Zeb Smathers: This was to have people believe that there was a place for places like Canton, in the 21st century.

00:11:10.650 –> 00:11:17.640 Joseph McElroy: When I think that that’s you know I think that’s important, and you know we’re talking a little bit about what some of the things you did to bring it back, which I think.

00:11:17.670 –> 00:11:18.600 are really impressive.

00:11:19.770 –> 00:11:30.030 Joseph McElroy: You know some of the things I know when I want to put a little bit more history into this, because you know I looked up a little bit about your background the Smathers and what did it five Smathers brothers migrated from.

00:11:31.260 –> 00:11:36.540 Joseph McElroy: The Scotch Irish and dramatic roles and Rowan County and then ended up here in Dutch cove and Haywood county right.

00:11:36.840 –> 00:11:44.580 Zeb Smathers: I don’t know what happened in Rowan County that they thought the best idea was to leave town quickly and hit to that point the frontier land but.

00:11:45.300 –> 00:11:55.830 Zeb Smathers: I’m glad they did but yeah absolutely we traveled here five brothers, if you ever come across the Smathers that are not from Haywood County they’re lying to you.

00:11:55.860 –> 00:12:02.610 Zeb Smathers: That is one Smather family in Massachusetts which has no direct relation to us but everybody else.

00:12:03.870 –> 00:12:13.590 Zeb Smathers: comes from this part of the woods and there’s actually been there was this Smathers in Camelot Senator George Smathers of Florida was very close to JFK.

00:12:14.580 –> 00:12:23.280 Zeb Smathers: I’ve always been told the story, you know these mountains are on the stories are true they make good legends that he actually introduced Jackie O to JFK.

00:12:23.400 –> 00:12:27.690 Joseph McElroy: And so you might as well grab a legend if you can you know what I mean it doesn’t matter when politics.

00:12:27.870 –> 00:12:29.490 Joseph McElroy: It doesn’t really matter whether it’s true.

00:12:29.490 –> 00:12:29.790 Joseph McElroy: or not.

00:12:30.240 –> 00:12:35.340 Joseph McElroy: there’s getting the perception of it turns out the George Washington did actually jumped up though Tara great.

00:12:36.630 –> 00:12:39.180 Joseph McElroy: But he grabbed that story or somebody did for.

00:12:40.650 –> 00:12:48.870 Joseph McElroy: So cool well you know your family like mine has been in the county for 200 years right so there’s a lot of history in Haywood county.

00:12:49.830 –> 00:13:01.530 Joseph McElroy: And I really like to talk about that, and when we come back, I want to touch a little bit on your immediate family history your father was a Mayor, and then were Canton growing from that.

00:13:01.860 –> 00:13:02.310 Absolutely.

00:15:18.390 –> 00:15:25.890 Joseph McElroy: Howdy, this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with a Gateway to the Smokies Podcasts with my guest Zeb Smathers.

00:15:26.340 –> 00:15:33.210 Joseph McElroy: that’d be no I’m one of the things I tried to do this podcast yeah there’s a lot of great professionals.

00:15:33.810 –> 00:15:41.310 Joseph McElroy: I mean brilliant people that come out of Haywood County and we can easily get talking to the ideas and accomplishments and plans and future.

00:15:41.700 –> 00:15:51.750 Joseph McElroy: And that’s all important you know, but you know, one of the things that is special about Haywood County is the community and family or the color connections.

00:15:52.050 –> 00:16:03.840 Joseph McElroy: Right it’s it there’s a very connectedness to your past, even though it goes into thinking about the future, you know and it’s you know, and you, like me, grew up and with.

00:16:04.320 –> 00:16:12.930 Joseph McElroy: Long family ties there, my father was Mayor of Maggie Valley I don’t know exactly when your father was Mayor, but my father was an Alderman for a long time, so they probably knew each other.

00:16:13.470 –> 00:16:30.600 Joseph McElroy: Now, your dad was a Lawyer and you know started this Law Firm that you’re in and then he served as Mayor and then he was an athlete appears good hall of Famer there and he also put went to Duke so you know how does it like to have that connection to who you are?

00:16:31.290 –> 00:16:38.160 Zeb Smathers: Well, I think you know being from Haywood County in this region it’s just truly part of your DNA and you know.

00:16:38.520 –> 00:16:44.130 Zeb Smathers: it’s one of those things where no matter and I have been blessed to travel the world and experience wonderful things.

00:16:44.850 –> 00:16:53.490 Zeb Smathers: But you don’t forget where you come from, and I think there’s something special about being from Haywood County and being around the people in the communities and schools and churches.

00:16:53.910 –> 00:17:03.120 Zeb Smathers: And what you see, is what you get and I’m very proud in Canton we’re a blue-collar town and what you see, is what you get and in a superficial society.

00:17:04.110 –> 00:17:14.640 Zeb Smathers: That is, you know so much of it is marketing and span when you come across places like Canton and the people of the Canton and you will you see you know what’s real.

00:17:15.780 –> 00:17:25.920 Zeb Smathers: And you’re just drawn to it because so much of his know the rest of the world is just made up and it’s more look and feels like something else, but when you come across the real McCoy.

00:17:26.280 –> 00:17:38.280 Zeb Smathers: You just feel it and I think that in Haywood County when someone says how are you or yet you they mean it and I think that’s that sincere, but I think on a greater level.

00:17:39.090 –> 00:17:51.960 Zeb Smathers: Is you know part of the challenge, but I think we’re doing it again and very proud of is how do you bring in new people new ideas, new money, new opportunity if you don’t change who you are and.

00:17:52.860 –> 00:18:00.480 Joseph McElroy: I think that’s you’re hitting the nail on the head there’s don’t change who you are you be who you are, you know look I’m sitting in the middle of New York City and.

00:18:00.840 –> 00:18:08.670 Joseph McElroy: You know I decided to have a brand about you know my family home, you know places like a Meadowlark motel.

00:18:09.030 –> 00:18:19.920 Joseph McElroy: And I decide to be authentic to that brand and while I’m modernizer’s left side I’m wearing overalls you know where I’m every day right my grandfather did right, so I mean you have to be.

00:18:20.340 –> 00:18:26.370 Joseph McElroy: There had to be some sort of leadership values that your father instilled to do what, what do you think those were.

00:18:27.000 –> 00:18:40.560 Zeb Smathers: Well, I think it was you know dad even, at times, I think it sometimes worries me, he is a huge optimist and in sometimes I think he was a man before his time a lot of the ideas that dad had.

00:18:41.160 –> 00:18:50.100 Zeb Smathers: I saw them come to fruition, he was again probably 10 years before his time and he has huge large big ideas, but when you’re around people like that.

00:18:50.490 –> 00:19:04.140 Zeb Smathers: That you know again going back to Canada I’m a big believer in the new frontier speech you know the big is the moon shots you know part of this country and part of being in West, North Carolina is not being afraid of the big idea.

00:19:04.830 –> 00:19:21.750 Zeb Smathers: To set out on those big adventures, and we need some more of that in our American discussions in politics and so dad was always pushing and when your son looking at your father and you see him lean in to not being afraid and talking about those big ideas, even when they don’t succeed.

00:19:22.860 –> 00:19:29.220 Zeb Smathers: gives you a belief and confidence, the push you to do the same.

00:19:29.310 –> 00:19:30.030 Zeb Smathers: And I think that’s.

00:19:30.090 –> 00:19:39.450 Zeb Smathers: All that leadership is it’s not being afraid of the big idea finding away working across partisan lines or whatever and lines of divisions exists.

00:19:39.840 –> 00:19:48.210 Zeb Smathers: and saying yes, we can do this, and I think that’s something that you find time and time again in the mountains and smokies of smoky mountains of West, North Carolina.

00:19:48.660 –> 00:19:52.950 Joseph McElroy: I think I that you’ve demonstrated the ability to actually.

00:19:54.390 –> 00:20:02.250 Joseph McElroy: tell people, something that they don’t want to hear right, you know people there might be a poll, it says people want something, and instead of.

00:20:03.870 –> 00:20:10.200 Joseph McElroy: Just going with it, you actually like to educate people a little bit sometimes all right, because there are things that they don’t know.

00:20:10.650 –> 00:20:23.970 Joseph McElroy: Right and you provide that information and then allow them to make a decision and a lot of times you’ll find that decision comes around and what would be the right thing to do, and I think that the politicians who do that are the two leaders well.

00:20:24.480 –> 00:20:27.660 Zeb Smathers: yeah and I do think there’s an importance, especially these days to listen.

00:20:28.080 –> 00:20:37.830 Zeb Smathers: To be around people that you may not be with but ask you know, listen to, while they feel that way, and if you do that don’t just push them away I think that’s part of the problem is that.

00:20:38.070 –> 00:20:48.180 Zeb Smathers: Well, this person is wrong or I can’t believe they believe this way or vote this way listen to their story, everyone has a unique story, I mean, as part of this podcast and what you’re trying to do.

00:20:48.720 –> 00:20:59.550 Zeb Smathers: And if you do that, time and time again, you will find common ground that you may not agree on everything, but if you can find those common issues you can push it forward.

00:20:59.850 –> 00:21:05.460 Zeb Smathers: You know and it’s amazing how about New York City New York New York city’s just a bunch of little small towns, but very.

00:21:07.050 –> 00:21:07.500 Zeb Smathers: Energy.

00:21:07.530 –> 00:21:08.400 Joseph McElroy: A lot of little small.

00:21:09.330 –> 00:21:16.410 Zeb Smathers: But I think I think North Carolina especially but also across the United States, even in these large cities, you know you can call them burrows.

00:21:17.070 –> 00:21:28.830 Zeb Smathers: Is that if you understand small towns and where people you know their past and what got them where they are man Do you realize how many similarities, we may have different accents we may have different Barbecue.

00:21:28.830 –> 00:21:38.250 Zeb Smathers: sauces but truly we have so many common denominators that link us, and if you carry the conversation, you can actually get things done.

00:21:38.910 –> 00:21:44.670 Joseph McElroy: yeah we if you look at, even though you’re talking about you look at kind of co-op boards you look at.

00:21:45.030 –> 00:21:48.480 Joseph McElroy: Historical societies and a few hundred people and Members, and you have aboard.

00:21:48.720 –> 00:21:55.050 Joseph McElroy: I mean those are all like small towns being run with a board and the President and they’re all dealing with the same exact issues.

00:21:55.290 –> 00:22:06.720 Joseph McElroy: Many, many times in the city you know when I was doing that I record I recognize the same issues my dad went through is the mayor of a small town hey I’m in this historical society I’m dealing with the same issue.

00:22:09.360 –> 00:22:15.090 Joseph McElroy: Well let’s get back to Canton and you know and some things there I like to talk about some of the special stuff and we’re going to get to but.

00:22:15.450 –> 00:22:29.130 Joseph McElroy: I do not leave your father behind the last thing is, I noticed that he helped lead the effort to create that small Smathers farmer and public market, which I think is a really cool thing and in Canton, they have music there and all sorts of stuff.

00:22:30.120 –> 00:22:34.950 Zeb Smathers: Well, you really can’t be a small town and the 21st century, unless you have a brewery and a farmers market.

00:22:34.980 –> 00:22:35.610 Joseph McElroy: there you go.

00:22:36.840 –> 00:22:38.520 Joseph McElroy: don’t forget to go to have a church too.

00:22:38.760 –> 00:22:39.060 church.

00:22:42.030 –> 00:22:42.270 Joseph McElroy: But.

00:22:42.540 –> 00:22:53.310 Zeb Smathers: We have wonderful bear water brewing and that was a huge success for us several years ago they do a great job, but yet again, one of those big ideas that you know, sometimes that just we’re doing this and I just.

00:22:53.580 –> 00:23:04.050 Zeb Smathers: He doesn’t even give me time to add my input as many fathers don’t to their students, but we have these wonderful farmers market that brings people together with music beer crafts.

00:23:04.560 –> 00:23:17.220 Zeb Smathers: And again, it, you know it’s in the parking lot of my grandfather’s supermarket where our law offices, now that for so many years, you know wasn’t gathering spot over the same things it was stories, it was food a.

00:23:18.180 –> 00:23:29.340 Zeb Smathers: a lot has changed since the 80s, but again to have some Smathers market return in some regards and bring people together, you know for dad and my uncle Max Max my others and.

00:23:29.730 –> 00:23:38.670 Zeb Smathers: And their kids and this all the ones that are connected to Smathers market, but again, it makes my point valid where it’s different.

00:23:39.720 –> 00:23:48.150 Zeb Smathers: But it’s something new, but it’s a throwback to the past, you know and that’s important again howdy in that new energy.

00:23:48.600 –> 00:24:04.890 Zeb Smathers: But it goes back to your past of bringing people together over food and fellowship and commonalities and it’s the perfect example again know where you’re from what got you here, but also not be afraid to evolve it and listen and make changes, but not lose your soul.

00:24:05.340 –> 00:24:09.660 Joseph McElroy: You know there’s academic research that I become something of an expert.

00:24:10.230 –> 00:24:14.790 Joseph McElroy: For the marketing side enough from the academic side about something called memorable tourism experiences.

00:24:15.180 –> 00:24:19.560 Joseph McElroy: and part of that is cultural tourism and cultural heritage tourism.

00:24:19.890 –> 00:24:27.270 Joseph McElroy: And there’s actually lots of evidence that so that if you stay true to your cultural heritage and really emphasize and develop that, as you know.

00:24:27.570 –> 00:24:37.770 Joseph McElroy: And you know and use it as a part of your marketing and your approach to how you build your infrastructure and stuff like that it actually is highly successful in attracting tourism.

00:24:38.100 –> 00:24:50.370 Joseph McElroy: And it’s authentic how Haywood County can avoid becoming I mean I love Gatlinburg I love you know Pigeon Forge for what they are, but they’re very commercialized and Haywood county is not becoming like that so far.

00:24:50.670 –> 00:24:54.180 Joseph McElroy: Right, and I think that that’s a great success of what we’re doing.

00:24:54.630 –> 00:24:55.020 Zeb Smathers: mm hmm.

00:24:55.200 –> 00:25:08.580 Zeb Smathers: yeah absolutely and again is you know, in your background, you see a champion, as I tell some friends that do live in New York City, you know you have my skyscrapers you have your skyscrapers and I have mine, you know my mountains and.

00:25:09.360 –> 00:25:10.140 Joseph McElroy: Exactly.

00:25:11.070 –> 00:25:18.840 Zeb Smathers: How many people in marketing are drawn to places like Canton because you know what they’re for manufacturing towns are they remember going in visit their grandparents.

00:25:19.140 –> 00:25:28.140 Zeb Smathers: And it’s amazing they’ll come across a store a memory, a smell, and it will they will go back decades.

00:25:28.800 –> 00:25:42.060 Zeb Smathers: grandparents farm or you know the where their father lived in Ohio or a cold town in West Virginia, and this at it ignites this memory and energy and, more importantly, puts a smile on their face and.

00:25:42.390 –> 00:25:45.180 Joseph McElroy: So Haywood County can still do that it hasn’t.

00:25:45.180 –> 00:25:53.190 Joseph McElroy: become this huge commercialized empire it’s become very authentic I mean it’s very successful now and becoming more so, but it hasn’t been.

00:25:53.580 –> 00:26:03.630 Joseph McElroy: Absolutely, so one last thing before we move on from the history, you know you know my father back in the day is Mayra’s tried to do something, where he would.

00:26:03.990 –> 00:26:09.900 Joseph McElroy: He would have the town by this old motel that had you know that was near the festival grounds and would become an artist.

00:26:10.680 –> 00:26:23.100 Joseph McElroy: sponsored our artists to come community, of course, it didn’t go over, but I know it’s something I would like to see happen, is there any ideas that your dad had but didn’t get implemented that you think you would like to pursue.

00:26:24.900 –> 00:26:30.030 Zeb Smathers: A lot of them, we have accomplished and I’ve tried to give credit where credit is due, and I.

00:26:30.030 –> 00:26:30.390 Zeb Smathers: Probably.

00:26:30.720 –> 00:26:40.020 Zeb Smathers: The better job with that you know I’ve we’ve talked about the Co OPS, I think there’s a great success for co OPS, the farmers market was a big one.

00:26:41.190 –> 00:26:47.040 Zeb Smathers: That is a really good question um you know I think again having more.

00:26:47.880 –> 00:26:55.230 Zeb Smathers: I would like to see more people get involved and encourage you to know, a downtown business association, but I’m a big believer.

00:26:55.590 –> 00:27:11.160 Zeb Smathers: That that’s not the government’s job to do yeah I want to see that organically come from business owners and have them have a stake in it will help any way that we can, but people need skin in the game, and it would really be nice to have a good downtown association.

00:27:12.180 –> 00:27:24.840 Zeb Smathers: And because that opens up tremendous other opportunities from business owners, but again that’s something for our business owners to get involved with but we’re only to that point for years and years, we had no businesses to do it organization.

00:27:24.930 –> 00:27:25.350 and

00:27:26.490 –> 00:27:35.790 Zeb Smathers: In 2013 we had about 20% occupancy right downtown we’re now up near 90 and I’m very proud of that watching our downtown come back to life.

00:27:36.480 –> 00:27:42.780 Joseph McElroy: By just you know we’re getting close to the end of the break here, I just wanted to before we move on to the next stuff when we’re talking about the things that you’ve done.

00:27:43.140 –> 00:27:50.160 Joseph McElroy: But I just wanted to do a shout-out that your last year, I think was selected as one of 19 leaders across the country.

00:27:50.490 –> 00:28:04.980 Joseph McElroy: to join the New Deal development of exceptional American leaders and just a selective national network of state and local elected officials, so I think that’s very proud of crop compliment and I congratulate you on that.

00:28:06.360 –> 00:28:08.340 Zeb Smathers: Well there’s the worse list I’m probably on but.

00:28:09.600 –> 00:28:11.700 Joseph McElroy: Well you’re not on the list that I bought.

00:28:14.130 –> 00:28:20.040 Joseph McElroy: All right, let’s take a break and we’ll come back we’ll start talking about the flood and the bicycle park.

00:30:26.730 –> 00:30:37.050 Joseph McElroy: Howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the Gateway to the Smokies Podcasts. My guest is Zeb Smathers Mayor of Canton North Carolina.

00:30:37.830 –> 00:30:46.920 Joseph McElroy: You talked about, you know how there was this you know things seem to be going downhill but there’s now been a resurgence and you’ve led the way for this resurgence of Canton.

00:30:47.370 –> 00:30:56.190 Joseph McElroy: And you know and I’ve been here the whole time I came every you know for 30 years I’ve been coming every six weeks back, they would count and never you know, Miss more than.

00:30:56.610 –> 00:31:06.390 Joseph McElroy: Two months at a time and spend a week here, you know family other things I’ve got to do here, I just love it, it will business has been elsewhere now been here quite a lot, because of the business and Maggie.

00:31:06.870 –> 00:31:16.140 Joseph McElroy: And, especially in the past few years I’ve been going through Canton, you know what I just noticed that resurgence like I think you’re one of the first towns and started putting out these barrels of flowers in them.

00:31:16.650 –> 00:31:21.450 Joseph McElroy: right that was pretty cool because now, all the other towns copied it right yeah.

00:31:22.830 –> 00:31:29.610 Joseph McElroy: What are some of the new shops and restaurants and things and then breweries that you’ve brought there because it’s pretty exciting, I think.

00:31:29.970 –> 00:31:32.700 Zeb Smathers: yeah and I’ll try to name them all because each of them is special.

00:31:33.090 –> 00:31:41.520 Zeb Smathers: And again I’m just part of a good great team I’ve got a great group of elected officials Democrats and Republicans in our town employees are absolutely amazing.

00:31:41.760 –> 00:31:56.370 Zeb Smathers: They don’t just believe in their job they believe that are making a difference and so I’m just part of a good a very, very good team, but I mean the first and is actually you know, a building that the dad owns the imperial it was the original.

00:31:57.600 –> 00:32:05.010 Zeb Smathers: This Victorian Hotel goes back to the 1890s it actually was here before the Biltmore house was built in Asheville.

00:32:05.640 –> 00:32:14.310 Zeb Smathers: And over the course of a decade dad had been renovating it in a piece by piece and another one those ideas I’m not sure I ever thought would happen, but.

00:32:15.000 –> 00:32:25.290 Zeb Smathers: It is a lot, it was the spark and now there’s a wonderful restaurant there to southern porch has the absolute best Bourbon selection in Western North Carolina I’m a Bourbon guy, so I have an.

00:32:26.790 –> 00:32:27.750 Zeb Smathers: expert on that.

00:32:28.470 –> 00:32:29.220 Joseph McElroy: An old fashioned.

00:32:29.490 –> 00:32:30.720 Zeb Smathers: yeah exactly and.

00:32:30.720 –> 00:32:32.430 Joseph McElroy: Put it aside put in a speakeasy.

00:32:32.460 –> 00:32:33.690 Joseph McElroy: we’re gonna have some smoky oh.

00:32:33.690 –> 00:32:37.200 Zeb Smathers: Nice very nice, let me, let me just let me know when that happens.

00:32:38.640 –> 00:32:43.500 Zeb Smathers: You know it’s it was the first restaurant it wasn’t the southern portion then it was said domain.

00:32:44.130 –> 00:32:53.910 Zeb Smathers: And the owners, then believe in Canton and it was you know it sounds crazy looking back, it was the first real true restaurant Canton had in decades, especially when the first serve alcohol.

00:32:54.390 –> 00:33:04.140 Zeb Smathers: And it started the Canton come back That was our hashtag because again to be a small town you gotta have a brewery got a farmers market he had to have a hashtag and ours come back.

00:33:04.650 –> 00:33:18.600 Zeb Smathers: Because that’s exactly what it was American loves to come back story and that’s what we did, and I’m still doing, but we have places like the Southern Porch we have Jay Rose, you know great Philly cheese hamburgers you gotta have a hamburger place.

00:33:18.690 –> 00:33:22.050 Zeb Smathers: Right, we have the Pigeon River Mercantile.

00:33:23.070 –> 00:33:27.180 Zeb Smathers: You know these paper town crafts, with all of these.

00:33:27.930 –> 00:33:36.060 Zeb Smathers: shops have started up paper town coffee I would put paper town coffee up against any coffee shop in New York City now I’m sure I’ll get some.

00:33:36.420 –> 00:33:44.220 Zeb Smathers: comments about that, but I’m truly but this couple, could you know they are truly artists in the coffee world.

00:33:44.550 –> 00:33:53.430 Zeb Smathers: And they could have gone anywhere in North Carolina or the United States and they chose can’t and because they were drawn again to all the stuff we talked about to our comeback story.

00:33:53.790 –> 00:34:07.110 Zeb Smathers: And you know the people and how we have a such a sense of community-based based around what we are and who we are and what we stand for, and so we have attracted so many businesses, like those and bear waters brewing.

00:34:08.640 –> 00:34:16.320 Zeb Smathers: Their waters are done an amazing job, both here and Maggie Valley and Waynesville again being on the river, you know we have.

00:34:16.740 –> 00:34:28.470 Zeb Smathers: For years and years, we didn’t realize how lucky we were to have the River now people we have breweries own it we have people to bring it in the summer I mean I was my sister’s house is on the river.

00:34:28.950 –> 00:34:43.500 Zeb Smathers: And I remember during covid I mean people would float down and the course being a mayor, I want to know where they were from it was places Raleigh, Atlanta, Chicago floating down the very same river I floated down, but now, people are paying good money to float down that river.

00:34:45.180 –> 00:34:54.870 Zeb Smathers: It is things like that, but again it’s these businesses that are very much part of us like I said the coffee place it’s paper town coffee, we are a paper town.

00:34:55.890 –> 00:35:08.940 Joseph McElroy: that’s an interesting thing I mean because I see a lot of times when you’re talking about the town, especially tourism, you say we’re not a tourist town we’re a mill town, but yet you got all these things and starting to have tourists come there.

00:35:09.060 –> 00:35:22.140 Zeb Smathers: yeah because people because we’re different nothing against any other cities or towns in western Carolina, but a lot of are somewhat indistinguishable and tourism, and here we stand out we’re a paper mill town, so I think again when you’re different.

00:35:22.710 –> 00:35:26.820 Zeb Smathers: When you have something else to sell and your story’s a little bit different.

00:35:27.330 –> 00:35:38.280 Zeb Smathers: People are drawn to that because it is different and, especially, once again, people are coming to place what you see, is what you get and I’m not saying we’re not perfect and have flaws, but I promise you, the people of the Canton.

00:35:38.880 –> 00:35:42.660 Zeb Smathers: What you see, is what you get and there’s a boolean that they’re really.

00:35:42.810 –> 00:35:45.120 Joseph McElroy: You know, being in Middletown everybody probably knows and we.

00:35:45.120 –> 00:35:53.760 Joseph McElroy: can’t we can’t ignore it, but back in the day used to smell really bad all the time and people would tell me who can’t say well that’s the smell of money.

00:35:54.630 –> 00:36:05.430 Joseph McElroy: Now I noticed it’s cleaned up a lot but occasionally there’s a little bit how bad how How often is the owner there and as it gets even better than that it wasn’t bad when I was there.

00:36:05.640 –> 00:36:12.630 Zeb Smathers: I can’t say enough about the evergreen pag gene and what they’ve been able to do with the environment I work with my first project is an older man was helping.

00:36:13.350 –> 00:36:20.670 Zeb Smathers: One of the bowlers switch from coal over to natural gas they’ve done such a great job and like anyone else, we have a long way to go.

00:36:21.000 –> 00:36:27.570 Zeb Smathers: But I remember when I was younger going back and again we have flaws, the River used to be covered with the phone.

00:36:28.230 –> 00:36:31.800 Zeb Smathers: There used to sit on the cars, the older was every day.

00:36:32.280 –> 00:36:44.760 Zeb Smathers: and actually looking back how no one stepped up early decades ago, so this is wrong, but now you know you used to cut you couldn’t fish below the meal Now you can fish below the meal it’s things like that, but.

00:36:45.240 –> 00:36:50.910 Zeb Smathers: we’re working with evergreen and on a lot of different projects because we don’t want to stop we want to keep getting better.

00:36:51.180 –> 00:36:59.880 Zeb Smathers: And again, I think if there’s a breakdown there’s a problem with a meal that you’re catching odor every once in a while that’s not stopping us from growing and that’s again.

00:37:00.030 –> 00:37:10.830 Joseph McElroy: I wasn’t even the one day I happen to catch up with everything that it was, it was not bad it wasn’t like you know the soul from hell coming in going in and your sinuses.

00:37:12.750 –> 00:37:17.250 Joseph McElroy: Like it used to be, it was like barely bear oh I smell that okay yeah.

00:37:18.990 –> 00:37:32.100 Joseph McElroy: And that was you know, I was there, several times, and that was there was only one time that there was a smell, so you know it’s not I don’t think it’s a problem with the milton’s has been highly their technology work with them has been highly successful so.

00:37:33.180 –> 00:37:46.650 Joseph McElroy: Put you’ve had some problems recently right, which has been a sort of a big story you’ve had a couple floods right and hence it like bear water got destroyed and a couple other things, how how was that for you and how you been recovering from.

00:37:46.650 –> 00:37:57.630 Zeb Smathers: That, in August 16 17th of last year, out of nowhere without any warning, we knew we’re going to get a lot of rain about 330 that afternoon.

00:37:58.230 –> 00:38:06.300 Zeb Smathers: canton haywood county was hit with a tremendous flood event from the remnants of tropical storm Fred.

00:38:06.870 –> 00:38:16.590 Zeb Smathers: Six lives were lost 300 homes are downtown businesses by the River were completely flooded you’re talking about 20 feet of water.

00:38:17.460 –> 00:38:31.590 Zeb Smathers: Going back to that in oh four we had floods and so forth, to hurricanes back to back, they said they were 500 year floods, we made it 17 years luckily I was able to lean on dad for a lot of emergency management.

00:38:32.730 –> 00:38:39.330 Zeb Smathers: You know a lot of lives were saved common citizens jumped in the water, again, this was a flash flood and an hour and a half.

00:38:39.840 –> 00:38:54.750 Zeb Smathers: It came out of nowhere at one point I had to jump in and getting people out of the water, but so many others did and, if not the death toll would have been possibly into the hundreds, especially if it was later in the day and schools were out most of our bridges were knocked out.

00:38:56.400 –> 00:39:04.500 Zeb Smathers: And it was such an event, you just cannot explain in the intensity of the water, the level of water was similar to.

00:39:05.940 –> 00:39:21.030 Zeb Smathers: But there were places they got flooded and oh four that are no longer standing you can call it, global warming and climate change, whatever, but I think a lot of us realize that the intensity of these storms and what we’re seeing across the United States.

00:39:22.350 –> 00:39:28.890 Zeb Smathers: We need to have discussions, we should be having discussions, because how can I build back a town, how can I have manufacturing.

00:39:29.370 –> 00:39:42.300 Zeb Smathers: went on any given summer is going to be knocked down in a mountain town we’re talking about major flooding that you’d expect on in the coast in a small mountain time but they come up from the Gulf these hurricanes come straight up from the Gulf lot of energy.

00:39:43.350 –> 00:39:46.110 Zeb Smathers: And they dumped on us and so again.

00:39:47.250 –> 00:39:57.360 Zeb Smathers: out of nowhere, and this was an August my sister lost her home least the bottom part of her home, I say this just to make a point on August 2 my sister tragically lost her husband.

00:39:59.280 –> 00:40:12.000 Zeb Smathers: Two weeks later, she loses her home and then, all this is all the chaos and I say that because you know as Mayor and watching your little sister go through that there’s not words.

00:40:12.330 –> 00:40:30.270 Zeb Smathers: But myself, especially people who did lose those six families that lost people, the people of haywood county to dig deep and with the benefit of everybody from politicians to prayers across the United States and me, I had we had people on supplies being sent to us, you know from Hawaii.

00:40:31.650 –> 00:40:32.880 Joseph McElroy: moto motels and Maggie we’re putting.

00:40:32.880 –> 00:40:33.750 Zeb Smathers: motels and lagging.

00:40:33.870 –> 00:40:44.490 Zeb Smathers: Everybody coming together in these moments of tragedy and i’ve said time and time again, it is tragic that it takes tragedies to bring us together and bring out the best in people.

00:40:45.330 –> 00:40:58.950 Zeb Smathers: You watch people that lost everything find a way and even today to recover and i’m I don’t care if you’re a mayor, I don’t care where you are when you hear these stories recovery and they happen every single day and people coming together.

00:40:59.340 –> 00:41:08.850 Zeb Smathers: Especially in these times, it gives you that push to keep going so when people ask me said hey you know you’ve been through a lot, how are you doing you keep going.

00:41:09.120 –> 00:41:09.600 Zeb Smathers: that’s what.

00:41:09.690 –> 00:41:11.730 Joseph McElroy: You doing the mountain, so you you’ve done.

00:41:12.210 –> 00:41:20.970 Joseph McElroy: you’ve done an amazing job you know the you know the lots of the infrastructure is backup bear water bruins backup you know Maggie has a version of the.

00:41:21.330 –> 00:41:29.790 Joseph McElroy: One of the Alex bear water for a while it was the main one, and now the main ones back open up and can, and you did an amazing job, what is the.

00:41:30.660 –> 00:41:36.900 Joseph McElroy: You know I don’t want to get too much into climate change and discussing that we could go on for an hour about yeah the solutions for the world.

00:41:37.320 –> 00:41:50.760 Joseph McElroy: What specifically can can do to help alleviate the future things and I don’t want to give you a long discussion about this, a lot of time, but do you have any quick things to reassure people that were taken action to make it less dangerous.

00:41:51.150 –> 00:42:01.620 Zeb Smathers: yeah our our obligation is no matter what we do, rebuilding back moving things we have to ask the question, what can we do to help mitigate future storms again.

00:42:01.920 –> 00:42:11.880 Zeb Smathers: In 2004, we were told, would it be another 500 years before this happened, we made it 17 and so everything we do is we build back, we have to see.

00:42:12.300 –> 00:42:23.610 Zeb Smathers: Whether on a large scale, or a small scale, what we can do and it’s not easy just tearing everything down again we have to fight for our soul and much like cove and how do we balance safety.

00:42:24.780 –> 00:42:37.050 Zeb Smathers: without sacrificing you know our soul and as we rebuild you know some things, whether it be historic theaters or armories or stadiums they’re going back, but in small ways we’re looking at what can we do.

00:42:37.410 –> 00:42:46.830 Zeb Smathers: To mitigate future damages, but also where are we building homes, where we building businesses and that’s, not just in the floodplains that’s all tops like you said in Maggie.

00:42:47.280 –> 00:42:56.820 Zeb Smathers: All that increases water flow so having those discussions calmly about what we can do we shouldn’t be doing anything unless we understand.

00:42:57.090 –> 00:43:09.870 Zeb Smathers: The world we live in, whether we like it or not, or understand everything it’s a reality, and I think part of leadership is not leading in a world that we wish that there was, we have to leave in the world that is and follow those reasons.

00:43:10.140 –> 00:43:17.610 Joseph McElroy: that’s a great answer so we’re going to take a break and then we’ll come back and finish up talking about chest that mountain Barker I think everybody’s excited by that.

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00:45:19.980 –> 00:45:28.710 Joseph McElroy: This is Joseph Franklin mcilroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and I guess eps matters and the Mayor of can North Carolina so.

00:45:29.070 –> 00:45:42.600 Joseph McElroy: yeah these strategies, you also had an economic resurgence resurgence, but somehow you also were able to raise $600,000 maybe more to acquire 450 acres of land and you’ve built a state of the art park outside of can.

00:45:43.140 –> 00:45:46.440 Joseph McElroy: it’s called chest out market mountain Park, can you tell us about that far.

00:45:46.800 –> 00:46:03.330 Zeb Smathers: yeah absolutely but two years ago now, I received a phone call from honey mujer she’s the Executive Director of the southern appalachian conservancy and what this group does is throughout the mountains, they purchase and help preserve mountain land, which is so important.

00:46:04.710 –> 00:46:14.250 Zeb Smathers: You know as much as we love, economic development and manufacturing, we cannot just give away or develop every piece of want to god’s greatest treasures and.

00:46:14.970 –> 00:46:28.050 Zeb Smathers: So she says, I have this idea and there’s there’s 450 acres located chestnut mountain outside right outside the city limits back in the early 1990s, there was plans to make it a nascar track those fell through.

00:46:29.130 –> 00:46:35.100 Zeb Smathers: There has been a lot of crazy ideas through the years there’s been talk of everything from.

00:46:36.120 –> 00:46:44.790 Zeb Smathers: You know meeting locations and camping to rock stories and so, with the help of public and private partnerships.

00:46:45.270 –> 00:47:02.070 Zeb Smathers: Southern appalachian was able to purchase that property and we’ll hand the keys over in April in our grand opening and we’re, it is a 450 acre absolutely amazing beautiful land for outdoor recreation and a major part of it is going to be mountain bikes.

00:47:03.240 –> 00:47:16.350 Zeb Smathers: A well known mountain biker from asheville has raised probably over about $280,000 to open, something it burn park it’s his personal park open to the public.

00:47:17.100 –> 00:47:22.650 Zeb Smathers: And again it’s the perfect example if something’s going to bring in new people new ideas economic growth.

00:47:23.100 –> 00:47:31.350 Zeb Smathers: But it doesn’t change, who we are it’s used to the mountains it’s low impact it preserves his land and the beauty.

00:47:31.890 –> 00:47:38.490 Zeb Smathers: Of and it’s just that perfect situation and it sits on the bumpkin county where asheville is located and haywood county line.

00:47:38.970 –> 00:47:53.730 Zeb Smathers: And I love the show’s called gateway to the smokies one of my favorite quotes is from Walt Disney that if you want to control the experience control the entrance haywood county in canton where the gateway the smokies if you come West or.

00:47:53.730 –> 00:47:54.900 Joseph McElroy: Heaven yes.

00:47:54.990 –> 00:48:12.300 Zeb Smathers: We can West asheville whether it’s waynesville Maggie valley Western Carolina university cherokee Murphy any of those places, you have to pass through can either through the interstate or old asheville highway where this park is located and to put this park.

00:48:13.410 –> 00:48:24.600 Zeb Smathers: at the entrance of the smokies it speaks volumes about what we are what we intend to be and again the economic growth, I know very little about mountain mountain biking.

00:48:25.320 –> 00:48:25.890 Joseph McElroy: can be viewed.

00:48:26.280 –> 00:48:36.480 Zeb Smathers: As not my field, I do know something about economic impact, and you know going for a hike and then wanting to get a beer afterwards or getting a T shirt going to eat.

00:48:36.990 –> 00:48:45.570 Zeb Smathers: And if we can open our arms of outdoor recreation and then, once they get can get the Maggie valley get them the cherokee tell our story.

00:48:46.560 –> 00:48:56.370 Zeb Smathers: You know I think that’s part of the experience that we want to provide, and it goes back to flood recovery is we build back canton you know in our REC part we’re going to we are raising money.

00:48:56.940 –> 00:49:02.640 Zeb Smathers: We want to build an absolute fantastic and large all abilities playground because.

00:49:03.060 –> 00:49:10.500 Zeb Smathers: When you come back from a flood people are going to ask you, you know what are you focusing on if we can do something in our REC park.

00:49:10.980 –> 00:49:20.640 Zeb Smathers: That that smiles on children’s faces and families faces, no matter what they’ve been through in life, especially if they’re if they’re they’re suffering from special needs.

00:49:21.330 –> 00:49:33.330 Zeb Smathers: Especially in these times, where kids and families, we need a smile again we’re back and we don’t want Kobe to take more from us than it already has and it’s taking so many and so many lives.

00:49:33.900 –> 00:49:34.260 Zeb Smathers: and

00:49:34.470 –> 00:49:35.940 Zeb Smathers: What that is our forefront.

00:49:36.030 –> 00:49:41.550 Joseph McElroy: To say make it, you know, everybody can enjoy it, I agree with you, you.

00:49:42.300 –> 00:49:52.860 Joseph McElroy: You know, one of the things exciting to me is i’ve read that there’s something called a type bike trail that’s going to be in this new area, I have three and a half year olds, you know so they’re writing their little bikes down but executive be.

00:49:53.160 –> 00:49:57.750 Zeb Smathers: Well, hopefully plays like my two year old you can turn loose safely, let me get some energy out, for they come home.

00:49:58.530 –> 00:50:00.030 Joseph McElroy: found biking for tops.

00:50:01.140 –> 00:50:04.050 Zeb Smathers: Come one it’s a byob bring your own box.

00:50:04.050 –> 00:50:04.470 So.

00:50:06.240 –> 00:50:23.820 Zeb Smathers: Once again, I mean we see that’s what’s in many parts of West, North Carolina it’s retirees its people moving here from different places in eastern haywood we’re focusing on young families, we won’t young families our school system, I became schools is ranked number 11th in North Carolina.

00:50:24.840 –> 00:50:33.360 Zeb Smathers: We love our sports we love our schools, I mean we can provide the total package, but again, we love having people come visit us and and move here.

00:50:33.750 –> 00:50:44.790 Zeb Smathers: But it’s important to us that we don’t lose who we are and if we lean into that I think we can have the best of both worlds and people will be drawn to us because of our past, present and also our future.

00:50:45.210 –> 00:50:51.330 Joseph McElroy: yeah I agree with you, if you celebrate your good heritage of you live it and live the good heritage.

00:50:51.720 –> 00:50:58.200 Joseph McElroy: Then, your heritage, the people coming in to adopt it instead of you adopting there’s right, so you know the.

00:50:58.470 –> 00:51:09.420 Joseph McElroy: You know that’s all we celebrate dance and music and fishing and all these things at the middle art because it’s about promoting a positive a positive experience of mountain culture.

00:51:09.960 –> 00:51:15.930 Joseph McElroy: So these are a little bit more details, I just wanted for the viewers, do you know how long these biking trails are going to be.

00:51:16.680 –> 00:51:17.430 Zeb Smathers: How long.

00:51:17.730 –> 00:51:20.850 Joseph McElroy: Do they have any measurements how much how many miles.

00:51:21.510 –> 00:51:35.670 Zeb Smathers: pins I mean long term we the money, you spoke of we received about $750,000 of grant money from the state which will allow us to really complete the second phase and there’s going to be the largest rails to trails the top the outdoor classrooms.

00:51:36.750 –> 00:51:45.780 Zeb Smathers: I think the the I don’t know the exact length, but the barn Park, you know these are the jumps, these are the you know the barrels and.

00:51:45.780 –> 00:51:46.140 Joseph McElroy: All the.

00:51:46.410 –> 00:51:47.880 Joseph McElroy: Other fancy stuff right.

00:51:48.150 –> 00:51:50.910 Zeb Smathers: fancy you know the the fancy stuff out there, so.

00:51:51.390 –> 00:51:53.550 Joseph McElroy: world class of biking facility right.

00:51:53.610 –> 00:52:02.040 Zeb Smathers: yeah, this is not something that was very important to myself and our elected officials that if we’re going to do this we’re going to do it throughout way, and so this is state of the art.

00:52:02.460 –> 00:52:11.820 Zeb Smathers: done by amazing contractors that have just really no use the land, I mean the mountains themselves create trials and they create jumps, so this is not.

00:52:12.960 –> 00:52:16.830 Zeb Smathers: This is again what you see, is what you get, and these are some great mountain bike trails.

00:52:17.100 –> 00:52:27.600 Joseph McElroy: All right, well cool, then you know we’re going to close it up here I want you to anything else you want to tell our viewers about canton and then any shout out to want to give and where they can find out more information.

00:52:28.170 –> 00:52:35.820 Zeb Smathers: No, I mean, I think, obviously, Google any of these things are websites explore west, north Carolina our people love to tell our stories.

00:52:36.570 –> 00:52:47.340 Zeb Smathers: that’s something that is just you know ingrained in us and you know again we’re so much surrounded by food and fellowship but again i’ll go back to the little bit higher and I saw this during the floods and I saw this working with.

00:52:47.760 –> 00:52:57.840 Zeb Smathers: democrats and Republicans, and this is a message I say I don’t mean this to be political is you know, again we have to make week, we have the decision each day is people.

00:52:58.590 –> 00:53:05.040 Zeb Smathers: To what type of law for we’re going to live, what type of decisions we’re going to make what are we going to demand from our leaders.

00:53:05.370 –> 00:53:14.490 Zeb Smathers: And we don’t have to settle for the toxicity and the division that surround us, I once you see what I was able to witness and others.

00:53:14.910 –> 00:53:21.030 Zeb Smathers: In haywood county during the floods and happens every time there’s a disaster in this country we don’t have to go back.

00:53:21.480 –> 00:53:30.330 Zeb Smathers: To where the way things were of division and just you know people tearing each other down, we can do better, but you have to demand it because, once you see it.

00:53:30.630 –> 00:53:38.310 Zeb Smathers: You know it exists, you just you have to lean into it and he can accomplish and so again I don’t want that to be one of the legacies from the floods.

00:53:38.880 –> 00:53:49.020 Zeb Smathers: Not the death toll, not the destruction, but maybe just maybe we started the walk towards less division and more cooperation and doing things.

00:53:49.290 –> 00:53:59.370 Zeb Smathers: for the common good, because it does exist and i’m just glad to be part of it with our employees and our elected officials and everyday citizens trying to make haywood county the best place that can be.

00:53:59.880 –> 00:54:07.230 Joseph McElroy: Well, I congratulate you on what you’ve done so far and I thank you for being on this show it’s been a pleasure talking to you and you’re doing exciting things.

00:54:07.560 –> 00:54:21.660 Joseph McElroy: I love the biking mountain, because I think that’s gonna be huge tourism thing for the for the for the haywood county and of course me being in tourism itself actually meeting my my personal goals, but I also think it’s great for the Community.

00:54:22.950 –> 00:54:28.620 Zeb Smathers: Thank you so much it’s been a privilege being part of you, I hope, some of my friends in New York City hard my my southern accent today.

00:54:29.070 –> 00:54:31.350 Joseph McElroy: So so to let me know if you did.

00:54:31.620 –> 00:54:51.810 Joseph McElroy: I will, so this has been the gateway to the smokies podcast you can find out more about this podcast by going to smokies adventure calm and there’s a link to all the previous podcasts touching and peruse it’s also This is also done was streamed live on talk radio dot nyc.

00:54:53.070 –> 00:54:58.500 Joseph McElroy: And that happens every week on Tuesdays from six to seven, this is a wonderful network.

00:54:58.890 –> 00:55:08.160 Joseph McElroy: I encourage you to investigate other shows on this network, because all live podcast so you get a very dynamic experience listening to things that range from self help.

00:55:08.550 –> 00:55:19.530 Joseph McElroy: To to New York City to other travel shows to pets and you know it’s it’s a it’s a it’s almost like a Community radio just done in the big city.

00:55:20.640 –> 00:55:28.800 Joseph McElroy: And I encourage you to come, look at it, I actually have another podcast on this network called wise content creates well, which is about.

00:55:29.850 –> 00:55:39.270 Joseph McElroy: Marketing and content marketing seo and artificial intelligence in the upcoming all the augmentation of human creativity with Ai.

00:55:40.290 –> 00:55:48.210 Joseph McElroy: And how that’s necessary for the future of marketing, so I hope you will come and listen to that and that’s on Fridays from noon until one.

00:55:49.470 –> 00:55:56.070 Joseph McElroy: And I appreciate you being here today and listening to this wonderful program that we had and i’ll see you next week same time.

Ed Sharpe discusses Medicine Man Crafts and Cherokee Craftsmanship.

Ed Sharpe, Owner, and Operator of Medicine Man Crafts in Cherokee N.C.The business, founded by Tom Underwood in 1963, and later sold to Kay Sharpe—Ed’s late mother – is one of the oldest and most prestigious purveyors of authentic Cherokee crafts on the Qualla Boundary. Ed is also an avid hiker and nature photographer –is proud to carry on the great legacy of true Cherokee culture created by Tom Underwood and Kay Sharpe.

You will hear from him about the history of Cherokee crafts and how the tradition has been passed down to him. Don't miss this fun interview! 

Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by clicking here.

Joseph starts talking about the Meadowlark Motel which is also a sponsor for the show as well as upcoming events. Some upcoming events include a mountain heritage book series happening in Maggie Valley at the motel. He also mentions a fly fishing camp weekend to bring like-minded people together through fishing, songs, campfire and more. Joseph also talks about the Cherokee’s origin story for the Smoky Mountains. He introduces his guest, Ed Sharpe, Owner and Operator of Medicine Man Crafts in Cherokee N.C. The business, founded by Tom Underwood in 1963, and later sold to Kay Sharpe, Ed’s late mother, is one of the oldest and most prestigious purveyors of authentic Cherokee crafts on the Qualla Boundary. Ed is also an avid hiker and nature photographer. Ed talks about his family’s story of how they ended up in Cherokee, North Carolina. He also discusses with Joseph about Medicine Man Crafts and what he knows about Tom Underwood who was the founder.

Ed speaks more about growing up and being around Tom Underwood who was “a part of the family” and an influence on him and his mother. He recalls certain pieces of art growing up as well as playing at the Oconaluftee River. Ed talks about Medicine Man Crafts and their relationship with crafters who have known the store for years. Joseph asks Ed about him leaving for college and getting into a musical career in Asheville. He studied music composition and was also a voice major. Ed found a passion in sound engineering and was in the country music scene where he worked with a lot of people. He also moved into live sound. With his success in his sound engineering career, he decided to make a change as the pandemic came along. His mother was retiring and asked if he would like to take over Medicine Man Crafts, which of course he did. His mother passed away in 2020. Joseph and Ed share a lot in common like growing up in a business and mourning the loss of their mothers around the same time. Ed also talks about the history of the location where the store lives.

Ed talks with Joseph about selling books about herbs and the history of Cherokee and the language. Tom, he says, wrote books about crafting and more. His father and Tom had a business called Cherokee Publications. Things like medicinal herbs are something that Ed has been working on expanding more in the store; he mentions teas, soaps, as well as ceremonial traditions as things people can find in the store. When talking about craft, he sells handcrafted items like wood, pottery, baskets, and stone carvings as well as weaponry items. Ed also mentions crafts from great artists that he carries in the store spanning from generations. Ed and Joseph discuss pottery and stonework. They talk about the culture and traditions revolving around things like wedding pottery, baskets, and Cherokee masks.

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00:00:33.420 –> 00:00:36.270 Joseph McElroy: Welcome to the gateway to the smokies podcast.

00:00:36.930 –> 00:00:51.960 Joseph McElroy: This podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the great smoky mountain National Park in the surrounding towns, this area is filled with ancient natural beauty a deep storied history in which mountain cultures that we explore weekly.

00:00:53.460 –> 00:01:03.660 Joseph McElroy: I’m Joseph Franklyn McElroy, a man of the world but also with deep roots in these mountains my family is living in great smokies for over 200 years my business is in travel, but my heart is in culture.

00:01:04.500 –> 00:01:13.620 Joseph McElroy: Today we’re going to talk about traditional Cherokee crafts and iconic craft stores, but first I got a few little sponsor message events and things coming up.

00:01:14.430 –> 00:01:23.610 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place evocative of motor courts of the past, modern and vibrant with a Chic Appalachian feel, a place for adventure for relaxation.

00:01:24.180 –> 00:01:32.820 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on fire and eat accompanied by fine wines or craft beer.

00:01:33.600 –> 00:01:45.510 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place and old-time music world cultural sound, there is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel, in Maggie Valley, North Carolina your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay.

00:01:48.030 –> 00:01:59.970 Joseph McElroy: The smoky mountains and surrounding areas of vacation destination for all seasons some of the nation’s best hiking trails waterfalls outdoor adventures and family entertainment can be found, right here.

00:02:00.750 –> 00:02:12.690 Joseph McElroy: start your adventure by using the smokies adventure.com that’s smokies plural adventure singular .com to explore all the wonderful features of the great smoky mountain National Park.

00:02:13.170 –> 00:02:25.920 Joseph McElroy: trails, waterfalls, cades code, and more than check out all the awesome family attractions and entertainment during the time your entire family can enjoy if you want you to do things like weddings in the mountain

00:02:26.940 –> 00:02:37.740 Joseph McElroy: To go on a honeymoon and other romantic adventures, the goal of smokies adventures is to become the leading information for portal for adventures and experiences and the great smoky mountains.

00:02:38.940 –> 00:02:40.410 Joseph McElroy: So upcoming events.

00:02:42.270 –> 00:02:50.820 Joseph McElroy: Meadowlark Smoky Mountain heritage Center has a heritage book series.

00:02:51.450 –> 00:03:00.630 Joseph McElroy: or your presentation heritage books about the smokies upcoming one is a presentation of the legendary hunters of the southern highlands.

00:03:00.990 –> 00:03:13.200 Joseph McElroy: A century of sport and survival, the great smoky mountains from the heyday of the Cherokee nation on through the 20th century, the great smoky mountains of nurtured seller this most celebrated hunters in American history.

00:03:13.890 –> 00:03:24.390 Joseph McElroy: predicting changes in weather and almost telepathically sensing animal Haber these outdoor doors been released in an extremely with the plan that sustainable.

00:03:25.410 –> 00:03:33.750 Joseph McElroy: Local author and general manager of the Meadowlark smoky mountain heritage Center but I love to read will lovely recall the tales.

00:03:34.080 –> 00:03:45.000 Joseph McElroy: write with characters like artist John the bear is having a killing only enough livestock to eat and one sitting granted him a reputation at once chivalrous and menisci.

00:03:45.510 –> 00:03:55.170 Joseph McElroy: And little George Plott the legendary marksman during World War Two and a hero that lingers among the region’s hardwood floors and misty fulfills.

00:03:55.800 –> 00:04:05.490 Joseph McElroy: the rediscovered era of self-sufficient mountain living with folks labored in logging camps Bruton chided how did for survival and fraught with that, for what they believe.

00:04:06.450 –> 00:04:18.630 Joseph McElroy: it’s on April 9 Saturday, April 9, 4 PM and it’s followed by a book signing by Bob Plott and a Barbecue and music acoustic music at the Meadowlark Motel.

00:04:19.410 –> 00:04:30.780 Joseph McElroy: guest in Heritage Club Members are getting free and others can come for 10 just $10 a person again that’s April 9th at 4 pm at the Meadowlark Motel upcoming in April, also as a fly fishing camp

00:04:32.130 –> 00:04:47.130 Joseph McElroy: the Meadowlark motels are offering a fly fishing camp weekend on April 15 through the 17th and the smoky mountains, our goal is to bring like-minded people together to fly fishing food, drink songs and stories and a campfire.

00:04:48.330 –> 00:04:57.330 Joseph McElroy: Led by Charles Humphrey the third, who was previously on this podcast and is not only a grammy award-winning songwriter who might.

00:04:58.080 –> 00:05:07.470 Joseph McElroy: might be persuaded to break into a few songs around the campfire but he’s also an accomplished expert fly fishing guide and he has a compadre.

00:05:08.250 –> 00:05:19.770 Joseph McElroy: A few compadres are also great fly fishing experts so there’ll be a Friday night fishing tales presentation, and there will be some food there’ll be lodging.

00:05:20.250 –> 00:05:30.990 Joseph McElroy: Saturday night w breakfast and they’ll be a half a day of instruction and four or five hours of intense fishing it will be additional fishing just dinner, or we have a mountain heritage stream in the backyard.

00:05:31.320 –> 00:05:41.880 Joseph McElroy: Barbecue dinner live musical entertainment campers a lot so call 8289261717 to find out more about this fantastic weekend.

00:05:43.200 –> 00:05:51.030 Joseph McElroy: Now I like to try to tie in a little bit of story of poetry or something into the guest’s content that’s coming up.

00:05:51.480 –> 00:06:00.000 Joseph McElroy: And I thought it’d be interesting to talk about the Cherokee’s origin story for the smoky mountains according to legend a long time ago.

00:06:00.750 –> 00:06:14.760 Joseph McElroy: Before selfishness came into the world the Cherokee people were happily sharing the hunting and fishing places with their neighbors all this changed when selfishness came into the world and man began to call.

00:06:16.140 –> 00:06:24.120 Joseph McElroy: The Cherokee Indian quote tribes, and finally the Chiefs of several times tribes met encounter we’re trying to settle the dispute.

00:06:24.840 –> 00:06:37.410 Joseph McElroy: They smoke the pipe and continue to call for seven days and seven nights this displeased the great spirit because people are not supposed to smoke the pipe until they make peace.

00:06:38.130 –> 00:06:54.990 Joseph McElroy: As he looked upon the old men with heads bowed he just decided to do something to remind people to smoke the pipe only at the time they make peace, the great spirit turned the old men into these grayish flowers now called in invites and he made.

00:06:57.210 –> 00:07:06.720 Joseph McElroy: Were friends and relatives had closed he made the smoke hanging over these mountains until all the people all over the world, learn to live together in peace.

00:07:08.460 –> 00:07:17.490 Joseph McElroy: So a man there’s a little bit about the Cherokee and the stories and the folklore and traditions is it guiding Ed Sharpe.

00:07:18.150 –> 00:07:25.530 Joseph McElroy: Ed, he’s the guest tonight ED Sharpe grew up in Swain County is a graduate of Swain County High School and Warren Wilson College.

00:07:26.250 –> 00:07:35.730 Joseph McElroy: After a 25-year career as a musician songwriter, it sounds engineer in Nashville Tennessee Ed and his wife moved back to Swain county in 2018.

00:07:36.060 –> 00:07:41.610 Joseph McElroy: They took over the renowned medicine man craft shop in Cherokee North Carolina.

00:07:42.330 –> 00:08:00.180 Joseph McElroy: The business, founded by Tom Underwood in 1963, and later sold to Kay Sharpe—Ed’s late mother – is one of the oldest and most prestigious purveyors of authentic Cherokee crafts on the Qualla Boundary.  hello Ed, how are you doing?

00:08:01.350 –> 00:08:05.040 Ed Sharpe: Hi, I’m doing good Thank you thanks for having me.

00:08:05.730 –> 00:08:15.990 Joseph McElroy: Oh sure thing, so you know yeah there’s a little bit of you know your story is a little bit reminiscent of what I’m doing I grew up in the Maggie Valley.

00:08:16.470 –> 00:08:24.150 Joseph McElroy: Right and lived in my parents ran a motel you know traditional motel and Maggie Valley, starting in the early 70s.

00:08:24.600 –> 00:08:32.370 Joseph McElroy: I grew up there, and then I will offer a career and I still have that career, because I got a business, but I came back and I.

00:08:33.300 –> 00:08:43.290 Joseph McElroy: took over the motel in 2018 and have been renovating along with my wife, and you know and putting in a lot of things like the ventures and.

00:08:43.800 –> 00:08:57.150 Joseph McElroy: Events and stuff like that we’re doing so, we don’t have a far December path you are music, I was a little bit, the arts, but I mostly a computer and a marketing guy now, but so you know my family.

00:08:58.230 –> 00:09:14.820 Joseph McElroy: You know why I were originally from this area they did go off for a little while then came back in around 6668 something like that to the after about three-four years away so your family came back came into swain county 1966 right.

00:09:15.750 –> 00:09:17.580 Ed Sharpe: that’s right yeah.

00:09:18.360 –> 00:09:19.740 Joseph McElroy: where’s the originally come from.

00:09:21.540 –> 00:09:26.070 Ed Sharpe: We were originally from Greensboro North Carolina and.

00:09:27.540 –> 00:09:38.250 Ed Sharpe: My dad is going to seminary in New Orleans so I spent my preschool years in New Orleans Louisiana and

00:09:39.540 –> 00:09:49.680 Ed Sharpe: it’s a funny story because back in 1958 my dad and mom were married and they honeymooned in Cherokee North Carolina.

00:09:51.000 –> 00:10:01.800 Ed Sharpe: there’s the story that dad saw an old check on the side of the road, and he said man I’d love to live here if I could live in that little dilapidated check.

00:10:04.560 –> 00:10:05.850 Ed Sharpe: As fate would have it.

00:10:06.870 –> 00:10:23.940 Ed Sharpe: When he graduated seminary in New Orleans 66 they placed in Cherokee badness church in the Center of charity and, believe it or not, they put him in a house directly across the road from that little shack.

00:10:26.940 –> 00:10:27.690 Joseph McElroy: Oh that’s great.

00:10:29.610 –> 00:10:36.510 Ed Sharpe: Little shack loves us but, so I think it was meant for my family to be here yeah.

00:10:36.570 –> 00:10:43.260 Joseph McElroy: that’s amazing well your mom was Kaye Sharpe she and that same year, she started working for the medicine man craft right?

00:10:44.640 –> 00:10:46.650 Ed Sharpe: Then or soon after yeah.

00:10:46.710 –> 00:10:48.300 Joseph McElroy: yeah now.

00:10:48.360 –> 00:10:50.910 Joseph McElroy: Tom has a fairly famous guy.

00:10:50.970 –> 00:11:06.540 Joseph McElroy: In these parts, he was the founder of the business, but he was a pretty interesting character and his father was a sort of a well-known guy he was a principal of the school there was highly regarded by the tribe almost an ordinary travel right.

00:11:07.680 –> 00:11:08.910 Ed Sharpe: that’s right yeah.

00:11:09.240 –> 00:11:20.310 Joseph McElroy: yeah and then Tom was was instrumental in getting the outdoor drama onto these hills, as well as the kind of lucky in the village started in the late 50s and early 60s, is that right.

00:11:21.720 –> 00:11:22.590 Ed Sharpe: that’s right.

00:11:22.890 –> 00:11:26.010 Joseph McElroy: yeah, what do you know about that story that sounds interesting to me.

00:11:27.420 –> 00:11:32.340 Ed Sharpe: You know I don’t know a whole lot about his time there was before my time, but.

00:11:33.510 –> 00:11:48.270 Ed Sharpe: He grew up, as you said, is that was a teacher prominent teacher in the area, so he grew up with the Cherokee people and friends and peers, and so I think his experience that.

00:11:49.260 –> 00:12:05.730 Ed Sharpe: The outdoor drama and the village, especially he really got to know them as crafters and their work and probably the business side of things, you know so eventually opened his own business, where I.

00:12:05.730 –> 00:12:08.850 Ed Sharpe: was naturally incorporated with the craftsman.

00:12:11.100 –> 00:12:18.600 Joseph McElroy: So yeah so I guess he got a lot of trust, with the prospect of getting them to give you their wares sell is not easy.

00:12:18.630 –> 00:12:23.370 Ed Sharpe: yeah thanks, so I think it was just connected that way, through his experience.

00:12:23.430 –> 00:12:27.330 Joseph McElroy: Yes, I restarted both the craft store and the motel that time right.

00:12:29.610 –> 00:12:31.650 Ed Sharpe: He did not have the hotel but.

00:12:31.680 –> 00:12:32.520 Ed Sharpe: Our current and.

00:12:33.330 –> 00:12:34.350 Ed Sharpe: They were working.

00:12:35.550 –> 00:12:37.530 Ed Sharpe: On the ground floor of the motel

00:12:38.910 –> 00:12:47.880 Joseph McElroy: Okay cool all right yeah, of course, you know I’m I’m always intrigued by motel what they did back in the day right so yeah.

00:12:47.940 –> 00:12:51.390 Ed Sharpe: yeah it’s an interesting one around Cherokee as you know.

00:12:51.570 –> 00:12:57.720 Joseph McElroy: Oh, my goodness well there’s interest all these mountains have all these motels and they’re starting to be.

00:12:58.800 –> 00:13:04.320 Joseph McElroy: starting to be a number of them are renovated and becoming interesting again right, just like the meadowlark yeah.

00:13:04.410 –> 00:13:05.670 Ed Sharpe: Man yeah.

00:13:05.730 –> 00:13:08.190 Joseph McElroy: yeah alright, so we got to take a break.

00:13:09.420 –> 00:13:16.860 Joseph McElroy: And then we’ll come back and find out more about the history of your medicine man crafts store.

00:13:18.060 –> 00:13:18.810 Ed Sharpe: And so they.

00:15:33.960 –> 00:15:46.530 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast my guest Ed Sharpe, so Ed I guess you know of growing up your mom working in you know.

00:15:47.550 –> 00:15:54.750 Joseph McElroy: Getting to meet Tom Underwood you know he had probably a good quite an influence on you and your mother right.

00:15:56.520 –> 00:16:00.000 Ed Sharpe: He did yeah he really became part of our family.

00:16:01.230 –> 00:16:12.270 Joseph McElroy: Did he set the tone of the shop, you know why it’s so so well known today is that authentic Cherokee cultural artifacts.

00:16:14.220 –> 00:16:24.270 Ed Sharpe: He certainly did yeah his relationships with the local people and the tribal members, you know, and all their wares.

00:16:25.350 –> 00:16:28.710 Ed Sharpe: It was fascinating as a young kid to see that.

00:16:29.880 –> 00:16:44.640 Joseph McElroy: Do you have you know I guess you know, like like like me, you grow up you know when your parents are involved in the business you grow up in the business right, you have some really great wonderful culturally rich memories of that time.

00:16:48.690 –> 00:16:51.180 Ed Sharpe: I do with a lot of the art.

00:16:52.320 –> 00:17:03.480 Ed Sharpe: For a long time, we had a piece by John Well called the Eco band I don’t know if you saw that, but it was a statue type of wood carving.

00:17:04.050 –> 00:17:19.260 Ed Sharpe: That was just beautifully done and in a case there and it kind of became the icon of the medicine man that piece, so I remember that well and aside from that a lot of playing in the River out back after school.

00:17:20.970 –> 00:17:22.380 Joseph McElroy: What river, with it, you remember.

00:17:23.160 –> 00:17:25.080 Ed Sharpe: That oh comma lefty run the.

00:17:25.080 –> 00:17:25.350 Right.

00:17:26.640 –> 00:17:27.960 Joseph McElroy: All right, great yeah.

00:17:29.490 –> 00:17:30.870 Ed Sharpe: Through hideous down.

00:17:32.910 –> 00:17:36.270 Joseph McElroy: To do you work at the did you work in the shop is a boy.

00:17:38.040 –> 00:17:44.250 Ed Sharpe: I did not, but I was around it a lot I’m sure my mom had me doing some jobs here and there.

00:17:47.190 –> 00:17:49.800 Joseph McElroy: I I had to clean room.

00:17:52.200 –> 00:17:52.950 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:17:53.790 –> 00:17:54.840 Joseph McElroy: Well, that was about it.

00:17:56.190 –> 00:17:56.610 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:17:58.890 –> 00:18:01.320 Joseph McElroy: So, so you know the business.

00:18:03.090 –> 00:18:12.480 Joseph McElroy: You know it, you know, I have some memory of it, and you know, a more recent to do I’ve been I’ve gone to the museum many times you’re right there.

00:18:14.130 –> 00:18:32.280 Joseph McElroy: And it’s you know it’s not like one of those tourist traps right, it has trinkets from overseas and rubber tajbakhsh and now what while there’s always a place for that the world it’s not for people that want to get into the real authentic Cherokee Preston’s.

00:18:34.110 –> 00:18:43.140 Joseph McElroy: Can you elaborate a bit on your commitment and the difference in how you achieve that sort of authenticity?

00:18:44.940 –> 00:18:54.240 Ed Sharpe: yeah so that’s been the focus of the medicine man for years in it it’s all in the relationships with these crafters.

00:18:54.720 –> 00:19:14.280 Ed Sharpe: That known the medicine man for years and generations, you know so that was really one of my biggest goals when I took over a few years ago, was to maintain those relationships, some of the people I knew, even from childhood and others I would need.

00:19:15.360 –> 00:19:26.190 Ed Sharpe: And had met through mom so yeah I took great care to keep those relationships going with the local people in the local crafters.

00:19:27.060 –> 00:19:43.620 Joseph McElroy: wow Well, yes it’s interesting that you came back you know, I was you know you you you left for a while, you went to college, then you got into a musical career in Nashville tell me about that what were you doing.

00:19:44.790 –> 00:19:45.240 Ed Sharpe: yeah.

00:19:47.760 –> 00:19:51.120 Ed Sharpe: I went to Warren Wilson, which is right outside of Asheville.

00:19:52.500 –> 00:20:00.240 Ed Sharpe: and studying music composition and voice, I was a singer so I was a voice major as well

00:20:01.440 –> 00:20:11.520 Joseph McElroy: there’s a Warren Wilson was sort of interesting school right it’s got its got to like you have to work on projects around the school right yeah.

00:20:11.700 –> 00:20:21.360 Ed Sharpe: yeah they have a work program there are a few other schools in the country that way, but if you stay on campus you work for your room and board.

00:20:22.080 –> 00:20:29.520 Ed Sharpe: Well, everyone works 15 hours, I was lucky enough to work in the music library, which is very beneficial.

00:20:31.170 –> 00:20:31.650 Joseph McElroy: Though.

00:20:31.950 –> 00:20:36.990 Ed Sharpe: So yeah actually moved to Nashville and pursued music.

00:20:37.080 –> 00:20:50.640 Ed Sharpe: And did a lot of songwriting and a lot of writers and writers rounds playing the broken spoke and the bluebird and that whole thing, while working odd jobs, you know waiting tables.

00:20:51.900 –> 00:20:59.790 Ed Sharpe: But eventually, I needed to pay the bills, so I got into sound engineering which I’m very much into as well.

00:21:01.290 –> 00:21:04.080 Joseph McElroy: You have a passion for sound engineering right?

00:21:05.460 –> 00:21:08.910 Joseph McElroy: yeah did you get to work with who did you get to work with you got the name-dropping do.

00:21:11.100 –> 00:21:18.000 Ed Sharpe: Well, I was in the heart of the country music scene, so I met and worked with a lot of people.

00:21:19.770 –> 00:21:36.600 Ed Sharpe: I had gone to recording engineering school briefly to get my certification and they placed it in a Jingle studio, which was a national Jingle studio of the law they worked with a lot of people in my

00:21:37.650 –> 00:21:41.850 Ed Sharpe: first month there I think Dolly Parton was recording her.

00:21:42.990 –> 00:21:47.940 Ed Sharpe: stuff for darling so I met her right away and fell in love, as everyone does.

00:21:49.530 –> 00:21:59.760 Ed Sharpe: And through that experience, they were connected with contemporary Christian and country, so you know work with any brand Michael W and.

00:22:01.290 –> 00:22:06.630 Ed Sharpe: Another one was Martin Sheen I’m a big Apocalypse Now fan I got to meet Martin Sheen.

00:22:06.720 –> 00:22:08.490 Joseph McElroy: Oh wow that’s great yeah.

00:22:09.330 –> 00:22:23.010 Ed Sharpe: From thereafter that experience, I’ve moved into live sound, which I fell in love with, and work for Opryland productions which has the grand Ole opry and the hotel and rhyme and.

00:22:24.240 –> 00:22:34.500 Ed Sharpe: So yeah a lot of met a lot of my heroes their morale Loretta and Tanzania and all those people, a lot of fun.

00:22:35.100 –> 00:22:39.540 Joseph McElroy: Oh that’s great you know Dolly Parton is actually I’ve never met her but she’s a cousin of mine, she.

00:22:40.290 –> 00:22:56.310 Joseph McElroy: actually used to come up and define good Gary and then drive my great grandfather grocery stores what people told me, I never, never got to see it I got to know her but it’s kind of nice to know there’s a cousin like that.

00:22:58.350 –> 00:22:58.800 Ed Sharpe: sweet.

00:22:59.970 –> 00:23:06.720 Joseph McElroy: yeah she’s a treasure, the United States true absolutely.

00:23:08.040 –> 00:23:10.290 Joseph McElroy: Yes, everything right every time just about.

00:23:11.730 –> 00:23:14.730 Ed Sharpe: And I ended up working with Brenda Lee if you.

00:23:16.440 –> 00:23:18.600 Ed Sharpe: Did rocking around the Christmas tree.

00:23:18.930 –> 00:23:19.710 Joseph McElroy: Right yeah.

00:23:20.400 –> 00:23:28.410 Ed Sharpe: sweetheart just a beautiful beautiful lady, and so our sound guy for over 10 years you know she kind of just a few years.

00:23:29.730 –> 00:23:47.400 Joseph McElroy: So you have this wonderfully successful sound and during we’re getting them, you know interact with all your idols and you decide to come back to Swain County and take over the shop well what what what was the inspiration for that was a shocker across from Richard.

00:23:51.330 –> 00:24:09.750 Ed Sharpe: Well, it just the time was worked out, you know Cobra came along, so all the Games and the touring kind of dried up, and my wife and I were both wanted to be closer to our family our parents, you know.

00:24:11.670 –> 00:24:23.940 Ed Sharpe: her parents live close by as well, our homes are like two miles apart here, so it just felt right and mom was ready to retire and asked me if I’d be interested and I said yeah.

00:24:25.170 –> 00:24:31.110 Ed Sharpe: I absolutely love that store, you know grew up with it and I’m loving every minute.

00:24:32.310 –> 00:24:34.800 Joseph McElroy: How hard, was it for you to take back and take it oh.

00:24:36.810 –> 00:24:37.890 Ed Sharpe: Well, I tell you.

00:24:39.060 –> 00:24:42.750 Ed Sharpe: there are two ladies that have been there for over 20 years.

00:24:43.470 –> 00:24:44.700 Ed Sharpe: Thank goodness to them.

00:24:44.700 –> 00:24:47.880 Ed Sharpe: you know I couldn’t have done it without them, they pretty much trained me.

00:24:49.680 –> 00:24:57.660 Ed Sharpe: Je n Fe are still there, right now, today, and with their health yeah.

00:24:58.830 –> 00:25:07.560 Ed Sharpe: My mom you know I had a couple of years of her coaching me I got back into that I really do love it I’m passionate about it and now.

00:25:10.320 –> 00:25:17.880 Joseph McElroy: Your mom died 20 which I’m sorry about my mom died 21 yeah so it’s like we sort of have this sort of the trajectory here.

00:25:19.140 –> 00:25:19.410 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:25:20.040 –> 00:25:21.030 Ed Sharpe: A lot in common.

00:25:21.450 –> 00:25:27.330 Joseph McElroy: yeah a lot of common we’re gonna be we’re gonna make million-dollar successes out of these businesses so.

00:25:27.930 –> 00:25:29.730 Joseph McElroy: You better hold up your end of that all right.

00:25:32.820 –> 00:25:33.450 Ed Sharpe: challenge.

00:25:36.720 –> 00:25:40.980 Joseph McElroy: So you know running this kind of business you.

00:25:42.360 –> 00:25:47.610 Joseph McElroy: You really had to get you had to really take over the relationships with the crash people how did you do that.

00:25:50.940 –> 00:26:04.770 Ed Sharpe: just talking and you know at I had some connections because I’ve been in and out of Cherokee my whole life and I had some friends from when I went to school here, you know so a lot of people.

00:26:05.250 –> 00:26:23.820 Ed Sharpe: In- Cherokee here are related family-wise, you know and so yeah just everyday people coming in and making friends and they knew who, I am a lot of them in building those relationships yeah.

00:26:25.980 –> 00:26:31.500 Joseph McElroy: The old-timers are Community that the people, the Community accept you back pretty much with open arms now.

00:26:32.340 –> 00:26:47.070 Ed Sharpe: Oh yeah, of course, yeah it was a very loving environment always has been and that’s a testament to my mom to you know she wanted that shot to be a place where people can just come hang out and feel the love.

00:26:48.510 –> 00:26:53.040 Joseph McElroy: You have a pretty good location right it’s right across some of that wonderful.

00:26:54.120 –> 00:26:55.470 Joseph McElroy: Cherokee museum, is it.

00:26:56.400 –> 00:27:08.910 Ed Sharpe: that’s right yeah we’re in the historical district they’re kind of set apart from all the other shops really where we’re in a little shopping center by ourselves.

00:27:10.410 –> 00:27:16.470 Ed Sharpe: But yeah it’s kind of a unique place but it’s always been there, so people know that well.

00:27:17.100 –> 00:27:18.930 Joseph McElroy: So how to get there, how did you get that look.

00:27:21.840 –> 00:27:37.260 Ed Sharpe: Well, I mean this from the very start, when Tom it was connected to right next door and an 82 they had a fire which was very tragic because it the whole place Burnt

00:27:37.830 –> 00:27:43.950 Ed Sharpe: And I started from ground zero at that point next to the Brahma in the motel

00:27:44.550 –> 00:27:45.420 Joseph McElroy: And, but.

00:27:45.480 –> 00:27:48.600 Ed Sharpe: The building we’re in now was an old laundromat that Tom.

00:27:49.890 –> 00:27:55.470 Ed Sharpe: And they refurbished it so that the crash stop could have space there.

00:27:56.430 –> 00:28:00.810 Joseph McElroy: And that was you predated the museum and the other nice craft stores right really.

00:28:02.280 –> 00:28:13.500 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah that’s great all right, we have to take a break, when we come back let’s talk about you know the products of the things that you sell interesting adventures people might have with your store.

00:28:14.850 –> 00:28:15.780 Ed Sharpe: Great sounds good.

00:30:20.640 –> 00:30:29.340 Joseph McElroy: Howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with a Gateway to the Smokies Podcast and my guest Ed Sharpe, so Ed.

00:30:29.850 –> 00:30:42.390 Joseph McElroy: You know I took a look at your site, you know there’s a lot of things yourself your website and I noticed that you have a lot of books is that a big area of your here so sales.

00:30:44.070 –> 00:30:58.140 Ed Sharpe: yeah we do carry out a lot of books on Cherokee history and language and as well as herbs the herbals ceremonial and this one, been a big part of our business.

00:30:58.740 –> 00:30:59.430 Joseph McElroy: So you.

00:31:00.540 –> 00:31:01.050 Ed Sharpe: know the thing.

00:31:01.710 –> 00:31:10.560 Joseph McElroy: That I noticed the calmest under would you had some titles and you add details in there, what kind of books to the Tom write.

00:31:12.330 –> 00:31:22.260 Ed Sharpe: yeah Tom wrote informative books about Cherokee you know store, as well as just cracking kind of thing.

00:31:23.280 –> 00:31:24.270 Ed Sharpe: And my dad.

00:31:26.700 –> 00:31:27.090 Ed Sharpe: said.

00:31:29.040 –> 00:31:30.630 Joseph McElroy: Oh, your dad wrote the books.

00:31:32.580 –> 00:31:35.520 Ed Sharpe: My books I’m a junior so.

00:31:35.820 –> 00:31:38.130 Ed Sharpe: With our good with Tom closely.

00:31:38.220 –> 00:31:43.530 Ed Sharpe: On writing and yeah they had a business called Cherokee publications and.

00:31:43.590 –> 00:31:45.120 Joseph McElroy: A really lot of there.

00:31:45.420 –> 00:31:48.210 Ed Sharpe: As well as others that are still out there yeah.

00:31:48.930 –> 00:31:52.200 Joseph McElroy: wow that must be pretty nice to read you the words of your dad right.

00:31:53.610 –> 00:31:54.450 Ed Sharpe: yeah.

00:31:54.690 –> 00:31:55.590 Joseph McElroy: yeah cool.

00:31:55.620 –> 00:31:56.580 Do you still maintain that.

00:31:58.980 –> 00:32:00.690 Joseph McElroy: You still maintain that publishing company.

00:32:02.370 –> 00:32:03.780 Ed Sharpe: I know it was so.

00:32:05.070 –> 00:32:12.600 Ed Sharpe: decade or so ago I just before my dad passed so we sell around Cherokee publications.

00:32:12.960 –> 00:32:14.550 Joseph McElroy: But you know what is.

00:32:15.870 –> 00:32:18.060 Joseph McElroy: what’s the best selling book in your store.

00:32:19.830 –> 00:32:33.990 Ed Sharpe: Oh wow that’s a difficult one, we sell a lot of languages but there’s a Cherokee dictionary it’s very popular, you know as well as genealogy types.

00:32:35.580 –> 00:32:39.450 Joseph McElroy: wow now you mentioned herbal stuff what kind of herbal things to do.

00:32:40.590 –> 00:32:48.120 Ed Sharpe: yeah that’s become a big part of our business, it was always there but I’m really been expanding on it since I’ve been there.

00:32:48.930 –> 00:33:02.970 Ed Sharpe: A lot of medicinal herbs with tinctures and Brian T soaps and sass and then we have another section that ceremonial that goes back to the ancient Cherokee traditions and native American.

00:33:04.080 –> 00:33:08.310 Ed Sharpe: sage and lavender and sweetgrass and that type thing.

00:33:10.020 –> 00:33:15.120 Joseph McElroy: Well, and you carry them in the store so people just come there and get them but.

00:33:15.330 –> 00:33:16.860 Ed Sharpe: We did yeah.

00:33:17.520 –> 00:33:17.940 Joseph McElroy: We don’t know.

00:33:19.980 –> 00:33:22.470 Joseph McElroy: Do do do the source of locally.

00:33:24.840 –> 00:33:37.890 Ed Sharpe: Not everything some things we do we have a lot of yellow routes that are harvested locally and our main herbalist does harvest, a lot of her stuff for the teachers and aunties and that kind of thing.

00:33:39.000 –> 00:33:42.420 Joseph McElroy: So yeah these are pretty big things now right?

00:33:43.770 –> 00:33:44.010 Ed Sharpe: With.

00:33:44.790 –> 00:33:47.610 Joseph McElroy: Our t’s a pretty big item they usually are.

00:33:48.330 –> 00:33:50.370 Ed Sharpe: yeah yeah.

00:33:50.400 –> 00:33:54.660 Joseph McElroy: what’s a good Cherokee tea what’s a good tea that people work with?

00:33:56.640 –> 00:34:00.210 Ed Sharpe: Well, we have some blends that are really good you know.

00:34:01.410 –> 00:34:13.380 Ed Sharpe: Green tea is a big thing, but people will come, for they may have certain ailments or they’ll come for accepted for digestion or something for joint pain, you know and so.

00:34:13.800 –> 00:34:24.180 Ed Sharpe: A lot of these teas and then sabz our old old medicinal recipes you know from the pioneers really plant medicine.

00:34:24.750 –> 00:34:37.680 Joseph McElroy: Right well you know the Scotch Irish settlers came in and they had a tradition of herbalism too and but they changed it all based upon will herewith base upon the Cherokee traditions right.

00:34:38.730 –> 00:34:39.120 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:34:39.930 –> 00:34:44.670 Joseph McElroy: I think that’s very interesting there was this cross-cultural tradition exchange of

00:34:45.930 –> 00:34:55.920 Joseph McElroy: Information that really made the smoky mountains, one of the top areas for herbal and natural remedies, I think.

00:34:57.750 –> 00:35:02.580 Joseph McElroy: Of course, the whole story is not the whole story is that none of it works, unless you have a shot of moonshine with it.

00:35:07.440 –> 00:35:08.160 Ed Sharpe: Absolutely.

00:35:09.300 –> 00:35:20.880 Joseph McElroy: yeah I was surprised to see, aside from the herbals of the TVs and books, you have a lot of crafts there right what are some of the most popular craft categories?

00:35:22.530 –> 00:35:31.980 Ed Sharpe: yeah we sell a lot of baskets and pottery that are locally made you know wood and stone carvings.

00:35:34.050 –> 00:35:40.200 Ed Sharpe: A lot of those as well as weaponry stuff like old blowguns and bows.

00:35:42.780 –> 00:35:51.300 Ed Sharpe: Tomahawk that kind of thing we have a lot of musical stuff the 10 practice to flutes and rattles yeah.

00:35:52.770 –> 00:35:53.280 Joseph McElroy: And who were.

00:35:54.570 –> 00:35:56.160 Joseph McElroy: Who were some of your top artists?

00:35:59.070 –> 00:36:15.810 Ed Sharpe: Well, we have a lot we have some young people Kevin Watney Johnny Bradley is a fantastic painter as well as low a swimmer who paints on feathers very popular you know.

00:36:17.160 –> 00:36:33.510 Ed Sharpe: We have pottery from the great Amanda Swimmers family her children Don Swimmer and Melvina Swimmer will bring in traditional pottery as it’s been made for years and years, you know who.

00:36:35.910 –> 00:36:39.390 Ed Sharpe: You know a lot of generations, down from some of the greats.

00:36:40.530 –> 00:36:58.740 Ed Sharpe: John Willnote, he, of course, was a great one and recently we lost Fred his son, who, who was a fantastic stone Carver we have a lot of his work and his son third-generation Freddy Barry Kaufman.

00:37:01.200 –> 00:37:05.160 Joseph McElroy: wow yeah stove carving yo is tremendous.

00:37:06.210 –> 00:37:16.710 Joseph McElroy: You know, skill, you know my not just the carving but actually doing things like just building beautiful stone walls, like my father, you know is high end.

00:37:17.580 –> 00:37:28.710 Joseph McElroy: construction company here for a long time in the mountains and he would work with the Cherokee Indian stonemasons because they knew that they had had had their own tradition.

00:37:29.520 –> 00:37:34.650 Joseph McElroy: For a long time of doing stonework and then you know when the.

00:37:35.280 –> 00:37:44.700 Joseph McElroy: Appalachian trail came through and the partner parkways and all that the state and the government brought in tallying stonemasons to do a lot of that right.

00:37:45.000 –> 00:37:52.380 Joseph McElroy: And so, then the Cherokee Indians work with them and they gave so they also have their own tradition, they gained experience of working with.

00:37:52.770 –> 00:38:08.400 Joseph McElroy: European traditions of stonemasons so they become some of the best in the world, and you know I think it’s fascinating to look at these rock walls and you see that each one of them has a little signature in there, like a diamond or turtle or an arrowhead that’s great yeah.

00:38:10.920 –> 00:38:15.990 Ed Sharpe: yeah I love, looking at the step there’s some fantastic stonework in Syria.

00:38:19.080 –> 00:38:35.250 Joseph McElroy: No it’s pretty cool out the pottery you know, do they do you have to carry that what is it, though the wedding pottery, the wedding pot so ones are the two handles the tooth spouts of that and then at the end they break it carry those.

00:38:36.000 –> 00:38:39.690 Ed Sharpe: yeah yeah major piece.

00:38:40.050 –> 00:38:54.150 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know it’s kind of interesting but there’s the same tradition in Jewish weddings I think it’s fascinating I don’t have that happen to have this same similar tradition and they break it at the end, the same way right yeah.

00:38:59.190 –> 00:39:17.730 Joseph McElroy: No, I actually went out and saw a video you mother and put together, I think it was from you know, maybe it was a mother, I think it was your mother, but she was talking about that sort of thing I thought was a very interesting the video from like 2012 you know and then.

00:39:17.760 –> 00:39:19.020 Ed Sharpe: yeah yeah.

00:39:19.860 –> 00:39:28.200 Joseph McElroy: And you have those baskets that cut that you know, there you have these baskets like they have to take very large trees and save them or something like that.

00:39:29.730 –> 00:39:31.110 Ed Sharpe: Yes, yeah.

00:39:31.470 –> 00:39:33.600 Joseph McElroy: The one of those oh yeah.

00:39:33.750 –> 00:39:35.130 Ed Sharpe: like this.

00:39:35.190 –> 00:39:47.640 Ed Sharpe: yeah river cane baskets light up and then honeysuckle a lot of people do work with mine but that work that’s hard work.

00:39:48.150 –> 00:40:00.210 Joseph McElroy: Oh, my gosh I mean that’s an incredible amount of work, and but yeah I think that there’s some of the most highly sought-after set up sought after baskets in the world right.

00:40:01.230 –> 00:40:01.590 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:40:01.800 –> 00:40:02.760 Ed Sharpe: yeah yeah.

00:40:03.570 –> 00:40:23.670 Joseph McElroy: cool now I’m a particular fan of masks you know I went to have been to a few places in the world and seen some tremendous masks and I’ve collected a few by the Cherokee mask or you know we’re studying that means that the features and a lot of these master haunting right.

00:40:24.960 –> 00:40:27.720 Joseph McElroy: There so well crafted I mean they’re.

00:40:29.130 –> 00:40:33.960 Joseph McElroy: they’re both a caricature and a human face, at the same time.

00:40:35.160 –> 00:40:49.320 Joseph McElroy: And I really don’t know how they capture that right, and then they use all these natural you know fibers and grasses and things like that you know, to make them into yeah who’s your tap who’s your top mask artists there now.

00:40:51.990 –> 00:40:55.860 Ed Sharpe: wow we have a gentleman named Richard Out.

00:40:56.220 –> 00:40:57.690 who’s fantastic.

00:40:58.830 –> 00:41:06.450 Ed Sharpe: He does a lot of masks or there’s the booger mask you know medicine mass that is traditional.

00:41:07.320 –> 00:41:24.450 Ed Sharpe: But I’m with you I’m always been fascinated with that and since I’ve been back here I’ve learned a lot about the museum had a fantastic showing a year or so ago on mask there’s a lot of history and culture in that yeah.

00:41:25.140 –> 00:41:27.480 Joseph McElroy: Oh, oh yeah I mean it’s.

00:41:28.560 –> 00:41:39.660 Joseph McElroy: it’s you know a lot of ways to study achievement I’m yeah I’m not sure if it is prevalent in Cherokee culture, but a lot of mask indigenous mask makers around the world.

00:41:40.050 –> 00:41:57.150 Joseph McElroy: would always make the outside that mask be really wonderful, but then on the inside, they would make some sort of private declaration that they only knew about they only see it was their mystery right and that was the essence of the character, do they do that with the Cherokee mask.

00:41:57.840 –> 00:41:59.820 Ed Sharpe: i’ve seen that yeah yeah.

00:42:01.740 –> 00:42:02.190 Ed Sharpe: yeah.

00:42:03.270 –> 00:42:04.110 Ed Sharpe: fascinating.

00:42:04.590 –> 00:42:05.610 Joseph McElroy: Oh, my gosh.

00:42:06.150 –> 00:42:11.880 Joseph McElroy: Well, artists do live things to inspire themselves so who would be younger artists coming up.

00:42:14.460 –> 00:42:22.230 Ed Sharpe: Well, you know there’s not a whole lot of them really you know it takes a special person to carry on, but.

00:42:23.280 –> 00:42:33.480 Ed Sharpe: Like I mentioned that it’s Kevin Whitey who does mask and woodcarvings very and it has his own style, as well as

00:42:34.770 –> 00:42:38.400 Ed Sharpe: the lowest swimmer who I mentioned does the feather paintings.

00:42:41.160 –> 00:42:55.290 Ed Sharpe: it’s always interesting to see people come in and some of them will pass it down, you know in teach their children so it’s a learning process constant learning process.

00:42:56.040 –> 00:43:05.790 Joseph McElroy: Well, since your business has been in business, what for 15 years it, you must work with, often with generations right, how do you keep the generations involved.

00:43:09.090 –> 00:43:17.040 Ed Sharpe: I just everyone that comes in, I find out their story and it seems like they’re all related everyone.

00:43:17.700 –> 00:43:18.330 From one day.

00:43:23.640 –> 00:43:23.850 Joseph McElroy: As.

00:43:26.220 –> 00:43:29.850 Joseph McElroy: All the counties in North Carolina and Western North Carolina are a little bit like this.

00:43:33.180 –> 00:43:36.630 Ed Sharpe: Hello you’re selling so brother I got it.

00:43:38.130 –> 00:43:48.240 Joseph McElroy: All right, well we’re going to take another break and come back and finish up with you know some odds and ends and some things that visitors might like to learn and and and shout out, alright.

00:43:49.110 –> 00:43:49.770 Ed Sharpe: Great good.

00:44:52.680 –> 00:44:53.820 owning all got lovers.

00:45:51.510 –> 00:45:59.970 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the Gateway to the Smokies podcast my guest Ed Sharp.

00:46:00.870 –> 00:46:09.780 Joseph McElroy: Ed, you know where we too are very passionate about the perpetuation of Appalachian history at Cherokee culture at the.

00:46:10.440 –> 00:46:18.360 Joseph McElroy: Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center Resort, and we, you know we’re going to feature several charities being programs this year with artists like Davey Arch and very.

00:46:19.050 –> 00:46:26.430 Joseph McElroy: Much involved and we love your commitment to perpetuate the legacy of these artists, as well as your beloved mother and Tom on.

00:46:27.630 –> 00:46:34.320 Joseph McElroy: My wife, is doing the same thing and Maggie Valley at the motel my parents may take this for half a century, as well as the creation of this heritage said.

00:46:34.890 –> 00:46:43.560 Joseph McElroy: However, with that passion for passing also comes responsibility for building the future So what does the future hold for the medicine man crafts?

00:46:46.410 –> 00:46:56.790 Ed Sharpe: I’m working every day on growing there you know, at first, it seemed like a big issue probably felt a big responsibility to carry on such a.

00:46:58.110 –> 00:47:14.520 Ed Sharpe: legacy, you know, in the area, but even before I moved back home, I started a website and started getting some social media together so since I’ve been there.

00:47:15.480 –> 00:47:32.880 Ed Sharpe: I’ve been growing the business that way just online, we have a website where you can order it’s an e-commerce site now, as well as social media channels and that kind of thing so yeah as well as the herbal business we’re growing.

00:47:34.980 –> 00:47:49.740 Joseph McElroy: cool now, I would reverse be remiss for my kids because I, you know, I have an I have no I’ve been around for a while, I have three and a half-year-old twins and I noticed, you have a kid section on your website what’s the most popular kids item that’s craft.

00:47:52.890 –> 00:47:57.720 Ed Sharpe: we’ve got little mini logans and pea-shooters that I love.

00:48:03.270 –> 00:48:12.210 Ed Sharpe: yeah all kinds of things from you know traditional little dolls and clothing and.

00:48:13.290 –> 00:48:16.020 Ed Sharpe: Tomahawks and all that fun stuff.

00:48:16.410 –> 00:48:27.990 Joseph McElroy: Oh-oh, I remember Tomahawk I remember also coming back I think slingshots from the craft stores back in the day, but I don’t know what that I have no idea what that did with that related to the culture here.

00:48:31.710 –> 00:48:32.070 Joseph McElroy: But.

00:48:32.160 –> 00:48:33.330 Joseph McElroy: They had little things.

00:48:33.360 –> 00:48:35.190 Joseph McElroy: on them so that that made them authentic.

00:48:39.720 –> 00:48:41.040 Joseph McElroy: yeah so.

00:48:42.300 –> 00:48:45.570 Joseph McElroy: yeah so so aside from being in business for half a century.

00:48:46.800 –> 00:48:54.000 Joseph McElroy: And all your great stable of craftsman what sets apart the medicine man carfts from the other local shops.

00:48:56.160 –> 00:48:56.970 Ed Sharpe: Well, I think.

00:48:58.230 –> 00:49:17.490 Ed Sharpe: Just the time that it’s been there and the relationships we’ve developed, but our focus really is on local handmade stuff and just creating an atmosphere where people can come and really feel the culture and feel at home, you know.

00:49:18.840 –> 00:49:34.530 Ed Sharpe: it’s funny we talked about generations of crafters, but we also now have generations of visitors, you know that come by year after year, a lot of people will come in and say, man, I remember being here as a little kid and.

00:49:35.670 –> 00:49:37.620 Ed Sharpe: producing this this place.

00:49:39.870 –> 00:49:40.890 Ed Sharpe: it’s a joy.

00:49:42.000 –> 00:49:48.660 Joseph McElroy: Yeah and you know I like to because you know we’re pitching you’re talking about two people hope they’ll come to visit.

00:49:49.260 –> 00:50:00.510 Joseph McElroy: You know, besides your store what else would they visit there you don’t let me see of course that is pushing it what would be a good place safer go get some really good food near your business.

00:50:01.500 –> 00:50:19.260 Ed Sharpe: yeah there’s a several family places there’s a POs restaurant, which does family traditional meals like trout and fry bread and stuff like that there’s a brand new brewery restaurant up the street.

00:50:20.400 –> 00:50:22.080 Ed Sharpe: that’s doing well and.

00:50:23.580 –> 00:50:27.540 Ed Sharpe: As well as you know, the Mexican and Asian.

00:50:29.220 –> 00:50:33.900 Ed Sharpe: there’s a great little local Deli called sassy sunflower.

00:50:34.980 –> 00:50:35.490 Joseph McElroy: This.

00:50:35.700 –> 00:50:38.220 Ed Sharpe: Real well it’s run by locals you know so.

00:50:39.240 –> 00:50:45.630 Joseph McElroy: cool and is there any other entertainment near there that you would recommend people to see.

00:50:47.340 –> 00:50:52.590 Ed Sharpe: Well, I always point people to the drama, you know, and to these hills and.

00:50:54.330 –> 00:50:59.520 Ed Sharpe: And, and the old kind of left the village it’s been there.

00:51:00.630 –> 00:51:06.930 Ed Sharpe: Did the test of time and it’s very educational and great for people to visit you know

00:51:07.890 –> 00:51:18.240 Joseph McElroy: cool, and you’re an avid hiker right so and photographer in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park so you’re working on the 900 milers certificate certification.

00:51:19.530 –> 00:51:19.860 Ed Sharpe: Yes.

00:51:21.300 –> 00:51:23.370 Ed Sharpe: we’ll see how long it takes to.

00:51:26.460 –> 00:51:30.840 Joseph McElroy: go through all the 900 miles of trails of the smoky mountains right yeah.

00:51:31.410 –> 00:51:33.150 Ed Sharpe: that’s the goal yeah.

00:51:33.210 –> 00:51:33.720 Joseph McElroy: And how long.

00:51:35.970 –> 00:51:41.280 Ed Sharpe: Well, I think I’ve covered about 60% and the three years I’ve been here so.

00:51:43.050 –> 00:51:49.380 Ed Sharpe: Indication, of course, I left the hardest trails last it could take me a while.

00:51:51.150 –> 00:51:51.570 Joseph McElroy: So what.

00:51:53.070 –> 00:51:57.690 Joseph McElroy: What so far what’s your favorite hike you’ve done in the Smoky Mountain National Park.

00:51:58.650 –> 00:52:09.570 Ed Sharpe: Oh wow Mount Le Conte is something special you know there are five different trails they go up there and they’re all just breathtaking you know.

00:52:11.670 –> 00:52:13.830 Ed Sharpe: Maybe my favorite place to go.

00:52:14.850 –> 00:52:18.360 Joseph McElroy: I would spray it’s about springtime now what’s the best place for the wildflowers.

00:52:20.190 –> 00:52:25.020 Ed Sharpe: Oh, the park is is full of them, you know there’s a lot of trails.

00:52:27.180 –> 00:52:29.370 Ed Sharpe: I was just on I’m trying to think of.

00:52:31.620 –> 00:52:33.090 Ed Sharpe: Losing losing.

00:52:34.170 –> 00:52:36.930 Ed Sharpe: Now it’s parsons branch maybe are.

00:52:36.960 –> 00:52:45.990 Ed Sharpe: our Greek wonderful wildflowers, I was there a week or so ago and they’re already on their little heads out so.

00:52:46.530 –> 00:52:48.120 Ed Sharpe: Great it’s.

00:52:48.330 –> 00:52:49.020 Ed Sharpe: So wrong.

00:52:49.530 –> 00:52:51.660 Joseph McElroy: You figure go wrong right so.

00:52:52.740 –> 00:52:58.380 Joseph McElroy: What what’s your website, social media address so people know where to reach out to you.

00:52:59.310 –> 00:53:03.360 Ed Sharpe: Sure, the website is medicinemanandcrafts.com

00:53:05.970 –> 00:53:13.620 Ed Sharpe: And, as I say, we have a lot of our herbals and crafts on there, not everything in the store of course.

00:53:14.970 –> 00:53:20.790 Ed Sharpe: But that’s our website we’re on Facebook and Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter

00:53:21.180 –> 00:53:25.470 Joseph McElroy: Just search for medicine man crafts, with those are all those.

00:53:26.460 –> 00:53:29.820 Joseph McElroy: cool and do you have any personal?

00:53:30.960 –> 00:53:34.380 Joseph McElroy: media that you send out or is it all just related to medicine and crafts.

00:53:36.690 –> 00:53:39.360 Ed Sharpe: are related they’re pretty much that’s not good enough.

00:53:40.140 –> 00:53:41.520 Joseph McElroy: yeah alright cool.

00:53:42.900 –> 00:53:46.710 Joseph McElroy: And so any other shoutouts, you want to do.

00:53:48.420 –> 00:53:56.790 Ed Sharpe: Oh man, thank you for having me it’s a wonderful opportunity, and thanks again to Judy and the team for

00:53:58.230 –> 00:54:00.780 Ed Sharpe: Being there I couldn’t do it without them so.

00:54:03.090 –> 00:54:21.540 Joseph McElroy: Alright, great So this is the Gateway to the Smokies podcast you can find out more about us@facebook.com/gatewaytothesmokiespodcast or you go to smokiesadventure.com and you’ll see a link to all the episodes of top of the menu.

00:54:22.770 –> 00:54:38.160 Joseph McElroy: We are involved in a network called talkradio.nyc which features a lot of live podcasts and one of which we are one of the ranges from self-help to

00:54:38.880 –> 00:54:50.760 Joseph McElroy: To this small business to travel-centric to you know dealing with pets it’s a bass range was very interesting network and I appreciate everybody just go out there and check out some of the other.

00:54:51.330 –> 00:54:59.370 Joseph McElroy: programs are going on, I actually have another program called wise content creates wealth, it is a podcast about.

00:54:59.850 –> 00:55:15.000 Joseph McElroy: Modern marketing with content and things like AI and behavioral science and things like that happen to be my expertise which I, you know used to raise the money that’s helping rebirth revive the Meadowlark motel renovated.

00:55:16.170 –> 00:55:20.040 Joseph McElroy: And that airs on Fridays from.

00:55:21.240 –> 00:55:33.090 Joseph McElroy: noon until one and I have some of the top people in the business digital marketing, especially in content marketing SEO, AI, behavioral science things like that come.

00:55:35.580 –> 00:55:40.170 Joseph McElroy: to mind with this podcast is every Tuesday from

00:55:41.520 –> 00:55:47.430 Joseph McElroy: Six until seven and I look forward to having you see you next week and listening.

00:55:48.540 –> 00:55:54.720 Joseph McElroy: To what we have to say about the smoky mountains, a great place to come visit and thank you very much.

Our special guest in this episode is Darren Nicholson.

Darren Nicholson ended his relationship with Balsam Range and has launched out in new directions with his music.

Darren shares all about his new music, what he's been up to, and how the major life-changing events in his life have shaped him into who he is today.

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00:00: 27--00:00: 55 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Hi, this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy with the Gateway to the Smokies podcast, talking about the people and culture of the Smoky Mountains where my family has been around for a couple of hundred years. And I own a business here called the Meadowlark Motel as well as a restaurant called Homecraft. And I'm pretty proud to be back in the area and meeting and greeting, and talking to some wonderful people, like my guest today, Darren Nicholson. How are you doing, Darren? 

00:00: 56--00:00: 58 Darren Nicholson:  Doing great, Joseph. Thank you so much for having me on. 

00:00: 58--00:01: 12 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Sure. Last time I had you on the previous podcast series and I did a whole intro. But why don't you do three sentences of what you think is your highlights of your bio? 

00:01:14--00:01:20 Darren Nicholson:  I'm the world's foremost turkey hypnotist. 

00:01: 20--00:01:21  Joseph Franklyn McElroy: There you go. 

00:01:21--00:01:31 Darren Nicholson: I wear frilly leg warmers, and I have quite an impressive Beanie Baby collection. 

00:01: 31--00:01:49  Joseph Franklyn McElroy: There you go. Let me tell you, I have to look at you quite a bit because you gave me a shirt with I think it was a picture of your album of you with a rose in your teeth doing a deep sort of lunge in your underwear, right? 

00:01:50 --00:01:53 Darren Nicholson: Yes. It's a provocative pose for an early morning. 

00:01: 53--00:02:14  Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  The problem is you put that on a T-shirt that's soft that my wife grabbed it and she wears it to bed about once a week. So I got to look at your face in a bone about once a week. 

00:02:14 --00:02:58 Darren Nicholson: It's actually the evening before pill. It's not the morning-after pill. It's the evening before you put that on and make sure nothing happens in the bedroom. That was actually a graphic. A guy in Kentucky did that graphic. His name is Jonathan Carroll. He's a great graphic artist. He was nominated for an IBMA award this year for his graphic art. But he took me and it was the if you remember, the Seinfeld episode with George Costanza on the couch that pose in his underwear. It was basically kind of a spoof on that version of this. I still have a few of those left, believe it or not. I did not sell all of those. 

00:02: 58--00:03:47  Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Well, for the folks out there who might not know, which I doubt, I think everybody's going to know. But Darren is one of the foremost musicians in American and bluegrass today, and he has a solo career, and he also has been a member of several bands. Most recently, he left Balsam Range, which is one of the top bluegrass bands in the world right now. I'm assuming that you were looking to pursue new opportunities and new opera things. So what is new with your career in that regard? And I guess you have a new bluegrass booze, right? 

00:03:47 --00:06:26 Darren Nicholson: Yeah, got a brand new bluegrass record that I finished last year, actually. But the first single just came out on January 29. It's called Arkansas without you. And it's a host of hot young pickers and I'm really excited about the new bluegrass project. And so far the thing, it's got raised reviews. It's been a long time since Balsam Range. I've been in the studio, and my departure from Balsam Range is definitely not an end for me. It's a new beginning. I did 15 years. I was an original member, and I'm very grateful for those 15 years, but definitely got to a place professionally and personally where I wanted to do something different. Balsam Range, a lot of people don't realize, has always been well, not always, but for the last at least ten years has been a part-time band and so with every year, the dates have seemed to be doing less and less. And I think that's by choice. I think that's what they want to do. But they only did 30 dates last year. That was what was on the calendar, around 30 dates. And I did about 250 dates on my own, so I couldn't by the time it was the smoke cleared, I did about 290 performance dates last year. And so it got to it just got to a place in my career where instead of doing a couple of part-time things, the opportunity presented itself for me to play music full-time and focus on my full-time solo career. And to be honest with you, it was a no-brainer. I had to do it for my business, and then I had to do it for my mental health, too. It's hard juggling a schedule and setting a calendar because people would try to book me for the fall of next year. And I was constantly in limbo with their schedule and what they may or may not do. It was a difference in direction of my career. And it's nothing personal, it's nothing against them. They're going to continue doing what they do, and I wish them well. But I've got a singular focus. I'm a lot happier and it's a lot less stressful trying to juggle a bunch of things, so I'm in a much better place. 

00:06: 26--00:07:07  Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  I remember last time we talked, I listened to quite a bit of your solo stuff, right?  There were some of the American, almost country music things that I really liked a lot. And you had a little bit of sort of bluesy parts to it and some real almost southern rock rifts and things like that. I thought, wow, you should be out there doing a lot on your own, which of course you were, but I think you keep rising higher, just mean yourself, right?

 00:07:10 --00:09:58 Darren Nicholson:  That's it.  Well, that seems to be knock-on-wood, the direction things are going. And part of it is if you're always comfortable, that means you're not growing. And so I don't want to get into a place with my music where I'm doing the same sets all the time, or I'm just doing the same thing. I wanted to get outside the box, and get outside of my comfort zone. I'm writing songs. So the record you're talking about is called the man on a Mission. And that album, I had another guy produce it, Jeff Collins. And I had a whole cast of musicians that I don't normally use, and it forced me in a different direction. And that's what I wanted.  I wanted something new and organic to get me out of my comfort zone and push my own creativity and my own growth, to push my boundaries a little bit. And it was a great experience. And so with this new bluegrass record, I did the same thing, but in a different direction. I've produced several records on my own, and so I know what that sounds like. So I got a young guy, a guy I play a lot of music with named Colby Laney. He's from Marion, North Carolina, and he's probably the best acoustic guitar player on the planet. Or if he's not, he's one of the leading three. He's incredible. But I had him coproduce it with me and he brought this new energy and new life to my bluegrass recordings, and that's what I wanted. I picked all musicians I'm only 39, but all musicians who were younger than me and who were all more progressive players.  I did. And it just put me I'm still doing what I do. I play like I play, I sing like I sing. But with this other cast, with different musicians, it's going to have a different sound, and I want to keep doing that. There are musicians that I look up to, like Marty Stewart and Darryl Scott who marty Stewart will do a black gospel record, then he'll do a rock record, then he'll do a country record. But it's always good. But it's got a different feel. And in the last record he did, he had Mike Campbell from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He had him produce it. And I like the even for seasoned musicians who have a style and an idea of music, it's good to get out of your comfort zone. And so that's what I do. 

00:9: 59--00:10:47  Joseph Franklyn McElroy:   I agree. One of the things that surprised me in talking to you is that you really have an artistic mind. Right. There are a lot of artists that are really focused on the craft, and you are great at your craft. There's nothing to short you there. But you also get into the whole conceptual, artistic thinking as well, about the concept of what you're doing, the concept of what you're playing, like partnering with the younger players, I think it makes your work have a depth that is unique a lot of times. So I'm pretty excited about what you're doing. How do you think it'll change your live performances? 

00:10:48 --00:013:37 Darren Nicholson:   It already has. Playing with Colby and just the last few years, it's reinvigorated my interest in music. And so for years and years, I would do shows and I would just show up and play, and I would go home or go do whatever. But during the pandemic, when I had some personal changes and some lifestyle changes, I've almost had this rebirth and this fire reignited in me for music. And so I find myself every day writing songs or getting my instruments out of the case and practicing at home. Plus, I play shows five or six days a week somewhere. I'm doing a lot of traveling, a lot of playing, but I'm really inspired to get better and being with young musicians with different ideas and new ideas to kind of get me out of my thing, I think it's important.  I love that saying, if you do what you've always done, you'll have what you've always had. And so I want to get out of my comfort zone a little bit. I want to grow my business. I want to grow my music. And the biggest thing for me is not about when I say grow my music, I don't necessarily mean I want my name in the Marquee Lights, playing in front of 10,000 people or playing arenas. I want to do more shows, and I don't care if the shows are for less people. I like the intimate listening rooms, and I like smaller crowds. I've been doing a lot of solo and due at shows, and a lot of this came out of the pandemic where I was doing house concerts and these smaller things, and it just clicked with me.  I'm like, man, this is how this music was intended. When I look at your background, what I see is I see people in these mountains, on their porches and in their living rooms playing music. That's how I grew up. And then when we started doing that during the pandemic, there's a connection that happens with the music that does not happen at a big theater show or a big arena. There's a connection that happens when you can almost reach out and touch the artist with the music that's so organic. And I'm like, that is what I want to grow into. I want to be the guy who takes music everywhere.  I want to share the joy and share music and share culture, and I want to be an ambassador for Western North Carolina music and for the culture that I love and make people happy in the process. 

00:13: 38--00:14:09  Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  That's pretty fantastic. You mentioned songwriting. I saw on your Facebook the other day you had just written a song with Charles Humphrey III, who's also been on this show and is a friend of the gateway that smoked his podcast, and you sang it. It was really nice. So you're doing a lot of songwriting, and you talk about it quite a bit, but did you start playing first or songwriting first, and what inspired your interest in spotting songwriting? 

00:14:10 --00:014:18   Darren Nicholson:  Well, are you talking about, would I get interested in just performing music first or songwriting? 

00:14: 18--00:14:58  Joseph Franklyn McElroy:   Well, it's interesting the question is, I think some people in my craft, which is doing painting and things like that, some people become just interested, really drawing well, or really painting a rose and doing it really well, or other people have a purpose that they're doing it for. They want to communicate something, they want to say something and have meaning behind the craft. So what is your approach? 

00:14:59 --00:017:15   Darren Nicholson:  Well, that is my approach to songwriting is I love songs that tell stories and songs that have a deeper meaning. I don't like songs that paint pictures. Like my grandpa's cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountain hills. We played there when I was a kid, like nostalgia songs and things like that. To me, anybody can write those. But when you start getting into deeper meaning, like talking about love or hope or inspiration or a message in a song or telling a story, basically turning a three and a half minute musical piece, it's basically like a three and a half minute sitcom. I think those kind of songs connect on a deeper level, and that's usually what I'm going for. We don't always do it. Sometimes we write silly songs, sometimes you're not going to change the world with every song. But those are the songs that I like, and that's what I'm trying to do with my songwriting, is write something that's meaningful to somebody. But for the song we wrote the other day, I put a really rough video out on Facebook, and it was not the greatest singing or playing, it was just really rough and raw. And to do that, it takes vulnerability. There are some artists who really hide behind going into the recording studio, you know what I mean? Once Pro Tools and everything's run through, they sound like a million bucks. But you don't ever see them sing live. You don't ever see them. You get on there with just them and their instrument and perform. And I think there's a vulnerability about that. If you can translate it well enough to convey the emotion.  I think people are connected to the wrongness of that on a certain level. And I be dang. I put that video out and I got a call from a national touring act. That's one of the biggest acts in bluegrass. And before the day was out, they're going in next week and recording that song. 

00:17: 16--00:17:18  Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Oh, my gosh, 

00:17:18 --00:017:20   Darren Nicholson:  We wrote that song two days ago. 

00:17: 20--00:17:22  Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  That's fabulous. That's the way to do it. 

00:17:24 --00:017:38  Darren Nicholson: They said, do you have a work tape of it? And I said, well, we just wrote it like 30 minutes ago, and I had a rough work tape of it on my phone. I sent it, that and the lyrics, and they called me right back and said, we're going to cut it next week. 

00:17: 38--00:18:38 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Wow, fabulous. There you go. My conversations with you. We're planning a performance, and this is my little pitch for the Meadowlark I'm weaving it in here, but the Meadowlark Motel has a speakeasy called the Skylark SpeakEasy. And we've been talking to you about it. We've been doing some great musical acts there and talking to you. You really had the idea of saying, I'll do some set of music, but then I want to have conversations with the audience and then I may even jam with some people that might show up. It seems to be that this sense of community and intimacy is central to what you do and why you left Balsam Range and why you're performing and you said small clubs and things like that.  I think one of the essences of what you're trying to be is a community and having intimacy with your community. 

00:18:38 --00:020:42  Darren Nicholson:  It's an organic approach, but I think that's how you build long-term fans. And when I was talking about that vulnerability, like in that video, when you connect with people on a personal level, people would see me with Balsam range, and they only saw probably really about 5% of what I can do. If you want to get to know me and my personality and my ability, my talent, you would come to see me at a solo show or one of my other performances. And that's not for everybody. Some people don't like my music or my personality, and that's fine. They don't have to come. But for the people who do and come see me in that capacity, that's the way to build relationships. And I'm not really interested in making fans. I want to make friends and I want to perpetuate the kind of culture that I was brought up in. That very much is a sense of community. The technological world has created a place where people are missing a sense of belonging, and that's why they join these little groups, and that's why there's a division in politics and there's a division in social issues. Because anytime people are so disconnected in a way, it's way that they can feel a part of any kind of group, it's almost like, this is my family online, this is my tribe. And so I want to kind of do that with music. I want to make a place where people can come together with music.  And you don't have to worry about politics, you don't have to worry about social issues, you don't have to worry about enjoying music and just having fun. A night of entertainment. 

00:20: 42--00:22:20 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:   I grew up in the smoking mountains here, and I get it really well. Recently, my family first got the Meadowlark Motel, my grandmother, first of my parents, and they hired maid who was with us for a long time, and us kids would actually work with her and clean and became good friends. She actually sort of babysitters and things like that. And then her sister was much younger than her, came and did some things here. Well, recently her sister showed back up here to come to the restaurant, and she saw pictures on the wall community. She came to talk to me, and her sister had died.  And the fact that we're celebrating the culture that was here and is still here, she started crying, and she started talking and being part of it, and other people communicate, but even with the people that you worked with, there was a sense of community and intimacy and understanding that existed here. And I really appreciate that. You are perpetuating. I can remember the old timers would get together in a basement and have a little party, right, and bring out their instruments and sing, and then people would start clogging and dancing. That sort of is a way of life and a way of being that you felt connected. And I understand what you're talking about. Right. Do you think the way you design this program that you're going to do with Meadowlark is stemming from directly from that culture? I think it does. 

00:22:21 --00:023:45  Darren Nicholson:   It does. Yeah. And that's what I want people to get to know me especially. There are fans of Balsam Range who are like, why in the world would you leave why would you leave that band when they seem to be doing all these things? And it's like, well, this is a good opportunity. If people have questions about my career, like what I want to do, why I want to play music, why I want to do more shows, or why I want to do the things that I want to do, I can explain it to them, and then they don't have to keep guessing. I don't expect questions about Balsam Range, but they can ask me questions about my childhood, how I got into music, the music business, instruments, whatever.  I think when you have an evening like that with people, it's different than just buying a ticket, sitting in a seat, watching somebody play for an hour, and then going home and be like, hey, that was good. There's a connectivity that I think goes along with the music that is just as important. 

00:23: 46--00:24:17 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:   Well, we've been having some weekly jams here on Sundays, five to seven people listening, and I'm hoping some of them old-time players we had this last Sunday old time, like 70 something, 75 something people show up and just started clogging, and they're, you know, singing and playing. I hope some of them come and take you up on the offer to jam with them at the end. That would be a major, I think, cultural moment. 

00:24: 18 --00:024:45  Darren Nicholson:  So that's what it's all about. And I remember, like, players that I looked up to and players that I wanted to play. I remember when people like Steve Sutton or Mark Pruitt or Arvill Freeman were like, hey, man, get your manly. And Ralph Lewis would always take his Manlyn off and hand it to me, and that was a big deal. He's like, get up and play one with the band that meant so much to me, to a young budding musician. And it's like, man, that was a self-esteem builder. That was a motivator. And I also remember the musicians that were kind of like, who made me feel less than, too, you know what I mean? Who made me feel like, hey, you're not good enough to play with me or don't talk to me. And I do not want to perpetuate and I don't want to come across with that kind of attitude because I have zero tolerance for that. And I'm sure I've probably people the wrong way if I've been in a bad mood after a show or something. I've not lived my life perfectly, but I've never intentionally ever wanted to make someone feel bad or not make someone feel welcome. People remember how you make them feel. I love that. I love that about my musical heroes, Steve and Ralph. Those are the kind of things that I don't want to die. These old times. 

00:25: 46--00:26:18 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: That's right. The reason I'm here, too, is because I don't want that culture to die. I'm trying to do my part also, my little tiny part, to try to perpetuate and progress it. It doesn't have to be these mummified things. It can be a thing that grows right. And I'm glad that you are helping grow that now. I was trying to keep this to about 30 minutes, so we're about at that time, what do you want to tell people? Shout out to people to find out more or look you up or what do you want to tell them? 

00:26: 18 --00:027:29  Darren Nicholson:  Well, a couple of things going on. I've been working really hard on doing a benefit. It's going to do a lot to help the community. The Steve Sutton Fest is going to happen June 3rd at Silverado in Black Mountain, and proceeds are going to go to Haywood County schools, Buckham county schools, and the IBMA trust fund. That's going to be on June 3 at Silverado with Perpetual Groove being the headliner. But then also I have a brand new single out. It's called Arkansas without you. You can stream it anywhere. Spotify pandora apple Music Arkansas Without You I've got a brand new bluegrass record out with songs that I've written. And if you go to my website dear Nicholson Net, I've got about 120 dates on the books for next year and going to be going all across the country and probably we're going to do over 200 when the smoke clears the road dates, and going to be traveling out further, doing a tour out west. Going to Canada. It's a really exciting time, so I encourage people to come out and see some live music. 

00:27: 30--00:29:00 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Well, thank you very much for being on the show. I might mention that Darren also plays a lot here in the Smoky, especially in Hayward County. So if you can't find a place in the country, just come here and visit and stay at the Meadowlark Motel he might be here or he'll be some other great place here in town. There are a lot of wonderful music venues and things in Hayward County that are worthwhile and have a lot of authenticity. Right. Haywood County has not become a dramatically corporate tourist county. It's still pretty authentic in terms of the way of life and how people live here and how people enjoy music. So come on down to hear them out, either on the road or here. I'll just shout out if you can find out more about the Meadowlark Motel@ meadowlarkmotel.com and if you go slash homecraft, you'll find out about a restaurant, which is almost it's a mountain heritage food with a twist. My wife is from Trinidad, and we do a lot of Caribbean Trinidad spices and things like tomato gravy or cream corn. We just twisted a little bit. But you still taste the authenticity of these mountains in there. People are just raving about it. And we're getting great reviews online and some newspapers are great. And when you come here, you're going to get some Darren. All right. I hope I'll get a testimonial out of that. 

00:29:00 --00:029:01  Darren Nicholson: I like your haircut.

00:29: 02--00:29:57 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  It's the perfect haircut. The Gateway to Smokies podcast exists on Smokiesadventure.com. It has its own Facebook page, but all the episodes, the previous ones had a couple of different series, longer episodes, but these are going to be shorter but more fun episodes. And you can go there and find more about everything in the Smokies because it's also a great site for directories of things like places to stay, lodging all over the Smokies, not just Haywood County, and what to do, and attractions and things like that. So thank you all for listening. This has been the gateway to the Smokies podcast. You can go to Facebook.com, Gatewaytothesmokiespodcast, or you can go to Smokiesadventure.com to find out more about this. And I'll see you all next week. 

00:29:59 --00:030:00 Hey, thanks for having me. Bye. 

In this episode, we'll explore the wonderful world of beer and the amazing craft beer revolution, and what it takes to turn your passion into profit.

Corey Bryson, Co-Owner with his wife, Laurie Bryson, of Balsam Falls Brewery—is an award-winning craft beer artisan and certified beer judge hailing from Tampa, Florida. He and his wife are also Cicerone Certified Beer Servers. They now own and operate Balsam Falls Brewing in Sylva where Corey has family roots that go back over 150 years.

He will talk about his craft beer brewing passion and how he and Laurie are making a big impact in the Smokies. Don't miss this fun interview!

Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

Joseph starts by talking about the Meadowlark Motel which is the show’s sponsor and also smokiesadventure.com, another sponsor as well. Some upcoming events include a mountain heritage book series happening in Maggie Valley at the motel. He also mentions a fly fishing weekend which you can learn more about at meadowlarkmotel.com. Joseph talks about brewing and the industry that is growing in Asheville which supports about 3,500 jobs. He introduces his guest, Corey Bryson, Co-Owner with his wife, Laurie Bryson, of Balsam Falls Brewery. Corey grew up in the Southeast but also spent a lot of time in the Smoky Mountains with his grandparents. Corey also has an information technology background. He was a broadcast engineer for a tv station and also went into IT before opening Balsam Falls Brewery. Out of all of his hobbies, brewing was what stuck with him for a long time. Corey also speaks with Joseph about judging a beer which is what he also does as a trained professional.

Corey is a Cicerone Certified Beer Server which he talks about with Joseph. It takes about 6 weeks to earn this which is considered a first-level sommelier. An expert in beer, he says, would know what makes one beer different from the other like how wine experts would know about wine. Corey says that when he lived in Tampa, Florida, he was very involved in the craft beer scene. His wife was the co-organizer of an international women’s craft beer organization. Corey and his wife worked with some friends from their brew club who decided to open a brewery in Tampa. Corey and his wife had been wanting to move to North Carolina to do the same. They sold their house in Tampa, quit their jobs, and finally moved after a couple of years. Although he only spent summers in North Carolina, he talks about the Smoky Mountains feeling like home to him. He discusses with Joseph the success of his brewery and how hospitality has been an important factor in its success and connection with its customers. Corey also speaks about the brewery’s name, what it means and how he and his wife came up with it.

Corey talks more with Joseph about glassware and what a real beer glass looks like. He mentions that it actually makes a difference in how the beer tastes. Corey speaks about the Founders Club, which he created but no longer exists. The idea was to get labor but also gain supporters for their brewery. These people would help with things like paintings and fixing the location. He also speaks about his interest in environmental issues and how it’s important for his business. His brewery is a nano brewery and he speaks with Joseph about the work it takes for production and some of its benefits. Corey also discusses bringing a restaurant into the brewery, although most breweries bring in food trucks instead. The food that they have includes sandwiches, burgers, wings, and more. As for the beers, Corey says that he loves all kinds of beer. They have End of the Mist, their Southern IPA, Go West which is a West Coast Style IPA and more. He says that you’ll never know what you’ll find exactly when coming into the brewery.

Balsam Falls Brewery also has a winery license, so Corey says that they can also make mead, something that Joseph brings up from his own experience. Joseph asks Corey about what he will be doing next. Corey says that he wants to expand the brew house and their kitchen. He is also thinking of having a second location in Haywood County. Balsam Falls Brewery is located in Sylva, North Carolina, and Corey says that visitors coming to the area, can visit places like Pinnacle Mountain to hike, visit waterfalls, and even have breakfast at White Moon Cafe. To find out more about Balsam Falls Brewery, visit balsamfallsbrewing.com and the same name on Facebook and Instagram.

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00:00:33.540 –> 00:00:44.250 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: hey welcome to the gateway to the smokies podcast this podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the great smoky mountains National Park in the surrounding towns.

00:00:44.640 –> 00:00:57.810 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: these areas are filled with ancient natural beauty, deep-storied history, and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes. I’m Joseph Franklyn McElroy man of the world, but also deep roots in these mountains.

00:00:58.470 –> 00:01:12.480 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: My family is living in the great smoky for over 200 years my business is in travel, but my heart is in culture today we’re going to talk about quality brewing in the smokies but first, sponsor’s message, which happens to be me.

00:01:14.160 –> 00:01:23.760 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Imagine a place evocative of motor courts in the past, yet a modern environment with a Chic Appalachian feel and the amenities, of a country in

00:01:24.180 –> 00:01:36.330 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: a place for adventure and for relaxation imagine a place where you can fish and a mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on fire and eat accompanied by fine wine or craft beers.

00:01:36.870 –> 00:01:48.900 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Imagine a place for the old-time music and world cultural sounds, there is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley North Carolina your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay.

00:01:49.860 –> 00:02:02.190 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: and other sponsors smokies adventure. com that’s smokies plural adventure singular.com the smoky mountains and surrounding areas of vacation us a destination for all seasons.

00:02:02.490 –> 00:02:10.140 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Some of the nation’s best hiking trails waterfalls outdoor adventures and family entertainment can be found, right here.

00:02:10.740 –> 00:02:22.710 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: start your adventure by using smokies adventures.com for all the wonderful features of the great smoky mountains natural park trails, waterfalls, Cage Code, the elk, and more.

00:02:23.190 –> 00:02:29.220 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: then check out the awesome family attractions in the entertainment, you and your entire family can enjoy.

00:02:29.850 –> 00:02:41.340 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And if you want you to do things like outdoor life events like weddings honeymoons smokies adventures got you covered it can let you know what are some of the great places to go and to have your event can happen.

00:02:41.820 –> 00:02:48.480 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: The goals of smokies adventures.com has become the leading information portal for adventures and experiences in the great smoky mountains.

00:02:49.740 –> 00:02:52.020 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: So I want to give you a couple of events that are coming up.

00:02:53.190 –> 00:03:02.730 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: there’s a mountain Heritage book series happening inMaggie Valley North Carolina at the Meadowlark Motel and on Saturday, March 26 2022 at 4 pm.

00:03:03.030 –> 00:03:09.270 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: renowned author Bob Plott will lead a seminar on the history of hunting in the great smoky mountains.

00:03:09.570 –> 00:03:22.200 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: followed by a Barbecue dinner and music with Mike Ogletree former drummers of simple minds and various guests for that evening call 82 89261717 for more information.

00:03:23.130 –> 00:03:36.690 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And, as I mentioned before we’re going to have a big fly fishing camp in April here at the meadowlark motel what’s better for the soul than throwing a line upstream watching it past do it again and again, and perhaps getting a bite.

00:03:37.290 –> 00:03:44.430 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: I don’t know all anglers know that fishing is only about reeling in the big one, although that always gets our blood pumping.

00:03:45.660 –> 00:03:53.070 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: The fly fishing is about being one with the River its magnificence presence well witnessing invaluable ecosystem.

00:03:53.760 –> 00:04:00.510 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: The meadowlark motels offering a fly fishing camp on a weekend on April 15 through the 17th and the smoky mountains.

00:04:00.840 –> 00:04:13.320 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Our goal is to bring like-minded people together to fly fishing food, drinking stories, and campfire Friday night will feature fishing tales of the smokies beverages of your choice, the speakeasy.

00:04:15.210 –> 00:04:27.840 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: charcuterie board full of small bites and trout those delicacies and lodging at the Meadowlark motel and then Saturday breakfast full of wonderful delights a half-day of on hands.

00:04:28.320 –> 00:04:36.900 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: instructions for four hours of intense fishing elite regional trout stream and then additional fat fishing in the mountain heritage trout stream in the backyard.

00:04:37.200 –> 00:04:49.260 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: there’ll be a Barbecue dinner live musical entertainment campfires and again lodging at the meadowlark motel call 8289261717 to get more information and to reserve your space.

00:04:49.950 –> 00:05:00.540 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: we’re gonna be talking about brewing in this smoky soon, and I just wanted to give you a little insight into it, you know that this area has become quite a brewmaster.

00:05:01.080 –> 00:05:11.910 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: paradise is actually considered one of the top areas for getting a craft beer in the nation Asheville is considered oftentimes the top city to get a.

00:05:12.660 –> 00:05:21.870 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: get a craft beer and there are many surrounding towns and counties that have become grown into quite little brew capitals on themselves.

00:05:22.230 –> 00:05:32.550 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: There are more breweries around Asheville than you can shake a stick at and the economic impact of this brewing industry is almost a billion dollars.

00:05:32.880 –> 00:05:52.920 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Right, the local beer industry is the second-largest manufacturing employer in the Asheville metro area, it supports almost 3500 jobs, the industry generated 33.4 million local tax revenues and it’s it is generated over 115 million for local state and federal governments.

00:05:54.270 –> 00:06:12.210 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: it’s all a 357% growth from 2014 to 2019 these statistics are from 2018, let me tell you, after a couple of months in 2020 when we shut down for covid has been growing even more has been growing great jobs it’s added.

00:06:12.630 –> 00:06:17.670 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: You know well over 1200 jobs, most the most of them and manufacturing industries.

00:06:17.910 –> 00:06:29.220 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And for every direct job in the industry, approximately one additional role has created support for the local economy so not only is it a wonderful tourism experience.

00:06:29.490 –> 00:06:41.070 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: and culinary and imbibing experience but it’s also been important for the local economy here in the mountains, so we have an expert with us today.

00:06:41.640 –> 00:06:48.210 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: His name is Corey Bryson he is the Co-owner, with his wife Lorie Bryson in the balsam falls brewery.

00:06:48.720 –> 00:06:56.940 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Which is an award-winning crap he’s an award-winning craft beer artisan and certified beer judge he and his wife, are also.

00:06:57.360 –> 00:07:04.950 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: I think it’s cicerone he’ll tell me in a minute, whether it’s correctly said or not certified beer servers they now own and operate.

00:07:05.190 –> 00:07:16.230 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Balsam Falls Brewing in Sylva where Corey has family roots that go back over 150 years he and Laurie are also well-known Community activists in Jackson county.

00:07:16.500 –> 00:07:23.100 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: and take pride in making their homes there Hello Corey how are you doing

Corey Bryson: I’m doing good today.

00:07:23.760 –> 00:07:39.030 Joseph McElroy: yeah so, you didn’t grow up here, but your family right?

Corey Bryson: that’s correct my dad went off to college, I went to nc state when in the navy, and I was actually born in California I grew up all over the southeast but every summer I spent in these mountains, with my grandparents,

00:07:40.380 –> 00:07:46.800 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: that’s fabulous you know that’s exactly what I do my son Ethan, he then has down 30 is that.

00:07:47.370 –> 00:07:57.660 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: You know I left and went out to New York and different places, but I made sure he did come back every summer right, and I think it’s important to touch base with your cultural.

00:07:58.350 –> 00:08:08.940 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: roots that way, because both of us, you know how hundreds of years of cultural Beijing here so it’s great that you come back so you’ve lived a lot of places that you ended up in Florida right, I did.

00:08:09.750 –> 00:08:24.480 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: We moved to Florida in 2000 mm-hmm and lived there until 2016 school and you have an information technology background, yes, so where did you go to school uh.

00:08:25.020 –> 00:08:34.860 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: I have an associate’s degree in electronics actually from a school that was in Louisville Kentucky I don’t think it’s around anymore at rest electronics Institute.

00:08:36.210 –> 00:08:37.320 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: I went into.

00:08:39.330 –> 00:08:47.580 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: That a few different things, one of the things I did was I was a broadcast engineer for a TV station that’s good rock and then I went into IT and I.

00:08:48.360 –> 00:08:58.530 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: worked in that pretty much up until we open the business and I’ve worked in it, some recently cool since then, but, but you know my son was when he.

00:08:59.190 –> 00:09:03.120 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: When he left his school went to school is gonna be a marine biologist right.

00:09:03.810 –> 00:09:14.580 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And then he went to when we too and he discovered that they had this wonderful kinetic science degree, which was learning about how the body, in the end, up getting interested in powerlifting.

00:09:15.180 –> 00:09:29.910 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Oh, and so he’s been doing, like powerlifting for 10 years plus I had he got a wellness position with a corporation and stuff but now recently he’s told me he’s going to be IT, and you know, I have some IT background in my past so.

00:09:31.020 –> 00:09:37.470 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: that’s pretty cool you know it’s a good business to be in but sometimes it’s not as fun, as it could be.

00:09:40.620 –> 00:09:42.660 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Sometimes you find a hobby that.

00:09:44.100 –> 00:09:51.570 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: You just can’t shake the and in my life, I’ve been called a collector of hobbies so I take up one hobby and.

00:09:52.650 –> 00:09:55.830 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: work and work and I get tired of it go on to something else.

00:09:57.270 –> 00:10:01.860 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: But when I took up brewing it just stuck oh really and it.

00:10:03.060 –> 00:10:04.140 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: took over a good party.

00:10:05.670 –> 00:10:10.950 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And I said well if I’m this interested in it if they can keep my attention for more than three months.

00:10:11.850 –> 00:10:28.530 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And then, more than a year, more than two years, more than five years, maybe there’s something here that I can work so so so you started yeah that’s an interesting thing started as a hobby, what is your hobby before for what was an example of a hobby.

00:10:30.030 –> 00:10:32.280 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: wow you name it.

00:10:34.440 –> 00:10:36.810 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Gaming, yeah I was a gamer for.

00:10:38.310 –> 00:10:52.650 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: I built computers, I was a photographer in geography, for a while did a lot of digital photography did some weddings and things like what do you see this artwork here, I consider that a hobby vote an avocation instead of a vocation right.

00:10:53.760 –> 00:11:09.240 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: So I’m so used to your hobby becoming a reality in Tampa Florida, right now, and you know as you and you started getting a reputation for it there right yeah when I first got interested in brewing.

00:11:11.490 –> 00:11:15.990 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: We joined a local homebrew club branded bootleggers homebrew club.

00:11:17.280 –> 00:11:18.510 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: They had.

00:11:20.070 –> 00:11:25.620 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: monthly meetings and they had a lot of great people there that brewed beer and.

00:11:27.360 –> 00:11:39.180 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: learned a lot from them together separately as kind of a side project of the club was a competition team and we get together once a month and judge.

00:11:40.320 –> 00:11:43.530 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: several different beers they could be craft beers could be homebrew.

00:11:44.640 –> 00:11:51.540 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And we would go through your standard judge judging score sheet and that helped.

00:11:55.440 –> 00:12:03.810 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: A calibrates my palate to what it should be, and to know what I’m tasting and why it’s there, or why it shouldn’t be there.

00:12:04.350 –> 00:12:19.860 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And that really got me interested in judging beer and that’s how I moved on it well, I mean it’s probably very complex but is there some things that you can tell people to how to judge appears good Those are some of the simple measures that you could yeah well.

00:12:21.270 –> 00:12:28.470 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: As a beer just saying is, you have to judge a beer based on style hmm if it doesn’t fit into a soft category.

00:12:29.760 –> 00:12:37.980 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Then the question becomes does it taste good does it taste like it’s well balanced, is this a beer, that you can drink and enjoy.

00:12:39.990 –> 00:12:55.530 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Maybe one another one, or if it’s a fear that you drink and you’re not sure about and not sure you want another one well that’s that’s your own personal preference and taste and that’s, the most important thing and repin drinking beer is drinking beer that you like.

00:12:56.820 –> 00:13:00.570 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: that you enjoy, so the other day, if you like, it just appropriately right.

00:13:02.760 –> 00:13:03.060 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: But.

00:13:04.170 –> 00:13:09.570 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: The thing is, is there’s like the gradation right yeah I mean there’s a big difference between judging a beer.

00:13:10.650 –> 00:13:22.590 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Based on very stringent style guidelines and drinking a beer just to enjoy, so we have to take a break and we’ll come back we’ll talk more about that and then how it evolved into a career.

00:15:39.330 –> 00:15:52.650 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast and my guest Corey Brysonso, Corey you are a Cicerone Certified Beer Server so tell me what that means.

00:15:53.880 –> 00:15:59.160 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Well, the cicerone program is equivalent to a sommelier and wine.

00:16:00.480 –> 00:16:02.640 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And that is the entry-level.

00:16:04.080 –> 00:16:13.170 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: it’s something that we encourage our staff to go through to take that certification so that they have a better.

00:16:14.250 –> 00:16:27.000 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Based on beer knowledge so it’s really an entry-level certification when my wife and I decided to start this business, we said well at the very least we should have that for ourselves.

00:16:27.540 –> 00:16:33.900 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: know what it takes to pass it and encourage our staff to be the same, and how long does it usually take to get one of those um.

00:16:35.160 –> 00:16:36.270 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: i’d say.

00:16:37.290 –> 00:16:40.980 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: depending on who you are and your knowledge and how well you study.

00:16:42.420 –> 00:16:50.370 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Probably about six weeks, and you can get the information down and then, once higher than that what’s the word to hire, then you become.

00:16:51.390 –> 00:17:06.060 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: A that’s the Level one, I guess, and then you become a certified cicerone, I see, which that is equivalent to a base or first-level sommelier as well in beer so as soon as big as it.

00:17:06.990 –> 00:17:20.040 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Is it’s not as well known as a sommelier yeah right well trying to become that well-known that I, it is, but it’s all it’s very becoming very well respected in the industry.

00:17:20.550 –> 00:17:30.090 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Because sommelier wine is is always promoted as being the high culture thing and.

00:17:30.660 –> 00:17:47.610 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: What many people don’t realize is a beer has such a deep deep history, and we have hundreds of classic styles that are out in what makes one different from the other that’s what an expert in beer would know.

00:17:48.480 –> 00:17:59.430 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Whereas an expert in wine can tell you the difference between different grapes, and things like that well you’re basically using all the same ingredients.

00:18:00.630 –> 00:18:10.230 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: You know your Maltese your mouth your hops are your hops all their different types of POPs and there are different types of malts depending on how highly they’re killed.

00:18:11.250 –> 00:18:23.700 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: That determines how dark the Maltese and like hell, the darker beer becomes but so wow and what I don’t want to introduce Bob what is cicerone mean?

00:18:26.580 –> 00:18:38.100 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Honestly, I’ve seen the definition of it before, but I don’t recall, is it a name or a that’s interesting it almost sounds like a classic character for some literature.

00:18:39.330 –> 00:19:03.210 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: yeah oh Shakespeare okay cool alright that was Mike our engineering, the background you give us an insight, yeah so so you came here to you start did you start your beer business in Tampa or you know, I was very involved in the Tampa Bay craft beer scene hmm along with my homebrew club.

00:19:04.800 –> 00:19:15.570 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: in Florida, huggers could bring their creations to beer festivals and serve there, so our homebrew club was invited to a number of the.

00:19:16.440 –> 00:19:30.780 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: The beer festivals that Tampa Bay had, and so we met a lot of the brewers there, the Community is very open and very engaged in that craft beer scene, so we became very involved with that.

00:19:32.280 –> 00:19:39.510 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: wife who’s not here with us was the Co-organizer of the bay area of charlie’s angels, which was a women’s.

00:19:42.480 –> 00:19:43.470 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: women’s I agree.

00:19:45.180 –> 00:20:02.070 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: it’s a national or probably international women’s craft beer organization right, and they would go around and visit breweries and talk to brewery wraps, and so we just kind of became embedded in that that culture in Tampa.

00:20:03.330 –> 00:20:09.690 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: It wasn’t until we had a couple of guys from our homework for a club who decided to open a brewery in Tampa.

00:20:10.890 –> 00:20:19.890 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: That we thought well that’s kind of interesting because we have been wanting to move back move here just Silva and to Western North Carolina.

00:20:21.210 –> 00:20:27.090 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: But weren’t sure how we were going to make it happen hmm so we were looking for a way to make it happen and.

00:20:27.840 –> 00:20:37.200 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: After seeing these two guys one was a banker, the other was an auto body mechanic and they got together and got some investors and open a brewery.

00:20:37.650 –> 00:20:48.960 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And were very successful and we thought huh huh that that might be a possibility, so we’ve talked to them, they shared their business plan with us, we worked on it for about three years and.

00:20:50.670 –> 00:20:54.360 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Finally, came to the point where we needed to.

00:20:56.310 –> 00:21:07.530 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: make it happen so we got the shoulder house in Tampa quit our jobs moved up here and started working to make it happen, so why did you decide to do it and so.

00:21:10.320 –> 00:21:11.970 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: i’ve always loved Western Carolina.

00:21:13.620 –> 00:21:16.290 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: I didn’t grow up here, but I spent every summer here.

00:21:17.970 –> 00:21:25.860 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: I’ve always loved it it always felt like home because I moved around a lot as a kid I lived all over the southeast and.

00:21:27.450 –> 00:21:31.650 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: These mountains have always felt like home to me and I wanted to be here.

00:21:33.180 –> 00:21:44.340 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: So when we started looking we were looking at Jackson county was sold as Anna Haywood county we looked in Waynesville in canton as well when we’re looking for locations.

00:21:44.820 –> 00:21:59.340 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And finally decided on so well, so it was a lovely little town is a great place for you already had a couple of breweries there, and one of them died right, I actually had two of them that went out of business, there were three breweries and Silva when we.

00:22:00.450 –> 00:22:04.830 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Finally, made the decision that someone was going to be our home the home for the brewery.

00:22:06.330 –> 00:22:11.190 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And we were a little bit concerned with three breweries already in a very small town.

00:22:13.230 –> 00:22:28.620 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: But we knew that we could make it happen so we wow so I mean I mean when you smarting small businesses is tough, it is, and you come into the town of three breweries, how did you succeed, how to do stay in existence um.

00:22:29.430 –> 00:22:38.820 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Well, one month before we open one of the breweries closed, and it was unfortunate because I knew the owner really well and liked him.

00:22:40.740 –> 00:22:52.080 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And even talked to him about petitioner because potentially doing a joint venture, and you know, having us come in and maybe work with him and make that brewery into what it could be.

00:22:53.370 –> 00:22:56.400 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: But that didn’t work out so he ended up closing.

00:22:57.600 –> 00:22:59.550 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And then, once we had open.

00:23:04.710 –> 00:23:10.110 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: It was a lot about the feeling and the audience um our location.

00:23:11.280 –> 00:23:23.010 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: We wanted to be warm and friendly and family-friendly and inviting the place that you can come into and if you’re a regular everybody knows your name, you know.

00:23:23.520 –> 00:23:38.190 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: kind of the cheers mentality and that’s what we did so from day one, the focus was to take care of our customers to be there for our customers to make them feel wanted and welcome and.

00:23:39.060 –> 00:23:49.020 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: not be these the industrial brewery where you know you want to be a here to here and then nobody talks to you and they’re they’re too busy to.

00:23:49.410 –> 00:23:56.730 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: To even give you the time of day, so hospitality is an important right, not just the brewery it’s hospitality as well, so that the right cool.

00:23:57.150 –> 00:24:02.850 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: So named balsam falls right yes there’s a beautiful waterfall near there also falls.

00:24:03.270 –> 00:24:16.170 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And is it is, and I know waters, important for all making of beer, wine, whatever is that is that reason why he named it Boston false um no actually when we came up with the name balsam falls there wasn’t a Boston fall so really.

00:24:17.700 –> 00:24:24.000 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: searched and searched we did up the whole trademark search we’ve seen too many of our friends in the brewing industry.

00:24:24.690 –> 00:24:36.900 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Get hammered with $100,000 worth of legal bills because someone wanted to challenge them on their name so before we even moved up here, we started the trademark process on that name.

00:24:38.910 –> 00:24:57.030 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: But the name came from two things number one in the early 70s and Silva, there was an active waterfall and it was the only municipality in the country that had an active waterfall within the city limits when they put the great smoky mountain expressway through.

00:24:58.080 –> 00:25:11.820 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: They diverted the waterfall and it was called bills false we actually have a picture of it on the front of our bar so we wanted to pay homage to that and we also wanted to have a name that really evoked.

00:25:13.830 –> 00:25:23.400 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Our locality, and you know we’ve got the plot balsam mountain range that runs right between where we are here and soma and.

00:25:24.540 –> 00:25:34.200 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: balsam was was something that just kept coming up and balsam just felt like the smoky mountains and move the plot ball so mountain ranges top by.

00:25:35.400 –> 00:25:38.760 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: By balsam trees you’ve got he balsam and she bosses.

00:25:40.830 –> 00:25:43.260 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: You got the spruce trees and the poetry so.

00:25:45.090 –> 00:25:49.920 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Those things really spoke to us and we wanted to evoke them.

00:25:51.210 –> 00:26:01.740 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: a feeling of this area and at some point later on someone I don’t know if they just named this fall’s balsam falls and put it on the Internet, but we spent a lot of but i’m sure.

00:26:02.280 –> 00:26:10.710 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: There wasn’t a balsam fall just to make sure we got our trademark that was fabulous, so there is a lot of breweries in this area right there.

00:26:12.330 –> 00:26:28.620 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: So I mean hospitality you’ve already mentioned, is there any other competitive advantages that you’ve created for your beer and your brewery well, there are a few things, one of the things that that we saw that we really wanted to do is we wanted to.

00:26:29.760 –> 00:26:37.200 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: create a place where people who are new to craft beer could come and learn about what makes craft beer craft beer.

00:26:38.280 –> 00:26:41.790 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: We wanted to serve that craft beer in real beer glasses.

00:26:43.230 –> 00:26:52.890 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Most breweries that you go to their content with putting their beer in your standard cocktail check your glasses right.

00:26:54.900 –> 00:26:58.890 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: As part of our sister and certified beer server.

00:27:00.090 –> 00:27:13.740 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Something that I knew long before that but was that a real beer glass should have cursed and that’s why our hashtag is your curves are better is because, not because I’m fat, but because.

00:27:15.090 –> 00:27:20.820 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: The curves in those glasses have a purpose So these are three glasses, I, unfortunately.

00:27:21.900 –> 00:27:23.130 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: will be my first choice.

00:27:24.720 –> 00:27:42.150 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: But we’re doing it for perpetrated about four yeah that’s fine but yeah if you go to Europe every beer has its own glass where you don’t order a beer in Europe and get it in a shaker glass know those glasses.

00:27:43.560 –> 00:27:56.880 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Get on my soapbox but yeah those glasses were designed to shake cocktails and they were cheap, they were like you know they’re like 50 cents apiece you can drop them on the floor, they don’t break so in the 80s.

00:27:57.540 –> 00:28:06.780 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: A name big industrial beer company decided to put their logo on the side of these glasses, give them away to bars and say here for beer in that glass.

00:28:07.230 –> 00:28:16.710 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: It was never meant to be a beer glass real beer glasses have curves those curves have a purpose when it curves in that helps retain the head and retain the aroma.

00:28:17.160 –> 00:28:27.480 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: The curve out at the lip of the glass let’s help missing that helps her role on your tongue so cool, we have to take a break now and we’re going to talk more about your brewery when we get back.

00:30:35.700 –> 00:30:43.440 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and my guest Corey Bryson so Corey.

00:30:44.820 –> 00:30:51.600 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: I interrupted you because we had to go to break to talk about glass glassware, and I thought was pretty interesting, can you tell us a little bit more about that.

00:30:52.950 –> 00:31:00.060 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Well let’s put it this way, if you’ve got a good beer glass at home, you can do an experiment for yourself.

00:31:00.750 –> 00:31:14.130 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Take one of the shaker pint glasses and take a real beer glass that has the curves like I’m talking about and put your favorite beer in each glass and then takes a SIP out of each one and see.

00:31:14.520 –> 00:31:21.780 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Or take two sips out of each one of these want to acclimate your power take two steps out of each one and see if you notice the difference.

00:31:22.740 –> 00:31:31.650 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: We were planning our glassware, for the brewery we did exactly that we order samples of a bunch of glassware from the company, we were going with.

00:31:32.220 –> 00:31:45.690 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And we sat down and we had we did in sets of four, we had a shaker glass as our control, and then we had three other beer glasses and we put the same beer and each one tasted each one.

00:31:46.230 –> 00:31:59.250 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: to determine which one we thought accentuated that beer, the best we ended up choosing two glasses, one for our ipas one for our standard pilots since then we’ve added.

00:31:59.910 –> 00:32:04.140 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: balloon glasses Belgian style beer glasses for smaller pores.

00:32:04.560 –> 00:32:16.290 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And things like that, but well so that’s very much like a brandy snifter right there, yes it’s like you can tell the major difference in brandy, I mean you can get the experience of brandy without the right cool.

00:32:16.710 –> 00:32:27.570 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: I didn’t even know that that that that the beer had that sort of thing and I didn’t drink it all the time, yeah well, I mean you gotta realize our sense of taste.

00:32:27.900 –> 00:32:38.550 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Is not really our sense of taste it’s mostly our sense of smell good so if you’re not getting the aromas from that beer that you’re supposed to get that the brewer intended you to get.

00:32:39.090 –> 00:32:46.530 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And you’re missing out on half the experience so when you created your your your business.

00:32:47.460 –> 00:32:59.040 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And it’s not dissimilar to what we’re doing is we create some called the heritage club you created something called founders club and help you build that what was the founders club uh well, it was something that is now closed.

00:33:00.570 –> 00:33:01.560 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: First opening.

00:33:02.610 –> 00:33:09.270 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: We needed to get a lot of work done so we needed painting mud drywall and.

00:33:10.350 –> 00:33:12.750 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Do all kinds of trim work and things like that.

00:33:13.890 –> 00:33:17.400 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: So we put it out to our friends and family and things like that.

00:33:18.750 –> 00:33:21.240 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: hey if you want to become a founder here’s what you do.

00:33:22.350 –> 00:33:26.490 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Give us 25 hours of work while we’re trying to get this business open.

00:33:28.590 –> 00:33:47.640 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: in exchange will give you a T-shirt that unique T-shirt that says founders club on it you’re the only one that will ever have one of those and will also give you some other discounts it so it wasn’t like a sort of a gofundme with for labor yeah we got that idea from.

00:33:48.660 –> 00:33:54.630 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: brewery in the Tampa Bay area that opened did something very similar and it worked well for you.

00:33:55.020 –> 00:34:01.770 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: It worked really well for us, we got the painting done we made some great friends, I mean even more loyal customer you know yeah I mean.

00:34:02.190 –> 00:34:12.060 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: The idea was okay we’re getting the Labor sure, but we’re also creating our cheerleaders because hopefully.

00:34:12.690 –> 00:34:20.460 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: and probably about half the people that that finished becoming complete founders are now regular customers are so.

00:34:21.300 –> 00:34:34.260 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: yeah we give them free stuff but they come in all the time they bring their friends and their friends of ours, so I mean these people are we’ve known him for over four and a half years at this point and.

00:34:35.850 –> 00:34:42.030 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: they’re like family well you know it’s interesting you know I have this motels you know, been around since the 50s.

00:34:42.810 –> 00:34:49.170 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And there are people who come here, and I say there they were here for their honeymoons 60 so we’re talking about heritage club and one thing we’re doing.

00:34:49.440 –> 00:34:57.360 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: This character event, but I am thinking about you know rewarding these people like with a special status because listen to they.

00:34:58.170 –> 00:35:15.780 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: reported at all the years right, but I think I I like about you, you know we’re a three-star pine three find three pine hotel-motel where I think we’re the only three fine west of actual right which is a state designation of sustainability okay all right.

00:35:16.860 –> 00:35:32.190 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And I know you’re active that you’re active in environmental issues right, yes, so how does that become part of your business well brewers use a lot of water and they generates a lot of waste.

00:35:33.540 –> 00:35:37.710 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: it’s forcing you to have to figure out is how are you going to get rid of some of that waste.

00:35:39.000 –> 00:35:56.430 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Spent grain after it’s gone through the matching process it still has some nutritional value, so we connected with a local farmer who comes by on brew days and drops off drums we fill them up with spent grain he takes him back and feeds some to his.

00:35:57.660 –> 00:36:03.000 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: His holiday mostly I believe so wow, and that makes them in probably like that.

00:36:05.940 –> 00:36:24.030 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: collects a lot so you’re nano brewing operations is a nano brewing is generally considered under three barrels per batch production we’re actually a one-barrel brewery so.

00:36:25.110 –> 00:36:35.190 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Once we complete a cycle of brewing we expect to get about 31 gallons of beer out on the back end I see now is that a licensed sort of a.

00:36:35.820 –> 00:36:43.560 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Difference the difference, I know there’s not a licensing differentiation it’s really just a matter of production so.

00:36:44.160 –> 00:36:54.300 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: I mean, I used to work with breweries of New York and I knew that a microbrewery you know, had certain limitations, but it also got the benefits certain things just to be in a brewer.

00:36:54.750 –> 00:37:10.740 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: wider right, I know the bill is a something you have to get an MRI designation in North Carolina, no, no, you do not you just have to once you have your federal version of this you go to the State and get it set up to them, but it’s not.

00:37:12.540 –> 00:37:13.920 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: there’s not any type of.

00:37:15.300 –> 00:37:22.830 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: a level that you have to stay with it now are most breweries in North Carolina know, though, I would say not.

00:37:23.910 –> 00:37:29.430 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: I’ve met a few other nano breweries most breweries that are starting up no better.

00:37:32.340 –> 00:37:35.310 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Because manufacturing is very Labor intensive.

00:37:36.570 –> 00:37:44.670 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: You know, most of the time we’re not bringing one barrel of beer, we were double batching in an 11 hour day we’re in two barrels and putting that in the perimeter.

00:37:45.750 –> 00:37:53.070 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And we will do that two times three times, sometimes four times a week, depending on the demand at that point so.

00:37:53.700 –> 00:38:01.500 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Now most breweries I don’t know most, but I would say my experience of a lot of breweries is they don’t actually build a restaurant.

00:38:02.400 –> 00:38:13.350 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: right they get a food truck come in if they do anything right, and so you actually have done the work of bringing in a restaurant that’s expensive why uh well a couple of reasons, when we.

00:38:14.490 –> 00:38:15.240 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: First, opened.

00:38:16.350 –> 00:38:24.900 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Our thoughts were to do exactly that bringing a food truck and we talked to the town, a couple of times and.

00:38:26.100 –> 00:38:31.290 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: didn’t really get very far with them about giving us a parking spot for a food truck.

00:38:32.430 –> 00:38:45.390 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Just in the evenings and weekends and things like that it was we couldn’t gain traction on that right so within the first couple of months we knew that we needed food on-site and we tried other things as well we.

00:38:46.860 –> 00:38:50.610 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: could have done catering yeah we did catering a couple of times.

00:38:51.750 –> 00:39:01.290 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: We actually set up special deals with a few other restaurants in the area to deliver straight to our souls and in fact one of the businesses.

00:39:02.220 –> 00:39:12.900 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: They had did not have a delivery service at all at that time, but they would deliver to us and you know how they’ve got a huge delivery business, so I really help them out.

00:39:13.500 –> 00:39:21.360 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: But we just realized early on that it just wasn’t going to work, so we started fairly early working on getting food there on site.

00:39:22.650 –> 00:39:31.980 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: To get a chef how did you create well initially we had we built out the kitchen and we had a tenant in that space.

00:39:33.840 –> 00:39:36.150 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: That we opened in August,2019 with.

00:39:37.200 –> 00:39:52.500 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: With that, then of course coven shutdown march 2020 when we were able to reopen in June of 2020 the lease was almost up and we decided to part ways with our tenant.

00:39:53.010 –> 00:40:09.270 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: and take over that space entirely at that point we didn’t hire an executive chef to help us put in the right equipment plan our menu and get us where we needed to be and what kind of food, did you have no we have.

00:40:10.920 –> 00:40:21.750 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Of course burgers, we have flatbreads we have wings, we have a variety of sandwiches Cuban we love spicy chicken sandwich.

00:40:23.250 –> 00:40:32.910 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And you’re all day right yes also breakfast lunch and dinner not breakfast breakfast breakfast isn’t really beer time oh yeah well yeah but yeah we open at 11.

00:40:33.660 –> 00:40:41.730 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: starts everyone’s cool you know there’s a restaurant in New York City it’s a French restaurant started in France and as part of my winery.

00:40:42.630 –> 00:40:48.960 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Right there’s an interesting story about it can’t be replicated right, but what they did is they had to.

00:40:49.380 –> 00:40:55.740 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: yeah they needed if people really wanted to have food whether drinking wine right, so they created one dish.

00:40:56.130 –> 00:41:04.170 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And they get some of you to create one dish which a steak with this with the steak and the special sauce and in free switch your Fries right.

00:41:04.650 –> 00:41:12.780 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: All the special sauce is so great that the food became this huge hit that people came from Moscow and, by the way, they drank wine to right.

00:41:13.440 –> 00:41:25.800 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And it became such a big thing they create just a restaurant that goes now in several places all over the world, all it said serves is this steak fruits with this special sauce and then you pick your wines and think he deserves.

00:41:28.440 –> 00:41:30.300 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Right it’s kind of interesting right.

00:41:31.920 –> 00:41:35.580 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: So, can you tell us about the bruise the beers brew.

00:41:36.960 –> 00:41:46.260 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: uh well as we were talking earlier as a brewer I like a lot of different kinds of beer I’m not the same person will just drink one.

00:41:47.550 –> 00:41:53.220 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: So we have a lot of variety in our brewery we have a total of 36 taps wow.

00:41:54.630 –> 00:41:59.670 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Two of those are taken up as guest taps one for white line one for porsecco.

00:42:02.460 –> 00:42:03.690 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: People like their muscles.

00:42:06.570 –> 00:42:13.020 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: But the other 36 taps our goal is to keep beers and our other products on those.

00:42:14.760 –> 00:42:15.000 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Are.

00:42:17.250 –> 00:42:21.240 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: You never know what you’re going to find when you come in, you know, right now, what are your staples.

00:42:21.900 –> 00:42:37.320 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: We have into the mess, which is our southern IPA what we call a southern, yeah we’ve got by the encounter, which is a double IPA we’ve got go West, which is a former West Coast-style IPA we’ve got at 87 eagle blonde

00:42:38.400 –> 00:42:44.910 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: The one year I did live here growing up with my senior year in high school graduated from several Webster and oh wow seven.

00:42:45.960 –> 00:42:58.080 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: wow and their mascot was the golden eagles so I was looking for a name for the one there you go at eight seven eagle blonde that’s one of our most popular we’ve got our salt rock with bonus defeat robust porter.

00:42:59.880 –> 00:43:11.190 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: let’s see we got a few others, but they rotate on and off the view here I mean you’re pretty young brewery wanting words yet and we have one a couple so far.

00:43:12.930 –> 00:43:14.370 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: There were some.

00:43:16.350 –> 00:43:18.240 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: competitions in asheville.

00:43:19.830 –> 00:43:25.170 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: done by Raven farms where they gave you ingredients for their farm and actually to brew with them.

00:43:26.280 –> 00:43:34.140 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: it’s fairly limited competition, it was limited to 10 breweries one year we came in second place in that year, we came in the first place so.

00:43:36.000 –> 00:43:45.150 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Now, do you do things like me filter hard cider yes, yes, we did that’s one of the things after coming out of covid.

00:43:45.720 –> 00:43:51.510 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Knowing that we needed to make some improvements to our business, we got our winery license so that we could reduce cider.

00:43:52.320 –> 00:44:07.080 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: We so we started producing our own cider we also started producing our own self serve we’ve got a five and a half percent seltzer and an 11% seltzer wow are 11% seltzer is our answer to the fact we don’t have a liquor license.

00:44:08.280 –> 00:44:14.370 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And we can make mixed drinks with that, so you can mix it 11% seltzer down and still have.

00:44:15.570 –> 00:44:23.580 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Decent abv drink so cool all right well we’re going to take another break here and we’ll come back we’ll finish up with more information about what you’re doing and then.

00:44:24.720 –> 00:44:25.170 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: All right.

00:46:26.970 –> 00:46:37.410 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with a gateway to the smokies podcast my guest Corey Bryson so Corey I was talking about Plott, who is introduced us the other day.

00:46:38.010 –> 00:46:41.910 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And I was talking to you know, I was a beekeeper all right and.

00:46:42.720 –> 00:46:49.710 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And that was in the beekeeper in the Bronx right South Bronx know, so I hope they get the Community to be involved, they were the else.

00:46:49.980 –> 00:47:09.000 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: and actually it’s funny that the Church of stop shopping, which is a far less or the far left organization I’m not far left by any means, but they said because I was doing this in the South Bronx they made me a saint of their church stop shopping, so I have that accolade on my

00:47:10.110 –> 00:47:12.960 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Like that, I could ever run for office for somebody bring that up.

00:47:14.730 –> 00:47:22.770 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: But the thing that was discussed with is that yeah I looked it up, and you can make like from one beehive you know.

00:47:23.970 –> 00:47:34.920 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Like 120 gallons of need, this is it something that you guys do is make me a yes, as a matter of fact, we with our winery license we can make me, we can make great line if we want to do.

00:47:35.850 –> 00:47:50.730 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And we actually just released, our first made last week very small scale only have a very, very limited quantity of it, but it is a 14.2% fortified wine man.

00:47:54.060 –> 00:47:54.540 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: legally.

00:47:56.160 –> 00:47:58.140 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: But yeah it’s made with a.

00:47:59.280 –> 00:48:13.140 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: a bunch of honey and some nutrients for the East and just let them do their thing and it’s dry as a bone but still sweet from alcohol So where do you hope.

00:48:14.370 –> 00:48:15.390 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: This.

00:48:16.800 –> 00:48:23.700 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: kind of national honey supply or X to dispatch we do have some local a period so we’ve been talking to you.

00:48:24.930 –> 00:48:30.570 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: I’ll be talking to you because when I put it behind in the south Bronx of the Waldorf Astoria so I started using my honey.

00:48:31.200 –> 00:48:44.760 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: I can make good have you been oh yeah Father academies and I hope is over, with it, so I grew up here and doing honey and I learned how to do it from my grandfather my father was up there, I last had the benefit of being by the botanical gardens.

00:48:46.050 –> 00:48:50.700 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And I got some real while there was some interesting stuff there so anyway.

00:48:52.320 –> 00:49:06.660 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: it’s interesting so you’re always thinking of new products things to do right and things like that so what’s your future, what are you gonna be doing next uh well at the moment, we need to expand a little.

00:49:07.770 –> 00:49:16.860 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: As we discussed, I have a very small brewery house and need to expand that and also expand our kitchen, because our kitchen is very small, at the moment.

00:49:17.880 –> 00:49:22.110 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: So we’re working on a plan to do that and.

00:49:23.760 –> 00:49:28.350 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: hoping to eventually have a second location were you thinking about having.

00:49:29.850 –> 00:49:33.150 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: we’re hoping for Haywood County so Maggie Valley

00:49:36.750 –> 00:49:47.880 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: yeah that’d be great yeah, we need, we need a brewery in Maggie Valley now the other distilleries and I wanna I want to have a craft beverage, though, that the festival grounds, you know festival.

00:49:48.630 –> 00:49:55.770 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: That would be cool right yeah I think that’d be good so yeah I use this podcast to like put you on the spot again.

00:49:59.010 –> 00:50:01.680 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: We can’t forget our friends at bear waters, they do have a.

00:50:02.400 –> 00:50:14.280 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Great they’re good down the street yeah we’re good for the good they have good food, I mean like you know yeah I love them I love they even have gluten-free pizza right now, but so they do a good job, but you know they.

00:50:15.270 –> 00:50:20.310 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: You know they’re they also you love business ready and during the winter was nobody else does because they’re new to the ski resort.

00:50:20.940 –> 00:50:27.570 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Right so but there’s room in this county for another brewery or two I think everybody’s still doing well it’s like.

00:50:27.900 –> 00:50:43.560 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: So let’s move the pie bigger right exactly and that and as breweries come in everyone says well there’s got to be too many breweries now I mean you look at Asheville they’ve got I don’t even know I think they’re 25 breweries on South slope, and at this point.

00:50:45.600 –> 00:50:52.740 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: But people are still opening breweries so most of them are successful, I think it all comes down to.

00:50:53.940 –> 00:50:55.710 What your focus is on the business.

00:50:57.060 –> 00:51:11.670 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: So what you’re instilling I know this is a travel show to somebody comes to a soda of food and beer at your place what else are they visiting so well, we do have the most photographed courthouse in North Carolina or they always said it was.

00:51:12.930 –> 00:51:19.290 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: A courthouse up on a hill actually not a courthouse anymore, now the library right so that’s beautiful.

00:51:22.020 –> 00:51:34.500 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: opportunity to take pictures and things we’ve got pinnacle mountain, which is a nice hike that people can go on there’s lots of waterfalls and other places to hide their lakes.

00:51:35.970 –> 00:51:39.480 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: And there’s somebody who sits you know certain records will be a good place to go get breakfast.

00:51:40.530 –> 00:51:43.980 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Oh let’s see well if you’re just looking for.

00:51:45.570 –> 00:51:53.550 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: or just some your regular greasy spoon there’s a coffee shop and that one if you’re looking for something a little bit.

00:51:54.570 –> 00:52:02.910 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: little bit higher class, we do have the white linen cafes and downtown also city lights CAFE they both serve breakfast.

00:52:05.010 –> 00:52:07.320 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: they’re probably a few other places, I think.

00:52:09.030 –> 00:52:27.120 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: there are some new places that I haven’t necessarily been to yet cool and then I mean you serve lunch and dinner but yeah somebody asked you to twice on the same day, so why, but where would be the other place that they would he’d love to um.

00:52:28.920 –> 00:52:39.720 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: lose down the street they’re a really nice sit-down restaurant and we’ve got elders which are kind of they call it a cross between Italian and southern food.

00:52:40.800 –> 00:52:41.730 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: it’s really good.

00:52:45.450 –> 00:52:53.670 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: we have your standard Mexican restaurants and everything Guadalupe Guadalupe yeah that’s a popular place cool.

00:52:54.360 –> 00:53:02.370 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: So how can people find out more about you, your hours of operation that sort of thing Oh well, Monday through Friday we’re open 11 to 10.

00:53:03.120 –> 00:53:20.880 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Saturdays and Sundays, we do open early at 10 am for brunch and close again at 10 pm they can find out more about us on Facebook or Instagram awesome false brewing also Boston Paul spring.com cool, I have a to-do you have any.

00:53:21.900 –> 00:53:29.100 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Any social media that you are talking about out there, you know, promoting things like that they follow you or your wife.

00:53:30.510 –> 00:53:33.450 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: I don’t do a whole lot I mean you should do to talk at least.

00:53:36.870 –> 00:53:43.860 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: shows how to cook some sub say my life just started doing Instagram and she’s all right, she was telling me the other day how many followers she has.

00:53:45.330 –> 00:53:47.310 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: what’s her Instagram I know.

00:53:52.140 –> 00:53:52.980 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: she’s probably listening.

00:53:54.690 –> 00:53:59.010 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: pull up a fun earlier and went to go to our Instagram for balsam falls when I’m like.

00:53:59.760 –> 00:54:06.960 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: huh they change the password on didn’t make sense yeah even have a personal Instagram account so yeah well that’s all right.

00:54:07.470 –> 00:54:20.700 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: I think it’d be great to have you on the show, I really appreciate it great to be here yeah it’s been good to find out about this, I love the brewery scene in North Carolina I’d love to see it, even more, Maggie Valley love their water being here, but even more.

00:54:21.960 –> 00:54:41.460 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: So I encourage you to look at Maggie valley opportunities and I think it’d be great So this is the gateway to the smokies podcast you can find out more about us@facebook.com/gatewaytothe smokiespodcast we also.

00:54:43.290 –> 00:54:52.470 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Are we actually have all our videos on smokiesadventure.com you can go there and you’ll see the link at the top of the smokiesadventures, and we have.

00:54:52.830 –> 00:55:07.590 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Not only the shows but we have transcripts so you can read it and find things that you want to do and other information and newsletter you can sign up for this podcast is on talkradio.nyc network it broadcast person to New York City.

00:55:08.790 –> 00:55:20.790 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: and other you know other places it’s a live network of lots of podcasts arranging for small business to other travel shows to self-help to you know to.

00:55:21.600 –> 00:55:30.150 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: To cats and dogs anything, a lot of different things it’s seven days a week, you know many hours out of the day, so go to talkradio.nyc.

00:55:30.510 –> 00:55:39.600 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: To look for shows that you might find interesting I love the live show format because you find out, they have a very vital experience.

00:55:40.020 –> 00:55:53.790 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: I also run another podcast on this network called wise content creates wealth, I will help people understand how to use content marketing SEO to build a business, which is something I’m doing for the businesses I’m doing.

00:55:54.960 –> 00:56:03.780 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: Which is the Meadowlark motel it’s a very successful approach and I’m sharing the information I learned on how to do that.

00:56:04.440 –> 00:56:18.990 Joseph McElroy & Corey Bryson: There and that’s on Fridays from noon until one so, but this podcast gateway to the smokies is on Tuesdays from six to seven, I look forward to being here next week, and having you join us to listen to the next grade expert from the smoky mountains, thank you very much.

In this episode with Garret Woodward. you'll hear about his coverage of the local music scene and his conversation with the Legendary Musician Raymond Fairchild.

Garret Woodward is an award-winning journalist, author, events promoter, and musician now living in Waynesville, N.C. A native of upstate New York, he was a college track star. After graduating with a degree in Journalism and working across the country in a variety of Journalism jobs, he became a weekly Columnist for Smoky Mountain News in 2012, and later also a columnist for Smoky Mountain Living. Best known for his interviews with musicians and compelling human-interest stories, Garret is also the author of two books and is a regular contributor to Rolling Stone magazine while also promoting live music events with his own newly formed company. 

A popular past guest on our show, Garret returns today to discuss his books, his music, and the Legendary Musician Raymond Fairchild. He will also mention some new exciting projects and catch up on post-pandemic event plans.

Don't miss this fun interview!

Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by clicking here.

Starting off today’s episode, Joseph mentions his very own Meadowlark Motel, which is the sponsor for the show and some upcoming events. On March 26th, renowned author and General Manager at the motel for the Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center, Bob Plott, wil be doing a seminar about the history of hunting in the Smokies along with a barbeque dinner and live music! He also mentions a fly fishing camp weekend on April 15-17. Joseph introduces today’s guest, Garret Woodward, an award-winning journalist, author, events promoter, and musician now living in Waynesville, N.C. Garret is also the author of two books and is a regular contributor to Rolling Stone magazine while also promoting live music events with his own newly formed company. He is also a native of Upstate New York. Garret still works for the Rolling Stone magazine. He is currently working on writing about the state of bluegrass music. Garret and Joseph share their love for interacting with people. Garret says that even if this wasn’t his job, he would still be talking to everyone and asking questions.

Garret speaks about having an older father and because of this, he was able to learn about much older music that his father listened to as well as what it was like for his father to grow up during WWII. he also talks with Joseph about coming to live in the Smokies which he thought would only be temporary. Garret speaks about running a company where he is looking to give more attention to quality live music in West Asheville, North Carolina. He also talks about meeting Darren Nicholson from Balsam Range to interview him while just arriving in North Carolina literally minutes ago without having moved in yet into his apartment. They discuss more about the music scene in the Smoky Mountains. Garret also says that going to breweries, restaurants and other locations are where the music comes alive.

Garret talks about his books. He is also currently working on a book about bluegrass legend Raymond Fairchild who was an American banjo player. Garret was able to receive a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council to write the book. Joseph and Garret both knew Raymond and reminisced about the kind of person he was. Garret recalls interviewing Raymond early in his career. Garret’s experience was great considering that Raymond didn’t take a liking to any media. Raymond enjoyed talking to Garret. They had a connection that was special, especially with their passion for bluegrass music. Garret says that Raymond was a sweet man when you really got the chance to know him. For the title of the book, Garret says that he doesn’t know the exact title yet but it will most likely be called Lord I’m Coming Home: The legend and Lore of Raymond Fairchild.

Coming back from the final break, Garret speaks about recently learning to play the guitar. He really loves it and started learning during the early part of the pandemic. Joseph mentions his speakeasy and the motel where people also come together for music and tells Garret that he can come by anytime to play music. Garret also talks about collecting vintage guitars. Every guitar he says has a different vibe and feeling. On the Facebook live video, he shows us one of his guitars, a 1940s Rotary Deluxe Parlor Guitar. It is beautifully decorated and Joseph was very excited to see it. Garret is also excited to hear that Joseph will have Jim Lauderdale, Darren Nicholson, and Charles Humphrey III to run the fly fishing camp. During this weekend-long event, they’ll also play some tunes around a campfire. It’s all about being connected with the outdoors and more! You can learn more about it by visiting meadowlarkmotel.com. To learn more about Garret Woodward, you can go to smokymountainnews.com and follow him @garretkwoodward on Instagram.

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00:00:31.020 –> 00:00:34.710 Joseph McElroy: howdy welcome to the gateway to the smokies podcast.

00:00:35.100 –> 00:00:45.690 Joseph McElroy: This podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the great smoky mountains national park, and surrounding towns, this area is filled with ancient natural beauty.

00:00:46.320 –> 00:00:51.600 Joseph McElroy: A deep-storied history and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes.

00:00:52.260 –> 00:01:11.220 Joseph McElroy: I am Joseph Franklyn McElroy man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains my family’s lived in the great smoky for over 200 years my business is in travel, but my heart is in culture today we’re going to talk about some legendary mountain use but first, a message from our sponsors.

00:01:12.360 –> 00:01:13.380 Joseph McElroy: which happens to be me.

00:01:14.910 –> 00:01:26.190 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place evocative of both of course of the past at modern and vibrant with a Chic Appalachian feel a place for adventure and for relaxation.

00:01:26.820 –> 00:01:34.920 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on fire and eat accompanied but fine wine and craft beers.

00:01:35.430 –> 00:01:47.130 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place of the old-time music world cultural sounds there is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel Maggie Valley North Carolina your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay.

00:01:48.570 –> 00:01:54.870 Joseph McElroy: Another sponsor is smokies adventure.com that smokies plural adventure singular.com.

00:01:55.260 –> 00:02:08.580 Joseph McElroy: The smoky mountains and surrounding areas vacation destination for all seasons, some of the nation’s best hiking trails waterfalls outdoor adventures and family entertainment can be found, right here.

00:02:09.360 –> 00:02:16.650 Joseph McElroy: start your adventure by using smokies adventure.com to explore all the wonderful features of the great smoky mountains natural park.

00:02:17.190 –> 00:02:27.210 Joseph McElroy: That the trails the waterfalls cage cove and more than check out all the awesome family attractions and entertainment, you and your entire family can enjoy the area.

00:02:27.930 –> 00:02:34.530 Joseph McElroy: The goal of smokies adventures to become the leading information portal for adventures and experiences in the great smoky mountains.

00:02:35.670 –> 00:02:51.390 Joseph McElroy: So adventure coming up at the Meadowlark on march 26 Saturday at 4 pm renowned Author Bob Plott, and also the General Manager of the Meadowlark Smoky Mountains Heritage Center will lead a seminar.

00:02:51.870 –> 00:02:56.160 Joseph McElroy: On the history of hunting in the great smoky mountains, based upon his book of the same name.

00:02:56.700 –> 00:03:11.430 Joseph McElroy: followed by this will be followed by a Barbecue dinner and music with Mike Ogletree the former drummer for simple minds and some of his guests call 828-926-1717 for a very, very fun and informative

00:03:13.230 –> 00:03:25.590 Joseph McElroy: Evening in the mountains and Maggie Valley now what’s better for the soul than throwing a line upstream watching it past doing it again and again and perhaps getting a bite.

00:03:26.040 –> 00:03:35.730 Joseph McElroy: All anglers know that fly fishing isn’t only about really in the big one all that’s that all that always gets the heart jumping.

00:03:36.150 –> 00:03:44.730 Joseph McElroy: fly fishing is about being one with the river and his magnificence presence by witnessing value equals ecosystem.

00:03:45.420 –> 00:04:04.860 Joseph McElroy: the Meadowlark Motel is offering a fly fishing camp on April a whole weekend on April 15 through the 17th 2022 hopefully every year thereafter in the smoky mountains, our goal is to bring like-minded people together to fly fishing food, drink stories of the campfires.

00:04:06.300 –> 00:04:06.990 Joseph McElroy: We.

00:04:08.010 –> 00:04:12.510 Joseph McElroy: Will our place in the mountains, has a mountain heritage trout stream on it.

00:04:12.840 –> 00:04:24.750 Joseph McElroy: Close we’re in the middle of a lot of wonderful trout streams so there’s going to be a couple of days of different kinds of events, for example, on Friday night there’s gonna be a fishing tales of the smoky and present a video presentation.

00:04:25.200 –> 00:04:34.890 Joseph McElroy: there’ll be beverages of your choice and the speakeasy every charcuterie board for small bites including some trout delicacies like smoked trout.

00:04:35.220 –> 00:04:41.730 Joseph McElroy: And then you get included will have logic at the Meadowlark motel for two nights and then Saturday, will be a breakfast.

00:04:42.060 –> 00:04:52.290 Joseph McElroy: And then, a half-day of hands-on instruction and several hours of intense fishing on elite regional trout streams and there’s an additional help.

00:04:53.220 –> 00:04:57.240 Joseph McElroy: The fishing right to the property here the mountain there is traveling we have in the backyard.

00:04:57.600 –> 00:05:13.740 Joseph McElroy: there’ll be a Barbecue dinner there’ll be live musical entertainment every campfire they’ll be a speakeasy and there’ll be lots of fun call 828-926- 1717 to find out the details, but the whole weekend, including lodging of meals, is 875.

00:05:15.180 –> 00:05:28.770 Joseph McElroy: So today we have a wonderful guest his name is Garrett Woodward he’s an award-winning Journalist, Author, Events promoter, and musician now living in Waynesville North Carolina he’s a native of upstate New York.

00:05:29.880 –> 00:05:45.240 Joseph McElroy: where he was also a college track star he has been a weekly call this for smoky mountain news since 2012 and he’s also a columnist for smoky mountain living magazine, and he has a couple of books out that are pretty important reading so Hello Garret, how are you doing?

00:05:45.690 –> 00:05:47.460 Garret Woodward: Joseph good to see you again.

00:05:47.940 –> 00:05:53.250 Joseph McElroy: Oh it’s really good to good to see you it’s been it’s yours.

00:05:55.200 –> 00:06:04.170 Joseph McElroy: was a pretty popular one and in the rankings and we get all those statistics so and I enjoy talking to a bit well as well, so.

00:06:05.280 –> 00:06:06.960 Garret Woodward: upstate New York beer I brought on.

00:06:08.730 –> 00:06:11.310 Garret Woodward: got a nice lake placid craft beer.

00:06:12.120 –> 00:06:18.810 Joseph McElroy: I have, I have a king of the mountain whoops you can’t see it it’s it well it’s in the.

00:06:19.140 –> 00:06:20.280 Joseph McElroy: mug I put it in a mug.

00:06:20.730 –> 00:06:33.480 Joseph McElroy: Right yeah I was telling Garrett earlier, I am supposed to fly into Maggie on Saturday, but because it’s a sweetened windstorm I got canceled and I hadn’t come in on.

00:06:33.870 –> 00:06:41.790 Joseph McElroy: On am in the morning it’s like you know, like, I had to get up at four o’clock or something like that so I’m like I’m feeling the.

00:06:42.180 –> 00:06:52.200 Joseph McElroy: feeling the result of not having that sleep I usually get I said, I have a couple of beers just as if I can’t be interactive and witty at least be tips.

00:06:53.430 –> 00:06:59.220 Garret Woodward: You know, we spent all day putting out the newspaper I’m also in the same boat needing a beer after that.

00:07:01.110 –> 00:07:10.800 Joseph McElroy: So you know, last time we talked about you were born in upstate and then and then worked all over the country before moving to Western North Carolina and taking the job with smoky mountain news.

00:07:11.160 –> 00:07:22.470 Joseph McElroy: And I recommend everybody goes listen to that podcast was a really, really great podcast but, and you know, he also talks about being a freelancer for Rolling Stones are you still working for the rolling so.

00:07:22.770 –> 00:07:31.410 Garret Woodward: yeah I will be on the road for Rolling Stone probably starting next month again I’m actually working on an article from right now.

00:07:33.360 –> 00:07:42.360 Garret Woodward: Technically, on assignment so actually now that I think about it, I am on the road with them this weekend I’m doing a story right now about the state of bluegrass music.

00:07:43.350 –> 00:07:54.570 Garret Woodward: About what’s going on as a lot of big things going on with billy strings obviously selling out, you know, a reno’s as a four-piece bluegrass band so there’s a big seismic shift in the high lonesome sound.

00:07:54.900 –> 00:08:11.280 Garret Woodward: come in the mainstream again and I’m heading down the Florida Thursday to go do some more interviews in the field for Rolling Stone about the state of bluegrass music going down to the Sewanee spring reunion down there and live up to beautiful place in the pan, near the panhandle.

00:08:12.240 –> 00:08:17.700 Joseph McElroy: wow that’s fabulous so that’s gonna be a wonderful series of articles or.

00:08:17.910 –> 00:08:35.820 Garret Woodward: it’s one big article I’ve been working on chipping away at it on the side, since January I’ve interviewed about 20 musicians for it all people from all over bluegrass and all over the music industry Billy Strings if you’re familiar, a lot of bluegrass down Mccurry Bobby Osbourne Sam Bush.

00:08:37.530 –> 00:08:44.310 Garret Woodward: Who else was in there, oh Dan our back from the black keys because he’s a big bluegrass guy so I was chatting with him the other day about it and.

00:08:44.970 –> 00:09:01.080 Garret Woodward: Sierra whole molly Tuttle Rhonda Vincent whole slew of people so I’ve been kind of slowly chipping away at it and trying to get it done for April, but I’m going to tie the bow on it by going down to that festival this weekend and getting the last the interviews that I need.

00:09:02.010 –> 00:09:08.730 Joseph McElroy: cool that must be a real blast it’s it sounds like a job that’s both a lot of work and also a lot of fun.

00:09:09.270 –> 00:09:11.070 Garret Woodward: Organized chaos, but I love it.

00:09:11.970 –> 00:09:17.070 Garret Woodward: it’s not you know it’s a lot of work, but you get to hang out with musicians and go see shows no.

00:09:18.480 –> 00:09:27.150 Joseph McElroy: way no I doing this podcast and then running a hospitality business I sort of get a taste of it, you know I’ve been a big marketer and a technology guy for a long time.

00:09:27.630 –> 00:09:39.630 Joseph McElroy: And I’m transitioning into this life, you know, and you know getting to talk to people, and you know and having conversations and making it into some content this case video content.

00:09:40.080 –> 00:09:51.150 Joseph McElroy: But also then taking that and trying to apply it to the other things in life, like you know, like of hospitality and bringing you to know some of those interesting people here to

00:09:51.510 –> 00:09:52.200 Garret Woodward: la, and I mean.

00:09:52.290 –> 00:09:56.250 Garret Woodward: I would talk to people, even if I was if it wasn’t my job, I would still do this.

00:09:56.310 –> 00:10:08.760 Garret Woodward: it’s just I’ve always even since I was a little kid I’ve always been fascinated with what people do with their lives, you know, I was that little kid that was talking to adults, I grew up in an older family, so you know my parents.

00:10:09.900 –> 00:10:14.370 Garret Woodward: Were my dad was 43 when I was born and I’m the oldest and.

00:10:14.520 –> 00:10:15.180 Joseph McElroy: Oh wow.

00:10:18.000 –> 00:10:18.960 Joseph McElroy: Oh, the youngest in the.

00:10:19.440 –> 00:10:20.490 Garret Woodward: Two years behind me.

00:10:21.330 –> 00:10:21.660 But.

00:10:22.950 –> 00:10:33.690 Garret Woodward: yeah so we were always just raised around adults or older people, so I was always fascinated by asking people questions actually one of my first jobs was working in hospitality, my uncle.

00:10:34.290 –> 00:10:48.780 Garret Woodward: At the time when I got out of high school as well when I’m a senior year in high school yeah at a motel in Lake placid so I worked front desk there every summer I was out of college, so I lived in the motel all summer as front desk and maintenance guy.

00:10:48.870 –> 00:10:50.790 Garret Woodward: and pool boy so.

00:10:51.120 –> 00:10:56.940 Joseph McElroy: If you want to relive those years for a few weeks or a few months to do just give us a call.

00:10:57.600 –> 00:11:02.670 Garret Woodward: I really work at the front desk really kind of hone my skills and how to talk to people because.

00:11:03.030 –> 00:11:03.480 Garret Woodward: People from.

00:11:03.510 –> 00:11:07.530 Garret Woodward: all walks of life will roll into lake placid just what they do and Maggie valley and.

00:11:08.670 –> 00:11:08.880 Garret Woodward: You.

00:11:09.270 –> 00:11:10.350 Joseph McElroy: know, I was reading.

00:11:10.530 –> 00:11:13.470 Joseph McElroy: I was reading rooms at 13 years old.

00:11:14.670 –> 00:11:18.630 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah it definitely teaches you how to have a conversation for.

00:11:18.630 –> 00:11:19.110 Joseph McElroy: sure.

00:11:19.140 –> 00:11:23.850 Garret Woodward: You can be shy working at the front desk, especially people’s advice on where to go and what to do.

00:11:24.180 –> 00:11:28.440 Joseph McElroy: yeah so any other big projects or articles plan for this year.

00:11:29.040 –> 00:11:39.030 Garret Woodward: um well you know, every week I’m writing stuff for the art entertainment section for the newspaper and then bi-monthly with smoky mountain living but.

00:11:40.140 –> 00:11:43.260 Garret Woodward: I will be back on the road for merle fast and Floyd fast.

00:11:44.370 –> 00:11:49.680 Garret Woodward: Real fast being like the bluegrass bastion that it is, and then.

00:11:51.510 –> 00:12:00.810 Garret Woodward: Floyd fesses up in Virginia big jam band Americana festival and then hoping to get up to Dell fest may in the panhandle of Maryland.

00:12:01.590 –> 00:12:04.800 Garret Woodward: But other than that I’m just kind of hitting the road a lot.

00:12:06.240 –> 00:12:18.540 Garret Woodward: got some big trips planned but I’m also working on chipping away at a book right now and Raymond Fairchild is you know bluegrass that passed away a couple of years ago well let’s say.

00:12:20.220 –> 00:12:23.940 Garret Woodward: October of 2019 so tune in about two and a half years.

00:12:25.650 –> 00:12:30.900 Joseph McElroy: yeah I want to get more I want to get into that a little bit, because I, you know knew Raymond Fairchild so we’ll talk about that.

00:12:32.370 –> 00:12:34.920 Garret Woodward: there’s always something I mean I’m writing articles all the time.

00:12:34.920 –> 00:12:40.890 Garret Woodward: Like it, so second nature is I mean I enjoy doing it and I’m literally writing an article a day at this point.

00:12:42.330 –> 00:12:44.070 Joseph McElroy: As you do it, it gets easier right it’s like.

00:12:44.100 –> 00:12:46.080 Joseph McElroy: podcasting and it was really.

00:12:46.170 –> 00:12:46.770 Joseph McElroy: painful.

00:12:46.800 –> 00:12:54.660 Joseph McElroy: For me, at first, and then you know, once you start getting used to it and keep doing it and keep doing it just seems to get easier, though, the workers, so there yeah.

00:12:56.520 –> 00:12:57.000 Joseph McElroy: pain.

00:12:57.930 –> 00:12:58.620 Garret Woodward: was like.

00:12:59.910 –> 00:13:04.920 Garret Woodward: I don’t know it’s weird is that I’m so used to the productivity of it.

00:13:06.180 –> 00:13:13.050 Garret Woodward: That now that things get offered I can’t really turn them down I’m trying to learn to say no to projects but it’s hard because.

00:13:14.100 –> 00:13:14.640 Garret Woodward: The word.

00:13:15.990 –> 00:13:21.840 Garret Woodward: Say no when people say, do you want to go over to this place and interview this person and I’m like yeah I do want to talk to that person.

00:13:22.860 –> 00:13:23.280 Garret Woodward: So.

00:13:23.910 –> 00:13:25.020 Garret Woodward: it’s organized chaos.

00:13:26.400 –> 00:13:35.580 Joseph McElroy: So we’re gonna take a break, I was a little bit long-winded the beginning of this segment so we’ll get more into what you’re doing now, and then we’ll start talking about your books all right.

00:13:36.150 –> 00:13:36.480 Garret Woodward: All right.

00:15:54.090 –> 00:16:09.810 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and my guests Garret Woodward, So Garret when you were mentioning that you had an older Father it popped into my head, you know I am actually 60 year old now, and I have three-year-old twins.

00:16:10.500 –> 00:16:13.110 Joseph McElroy: So I had 57 when I had my

00:16:13.350 –> 00:16:15.150 Joseph McElroy: twin I now, I also have a 30-year-old.

00:16:15.180 –> 00:16:17.970 Garret Woodward: But, and my dad turns 80 tomorrow.

00:16:19.530 –> 00:16:31.890 Joseph McElroy: So The thing that I was going to tell you, is, I did research right and it turns out the research has found that children have older fathers have a longer life.

00:16:34.080 –> 00:16:36.450 Garret Woodward: And nobody that go knock on wood I.

00:16:39.510 –> 00:16:42.630 Garret Woodward: was an I had I love.

00:16:44.010 –> 00:17:02.220 Garret Woodward: Love having an older father, because I was exposed to so many different things that I might not have with the younger father, in terms of music and culture, you know my dad was a child of the 30s and a teenager in the 50s and so you know, and my mom was a fire child in the 60s so.

00:17:03.900 –> 00:17:15.930 Garret Woodward: hanging out with my dad he’s telling me, you know about being a kid during World War Two and then telling me about growing up my grandfather was a minor up in New York, he was an iron or minor and growing up in a row house.

00:17:18.030 –> 00:17:20.100 Joseph McElroy: get married and have a kid at 43 that’s.

00:17:20.100 –> 00:17:21.270 Garret Woodward: Pretty yeah they were.

00:17:23.040 –> 00:17:24.060 Garret Woodward: 13 years.

00:17:24.240 –> 00:17:27.510 Garret Woodward: wow when they had kids yeah no they.

00:17:28.590 –> 00:17:38.700 Garret Woodward: Be in the car with my dad and he’d be playing hank Williams and Web Peers and Kitty Wells and Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan and then I’d be with my mom she’s playing the Beatles the Rolling Stones.

00:17:38.730 –> 00:17:40.710 Joseph McElroy: You gotta get a full life of.

00:17:41.070 –> 00:17:42.210 Joseph McElroy: Music grow it up.

00:17:42.630 –> 00:17:45.390 Joseph McElroy: I mean it’s pretty great now you know yeah.

00:17:46.110 –> 00:17:47.070 Garret Woodward: But but.

00:17:47.430 –> 00:18:01.110 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know we’re still you know that you know so you’re still a young guy but we’ve established that you’re live a long life, but you know also your children and go live a long life because that sort of turns out that it’s passed down through generations increase like so.

00:18:02.130 –> 00:18:05.910 Joseph McElroy: You live in waves all the smoky mountains you think here every year for that long life.

00:18:06.570 –> 00:18:19.590 Garret Woodward: yeah I mean I, I want to travel and I do travel quite often but there’s one place, I want to be, I was very transients for many years in my 20s I didn’t really want to stay anywhere, I wanted to bounce around.

00:18:21.540 –> 00:18:31.020 Garret Woodward: And then I came here, I was only going to stay one year and save money and try to get back out West he’s lived out in the Tetons Jackson hole Wyoming and Eastern Idaho area.

00:18:31.410 –> 00:18:45.780 Garret Woodward: Still, my favorite place in the world is that region in terms of just the aesthetics, but this is where I want to live and it’s just funny that I thought it was going to be a year stint and it’s coming on 10 years right now so.

00:18:46.230 –> 00:18:56.850 Joseph McElroy: Well, you really established yourself, you got all these writing things but you’ve also got a couple of companies right, you have a musical promotions company yeah company that promotes craft beers, can you tell us about those.

00:18:57.150 –> 00:19:10.200 Garret Woodward: Well um there’s a side project slash company that I’m running right now I’m the Vice President of its co-partner, but with my partner, Patrick Snyder it’s called the diamonds entertainment.

00:19:10.620 –> 00:19:19.830 Garret Woodward: What we’re looking to do is trying to put more quality live music west of Asheville there’s so much potential right now in terms of.

00:19:20.700 –> 00:19:27.990 Garret Woodward: Where we live and what we do Asheville is such a bastion right now for live music, I mean it’s one of the best music cities in the country.

00:19:28.530 –> 00:19:37.290 Garret Woodward: By far and we want to try to put you know large scale shows larger scale shows west of the city towards the smokies.

00:19:37.860 –> 00:19:52.800 Garret Woodward: I mean we’re equidistant from the National Park, as we are Asheville so we’ve been thinking about putting on medium to large scale shows we did a few tests run shows we actually launched the company two weeks before the shutdown.

00:19:54.510 –> 00:20:05.970 Garret Woodward: yeah it was like February 28 2020 it was when we had our launch, but we did four or five tester shows last year just to see what the appetite was in the area.

00:20:06.390 –> 00:20:18.090 Garret Woodward: We had some success with that and now we’re partnering up with some larger scale-spaces and Haywood county to put on medium-level shows in terms of like you know 500 to 1000 people.

00:20:18.510 –> 00:20:21.000 Garret Woodward: And the full-scale production side of things.

00:20:21.270 –> 00:20:24.210 Joseph McElroy: We do that in the festival grounds are begging now it’s easy to.

00:20:24.270 –> 00:20:27.540 Garret Woodward: yeah I miss having the drive and shows, I mean, I know that.

00:20:27.540 –> 00:20:30.630 Garret Woodward: We somewhat returned back to normalcy in terms of.

00:20:31.710 –> 00:20:41.220 Garret Woodward: indoor venues, but for me personally, I really liked those driving shows you got to catch it even last year, but it was really cool just to.

00:20:41.910 –> 00:20:54.120 Garret Woodward: Have like a BYOB hanging on your tailgate and watch a band, I mean instead of being in some even before the shutdown I hated crowded venues it couldn’t move around takes forever to get anywhere inside.

00:20:55.200 –> 00:20:57.810 Garret Woodward: But I know so, our goal is to bring more.

00:20:59.040 –> 00:21:01.950 Garret Woodward: prolific acts west of the city tours and mountains.

00:21:02.490 –> 00:21:10.650 Joseph McElroy: But we’re trying to get we’re trying to be involved in that, too, I mean we can’t do 500 or thousand people, but we were going to do you know 100 people to 200 people things I mean.

00:21:11.430 –> 00:21:14.640 Joseph McElroy: yeah which is awesome which is you know intimate and we’ve done.

00:21:15.990 –> 00:21:23.370 Joseph McElroy: we’ve done some stuff with that dare Nicholson, who I know you just recently worked with on the phone recently the bluegrass boogie how did that go.

00:21:23.490 –> 00:21:34.680 Garret Woodward: yeah well Darren was actually the first friend I ever made in Haywood county no joke, I had moved here sight unseen I’d been to Asheville and the smokies before but.

00:21:36.060 –> 00:21:45.960 Garret Woodward: I’ve never been to Waynesville and I took the job it’s a long story with that, but short of it is I ended up driving with everything I owned in my truck from New York.

00:21:46.590 –> 00:21:53.850 Garret Woodward: And I rolled into the newspaper on Friday afternoon, it was the balsam range paper town release party which Darren is a member and.

00:21:55.980 –> 00:22:07.200 Garret Woodward: My publisher handed me a pad of paper a pen and a camera and said go to the balsam range release party at the colonial theater and can I say who’s balsam range where’s can you know and.

00:22:08.730 –> 00:22:16.860 Garret Woodward: rolled in there and the front doors locked the side door was locked at all my stuff in the back of my truck and I still hadn’t moved into my apartment yet.

00:22:17.610 –> 00:22:30.300 Garret Woodward: And there I am and I walk into the back door, and I hear a mandolin on the stage I walk in there’s Darren and told him who I was with the newspaper here to interview him we started talking I started interviewing them and.

00:22:31.740 –> 00:22:37.920 Garret Woodward: He goes man you don’t have an accent on new Where are you from, I said New York, how long you been in Haywood county I said about 45 minutes.

00:22:40.230 –> 00:22:45.570 Garret Woodward: It was the truth they’re interviewing them I literally been in town 45 minutes from.

00:22:45.570 –> 00:22:45.960 Garret Woodward: New York.

00:22:46.920 –> 00:22:51.300 Joseph McElroy: So those like oh yeah you do, you also told me about a lot of research.

00:22:52.050 –> 00:22:53.370 Garret Woodward: He still wanted, my dear.

00:22:53.370 –> 00:22:56.010 Garret Woodward: Friends this weekend actually is.

00:22:57.480 –> 00:23:15.420 Garret Woodward: That the boogeyman real well where did, that the folk mood Center at the Queen auditorium there and Hazelwood neighborhood of Waynesville but this weekend is it Saturday, is the Steve Sutton memorial concert at full moon at the Queen auditorium that Darren’s hosting.

00:23:15.630 –> 00:23:17.880 Garret Woodward: His best friend was Steve Sutton who was.

00:23:18.180 –> 00:23:30.870 Garret Woodward: regarded as one of the best banjo players that ever played in bluegrass music, he was also a really good friend of mine, I knew Steve really well and he sadly passed away unexpectedly about five years ago now.

00:23:31.260 –> 00:23:33.030 Garret Woodward: Well yeah when he’s 2017.

00:23:34.710 –> 00:23:43.740 Garret Woodward: yeah he passed away unexpectedly, and he was only 61 and so Darren’s had this, this is a third annual Steve some memorial concert.

00:23:44.700 –> 00:23:59.280 Garret Woodward: The proceeds half of the procedure, a portion of the proceeds go to the international bluegrass music association scholarship fund, and then another portion of the proceeds goes to a student at testicle a high school in Waynesville that’s pursuing music as a career.

00:24:01.020 –> 00:24:05.790 Garret Woodward: it’s really cool so that’s this Saturday at the Folkmoot Center if you want to go check it out what.

00:24:06.240 –> 00:24:07.050 Joseph McElroy: Are you hearing.

00:24:07.230 –> 00:24:15.900 Joseph McElroy: impaired likes to do those things, we had a band camp here last year, where there was one young person they’re still doing things now with the.

00:24:17.310 –> 00:24:21.990 Joseph McElroy: learn how to play in a band he’s still got them is he still got there, and as a.

00:24:21.990 –> 00:24:22.920 Garret Woodward: mentor yeah.

00:24:23.130 –> 00:24:29.190 Joseph McElroy: Right and then you know he’s really excelling at it, so you know Darren’s really got a.

00:24:30.360 –> 00:24:32.970 Joseph McElroy: You know, a real charitable heart, you know.

00:24:33.030 –> 00:24:39.090 Garret Woodward: Well, and that’s all balsam range, I mean all of those guys will do anything for the community they’re all.

00:24:39.960 –> 00:24:54.510 Garret Woodward: Some of the most generous folks that are met Darren you know, do you want to talk about Ambassadors of hospitality and culture and Haywood County in western North Carolina you don’t look much further than Darren Nicholson and the guys in balsam range, I mean.

00:24:55.680 –> 00:25:09.780 Garret Woodward: You know anytime anywhere if there’s a cause they’re always there to play music to raise money for something I mean we had that I think, since the last time we talked we had the big concert in canton for the flood victims in Crusoe in Bethel.

00:25:10.500 –> 00:25:14.760 Garret Woodward: I think the final total is somewhere around $40,000 we raised.

00:25:15.090 –> 00:25:15.690 well.

00:25:16.860 –> 00:25:24.300 Garret Woodward: Which is a drop in the bucket but you know the plus side, though, was it was a free concert and we wanted just to get people’s minds.

00:25:24.780 –> 00:25:34.680 Garret Woodward: off of the devastation I know it’s been you know six or seven months since the floods so it’s kind of out of people’s minds, sadly, but if you drive through Crusoe.

00:25:36.420 –> 00:25:38.220 Garret Woodward: I mean there’s still cars and trees there’s.

00:25:38.220 –> 00:25:43.620 Garret Woodward: Still houses in the river, you know there’s still Arby’s in the river.

00:25:44.910 –> 00:25:54.630 Garret Woodward: it’s like a ghost town in some aspects, but you know, I was there I was there that morning after the floods on the ground reporting putting my heart news hat on.

00:25:55.740 –> 00:25:58.800 Joseph McElroy: me I was here at the time, and I was putting people up and some.

00:25:58.800 –> 00:26:01.110 Garret Woodward: Motel yeah it was doing.

00:26:01.830 –> 00:26:10.680 Garret Woodward: Terrible but what was so crazy was when we had that show it was you know, a month and a half after the floods, but it was in Searles park and downtown canton where.

00:26:12.000 –> 00:26:18.030 Garret Woodward: During the floods, the exact place to stage was during the floods there is, you know eight feet of water.

00:26:19.410 –> 00:26:20.730 Garret Woodward: Above the River bank.

00:26:20.790 –> 00:26:28.290 Garret Woodward: And, and it was just crazy to be there and it was the same weekend that bear waters brewing reopened after they got flooded out.

00:26:28.560 –> 00:26:29.460 Garret Woodward: So it was a really.

00:26:29.850 –> 00:26:38.340 Garret Woodward: crazy joyous occasion you know, we had an I would say, God two or 3000 people showed up, and it was a free show and we raise that much money and.

00:26:38.940 –> 00:26:39.930 Garret Woodward: It was unbelievable.

00:26:40.830 –> 00:26:42.000 Garret Woodward: That county for you.

00:26:42.720 –> 00:26:48.840 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know you really have your pulse on the scene, you know music scene here in the smoky mountains, you know.

00:26:49.140 –> 00:27:02.430 Joseph McElroy: This show is for your visitors that might be coming here where what would you say is yes, places to go in the smoky mountains, where they can really get in touch with that authentic us.

00:27:03.540 –> 00:27:04.710 Garret Woodward: In terms of music.

00:27:06.240 –> 00:27:06.600 Garret Woodward: yeah.

00:27:07.080 –> 00:27:08.160 Garret Woodward: yeah in terms of music.

00:27:08.550 –> 00:27:09.750 Garret Woodward: um I mean.

00:27:11.430 –> 00:27:20.550 Garret Woodward: there’s not what’s interesting is there’s not necessarily a specific place that is known as a music venue in western North Carolina most of it is.

00:27:21.150 –> 00:27:35.670 Garret Woodward: breweries restaurants, cafes small venues that have regular music and you can’t really, especially with the breweries that have really brought the live music scene up a couple of notches you know you got a boo jump in.

00:27:36.870 –> 00:27:50.820 Garret Woodward: Waynesville you got innovation and so lazy hiker and Silva and in Franklin Nana HALO brewing and Silva mountain layers brewing and Bryson city and all those spots have live music every weekend.

00:27:52.110 –> 00:27:56.190 Garret Woodward: If not, multiple times a week in terms of bluegrass Americana and roots.

00:27:57.660 –> 00:28:03.330 Garret Woodward: Which that’s good, you know that’s a good kind of representation of where we’re at.

00:28:05.280 –> 00:28:13.590 Garret Woodward: Ever since the Maggie valley Opera House closed that kind of lost a lot when Raymond passed away but I’ve been told, through the grapevine that it’s going to reopen.

00:28:14.700 –> 00:28:22.710 Garret Woodward: I don’t know when, but I have had people reach out and say that they were interested in kind of Kickstarter another one is elevated mountain distilling right in the heart of.

00:28:23.220 –> 00:28:34.050 Garret Woodward: Maggie valley has weekly music Dave Angel does such a great job bringing local bands in there that’s always a fun spot you get to drink some legal moonshine.

00:28:35.520 –> 00:28:48.450 Garret Woodward: You get to drink some legal moonshine yeah and enjoy music right in the heart of Maggie Valley and what’s cool is one of their main flagship products is Raven Fairchild’s root beer moonshine it’s actually his recipe and.

00:28:50.340 –> 00:28:54.750 Garret Woodward: It doesn’t get more real in terms of Appalachian moonshine and Raymond Fairchild

00:28:56.010 –> 00:28:57.900 Garret Woodward: God rest his soul man, what a good dude.

00:28:58.890 –> 00:29:00.420 Joseph McElroy: Man, you know I knew him very.

00:29:00.420 –> 00:29:08.400 Joseph McElroy: Well, we will be talking about him and just a couple minutes to take a break now but I look forward to Reminiscing and.

00:29:08.430 –> 00:29:09.000 Garret Woodward: Finally, yeah.

00:29:09.720 –> 00:29:10.230 Joseph McElroy: All right.

00:31:17.040 –> 00:31:30.240 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and my guest Garret Woodward, so Garrett I’ve understood you you’ve written two books, you mentioned them right is that right.

00:31:30.870 –> 00:31:39.600 Garret Woodward: Well, I wrote a novella years ago but uh I wrote a bluegrass book about five years ago called if you can’t play get off the stage.

00:31:41.520 –> 00:31:43.800 Garret Woodward: In western North Carolina and beyond.

00:31:45.060 –> 00:31:58.950 Garret Woodward: which was great I interviewed all these bluegrass legends in western North Carolina and southern Appalachian did like a book tour on it it’s still available in bookstores and Asheville and Haywood county and other areas around the region.

00:31:59.370 –> 00:32:01.950 Joseph McElroy: And we did talk about that one in ours.

00:32:01.950 –> 00:32:07.890 Joseph McElroy: podcast before and I think people should go back to that because it was a really good interesting conversation but.

00:32:09.060 –> 00:32:09.480 Joseph McElroy: Go ahead.

00:32:09.810 –> 00:32:14.700 Garret Woodward: Oh, I was gonna say so, like I’ve been itching to kind of do a project and.

00:32:15.960 –> 00:32:20.700 Garret Woodward: You know they’re the reason that this Raymond Fairchild book came about was.

00:32:21.810 –> 00:32:27.960 Garret Woodward: There was an art grant that was you know I worked for the paper so every week I get all these emails.

00:32:28.350 –> 00:32:36.180 Garret Woodward: And we turn them into press releases for things going on in the area art-wise and then I put them you know put them in our formula, and then we put them in the paper.

00:32:36.630 –> 00:32:41.910 Garret Woodward: And one of the emails was to apply for an art grant through the North Carolina arts Council.

00:32:42.780 –> 00:32:51.630 Garret Woodward: And you know, every year, I put it in the paper and people, you know to apply and then this year I was like you know heck I’m gonna apply.

00:32:52.170 –> 00:32:58.440 Garret Woodward: And I had an idea to do something about Raymond because I’ve been talking with some friends in the music industry about how.

00:32:58.860 –> 00:33:06.240 Garret Woodward: It bothered our minds that a lot of people didn’t realize who he was and I don’t want them to be forgotten, he was an incredible person and.

00:33:07.140 –> 00:33:21.180 Garret Woodward: world-class musician right from our backyard here, so I just kind of put out a proposal together, I was sitting in a coffee shop just going through emails and I just sat there and wrote out this long proposal and submitted it didn’t think twice about it.

00:33:21.870 –> 00:33:23.940 Garret Woodward: Well, I don’t think I was gonna get it, and then.

00:33:25.440 –> 00:33:32.970 Garret Woodward: This past January a couple of months ago I got an email that I received a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council to write this book.

00:33:34.230 –> 00:33:36.660 Garret Woodward: At least enough to get the project off and running.

00:33:38.370 –> 00:33:38.550 Garret Woodward: well.

00:33:39.300 –> 00:33:45.240 Joseph McElroy: He was a great guy you know, he was an interesting character and you know you knew him personally right.

00:33:45.420 –> 00:33:46.560 Garret Woodward: Oh yeah I mean.

00:33:46.860 –> 00:33:51.000 Garret Woodward: yeah he told me he gave me he told me, I was the only journalist you ever like.

00:33:52.020 –> 00:33:53.940 Joseph McElroy: You know, he didn’t take to everybody.

00:33:54.000 –> 00:33:54.450 Joseph McElroy: Oh.

00:33:55.140 –> 00:33:55.470 He was.

00:33:56.970 –> 00:33:58.080 Joseph McElroy: I knew of growing up.

00:33:58.110 –> 00:34:12.600 Joseph McElroy: You know, I was, I was taking music lessons from him, but I, you know I didn’t know anything that I went on do something else, my dad had arranged it but yeah he was famous for not being you know, some people were in, and some people were out.

00:34:12.840 –> 00:34:21.450 Garret Woodward: He was a very rough around the edges guy but that comes from you know who he was he lived a very hardscrabble life, he grew up.

00:34:21.930 –> 00:34:34.410 Garret Woodward: You know, he grew up dirt poor and became a world-famous musician, and I mean hesaid uh you know he’s had a gun on him, he was well known for pulling a gun on promoters who didn’t pay him what they told him that.

00:34:36.990 –> 00:34:39.030 Garret Woodward: I’ve heard a couple of stories about him.

00:34:40.350 –> 00:34:42.390 Garret Woodward: With his gun one.

00:34:44.100 –> 00:34:50.850 Garret Woodward: I’ve been told it’s verified I’ve been told by multiple people this story, and of which I think it actually happened was.

00:34:51.480 –> 00:35:01.560 Garret Woodward: He was trying to tune up his banjo backstage at a show, and there was a bit stand-up bass player that was going through his rhythm and Raymond told him just.

00:35:01.890 –> 00:35:11.040 Garret Woodward: quit playing the banjo so he could tune-up or quit playing bass, so you can tune up his banjo and the guide blew him off and cream and pulled out his gun and shot it right through the list okay.

00:35:12.660 –> 00:35:14.340 Garret Woodward: I’ve heard that from multiple people.

00:35:15.300 –> 00:35:19.800 Garret Woodward: But he was very rough around the edges, but that’s what I liked about him, he was a real person.

00:35:20.880 –> 00:35:23.220 Garret Woodward: He could smell bs a mile away man, he was.

00:35:23.880 –> 00:35:33.450 Garret Woodward: You couldn’t pull your you couldn’t pull the wool over his eyes Nah he’d been around the block several times, and the first week I worked at the paper and August of 2012.

00:35:34.590 –> 00:35:43.590 Garret Woodward: They wanted to do a story on the Opera House and nobody wanted to jump on it, because everyone was kind of intimidated by Raymond I just started at the paper.

00:35:43.950 –> 00:35:58.620 Garret Woodward: I didn’t know any better, so I said yeah I’ll take the story and I went over there, and you know, I was a 27-year-old young journalist from upstate New York and him at the time, he was this guy in his early 70s.

00:35:59.640 –> 00:36:07.560 Garret Woodward: You know, half Cherokee blood moonshiner mountain man gun holster banjo legend.

00:36:08.430 –> 00:36:15.240 Garret Woodward: Just really real deal Appalachian mountain man, I mean the quintessential legitimate Appalachian mountain man.

00:36:15.720 –> 00:36:25.380 Garret Woodward: And we could not be more different people, but at the same time, we also had a deep love for bluegrass and also nature and things like that, but um.

00:36:26.160 –> 00:36:31.800 Garret Woodward: yeah we ended he first was reluctant to interview you kept blowing me off, he didn’t want to talk.

00:36:32.550 –> 00:36:44.910 Garret Woodward: And then I sat there and watched the show, and I really enjoyed it and then he saw that I mean generally wanted to talk to him because I stayed for the show you know and we ended up doing a great interview and.

00:36:46.260 –> 00:36:50.190 Garret Woodward: He said he said you’re only journalist I’ve met that’s not full of shit.

00:36:52.650 –> 00:37:03.780 Garret Woodward: He goes if you can do that if you can keep that then you’ll go far in life, and it was funny was you know we did I did, probably for four or five cover stories on them in the newspaper over the.

00:37:05.880 –> 00:37:09.600 Garret Woodward: seven or eight years, we were friends before he passed away and.

00:37:10.710 –> 00:37:20.430 Garret Woodward: He would always it was weird because, like people are always like I can’t believe that like he lets you interview him because he wouldn’t talk to anybody I swear to you like, he would not talk to journalists, he.

00:37:20.430 –> 00:37:20.580 didn’t.

00:37:22.260 –> 00:37:30.960 Garret Woodward: He didn’t like media he didn’t like newspapers you like anything but he would call me up at the paper and say I got a story for it to come over to the Opera House and we’ll talk and.

00:37:32.220 –> 00:37:46.050 Garret Woodward: And it was great to read before he passed he had turned 80 and it was really cool we got I got to do a final interview was I didn’t know he was gonna pass, obviously, but like I wanted to celebrate him turning 80 so we did a big interview and.

00:37:47.610 –> 00:37:54.180 Garret Woodward: It was fantastic just to sit with him, you know he had been in good spirits he had some health issues because he got a serious accident.

00:37:55.800 –> 00:38:05.820 Garret Woodward: A few a couple of years before that he had flipped a tractor on himself, he got seriously hurt in a tractor accident and he was back touring again.

00:38:06.630 –> 00:38:16.830 Garret Woodward: And we had a great time just sitting there Reminiscing and we did this whole story on him and he passed away a couple of months later and I’m just really glad that I had that time to spend with them.

00:38:18.030 –> 00:38:27.570 Garret Woodward: I think about probably the most fun interview I ever did with him was when he got inducted into the bluegrass hall of fame bill Monroe’s bluegrass hall of fame up and Dean blossoms Indiana.

00:38:28.080 –> 00:38:41.730 Garret Woodward: And 20 I think it was 2015 and I convinced my publisher to like let me go up there, you know, I was like you gotta let me go up there he’s getting inducted into the bluegrass often so I convinced them to at least throw me some gas money I didn’t care if I slept in my truck.

00:38:42.060 –> 00:38:52.980 Garret Woodward: yeah I was like just throw me some gas money I gotta go up there, and it was while just to be up there and see him surrounded by all these other bluegrass legends as they honored them to get inducted.

00:38:53.640 –> 00:39:05.670 Garret Woodward: And it was the one time, I think I ever one time, I think I ever saw him smile was when he got that award he always was he was a very happy jovial person, but he also you never showed it.

00:39:06.720 –> 00:39:06.990 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:39:07.890 –> 00:39:10.830 Joseph McElroy: He is a grammy right did you win a grammy.

00:39:11.160 –> 00:39:18.840 Garret Woodward: Now he was nominated he’s got several gold and platinum records he sold probably two or 3 million records.

00:39:19.140 –> 00:39:21.120 Joseph McElroy: Was he was famous for what kind of music.

00:39:21.150 –> 00:39:25.110 Garret Woodward: What will mule was his most famous this is instrumental where he makes his.

00:39:25.110 –> 00:39:26.640 Garret Woodward: banjo sound like a mule.

00:39:27.660 –> 00:39:37.470 Garret Woodward: He Han but many of his songs are considered standards and bluegrass now especially will muel that was a 2 million records seller.

00:39:38.190 –> 00:39:53.100 Garret Woodward: Back in the day and then he was on the grand old opry numerous times, he was friends with Johnny cash, he was friends Jimmy Martin bill Monroe he had so many random friends, I mean Bobby Brown like I’ve seen photos with him with all these random people.

00:39:53.370 –> 00:39:53.580 Joseph McElroy: That.

00:39:54.120 –> 00:39:58.860 Garret Woodward: He posted it was like I didn’t realize he knew all these people Merle Haggard is close with Merle Haggard and.

00:40:00.660 –> 00:40:02.700 Garret Woodward: But, and it was just funny was.

00:40:04.140 –> 00:40:19.500 Garret Woodward: You think about you know, like how this he literally grew up and nothing and how just became this worldwide sensation you watch those videos like lookup Raymond Fairchild whole muel you’ll have him out the opry my goodness, you know fingers like lightning.

00:40:19.590 –> 00:40:21.630 Garret Woodward: I swear to you unbelievably.

00:40:22.470 –> 00:40:34.080 Joseph McElroy: I mean I got to see him several times growing up, but you know my dad was you know the mayor and you know heavily involved in mad mad cow the grand Ole opry you know he knew, so they were they had a lot of working on and.

00:40:34.410 –> 00:40:41.730 Joseph McElroy: yeah you know we got a few jars of ravens moonshine over the years I’ve.

00:40:41.790 –> 00:40:42.720 Garret Woodward: been all costs or.

00:40:43.260 –> 00:40:44.730 Joseph McElroy: Did you ever get to taste, it even.

00:40:44.760 –> 00:40:45.450 Garret Woodward: moonshine.

00:40:45.960 –> 00:40:48.450 Garret Woodward: I think I saw absolutely hold on a second here wait.

00:40:53.880 –> 00:40:55.290 Garret Woodward: Actually, I think I still have.

00:40:55.410 –> 00:40:56.850 Joseph McElroy: It right here, you go.

00:41:00.360 –> 00:41:00.840 Garret Woodward: There you go.

00:41:02.790 –> 00:41:03.120 Joseph McElroy: here.

00:41:08.520 –> 00:41:11.610 Garret Woodward: It was really funny was I forgot that I was still in there.

00:41:13.470 –> 00:41:16.770 Garret Woodward: And what’s great is you know the real stuff is.

00:41:18.330 –> 00:41:34.590 Garret Woodward: crazily enough, the real deal-like quality-made moonshine actually goes down pretty smooth, and his stuff I mean you get in trouble with that, but he always denied that he was still making it, but I highly doubt that he wasn’t.

00:41:35.820 –> 00:41:37.890 Garret Woodward: He was too good at what he did.

00:41:39.150 –> 00:41:47.760 Garret Woodward: But he was such a sweet man, which is weird because some people might not agree with me, but that’s their last because they didn’t get to know but.

00:41:48.480 –> 00:41:58.770 Garret Woodward: he’s just he always had just amazing stories to tell about you know running moonshine in the middle of the night Holland barrels to the woods over the mountain ridges.

00:41:59.370 –> 00:42:02.130 Joseph McElroy: And those stories are priceless, then you know my

00:42:02.130 –> 00:42:04.200 Garret Woodward: grandma was involved.

00:42:04.680 –> 00:42:05.340 involved.

00:42:06.480 –> 00:42:09.960 Garret Woodward: wow when you think about it, you know just one step ahead of the Lord.

00:42:10.380 –> 00:42:13.590 Garret Woodward: And he and popcorn sudden we’re really close and.

00:42:15.180 –> 00:42:19.620 Garret Woodward: it’s just as when you think about that really wasn’t that long ago, you know.

00:42:21.780 –> 00:42:32.280 Garret Woodward: One or two generations behind us, that was, I mean, to be honest with you, even though there’s a lot of legal moonshines I know as a journalist around these parts there’s definitely a lot of moonshiners that.

00:42:32.280 –> 00:42:33.180 Joseph McElroy: are still.

00:42:33.240 –> 00:42:40.800 Joseph McElroy: On there, and you told me 100 years that you know everybody’s got a relative grandfather and then and then there are the ones that can keep on with it.

00:42:40.890 –> 00:42:43.530 Garret Woodward: And if they don’t if they say they don’t they’re lying.

00:42:43.770 –> 00:42:50.940 Joseph McElroy: Exactly yeah so I mean it was important, actually, it was important to the source of income in the mountains NASA and Appalachian culture for long.

00:42:51.720 –> 00:43:05.220 Joseph McElroy: yeah it was all sorts of it was a source of problems as a source of you know, crime, a source of alcoholism, the sickness and things like that, but it was also incredibly important and bringing being important cash crop in the mountains.

00:43:05.280 –> 00:43:06.660 Garret Woodward: and his ass car.

00:43:07.470 –> 00:43:09.720 Joseph McElroy: yeah So do you have a working title for the book.

00:43:10.680 –> 00:43:19.380 Garret Woodward: it’s going to be called a Lord I’m coming home the legend and lore of Raymond Fairchild.

00:43:20.580 –> 00:43:24.090 Garret Woodward: musician moonshine or mountain man some something to that effect.

00:43:24.510 –> 00:43:28.170 Joseph McElroy: Well, I want to keep we you know we have a bookstore here, so we carry it when you get it out all right.

00:43:28.170 –> 00:43:34.830 Joseph McElroy: heavily and will, I want to host you for a book, you know presentation signing because I think that’ll be great yeah.

00:43:34.860 –> 00:43:39.330 Garret Woodward: you’re a man I’d love to I really love what you and Bob are doing out there.

00:43:39.360 –> 00:43:40.650 Garret Woodward: it’s it’s so cool.

00:43:41.730 –> 00:43:52.410 Garret Woodward: I have really high help, especially with things opening up again about y’all haven’t some great events out there you already have had some phenomenal event but I can’t even imagine how much bigger it’s going to get.

00:43:52.950 –> 00:44:01.140 Joseph McElroy: yeah you know I saved we’re on a three-year plan, the first year is just to get the name out the second year we started getting a little bit of audience and the third year was start getting a decent audience so.

00:44:02.370 –> 00:44:08.850 Joseph McElroy: we’re gonna take a break now and come back and finish up with just some you know audience ends and shout out.

00:46:13.980 –> 00:46:25.950 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast with my guest Garrett Woodward, Garrett I’m starting to feel the drinks now.

00:46:29.460 –> 00:46:34.770 Joseph McElroy: If you’ve made it all the way to end this listen to this podcast yes now here I start being silly, I think, but.

00:46:34.890 –> 00:46:35.400 yeah.

00:46:36.870 –> 00:46:37.680 Garret Woodward: it’s good stuff.

00:46:37.920 –> 00:46:39.450 Joseph McElroy: it’s good stuff man I.

00:46:39.990 –> 00:46:41.520 Garret Woodward: Live two blocks from the brewery.

00:46:42.630 –> 00:46:44.490 Joseph McElroy: And you know they’re good food there, by the way.

00:46:45.150 –> 00:46:47.370 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah really great food there so.

00:46:47.940 –> 00:46:49.080 Joseph McElroy: I like bojo

00:46:50.190 –> 00:46:58.290 Joseph McElroy: I like bear water and Maggie valley to yeah so um yeah last time we talked you were started learning the guitar how’s that go.

00:46:59.100 –> 00:47:05.970 Garret Woodward: Going great I play every day, I am not a proficient musician by any means, but.

00:47:07.560 –> 00:47:15.240 Garret Woodward: I guess I can consider myself a rhythm guitarist at this point, but I love it I wish I had picked it up years ago I picked it up during the shutdown.

00:47:15.780 –> 00:47:31.530 Garret Woodward: You know I live by myself and I figured what a time to finally do what I’ve been wanting to do for years, so I started to learn how to do it and I play you know, every day, I mean anytime I got free time I look forward to, I look forward to coming home and playing every day and.

00:47:31.800 –> 00:47:33.060 Joseph McElroy: You play like a steady jet

00:47:34.110 –> 00:47:36.390 Garret Woodward: i’m not as like an act.

00:47:36.420 –> 00:47:37.110 Joseph McElroy: But I had.

00:47:37.140 –> 00:47:38.910 Garret Woodward: jumped up to play with people.

00:47:40.200 –> 00:47:47.130 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know we have this weekly thing, especially the pavilion you should come by Mike would be glad to have you.

00:47:47.190 –> 00:47:48.480 Garret Woodward: On i’m definitely down.

00:47:48.720 –> 00:47:54.960 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah you know you know there for the guests and it’s fun to have people just jam to you know.

00:47:55.200 –> 00:47:58.410 Garret Woodward: So Mike is the drummer from the simple mind is that, where you were saying.

00:47:58.620 –> 00:48:03.060 Joseph McElroy: yeah he was a drummer from a simple mind he introduced sort of that the reggae beat to their sound.

00:48:03.090 –> 00:48:06.630 Garret Woodward: yeah how did he end up in Maggie Valley.

00:48:06.720 –> 00:48:17.340 Joseph McElroy: Well, it was a friend of mine in New York City and you know he’s exploring Scottish music roots of Scottish music where we’re Scottish.

00:48:17.640 –> 00:48:29.400 Joseph McElroy: music is gone, you know and the Appalachian has so much you know Scottish heritage that you know coming here, and you know he became basically these called the artist in residence right.

00:48:29.610 –> 00:48:30.420 Garret Woodward: Does he live here.

00:48:30.930 –> 00:48:32.010 Joseph McElroy: He lives here yeah.

00:48:32.220 –> 00:48:34.590 Garret Woodward: Oh man I gotta meet this guy sounds pretty awesome.

00:48:34.710 –> 00:48:48.600 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah he’s awesome oh yeah definitely he’s got and he’s you know he really started listening to what people wanted and so he actually brings in a repertoire that sort of combines Scottish but also you know southern roots music.

00:48:49.200 –> 00:48:59.670 Joseph McElroy: Mountain music, but he brings his own sort of you know, he also has a West African heritage his father was African American from Birmingham, so I bring sort of that you know how we introduced reggae to.

00:48:59.940 –> 00:49:02.520 Joseph McElroy: Yes, simple mind he brings a little bit of a beat.

00:49:02.520 –> 00:49:10.860 Joseph McElroy: To bluegrass which is you know is heresy in terms of lupus purity but it’s kind of cool yeah.

00:49:12.090 –> 00:49:14.880 Garret Woodward: Pretty awesome I wanna I want to come in to hang out and.

00:49:16.200 –> 00:49:17.400 Garret Woodward: ground and play rhythm guitar.

00:49:17.970 –> 00:49:21.930 Joseph McElroy: All right, yeah no you’re welcome to do that so so.

00:49:23.160 –> 00:49:38.130 Joseph McElroy: yeah, so I think that would be absolutely fantastic you would love it if it’s meant to be a place we’re actually I mean I’m promoting yourself, but you know the music here is meant to be sort of a music musicians place.

00:49:38.190 –> 00:49:38.610 Garret Woodward: yeah right.

00:49:39.000 –> 00:49:47.940 Joseph McElroy: Where you know where musicians come to the jam and talk about music and guess just get the benefit of having that experience.

00:49:47.940 –> 00:50:01.920 Joseph McElroy: Right now, and that’s you know that’s what we’re developing speakeasies also right it’s like you know it’s about the music and music people that are either musicians are really well versed in music.

00:50:02.400 –> 00:50:14.910 Joseph McElroy: get together and just create an interesting atmosphere so many times we’ve just had, where they pull up videos on the screen, you know and everybody starts singing or listening or learn something new it’s kind of cool right.

00:50:15.150 –> 00:50:21.660 Garret Woodward: yeah I’m down, I definitely want to I’m proud of y’all too because it looks like you got a heck of a year plan already but.

00:50:21.810 –> 00:50:35.550 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah yeah Bob is doing well and plus you know we have a boy here who used to run a blues guitar up in Richmond blues bar and enrichment and he’s bringing another aspect to it, and you know of course Mike has his own total thing.

00:50:37.140 –> 00:50:40.860 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah we’re kicking it yeah but.

00:50:42.450 –> 00:50:47.910 Joseph McElroy: I heard you know the interesting thing I got little birds tell me a little birds name is Bob.

00:50:49.770 –> 00:50:51.990 Joseph McElroy: And he tells me you’re collecting vintage guitars.

00:50:52.740 –> 00:51:03.900 Garret Woodward: uh yeah kind of I have a, I guess, we think here, well, I had like I started buying a guitar in the chatroom.

00:51:05.160 –> 00:51:05.640 Garret Woodward: If.

00:51:05.700 –> 00:51:13.320 Garret Woodward: It happens, anyone who plays guitar knows what I’m talking about once you buy every guitar is a different vibe a different field.

00:51:15.180 –> 00:51:16.080 Garret Woodward: But I ended up.

00:51:17.160 –> 00:51:27.840 Garret Woodward: I have two vintage guitars right now but I own five total 4 acoustic and electric but here I’ll actually show you one.

00:51:27.900 –> 00:51:29.220 Joseph McElroy: The vintage one’s really cool.

00:51:32.520 –> 00:51:33.450 Garret Woodward: This is a.

00:51:35.490 –> 00:51:42.810 Garret Woodward: it’s a 1940 1940s Rotary deluxe cowboy parlor guitar.

00:51:43.740 –> 00:51:48.540 Garret Woodward: what’s cool about it is these guitars to chicken on out.

00:51:52.860 –> 00:51:54.750 Garret Woodward: And that’s the original stencils.

00:51:54.900 –> 00:51:56.820 Garret Woodward: whoa crazy.

00:51:57.000 –> 00:51:58.500 Joseph McElroy: That is crazy what.

00:51:58.500 –> 00:52:00.990 Garret Woodward: I love is that is last so in the moon, right here.

00:52:01.110 –> 00:52:03.510 Joseph McElroy: You go bring that play in here come on.

00:52:05.040 –> 00:52:09.420 Garret Woodward: A 1940 we figure about a 42 or 43.

00:52:11.310 –> 00:52:14.670 Garret Woodward: But it’s an old blues parlor you’re tired, but what’s crazy about it is.

00:52:16.170 –> 00:52:19.740 Garret Woodward: Most of those guitars weren’t meant to last this long you know, these were.

00:52:20.580 –> 00:52:34.800 Garret Woodward: very inexpensive kind of like sears and roebuck guitars that you know back then people didn’t think about preserving guitars you know you played them and they broke, and you got another one we’re now like it’s a whole thing about you know.

00:52:36.450 –> 00:52:39.420 Garret Woodward: collector’s items and stuff like that, but I came across that.

00:52:41.100 –> 00:52:44.790 Garret Woodward: One night after a couple of beers and I said oh man I gotta buy that.

00:52:45.870 –> 00:52:48.150 Joseph McElroy: is right, oh yeah.

00:52:48.240 –> 00:52:54.870 Garret Woodward: I love it because it was really funny if it’s a small parlor guitar but man it cranks like a cannon.

00:52:55.920 –> 00:52:57.180 Garret Woodward: it’s extremely loud.

00:52:58.050 –> 00:53:03.780 Joseph McElroy: Well, when you come over and hang out with us here I’m going to tell you some stories about some things I bought all had a few drinks.

00:53:06.900 –> 00:53:19.380 Joseph McElroy: Things I sold at the same time, but you know it’s been good, you know I wanted to let you know that yeah we’re gonna have a couple of things you’re gonna be interesting, here we have a songwriters camp, with the Darren Nicholson, Jim Lauderdale.

00:53:19.650 –> 00:53:21.570 Garret Woodward: Oh man Jim Lauderdale.

00:53:21.840 –> 00:53:23.160 Joseph McElroy: and August, so you got to.

00:53:23.160 –> 00:53:25.950 Joseph McElroy: Come at least got to cover it if you can’t do anything.

00:53:25.950 –> 00:53:27.090 Garret Woodward: I told

00:53:27.360 –> 00:53:36.660 Garret Woodward: Bob that I would definitely do that definitely cover it because Jim Lauderdale I mean Darren’s a world-class musician but like Jim Lauderdale is a world-class songwriter.

00:53:36.900 –> 00:53:39.480 Garret Woodward: yeah you know he’s one of my favorites I mean.

00:53:39.810 –> 00:53:41.430 Joseph McElroy: Charles Humphrey the third will be that.

00:53:41.430 –> 00:53:43.920 Garret Woodward: Too Oh, then you got a grammy award-winning.

00:53:44.370 –> 00:53:46.710 Garret Woodward: You know you have a grammy award-winning.

00:53:47.040 –> 00:53:50.550 Garret Woodward: Charles’s good friend of mine to actually just saw him recently.

00:53:51.480 –> 00:53:53.250 Joseph McElroy: What he’s doing here in April.

00:53:53.280 –> 00:54:02.640 Garret Woodward: yeah oh wow so I mean if anyone’s listening that’s pretty amazing that you have Darren Jim and Charles and Charles are running the fishing camp good.

00:54:02.790 –> 00:54:10.380 Joseph McElroy: Good Lord man oh yeah cuz we’re gonna have you know the fish he can’t sell through iTunes or on the fire and Charles and his friends are going to do some fun stuff.

00:54:10.560 –> 00:54:15.780 Joseph McElroy: I mean you’re talking you’re welcome to queue up going to come out here to time podcasts or you’re in a special club.

00:54:17.490 –> 00:54:22.620 Joseph McElroy: Right, so what website social media, you want to shout outlet everybody know who you.

00:54:22.620 –> 00:54:31.350 Garret Woodward: Are smokymountainnews.com smokymountainnews.COM all of our articles, whether it’s arts outdoors.

00:54:32.070 –> 00:54:42.330 Garret Woodward: Travel stuff that we do it’s all free to read it’s good to go smoky mountain news COM and then on Instagram I’m GarrettKWoodward GARRETKWOODWARD

00:54:43.290 –> 00:54:59.640 Garret Woodward: Other than that, go to the Meadowlark, I mean you hope your listeners realize how cool, that is, that you have Jim Lauderdale Charles and Darren there that’s a pretty big deal you got Grammy award winners and IBM legends hanging out in a very intimate setting so.

00:55:00.840 –> 00:55:10.200 Joseph McElroy: that’s the point it’s a musician’s musician place as well as other particular you know you know things we know we got the bottom, we have Plott dogs so anyway.

00:55:11.400 –> 00:55:13.380 Garret Woodward: Bob is a walking encyclopedia.

00:55:13.410 –> 00:55:23.460 Joseph McElroy: I know the walking encyclopedia, well, thank you for coming, this is the gateway to the smokies podcast you can find out more about us and facebook.com slash.

00:55:24.000 –> 00:55:29.160 Joseph McElroy: gateway to the smokies podcasts we’re also on the talk radio dot nyc network.

00:55:30.120 –> 00:55:38.820 Joseph McElroy: which has a lot of podcasts that are really interesting, ranging from help for small businesses to self-help to travel to New York to

00:55:39.600 –> 00:55:53.670 Joseph McElroy: Many issues, the spirituality things like that and they’re all live broadcasts, the most podcasts are recorded there, these are all it’s like the best of podcasting and live radio so and I really enjoy so I.

00:55:54.150 –> 00:56:05.130 Joseph McElroy: hope you will check this out, I also run a marketing podcast called Wise Content Creates Wealth, I have a big marketing background, especially in SEO and content marketing that’s on Fridays from.

00:56:05.640 –> 00:56:15.210 Joseph McElroy: noon to one and then, this one is always on Tuesday from six to seven that half of it happy to be here Thank you again, Garrett, and

00:56:15.570 –> 00:56:16.620 Garret Woodward: record to come back.

00:56:17.130 –> 00:56:17.580 Joseph McElroy: All right.

00:56:19.950 –> 00:56:20.910 Joseph McElroy: Talk to you later bye.

00:56:21.180 –> 00:56:21.780 Garret Woodward: Have a good one.

00:56:22.200 –> 00:56:22.590 Joseph McElroy: You too.

If you’re looking for music to harmonize to, or a guide for your next river adventure, this episode is for you because our guest this week is a musician and a fly-fishing expert.

You will find out more about songwriting, fly-fishing, and life in Asheville. Whether you are a musician yourself, or just a music lover, you will find this episode's insights fascinating.

Charles Humphrey III is a Grammy Award-winning songwriter, producer, musician, and owner of Lucks Dumpy Toad Records. Currently leading his own group –the superb chart-topping, Songs from the Road Band – Humphrey was a charter member of the Steep Canyon Rangers for 15 years while also backing up other renowned artists such as Steve Martin and Edie Brickel among others.

Charles is also an expert fly-fishing guide and endurance runner and resides with his two children in Asheville. 

We will also mention here his two upcoming big events this year in Maggie Valley which are -the Fly Fishing camp in April and the Songwriters camp in August.

Don't miss this episode!!

Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by clicking here.

Joseph opens up tonight’s episode talking about the Meadowlark Motel and some upcoming events. One of these events deals with wilderness survival skills and their importance during times like natural disasters and more. There will also be a fly fishing camp weekend. To learn more, reach out at their website at meadowlarkmotel.com. He introduces his guest, Charles Humphrey III. Charles started fly fishing himself when he was a teen. Charles is a bluegrass musician and a Grammy award-winning songwriter, musician, and producer. Charles started fishing with his father when he was a kid and also got into music and playing bluegrass. He loves the “zen” feeling he gets when connecting with nature in this way. He talks more with Joseph about his passion as a musician and his passion for fishing. Charles loves that he is able to educate others about both topics, something that he will also be doing at the Meadowlark Motel!

Charles and Joseph talk more about fly fishing and Charles talks about some of the staff that will also be guiding in the events coming soon. Charles mentions tying flies and the interesting aspect of this. They both have an engaging conversation about how important this part is for anglers or people who fish with a rod and line and interesting stories they’ve experienced themselves fly fishing. Joseph asks Charles about some of the best streams to fish in Haywood County and what locations he might take people participating in the fishing camp. He mentions Jonathan Creek which is close to the motel as well as the Pigeon river. He also says that in the camp, they'll also be teaching a technique called tight line fishing as well as how to set the hook, control the head, avoid letting go of the fish they catch, and much more.

Joseph talks with Charles about his other passion, being a musician and writing music. Like fly fishing, Charles says that writing music takes a lot of luck. In this case, it’s because you never know if people will enjoy your music. He also mentions writing music that is on an album by Willie Nelson. He also talks about moving on from the Steep Canyon Rangers who he was a member of for 15 years. Now, he is part of Songs from the Road Band. You can listen to their music almost on any platform like SiriusXM, Pandora, etc. He says that he is excited to be able to play live music again like many other artists and musicians now that things are a bit more normal when it comes to gatherings. Charles also mentions the other event which is the writer’s camp where he along with other great musicians and singer-songwriters will teach and encourage all-inclusive songwriting. They’ll also teach others about making music from the creative process to being behind the microphone. Charles also talks about his friendship with Darren Nicholson who was also a guest here on the show. They wrote a couple of songs together which you can hear on Man on a Mission, Darren’s new EP. Charles mentions more people he’d love to work with.

Coming back from the final break, Charles talks about owning Lucks Dumpy Toad Records. He uses this to also release music from Songs from the Road Band. Charles and Joseph also speak about how music is released today compared to when there were no digital releases for music. They also mention different audio formats like mp3, vinyl, and CDs and how they feel about the different quality of music when listened to in different ways. Charles speaks about being an endurance runner too and the rewarding feeling of taking care of himself and connecting with others through this activity. Also, Songs from the Road Band will be releasing music later this year. You can go to songsfromtheroadband.com and also use the same name to search for them on social media platforms. You can also find Charles and learn more about fishing by visiting beastcoastanglers.com!

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00:00:30.930 –> 00:00:36.960 Joseph McElroy: howdy thanks for joining us on this week’s episode of gateway to the smokies.

00:00:37.500 –> 00:00:49.590 Joseph McElroy: This podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the great smoky mountains National Park, and the surrounding towns these areas filled with ancient natural beauty and deep storied history.

00:00:50.160 –> 00:00:59.430 Joseph McElroy: and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes I am Joseph Franklyn McElroy a man of the world, but also a deep root in these mountains.

00:01:00.030 –> 00:01:15.480 Joseph McElroy: My family is living the great smoky for over 200 years my business in travel, but my heart is in culture today’s podcast will be talking about fly fishing and tune making but the first sponsors which happened to be me.

00:01:18.360 –> 00:01:29.040 Joseph McElroy: So imagine a place evocative of motor courts of the past and modern and vibrant with Chic Appalachian feel a place for adventure and for relaxation.

00:01:29.730 –> 00:01:39.270 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place where you can fish it a mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on fire and eat accompanied by fine wine or craft beers.

00:01:39.630 –> 00:01:56.370 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place of the old-time music and world cultural sounds imagine and place the mountain heritage, food, and underground speakeasy there is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie valley your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay.

00:01:57.600 –> 00:02:05.490 Joseph McElroy: smokiesadventure.com smokies plural adventure singular information listings about the smokies hiking,

00:02:05.910 –> 00:02:14.340 Joseph McElroy: wedding venues books trail maps resources to make your adventures in the smokies more meaningful and enjoyable.

00:02:14.670 –> 00:02:23.520 Joseph McElroy: The emphasis of smokies adventure is outdoor recreation outdoor life events like weddings and adventures, along with providing information on logic.

00:02:23.940 –> 00:02:32.940 Joseph McElroy: Family entertainment events conventions honeymoons and more this goal of this site is to become the leading information portal of the smoky mountains.

00:02:34.020 –> 00:02:47.370 Joseph McElroy: So I guess about upcoming events to talk about in today’s world you might forget that for all of history humankind has lived or journey into environments that require fundamental survival skills in order to flourish.

00:02:47.940 –> 00:02:59.370 Joseph McElroy: Wilderness survival, also known as push bushcraft his ability is the ability to utilize natural and limited materials and traditional ways to stay alive and escape danger.

00:03:00.540 –> 00:03:08.460 Joseph McElroy: and modern society learning wilderness survival skills is not only important for the occasional forays into dangerous environments.

00:03:08.850 –> 00:03:17.430 Joseph McElroy: But also helps in building confidence self-esteem and instilling a sense of self-knowledge, while we’re reconnecting with nature and our human past.

00:03:18.270 –> 00:03:27.510 Joseph McElroy: While we might not think we need wilderness survival skills, if we avoid nature, there are still instance instances where we might need to call upon them.

00:03:27.870 –> 00:03:35.970 Joseph McElroy: Including natural disasters, wars, getting lost in the woods extreme shifts, and weather accidents caused.

00:03:36.540 –> 00:03:43.050 Joseph McElroy: causing some former can protect incapacitation and many other unforeseen circumstances.

00:03:43.500 –> 00:03:54.900 Joseph McElroy: Therefore it is prudent and wise for every human to have at least a rudimentary capability in the basic skills of survival, to ensure their continued existence.

00:03:55.170 –> 00:04:11.910 Joseph McElroy: These include the ability to build a fire build a shelter tie certain knots navigate without a GPS apply first aid evaluate the appropriate gears and supplies and carry what you need and master the essentials of hiking and camping.

00:04:12.750 –> 00:04:18.630 Joseph McElroy: The Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center is proud to announce the addition of an acclaimed author.

00:04:19.140 –> 00:04:34.530 Joseph McElroy: outdoor survival expert, record-setting hiker, and elite wilderness search and rescue team Member Nancy East who is here just a couple of weeks ago on our podcast to our roster of expert artists for 2022 programs.

00:04:35.040 –> 00:04:40.740 Joseph McElroy: Nancy will launch the spring hiking season, with a presentation on Friday night March 18.

00:04:41.190 –> 00:04:48.090 Joseph McElroy: Describing her adventures as a search and rescue member and there have been some exciting things over the last couple of years where they rescued.

00:04:48.330 –> 00:04:56.460 Joseph McElroy: Some people in some pretty interesting situations and then on Saturday march 19 Nancy will devote an entire day.

00:04:56.850 –> 00:05:08.280 Joseph McElroy: To a variety of the above-mentioned wilderness survival topics to ensure your safety comfort enjoyment, as you create memorable experiences hiking in the great smoky mountains National Park.

00:05:08.970 –> 00:05:16.470 Joseph McElroy: So space is limited to 10 students and met Nancy provides all the materials, you might need for the event.

00:05:16.890 –> 00:05:25.680 Joseph McElroy: The price is 275 which includes two nights of lodging breakfast and dinner on Saturday night, along with entertainment, so, please.

00:05:26.070 –> 00:05:38.700 Joseph McElroy: reach out to the Meadowlark Motel 82 8-926-1717 to reserve your spot also coming up it’s relevant to our guest tonight is a fishing fly fishing camp.

00:05:40.140 –> 00:05:48.840 Joseph McElroy: what’s better than for the soul been throwing a live stream watching it pass doing it again and again, and perhaps getting about it.

00:05:49.950 –> 00:05:54.600 Joseph McElroy: All anglers know that fly fishing isn’t only about reeling in the big one.

00:05:55.140 –> 00:06:06.240 Joseph McElroy: Although that always gets our hearts jumping fly fishing is about being one with a river and his magnificence presence, while witnessing a very valuable ecosystem.

00:06:06.990 –> 00:06:11.490 Joseph McElroy: Meadowlark motel is offering a trapping camp weekend in the smoky mountains.

00:06:11.970 –> 00:06:21.870 Joseph McElroy: What began as a way to get a group of friends together on a river is going into a way of bringing like-minded people together through fly fishing food and drink and campfire.

00:06:22.170 –> 00:06:28.320 Joseph McElroy: And our recreation area to have a memorable experience and learn about fly fishing in the Smokies.

00:06:28.860 –> 00:06:34.350 Joseph McElroy: camp weekends are perfect for those new to fly fishing and those looking for some extra instruction.

00:06:34.860 –> 00:06:44.850 Joseph McElroy: Anyone with experience, who enjoys fishing and a small group and making new friends its trip is built around those attending and we will all share in the experience.

00:06:45.150 –> 00:07:03.690 Joseph McElroy: You can expect quality time in the river and nights around the campfire or in the speakeasy with a drink in hand truth that tall tales are all out of the camp and camps are very limited only to 20 20 anglers allowed So the first one is April 15 to the 16th and 2022.

00:07:05.220 –> 00:07:09.690 Joseph McElroy: that’s $ 875 per person that includes the light stays as well.

00:07:11.220 –> 00:07:13.530 Joseph McElroy: The you’re gonna be doing.

00:07:14.820 –> 00:07:22.410 Joseph McElroy: there’s gonna be a presentation on Friday night with videos about how tall tales and revolver behavior of

00:07:24.150 –> 00:07:34.950 Joseph McElroy: a trip to reminisce trial people have your and then a Saturday there’ll be instruction hands-on instruction on Saturday morning, and then the out.

00:07:35.190 –> 00:07:44.910 Joseph McElroy: In the afternoon there’ll be intense fishing on elite streams all over the area, as well as we have a mountain heritage trout stream in the backyard, which is also able to use.

00:07:46.890 –> 00:07:57.930 Joseph McElroy: And then you will be able to check out on Sunday morning so call 828-9261717 to make your reservations so.

00:07:58.650 –> 00:08:10.470 Joseph McElroy: Our podcast today I mentioned is about fishing and fly fishing in tunes and we’re also talking about the fly fishing camping our guest today is Charles Humphrey III and those a little bit about this.

00:08:10.830 –> 00:08:20.190 Joseph McElroy: He is the founder of Beast coast anglers he started fly fishing as a teenager many, many years ago, maybe not that many I have many, many years ago he has many.

00:08:23.340 –> 00:08:37.020 Joseph McElroy: he is called the waters of Western North Carolina home since 1999 as a touring bluegrass musician he has had the opportunity to fly fishing Colorado Montana Idaho Wyoming Nevada Oregon Alaskan Canada.

00:08:37.740 –> 00:08:43.890 Joseph McElroy: And addition to being a season fly fisherman he is also a Grammy award-winning songwriter-producer.

00:08:44.310 –> 00:08:56.100 Joseph McElroy: A Western states 100 and during ultra run finisher a Kentucky Colonel a North Carolina hall of fame.

00:08:56.640 –> 00:09:09.240 Joseph McElroy: Music hall of fame Member touring musician and songs from the road band, and the father of two. Charles’s two foremost passions in life are spreading joy through music and fly fishing, how are you doing Charles?

00:09:09.450 –> 00:09:12.510 Charles Humphrey III: Thanks I’m doing great Joseph thanks for having me on the show.

00:09:13.740 –> 00:09:14.340 Charles Humphrey III: me here.

00:09:14.550 –> 00:09:27.810 Joseph McElroy: Well you’re one of our most popular guests last year, as one of my favorite people to interview, so we wanted to get you back to cover some of the things we miss lap time, as well as talking about this fly fishing camp and.

00:09:28.200 –> 00:09:29.040 so far.

00:09:30.420 –> 00:09:34.800 Joseph McElroy: And even further than one we got that you guys have a songwriting camp in August.

00:09:35.220 –> 00:09:40.260 Charles Humphrey III: A lot of cool things going on, you know the Meadowlark is the perfect location for it it’s such a great place.

00:09:40.830 –> 00:09:46.020 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah so let’s get to it, so I will talk about music a little bit, but let’s start with the fly fishing.

00:09:46.710 –> 00:09:51.570 Joseph McElroy: So yeah evidently even fly fishing over 20 years right, how did you get started.

00:09:52.380 –> 00:09:53.220 Charles Humphrey III: I started.

00:09:54.510 –> 00:10:04.770 Charles Humphrey III: I grew up well I’ll start fishing with my dad before I mean on the outer banks during thanksgiving saltwater grew up freshwater fishing that’s where I started using the fly rod.

00:10:05.940 –> 00:10:19.110 Charles Humphrey III: started touring playing bluegrass music and moved to Western North Carolina in 1999 and during the mid-90s and late 90s, I started to fly fishing all over the country with bandmates and I’ve been doing it ever since it’s just a.

00:10:20.400 –> 00:10:24.930 Charles Humphrey III: it’s kind of like music it’s a passion and it’s just so rewarding on so many levels.

00:10:25.620 –> 00:10:37.110 Charles Humphrey III: it’s not all about catching fish, you know enjoy the education side of it, I love the Zen part of it just being out in nature, and I really love the camaraderie and the people that you meet who share the passion for the sport.

00:10:37.770 –> 00:10:39.870 Joseph McElroy: Now How long have you been guiding people.

00:10:40.890 –> 00:10:51.240 Charles Humphrey III: I’ve been guiding a little over two years professionally and just absolutely love it, you know we work in North Carolina Tennessee, and Georgia and.

00:10:51.690 –> 00:11:04.170 Charles Humphrey III: Do both Wade and float trips so there’s a variety of different styles, you know you can go out and fish private water or public water go for wild trout or stocks trout big trout little trial, we do it all.

00:11:04.920 –> 00:11:09.210 Joseph McElroy: And why did you call your company Beast Coast Anglers?

00:11:09.570 –> 00:11:19.650 Charles Humphrey III: You know that’s a good question as we discussed last time I have a running fast the ultra running fast and that running company that I.

00:11:20.190 –> 00:11:29.580 Charles Humphrey III: created there were beast coast runners and it kind of represents the whole east coast and I was like well, we already got the runners might as well get the anglers in there’s two.

00:11:30.090 –> 00:11:32.940 Charles Humphrey III: there are just a lot of fun things you can do with the beast you know.

00:11:34.680 –> 00:11:39.090 Charles Humphrey III: You can tell I’ve got a lot of hair, so it was a natural fit and we are on the east coast so.

00:11:41.850 –> 00:11:42.300 Charles Humphrey III: So, like.

00:11:48.270 –> 00:11:52.380 Joseph McElroy: yeah go ahead so, is it is your internal nickname for yourself beast.

00:11:53.400 –> 00:11:56.010 Charles Humphrey III: um yeah my girlfriend calls me beast but.

00:11:57.360 –> 00:11:58.680 Charles Humphrey III: that’s tmr not.

00:11:58.980 –> 00:12:01.620 Joseph McElroy: Well, that can be really good or that can be really bad.

00:12:05.190 –> 00:12:09.540 Joseph McElroy: I would take it, I would take it with the best out of Asia, you can imagine.

00:12:12.330 –> 00:12:12.840 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:12:14.610 –> 00:12:15.210 Joseph McElroy: Imagine.

00:12:16.530 –> 00:12:26.700 Joseph McElroy: You know that there’s that you mentioned that you know there’s a passion there what other similarities between your two careers as a musician and fly fisherman do you find.

00:12:28.860 –> 00:12:30.660 Charles Humphrey III: They both take up a lot of time honestly.

00:12:34.170 –> 00:12:41.880 Charles Humphrey III: yeah you know you’re fishing all day every day to prepare for the next trip and always gaining more knowledge or you’re out on the road touring and.

00:12:42.330 –> 00:12:51.210 Charles Humphrey III: Also at home, you know we do a lot of co-writing virtually through songwriting sessions and whatnot but it’s just such a blessing to be able to.

00:12:51.990 –> 00:13:05.700 Charles Humphrey III: to educate people on both and do it right here in Western North Carolina at the Meadowlark, it is an absolutely wonderful location, I spent a lot of time there this winter chaperoning kids on a ski trip, as they go to Cataloochee every week so.

00:13:05.700 –> 00:13:13.920 Charles Humphrey III: So I’m just driving by every day couldn’t wait to get in there for these events, and I hope we have a great crowd of people that will come and join us.

00:13:14.160 –> 00:13:16.020 Joseph McElroy: Oh it’ll be great I think so.

00:13:17.040 –> 00:13:25.350 Joseph McElroy: So you have we’re gonna you know, right now, we got to take a break, but we’ll talk more about your guide sentence service when we get back alright.

00:13:25.860 –> 00:13:27.570 Charles Humphrey III: sounds good, Joseph Thank you cool.

00:15:44.160 –> 00:15:51.930 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the Gateway to the smokies podcast with my guest Charles Humphrey III.

00:15:52.530 –> 00:16:04.140 Joseph McElroy: So Charles you know I am I had one heck of a day, I have to tell you that hey some construction crew knocked out the Internet here than some reason to sell your service muscle Turkey.

00:16:05.130 –> 00:16:11.250 Joseph McElroy: So I’ve just actually just got back in the saddle this about a half-hour before we come on the show so.

00:16:11.520 –> 00:16:13.170 Charles Humphrey III: that’s a small miracle that we’re even.

00:16:13.170 –> 00:16:13.740 Charles Humphrey III: Talking right.

00:16:13.800 –> 00:16:17.100 Joseph McElroy: it’s a small miracle, and I grabbed myself a beer and it turns out it’s a.

00:16:17.310 –> 00:16:20.340 Joseph McElroy: 10% beer, I was trying to show you so if I.

00:16:23.940 –> 00:16:24.960 Charles Humphrey III: Get pretty interesting.

00:16:27.150 –> 00:16:29.070 Joseph McElroy: At the end here, you guys will know why.

00:16:30.540 –> 00:16:32.700 Charles Humphrey III: I’ve got some coffee here.

00:16:33.090 –> 00:16:33.420 Charles Humphrey III: All right.

00:16:34.800 –> 00:16:35.790 Joseph McElroy: Good over there.

00:16:37.170 –> 00:16:40.740 Charles Humphrey III: Datsun fishing company there that’s my red drum coffee mug.

00:16:41.160 –> 00:16:42.240 Charles Humphrey III: Alright cool.

00:16:42.720 –> 00:16:47.610 Joseph McElroy: You gotta get yourself our the new Meadowlark coffee mugs have you seen them.

00:16:48.570 –> 00:16:52.860 Charles Humphrey III: I’ll come down pick one up I’d love to have a Meadowlark coffee mug.

00:16:53.010 –> 00:16:56.790 Joseph McElroy: it’s a tin cup and on the outside it says, this could be moonshine.

00:16:58.380 –> 00:16:59.040 Charles Humphrey III: that’s perfect.

00:17:03.000 –> 00:17:12.960 Joseph McElroy: that’s a perfect one, so so you create this new guide service you’ve been guided for a couple of years but so you created this new one, what was the impetus for that.

00:17:13.560 –> 00:17:18.840 Charles Humphrey III: yeah well it’s just it’s so time-consuming I know it’s something I’m going to do for the rest of my life, and I just wanted.

00:17:19.320 –> 00:17:28.350 Charles Humphrey III: To be putting all my effort into a brand that I knew was going to last and, just like the music stuff and then running stuff I like to be able to express myself creatively and.

00:17:29.310 –> 00:17:40.680 Charles Humphrey III: It just made sense and I’ve got I’m lucky and blessed have a lot of good friends and a great team of anglers that I’m working with and everything kind of fell into place but it’s a lot of work, just like anything else you know.

00:17:41.460 –> 00:17:54.570 Charles Humphrey III: Music or anything like that you can be talented artists but you’ve also got to know how to run the business side of it and luckily I had some experience with that, as well as you know, I hear you are now on social media promoting events it’s a lot of work.

00:17:55.320 –> 00:18:09.840 Joseph McElroy: Oh it’s a constant thing you know I’m a yeah there you have to get yourself one of these programs that lets you aggregate all your social media and then you start playing the deck you know where I’m going to throw things out all the time it’s.

00:18:10.710 –> 00:18:14.280 Joseph McElroy: The whole social promotion is incredibly important.

00:18:14.790 –> 00:18:16.650 Charles Humphrey III: we’re really fired up about this.

00:18:16.890 –> 00:18:22.620 Charles Humphrey III: Fishing event, though some of the guys that will have on staff or Doug Mchaleby from mountain fly anglers.

00:18:23.220 –> 00:18:31.290 Charles Humphrey III: Miles Perry who works with the Beast coast anglers Zach Phillips is an interesting gentleman he owned a flower shop for a long time in Atlanta Georgia.

00:18:31.680 –> 00:18:43.950 Charles Humphrey III: And is located in hot springs North Carolina but he’s flown all around the country to tie flies Miles Perry is also a master tie flyer flat tire, and so I think I’ve got those.

00:18:44.370 –> 00:18:52.410 Charles Humphrey III: guys talked into it well at least one out of two of them know about it, but I think we’re going to incorporate some fly tying events as well, while they’re there we’ll put them to work.

00:18:52.980 –> 00:18:54.780 Charles Humphrey III: On Friday night or Saturday, they.

00:18:55.770 –> 00:19:05.280 Charles Humphrey III: demonstrations and we can get the people that are there involved and let them have some their own flaws, who knows, they may even be able to tie their own fly and then go out and catch a fish on that day.

00:19:05.340 –> 00:19:06.480 Joseph McElroy: Well there’s a whole.

00:19:07.500 –> 00:19:10.170 Joseph McElroy: there’s whole mythology about fly tying is it there.

00:19:11.430 –> 00:19:13.620 Charles Humphrey III: it’s like me tell me.

00:19:14.100 –> 00:19:24.090 Joseph McElroy: yeah I mean it’s like no it’s like what is the appropriate tie fly for their appropriate time of year, and you know what is the.

00:19:24.270 –> 00:19:25.170 Charles Humphrey III: yeah well yeah.

00:19:25.230 –> 00:19:28.530 Joseph McElroy: really wants and what is it for you know.

00:19:28.620 –> 00:19:40.710 Charles Humphrey III: Action the hatch matching the hatch that’s a big thing to me there’s two kinds of flies and two kinds of people that are time flies there are flies that catch fish and there are flies that catch fish and fishermen.

00:19:41.310 –> 00:19:41.790 yeah.

00:19:43.110 –> 00:19:48.870 Charles Humphrey III: These two guys here, they can catch the fly as a top catch fish and fishermen, because they’re.

00:19:48.960 –> 00:19:59.910 Charles Humphrey III: So good and look so cool like little pieces of art, I tie flies mind just catch fish they don’t catch fisherman, as well as these other two guys these guys are top-notch in the industry.

00:20:00.420 –> 00:20:13.140 Joseph McElroy: I know some guys that I know you know I went to a couple of things and I know at least one guy that he actually doesn’t fish anymore, he just ties flies his whole passion became about the flies.

00:20:13.380 –> 00:20:18.450 Charles Humphrey III: Man there I’m just watching the stuff that’s out there on social media and these people.

00:20:19.110 –> 00:20:32.580 Charles Humphrey III: I’ve got these cameras that capture all the intricacies of it and just the time and the thought and the pieces of natural feathers, and for that go into making these things is unbelievable it truly is an art.

00:20:33.330 –> 00:20:39.600 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah I mean I you know I I you know it’s like Well, first of all, my fingers are so big guys like I yeah.

00:20:41.250 –> 00:20:44.670 Joseph McElroy: I will let you guys do it, I tried I couldn’t even time my girls my.

00:20:44.790 –> 00:20:47.820 Joseph McElroy: daughter’s my daughter’s ballet shoes.

00:20:49.740 –> 00:20:51.150 Charles Humphrey III: Barely get the worm on the hook.

00:20:54.060 –> 00:21:00.750 Joseph McElroy: Yes, I mean I need somebody to do all that for me and I’ll throw it in catch it, I know I imagine you’ve had some great.

00:21:02.640 –> 00:21:10.200 Joseph McElroy: memorable experiences guiding what is something that is a really experiential learning experience that you’ve had.

00:21:10.500 –> 00:21:11.760 Charles Humphrey III: I love.

00:21:12.120 –> 00:21:25.500 Charles Humphrey III: I love seeing a beginner really dial in their skills and the first time that they catch a fish on the fly that’s a big deal, you know they just are related they’re just so happy to see that enjoyment on their faces really, really warms your heart.

00:21:25.860 –> 00:21:30.030 Charles Humphrey III: And we do work with a lot of again there’s a lot of first-timers or when you see somebody out there.

00:21:30.330 –> 00:21:43.830 Charles Humphrey III: And then maybe they’re an accomplished angler but then they catch a personal best PV, as they say, the biggest rainbow brown are broke they’ve ever caught and they reach a new goal in their fishing career and you’ve helped them get there that’s rewarding as well.

00:21:44.190 –> 00:21:44.580 Charles Humphrey III: and

00:21:45.150 –> 00:21:56.520 Charles Humphrey III: we’ve had some crazy stuff happen just last week, I was with the client and the fish broke them off and he was like oh man, that was a big, big fish were ever seen, and then the next cast.

00:21:57.750 –> 00:22:00.300 Charles Humphrey III: I was giving them a demonstration and I hooked.

00:22:01.380 –> 00:22:17.100 Charles Humphrey III: A fish but actually when it happened as a hook, the hook, one of the hooks that were on his fish that he broke off, so this fish had a fly in its mouth barbarous granted another fly that was barbarous and with my bar let’s fly I took his barbarous fly.

00:22:17.580 –> 00:22:27.510 Charles Humphrey III: pull the rig the fish and just to barbarous flies holding on, and then we actually sell the myth his fish was not that big I mean it was pretty big.

00:22:29.160 –> 00:22:29.520 Charles Humphrey III: Maybe.

00:22:29.550 –> 00:22:31.590 Charles Humphrey III: 18 inches but it wasn’t 30.

00:22:31.950 –> 00:22:34.710 Charles Humphrey III: The fact that we were able to get that fish in.

00:22:35.040 –> 00:22:43.170 Charles Humphrey III: Get the hook out of his mouth and the fact we got it I’m just crazy stuff you never know what’s gonna happen that was just a recent example of something totally weird that happened.

00:22:43.590 –> 00:22:51.390 Joseph McElroy: Oh man, you know I grew up not too far from Maggie part of my you know my youth and I, you know, end up in the middle school in Maggie.

00:22:51.810 –> 00:23:07.260 Joseph McElroy: But before that, it was a box run and we had a pond out there right, and I would go fishing pond because I was like 6 7 8 years old, I didn’t have to do, river fishing, yet I go that pond and I, you know I’d take one of those wire things to hold the fish on right.

00:23:07.800 –> 00:23:18.030 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah a little hook, so I caught a fish and put it on my hat on that wire thing, but I didn’t hook it up well and the fish got off and took that wire thing with it right.

00:23:18.240 –> 00:23:18.840 Charles Humphrey III: Oh no.

00:23:19.200 –> 00:23:25.020 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah but a couple of months later, I was back fishing there and I caught that fish again and he still had the wire thing.

00:23:27.360 –> 00:23:29.820 Charles Humphrey III: wow he’s still live that whole time that’s.

00:23:30.540 –> 00:23:34.560 Joseph McElroy: All the time oh yeah I don’t know how much longer you live, but he was still there.

00:23:35.190 –> 00:23:43.410 Joseph McElroy: So you know I I think it’s great that you love teaching beginners because you know the middle is.

00:23:44.010 –> 00:23:57.360 Joseph McElroy: Now that mountain trout that mountain heritage streaming the back is perfect for beginners and it’s for people that are readers will be experienced, because I mean we’ve had some great fishnet there you know I caught a 28 inch or one South back there when I was growing up.

00:23:57.900 –> 00:24:06.720 Charles Humphrey III: Jonathan creek it’s a great creek you know and it’s managed just select the rest of in North Carolina we have great great great fisheries thousands of miles.

00:24:07.200 –> 00:24:13.020 Charles Humphrey III: Of managed rivers and it’s a testament to the North Carolina you know.

00:24:13.590 –> 00:24:30.030 Charles Humphrey III: wildlife people that do that provide those fisheries and maintain those fisheries and trout unlimited and organizations like that it truly is a destination world-class destination for people to come and visit and take in the smokies and fish it’s a great fishery really is.

00:24:30.570 –> 00:24:39.480 Joseph McElroy: So what are some of the, what are the some of the best streams deficient to Haywood County in the area and we’re might you take some people I’m going to officially can.

00:24:40.620 –> 00:24:49.380 Charles Humphrey III: See well you like you said you’ve got Jonathan Creek right there on the hotel we’re close both close to the east and the west fork of the.

00:24:49.950 –> 00:24:58.500 Charles Humphrey III: pigeon river, you know Cherokee is not too far away they’ve got several rivers there that are maintained by their own fishery.

00:24:59.010 –> 00:25:08.910 Charles Humphrey III: it’ll depend on the weather conditions, honestly, and what’s fishing the best because we want to take our clients to an area.

00:25:09.330 –> 00:25:19.980 Charles Humphrey III: Where they can reach their goals and so we’ll see what the water temperatures are the water clarity and things like that and kind of tailor it for that week that we can and put them in a place with think will be most productive.

00:25:20.460 –> 00:25:26.760 Joseph McElroy: cool that’s a good idea, so what is a typical trip like to one of these Creeks?

00:25:27.840 –> 00:25:41.520 Charles Humphrey III: Well, we do half-day and full-day trips, either on a boat or about Wade I think we’ll be doing some Wade fishing with our groups here in the camp and will be teaching a technique called tight line fishing where you’re basically.

00:25:44.130 –> 00:25:51.510 Charles Humphrey III: Putting the poll out and keeping the line tight and waiting for the fish to hit and but will also be doing some dry fly techniques dreamer and indicator fishing.

00:25:51.810 –> 00:26:02.010 Charles Humphrey III: And you go out and you, you do a little preparation, you know get your boots and waiters on tell them how everything set up tell them how to set the hook, how to.

00:26:02.490 –> 00:26:09.810 Charles Humphrey III: Set the hook on swing out to keep pressure on the Rod and the line wants the fish hits how to get head control and.

00:26:10.230 –> 00:26:19.530 Charles Humphrey III: Keep that fish from getting away from me and then ultimately how to position the Rod, in order to get that fish to the Net and then we’ll teach him how to handle the fish and do a healthy release.

00:26:20.040 –> 00:26:33.060 Charles Humphrey III: And let them put all that into practice to where it becomes second nature for them because they need that experience a lot of times you can tell somebody how to do something, but at the moment when that fish gets all in there, so excited everything you’ve told him it’s gone.

00:26:34.140 –> 00:26:35.100 Charles Humphrey III: window there like.

00:26:36.420 –> 00:26:50.820 Charles Humphrey III: I said we’re going to get past that point, give them some actual hands-on experience in coaching so they’ll have some skills to go forward and we like to teach people enough educated enough to where they can go out have all the skills they need to go out and do it on their own.

00:26:51.540 –> 00:26:54.510 Joseph McElroy: Now, will they need to bring their own waiters and boots or whatever, will you.

00:26:54.750 –> 00:26:55.170 Charles Humphrey III: will be.

00:26:55.440 –> 00:27:03.210 Charles Humphrey III: will be providing all the gear all the waiters the boots the rods the flies and everything so they just need to show up and smile on the face.

00:27:03.630 –> 00:27:06.450 Joseph McElroy: All right, that’s all we need alright cool sounds good.

00:27:07.860 –> 00:27:14.970 Joseph McElroy: And then, then come back afterward and either do a little bit more efficiently in the Jonathan creek which I’m sure you’ll be around the.

00:27:16.200 –> 00:27:16.950 Joseph McElroy: advice and.

00:27:17.700 –> 00:27:20.460 Charles Humphrey III: The hangout will have all the boys hanging out, we got a good crew half the.

00:27:20.460 –> 00:27:31.020 Charles Humphrey III: People that I fished with are all musicians too so maybe we can get them over to the speakeasy around the campfire to get out their guitars and who knows what’s gonna happen it’s gonna be fun.

00:27:31.560 –> 00:27:45.480 Joseph McElroy: yeah we got several options, now we got to speakeasy In case it’s not whether it’s not that Nice and then if it’s Nice we got the pavilion with a fireplace on the stage, and then we got fire fire fire pits all over the place so that that’ll be a.

00:27:45.510 –> 00:27:45.900 Joseph McElroy: blast.

00:27:45.930 –> 00:27:46.380 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah.

00:27:46.710 –> 00:27:56.730 Charles Humphrey III: I got members of red clay revival and caribou collective and songs from the road band, and I mean you know and Maggie valley you can’t throw a rock without hitting a banjo picker one will probably show up.

00:27:58.560 –> 00:28:04.170 Joseph McElroy: Well, that sounds like a blast man so we’re going to take a break here, and then we’ll come back talk a little bit more about your music.

00:28:04.290 –> 00:28:05.790 Charles Humphrey III: Alright sounds good, Joseph Thank you.

00:30:11.910 –> 00:30:30.840 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast my guest Charles Humphrey III, Charles you know you, besides being one of the top fishermen and wet and North Carolina you also happened to be something of a musician.

00:30:32.340 –> 00:30:38.700 Joseph McElroy: And you know you actually well known for writing music So is there a is there.

00:30:39.900 –> 00:30:49.740 Joseph McElroy: Is there something about fishing and writing music that has a similarity patient or something that that that you find.

00:30:50.520 –> 00:30:51.060 Charles Humphrey III: Oh yeah.

00:30:52.170 –> 00:30:56.070 Charles Humphrey III: Oh yeah, I think, at least in my case, they both take a lot of luck.

00:30:57.240 –> 00:30:57.690 Oh, really.

00:31:01.800 –> 00:31:06.690 Charles Humphrey III: he’s kind of thrown it out there into the world and you’re hoping to finish go to come up.

00:31:09.870 –> 00:31:20.190 Joseph McElroy: With a great entrepreneur or anything it’s like you gotta be prepared you gotta have the skills, but then you really waiting for that moment of luck and you’re ready for it.

00:31:20.250 –> 00:31:23.730 Charles Humphrey III: Right it’s a lot better to be lucky than good I’ll tell you that.

00:31:25.230 –> 00:31:25.320 Joseph McElroy: I.

00:31:25.740 –> 00:31:27.240 Charles Humphrey III: just found out recently.

00:31:28.560 –> 00:31:35.910 Charles Humphrey III: Willie Nelson’s gonna be having a birthday on April 28 and a song that I wrote it’s going to be on this new album were released a new album oh fabulous.

00:31:36.480 –> 00:31:50.370 Charles Humphrey III: And you know that was pretty lucky, as I was, as a co-write with the great Sean camp and about two years ago, I was over at his house in Nashville and he and he said, you know anything about gambling, I said oh man you’re talking to the right guy.

00:31:51.750 –> 00:31:54.390 Charles Humphrey III: I’ve got a lot of experience at losing money.

00:31:55.530 –> 00:31:55.980 Joseph McElroy: he’s like.

00:31:56.370 –> 00:32:02.700 Charles Humphrey III: I don’t gamble I don’t know anything about it, but we gotta write this song about gambling Willie Nelson’s got an album coming out and I get.

00:32:02.970 –> 00:32:08.160 Charles Humphrey III: So we sat there and we wrote that song and he sent it over to the producer that night I was over, at my friend’s house girl out.

00:32:08.580 –> 00:32:19.170 Charles Humphrey III: Shannon can’t come back soon oh man you’re not gonna believe this producer loves the song he’s going to send it Willie calls you back when he heard it he loves it and then two years later it’s on a record so.

00:32:19.230 –> 00:32:20.670 Joseph McElroy: Oh that’s fabulous well.

00:32:20.670 –> 00:32:25.230 Joseph McElroy: done you’re done Archie Archie done now can’t you just sit back and collect.

00:32:27.000 –> 00:32:34.080 Charles Humphrey III: I don’t think it works that way anymore, with all the streaming, but it is you know he’s always been a hero of mine so it’s.

00:32:34.350 –> 00:32:36.540 Charles Humphrey III: Not I don’t know what to say it’s cute.

00:32:37.830 –> 00:32:39.660 Charles Humphrey III: and very, very lucky but.

00:32:40.230 –> 00:32:42.750 Joseph McElroy: Have you been to one of his backstage parties.

00:32:43.590 –> 00:32:52.380 Charles Humphrey III: know I haven’t Sean Sean I spent a lot of time with him playing on his records that were kind of the basis of this song he had been in Hawaii at a poker game.

00:32:52.920 –> 00:32:58.830 Charles Humphrey III: Willie nelson’s house and he’s got a little place back there called Django Django Django is an orchid lounge and.

00:32:59.430 –> 00:33:10.890 Charles Humphrey III: I think Sean was sitting there with Willie Nelson and there are some other fellows there Woody Harrelson and some people and they’re shooting tequila and telling jokes and lies and Sean I just kind of wrote about that whole night and put it in a song.

00:33:12.180 –> 00:33:14.400 Charles Humphrey III: ended up liking it all right, I guess.

00:33:14.580 –> 00:33:24.840 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know my wife is a, besides being a great mother and wife and she also happens to be Brazilian percussionist that has had some success, she was.

00:33:25.410 –> 00:33:33.180 Joseph McElroy: She was a travel agency actually does travel for that what’s that harmonica player that’s pretty famous that works with Willie I forget his name I’m sorry.

00:33:33.240 –> 00:33:34.920 Charles Humphrey III: Oh yeah.

00:33:35.160 –> 00:33:47.550 Joseph McElroy: yeah so she does his travel and she’s gotten invited backstage to couple willie’s concerts and those parties sound like something to behold man.

00:33:48.630 –> 00:33:50.610 Charles Humphrey III: Man that is so cool.

00:33:52.920 –> 00:33:54.810 Joseph McElroy: it’s like I want to go to those parties.

00:33:56.070 –> 00:33:57.750 Joseph McElroy: what’s cool so um.

00:33:58.230 –> 00:34:01.170 Charles Humphrey III: So you Mickey Rafi LLC you’re thinking about.

00:34:01.230 –> 00:34:15.390 Joseph McElroy: that’s right yeah so you had a successful career, you with the steep Canyon Rangers and then you decided to follow your own path, which I think is really stimulates your creativity, was that a difficult decision for you to move on.

00:34:16.560 –> 00:34:27.270 Charles Humphrey III: It was, it was a natural progression and where we’re working on our six-album now getting ready to head down to Florida this month for a couple of big festivals got the Sewanee Springer Union.

00:34:27.600 –> 00:34:37.200 Charles Humphrey III: And the EMS spring bluegrass festival, and that the whole year starting to fill up it’s nice because the last two years before that we’re all affected with.

00:34:37.680 –> 00:34:44.190 Charles Humphrey III: pandemic concerns and seems like things are getting back to a little bit more normal, which is great to be making music with my buddies.

00:34:44.580 –> 00:34:47.190 Joseph McElroy: cool, this is the song from Rhode’s band right.

00:34:47.580 –> 00:35:03.210 Charles Humphrey III: Yes, Sir songs on the road band all the guys are based here, out of Asheville North Carolina and we were very grateful to be able to do what we do we’ve had some songs on the charts we’ve got one that’s number two on the bluegrass grass khana chart this week and.

00:35:04.290 –> 00:35:18.000 Charles Humphrey III: You can hear some serious XM bluegrass junction or your favorite local radio station, or would like to tell people on Spotify if you’re about to go to sleep just put on songs from the road band and just let it spin while you sleep let’s rack up those place.

00:35:18.450 –> 00:35:19.860 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah.

00:35:21.750 –> 00:35:33.870 Joseph McElroy: Well, I hope to get hope to besides just the songwriting camp, we can get you out there, doing playing at the Meadowlark, you know we have a nice old-style dance Hall, you know really sort of place to do a little bit of music.

00:35:34.440 –> 00:35:36.690 Charles Humphrey III: I would absolutely love to do that Joseph.

00:35:36.690 –> 00:35:45.480 Joseph McElroy: Fair so so let’s talk about what you guys are wanting to do you were talking about doing a songwriter cramping an August, like.

00:35:46.080 –> 00:35:46.260 it’s.

00:35:47.460 –> 00:36:05.250 Charles Humphrey III: it’s going to happen it’s going to be a world-class event again it’s just such an honor to work with you and Bob and your love of the heritage of the area and traditions we’ve got a great event lined up I think we’re going to announce it soon it will be there with Jim Lauderdale.

00:36:05.940 –> 00:36:06.900 Joseph McElroy: Oh, my God yeah it’s.

00:36:06.960 –> 00:36:14.370 Charles Humphrey III: Art is just a legend he’s almost like a national treasure absolutely loves is picking his writing and singing.

00:36:15.120 –> 00:36:22.080 Charles Humphrey III: we’re going to have Clay Mills who’s written number one country songs he works with song town the USA based out of Nashville Tennessee.

00:36:22.470 –> 00:36:30.990 Charles Humphrey III: He knows the industry inside and out from creating the pitching to demoing so he’s going to be a huge asset to have on board.

00:36:31.770 –> 00:36:36.870 Charles Humphrey III: we’re going to have Darren Nicholson from awesome range who’s an amazing singer and songwriter he’s had.

00:36:37.350 –> 00:36:47.640 Charles Humphrey III: A lot of success throughout the years we co-wrote one last year that went up to number one entitled lonesome is the price up flat pay on all bluegrass charts.

00:36:47.970 –> 00:36:59.820 Charles Humphrey III: And then we’re gonna have Charlie Chan Chamberlain who’s a musician and a producer in Nashville and he’s gonna be bringing a portable studio so the people at the camp, not only are they going to get to learn about how to create and how to pitch.

00:37:00.930 –> 00:37:10.200 Charles Humphrey III: they’re going to hopefully get to go away with a work tape or a DEMO of something they’ve created and see what it’s like to be in front of the microphones and pitched artists as well, so it’s really.

00:37:10.650 –> 00:37:22.050 Charles Humphrey III: going to be an all-inclusive writers camp, not only are we going to talk about different ways to create music and arrange songs and write songs but we’re going to talk about the industry, how do you get songs to other people.

00:37:22.380 –> 00:37:36.420 Charles Humphrey III: And then kind of give you a process of how to record, something that could go on to land and another artist, or perhaps your artists, but it’s going to be a great event and we’ve got a world-class lineup so something really.

00:37:36.420 –> 00:37:41.040 Joseph McElroy: and it’s also awesome I mean I don’t know if you know that.

00:37:41.940 –> 00:37:52.560 Joseph McElroy: I know, besides being a businessman, and having a technical background I started doing art in the 90s, and I have a real passion for artists all right and.

00:37:53.220 –> 00:38:03.630 Joseph McElroy: You know the Meadowlark is about allowing artists and especially heritage artists to you know to sign and evolve.

00:38:04.260 –> 00:38:14.610 Joseph McElroy: Their mediums, right, to really you know you know, I believe that you know a lot of people try to you know petrified things and sort of like the past.

00:38:15.120 –> 00:38:30.210 Joseph McElroy: And I think that bluegrass and all the art forms that we have in this mountain heritage are able to blossom even further and bigger than what they are, and I really think that you’re one of those guys just doing that.

00:38:31.170 –> 00:38:38.610 Charles Humphrey III: Well, you know it’s people that support the arts and make it possible, and there’s no better place to do it than meadowlark I agree it’s a special spot.

00:38:39.270 –> 00:38:40.920 Joseph McElroy: cool so.

00:38:42.240 –> 00:38:47.940 Joseph McElroy: So, how did you help you know Darren’s been at our place a couple of times, what do you know Darren.

00:38:48.990 –> 00:38:56.880 Charles Humphrey III: Darren and I met in the bluegrass world you know, the first time we really got to know each other, I believe we were up in Yukon Territory and Alaska.

00:38:57.690 –> 00:39:08.880 Charles Humphrey III: And we had to ride in the back of a van to cross the border together and he was playing with Alicia Nugent at the time, and we did some picking and then he got on with balsam range.

00:39:09.630 –> 00:39:19.320 Charles Humphrey III: And we’ve just always kind of known each other, and I said Darren I really, really like to write with you, I know you’re a hell of a musician and I love your singing.

00:39:19.830 –> 00:39:34.890 Charles Humphrey III: And we wrote a song, I think the first song we wrote was one called any highway we both ended up recording it Darren Nicholson band and songs and road band, and then we went through the pandemic we wrote tons and tons of songs he’s got a new EP out called the man on a mission Darren Nicholson.

00:39:34.950 –> 00:39:43.080 Joseph McElroy: man on the moon oh I love that are you know that I just had that album recently, he was on the show and I love that out.

00:39:43.320 –> 00:39:45.720 Charles Humphrey III: All right, we wrote about four songs on that.

00:39:45.750 –> 00:39:54.000 Charles Humphrey III: we’ve got some that have made it to other bands as well, so you meet people sometimes where you just mesh were each other.

00:39:54.390 –> 00:40:04.080 Charles Humphrey III: talents or personalities compliment each other and that’s kind of what Darren and I found where we get together and it’s just fun it’s natural it’s quick, we always get something.

00:40:04.440 –> 00:40:13.500 Charles Humphrey III: That we’re proud of, we trust each other’s opinions and so it’s been an honor to work with him and he’s a great talent and so.

00:40:13.920 –> 00:40:25.170 Charles Humphrey III: it’s really the songwriting that has brought our friendship closer than anything else, after knowing each other for 20 years in the past two years from getting together to write songs together is how we really become.

00:40:25.410 –> 00:40:27.720 Joseph McElroy: Close we, I mean you had songs on there that went.

00:40:27.720 –> 00:40:31.530 Joseph McElroy: flight from a bluegrass rift into southern rock and roll song.

00:40:32.160 –> 00:40:33.060 Charles Humphrey III: I mean oh yeah.

00:40:33.330 –> 00:40:37.440 Charles Humphrey III: I think he was a man on a mission I think his mission was to rock that’s.

00:40:38.520 –> 00:40:40.920 Charles Humphrey III: Pretty cool album oh yeah man he.

00:40:40.920 –> 00:40:41.730 Charles Humphrey III: doesn’t either.

00:40:41.970 –> 00:40:52.680 Charles Humphrey III: It was so neat to see those songs come from an idea to a full-on Rockin EP he did a great job everybody’s got to check it out man on a mission Darren Nicholson

00:40:52.680 –> 00:40:57.900 Joseph McElroy: so this is going to be a great lineup for the songwriter can I can tell you that and new.

00:40:58.710 –> 00:41:03.480 Charles Humphrey III: I mean we’ve got songs from the road band performing on Friday night.

00:41:03.840 –> 00:41:05.250 Joseph McElroy: All right, fabulous and then.

00:41:05.250 –> 00:41:05.760 Charles Humphrey III: You got.

00:41:06.210 –> 00:41:21.780 Charles Humphrey III: As the people check-in and so actually that ban which I’m in will be performing songs that have been co-written with every single person that’s there so we’ll be able to discuss that and see how that works as well it’s going to be a unique blend of musical ideas.

00:41:22.320 –> 00:41:30.330 Joseph McElroy: oh I know Jim Lauderdale it’s like we said 30 or more albums and yeah I think he’s like the grandfather of this right yeah.

00:41:30.360 –> 00:41:32.970 Charles Humphrey III: it’s close to 40 Jim is awesome and.

00:41:33.300 –> 00:41:34.830 Charles Humphrey III: we’ve been backing him up for.

00:41:34.830 –> 00:41:43.770 Charles Humphrey III: About two years now doing a lot of shows on this bluegrass stuff we’ve had some great opportunities to perform at some festivals like merle fast and things like that he’s.

00:41:44.790 –> 00:41:46.410 Charles Humphrey III: What can you say he’s Jim Lauderdale.

00:41:48.210 –> 00:41:50.370 Joseph McElroy: What can you say you know there’s not much.

00:41:52.020 –> 00:41:53.130 Joseph McElroy: So um.

00:41:54.540 –> 00:41:55.920 Joseph McElroy: So you’ve.

00:41:57.300 –> 00:42:01.260 Joseph McElroy: So lets we’re about to.

00:42:03.090 –> 00:42:12.300 Joseph McElroy: launch on to a whole bunch of other things, who are some other folks famous folks you’ve worked with that are who’s on your bucket list that you would like to work with.

00:42:14.850 –> 00:42:22.590 Charles Humphrey III: let’s see that’s a good question see my brains work and I’m efficient all day well like I said, working with Sean Camp and Jim Lauderdale or pleasure Darren.

00:42:22.980 –> 00:42:33.750 Charles Humphrey III: Nicholson there’s an interesting guy from Charlotte his name is Josh Daniel and during the pandemic, he played a two-hour show every single day for 365 days.

00:42:35.100 –> 00:42:46.170 Charles Humphrey III: yeah it was amazing he plays kind of like grateful dead inspired jam band music, he must know 1000 songs I was like josh man you’ve got a similar Darren’s like when we’ve got a ride I love your plan I love your singing.

00:42:46.590 –> 00:42:53.910 Charles Humphrey III: And so we’ve written a lot together, and I say that’s somebody that you need to check out if you haven’t heard of him he’s really going places name’s Josh Daniel.

00:42:55.260 –> 00:43:03.180 Charles Humphrey III: I just saw her coming up on a radio break but there’s a long list of people Becky Worn in Nashville Sarah Siskin that lives in.

00:43:03.540 –> 00:43:09.570 Charles Humphrey III: North Carolina Britain has a lot of stuff with her Charlie Chamberlain and, of course, he will be at the songwriters camp.

00:43:10.560 –> 00:43:18.690 Charles Humphrey III: Marty Dotson’s another name he’s the other half of song town the USA in Nashville Tennessee a great writer he’s written for everyone and he’s written a lot of.

00:43:19.080 –> 00:43:27.330 Charles Humphrey III: My favorite songs that we’ve created and been able to record songs from the Rodin Mason Via who just recently joined oh crow medicine show I write a lot with him.

00:43:27.690 –> 00:43:32.250 Charles Humphrey III: He is a young fireball of a musician who can do it all right big dancing.

00:43:33.120 –> 00:43:40.800 Charles Humphrey III: Nick Dolphin a place to Larry Stephenson he and I haven’t written a whole lot recently he’s just a talent, to the list goes on and on, Joe.

00:43:41.100 –> 00:43:48.690 Charles Humphrey III: So many great people to work within western North Carolina and you know with the Internet to kind of opens up the boundaries, where you don’t have to be in the same room.

00:43:49.890 –> 00:43:56.910 Joseph McElroy: But cool we’re gonna take a break as you mentioned and we’ll come back and talk a little bit about Western North Carolina and what’s going on in there.

00:43:57.300 –> 00:43:57.960 Charles Humphrey III: let’s do it.

00:45:59.310 –> 00:46:07.620 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast my guest Charles Humphrey III.

00:46:08.130 –> 00:46:21.570 Joseph McElroy: Charles you are in all the last things, I think that, besides being a natural artist, you do seem to be a natural entrepreneur, so you actually able to record label called Lucks dumpy toads how’s that going.

00:46:22.560 –> 00:46:27.930 Charles Humphrey III: it’s going well, mostly use it to release the songs from the road band albums.

00:46:29.010 –> 00:46:46.470 Charles Humphrey III: But it’s neat to look at the music industry that way where you’re working with promoters who get music out to the radio DJ and communicating with them and releasing stuff on to streaming platforms apple music and Spotify and.

00:46:49.680 –> 00:47:01.320 Charles Humphrey III: CD baby is one of the things we used to release their music and then getting the records printed on vinyl and I’m wondering whether they’re gonna we’re gonna stop making cd’s I feel like that day is coming I.

00:47:01.320 –> 00:47:04.230 Joseph McElroy: Think CDs are done but vinyl will stick around because you know.

00:47:04.350 –> 00:47:09.990 Charles Humphrey III: I was gonna stick around I’m just kind of waiting for that day, where we don’t have to print up 1000 CDs.

00:47:10.710 –> 00:47:11.220 Charles Humphrey III: Okay.

00:47:11.280 –> 00:47:13.230 Joseph McElroy: I wouldn’t be done with CDs and DVDs or.

00:47:13.230 –> 00:47:13.800 everybody’s.

00:47:15.450 –> 00:47:18.060 Charles Humphrey III: People don’t even know what CDs are anymore they’re not.

00:47:18.660 –> 00:47:25.710 Charles Humphrey III: Ours anymore, but then you go to these festivals and people with like that style of music they’ve got cassette players.

00:47:25.710 –> 00:47:28.350 Charles Humphrey III: And it’s eight tracks and likes.

00:47:28.590 –> 00:47:29.310 Joseph McElroy: I guess, we know that.

00:47:29.490 –> 00:47:35.280 Joseph McElroy: The speakeasy we put in a nice we put it in a nice record player so we’re going to want to help.

00:47:36.180 –> 00:47:37.380 Charles Humphrey III: awesome yeah.

00:47:37.410 –> 00:47:37.770 yeah.

00:47:39.240 –> 00:47:40.620 Charles Humphrey III: it’s got all that analog.

00:47:40.620 –> 00:47:41.790 Joseph McElroy: Sound you know.

00:47:42.210 –> 00:47:45.540 Joseph McElroy: I was, I was once working with somebody doing a deal with Sony.

00:47:45.930 –> 00:48:00.300 Joseph McElroy: That was trying to do you know to add this the audio you know there’s a lot of that when you when they turn it to digital they lose a lot of sounds I don’t know if you know it, but it’s an amazing amount of sound that they lose when they turn it.

00:48:00.300 –> 00:48:03.060 Charles Humphrey III: down your, you’re your absolute absolutely right everything gets.

00:48:03.510 –> 00:48:04.620 Joseph McElroy: compressed and you learn.

00:48:05.010 –> 00:48:14.610 Charles Humphrey III: stuff Neil young was fighting for that for a long time he had created this other style of music player that kind of holding on to some of that original sound, and I think it was.

00:48:15.570 –> 00:48:22.350 Charles Humphrey III: just going to be too much too expensive to get it to the everyday person or either the people that were doing music, the other way I didn’t want him to release it.

00:48:23.820 –> 00:48:28.890 Joseph McElroy: Well, I made it I made, I made the deal Sony was all excited this is funny I made the deal with these guys that.

00:48:29.280 –> 00:48:36.060 Joseph McElroy: That Sony was going to redo all their their their we’re going to start with the offer and do all their offer with this new technology.

00:48:36.360 –> 00:48:48.330 Joseph McElroy: And they were all excited and we do the deal they’re willing to do it, and then the guys Come on, so it’s a great deal, but you know we forgot to tell you that it takes a half-hour engineer time for each song, and I was like Jesus Christ.

00:48:52.680 –> 00:48:53.100 Charles Humphrey III: yeah.

00:48:53.460 –> 00:49:01.590 Joseph McElroy: we’re talking about you know 10s of thousands of hours of songs and albums it’s like you know there’s no way.

00:49:03.660 –> 00:49:06.210 Joseph McElroy: boy is there, there is a way to add.

00:49:06.210 –> 00:49:14.460 Joseph McElroy: The analog back, but still takes a lot of time at some point, it will come back in digital but right now.

00:49:16.440 –> 00:49:19.830 Charles Humphrey III: there’s even a big difference between MP3 and wave file it’s.

00:49:22.200 –> 00:49:29.820 Charles Humphrey III: For me, it’s hard to listen to the radio sometime it’s just it’s so shrill it sounds like it’s just grinding in my ears and it’s tough.

00:49:30.420 –> 00:49:45.510 Joseph McElroy: yeah so you know I mean, I think that you know that it’s there’s a world of what’s going to happen and audio is still not even begun so I’m excited to see what you guys will see in the future, but.

00:49:47.130 –> 00:50:00.900 Joseph McElroy: You know, one of the things I want to do is is uh yeah we’re gonna have we’re having all this stuff happened in the Meadowlark, like, I want to do a Meadowlark sounds from the Meadowlark albums so maybe I’ll talk to your Lucks Dumpy Toads records talking about doing that one.

00:50:01.110 –> 00:50:09.000 Charles Humphrey III: that’s a great idea we love to do it man that’d be a heck of an album just if you just got the people that have been there and be fantastic I love that idea.

00:50:09.660 –> 00:50:16.080 Joseph McElroy: cool so now the things you’re doing what’s your Hell of the endurance athletes what’s happened in there.

00:50:16.800 –> 00:50:24.630 Charles Humphrey III: Not a lot we were hoping to do our 50 K over in Dupont forest this year, which raises money for the candidate foundation that’s.

00:50:25.470 –> 00:50:35.370 Charles Humphrey III: The nonprofit wing of Oskar blues they do things like trail restoration and flood relief and we’re tunes ambassadors, where we get instruments to kids that need them.

00:50:35.910 –> 00:50:45.600 Charles Humphrey III: And that race, the hullabaloo 50 K and really like benefits that nonprofit but they’re doing a lot of trail renovation over there, near guy on-farm by the rebrand we’re usually to our event.

00:50:45.930 –> 00:50:48.510 Charles Humphrey III: We haven’t been able to do it the past two years for permitting.

00:50:49.050 –> 00:50:56.160 Charles Humphrey III: Concerns due to the pandemic it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen this year so that’s still on the back burner, but it may be something that will go back to.

00:50:56.880 –> 00:51:08.340 Charles Humphrey III: The the race director on that event as far as running myself it’s kind of taken a backseat to the fishing lately that’s another thing to stay in shape for it, it really does take a lot of time, you know you need to.

00:51:08.670 –> 00:51:17.070 Charles Humphrey III: run at least a little bit every day, and if you’re doing those long events, sometimes you have to do things like back to back runs and get in that multi-hour.

00:51:17.550 –> 00:51:27.660 Charles Humphrey III: You know, double-digit long runs to prepare for those big events and it’s a lot of fun it’s rewarding is a great way to stay in shape, you can eat whatever you want when you’re training the people.

00:51:28.590 –> 00:51:33.960 Charles Humphrey III: are absolutely amazing they come from all walks of life, the only thing that ties you together.

00:51:34.320 –> 00:51:45.630 Charles Humphrey III: Being crazy enough to go out there and run through the mountains and you get out there with these people you’re just meeting in your suffering together for the first time you have this instant bond of like why in the world are we doing this to ourselves.

00:51:45.960 –> 00:51:47.610 Charles Humphrey III: This is horrible but I love it.

00:51:48.960 –> 00:51:55.950 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know I’m a competitive drinker and so those long-distance distance drinking events I have I gotta deal with the same issues you know.

00:51:56.280 –> 00:51:57.180 Joseph McElroy: yeah I got.

00:51:57.840 –> 00:52:05.490 Charles Humphrey III: guitar the guitar player in our band said oh yeah man, I do marathons to Netflix marathons what’s your favorite show.

00:52:07.860 –> 00:52:11.430 Joseph McElroy: So you got any new recording projects coming out soon.

00:52:12.480 –> 00:52:22.440 Charles Humphrey III: We are putting the finishing touches on the new songs in the road album band I’ve got to master four more songs and we’re trying to get it out in the fall, which will be nice we’ve had.

00:52:23.070 –> 00:52:28.260 Charles Humphrey III: Three or four singles that have been released they’ve all gone up to number one or two on the charts.

00:52:28.800 –> 00:52:43.410 Charles Humphrey III: So we’re hoping to get that out and it’s going to be through candidate as well, we will have that on vinyl and then we’ll go back into the studio and record the next project and start releasing singles as well, so it’s time to get it out there, I need a.

00:52:43.500 –> 00:52:46.230 Joseph McElroy: So culture first vinyl okay all right.

00:52:46.260 –> 00:52:49.140 Charles Humphrey III: we’ll do it I’ll go ahead and save it for you.

00:52:49.560 –> 00:52:50.190 All right.

00:52:51.900 –> 00:52:58.200 Joseph McElroy: Oh good so um so so people are looking for that What were they need to watch for to get that.

00:52:59.160 –> 00:53:02.910 Charles Humphrey III: They would need to watch songs on the road band.com

00:53:04.350 –> 00:53:09.540 Charles Humphrey III: They could find us on Instagram or Facebook songs from the road band as well.

00:53:10.680 –> 00:53:19.500 Charles Humphrey III: We are on all major music outlets and we would love for people to come to visit us and stay in touch and follow and.

00:53:19.770 –> 00:53:30.210 Charles Humphrey III: share the music ads to playlists all that good stuff you can find out information about our live shows we’d love for them to come out and meet the band and hang out and have a good time with us as well.

00:53:30.720 –> 00:53:33.030 Joseph McElroy: And if a venue wants to book you how do they do that.

00:53:34.110 –> 00:53:43.530 Charles Humphrey III: They would do that through the website as well songsfromtheroadband.com and we have a wonderful wonderful agent his name is Curtis Guerin he works at prater day.

00:53:44.040 –> 00:53:51.660 Charles Humphrey III: And he would gladly take your call and we could arrange something to come and play for you at your festival club or even a private event.

00:53:52.440 –> 00:53:57.330 Joseph McElroy: cool and if somebody wants to book you for guides to the fishing guide, what do they do.

00:53:58.200 –> 00:54:08.430 Charles Humphrey III: If you would like to go out on a weight or float trip on public or private water with winning with one of our many talented guides just go to beastcoastanglers.com

00:54:08.880 –> 00:54:16.200 Charles Humphrey III: And all the information there all the information that you need is there to either give us a call or shoot us an email cool.

00:54:16.470 –> 00:54:22.080 Joseph McElroy: And if they want to follow what you’re doing personally or in you know online what are they were worthy.

00:54:24.270 –> 00:54:33.300 Charles Humphrey III: To keep track with me personally, is just Charles Humphrey III and I have public accounts on Facebook and Instagram and

00:54:33.600 –> 00:54:46.050 Charles Humphrey III: very active with the fishing company based coast anglers and with the band songs and the road band so I’m not too hard to find and I would love to chat with anybody and visit you know let’s put a smile on someone’s face and I’ll have a great day.

00:54:46.440 –> 00:54:52.350 Joseph McElroy: Alright cool well, I will be down there starting Saturday for two weeks so let’s get together when you come back, I want to come down alright.

00:54:52.770 –> 00:54:58.470 Charles Humphrey III: guys just give me a call I would love it, yet you have to promise to call me, I want to take you out fishing.

00:54:58.770 –> 00:55:03.690 Joseph McElroy: Alright sounds good, so thank you for being here this this this podcast has been great.

00:55:04.230 –> 00:55:07.230 Charles Humphrey III: It was a pleasure thanks for having me on the show really appreciate it was a lot of fun.

00:55:07.950 –> 00:55:15.630 Joseph McElroy: So you find out more about this podcast it’s smokiesadventure.com the link to all the podcasts is on the top of the site.

00:55:15.990 –> 00:55:21.180 Joseph McElroy: You can also go to facebook.com/gatewaytothesmokiespodcast were in it.

00:55:21.570 –> 00:55:30.240 Joseph McElroy: and watch the live podcast and see the previous podcast we are part of the talk radio.NYC network, where they have a lot of live podcasts.

00:55:30.570 –> 00:55:39.810 Joseph McElroy: That worthwhile for you to watch deal with travel and small business and New York and self-help and health and things I advise you to take a chance to listen.

00:55:40.110 –> 00:55:52.890 Joseph McElroy: And I actually have another podcast every Friday about a business called wise content creates wealth from noon until one so hope you will take a look at that as well and it’s been good to see you and I’ll see you next week.

Hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains is a beautiful and iconic way to experience the area, as well as a unique way to connect with nature and find tranquility. Today, our guest will discuss some of his amazing hiking adventures and the social media impact he has had on so many individuals.

Creating Memorable Hiking and Outdoor Adventures in the Great Smoky Mountains Our host, Joseph Franklyn McElroy, is joined by our special guest, Johnny Osborne, an acclaimed long-distance hiker, adventurer, and rock climber, and mountain biker, also renowned for his social media skills. With well over a million followers on various forms of social media platforms, Johnny is a master at creating memorable online hiking experiences in the Great Smoky Mountains –and throughout the United States –while documenting his accomplishments as a hiker. 

Johnny is especially passionate about promoting, protecting, and perpetuating the legacy of the Great Smokies Mountain National Park. When not enjoying various outdoor pursuits, Osborne resides in Alcoa Tennessee, where he manages his social media platforms and works with clients such as Blackberry Farm and Blackberry Mountain Resort.

Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by clicking here.

Joseph starts off tonight’s show with of course his sponsor which is his own, the Meadowlark Motel! He mentions several upcoming events that you can find at meadowlarkmotel.com. Joseph also reads a poem by Lawrence Hall called “New Hiking Shoes for the Trail Ahead.” He transitions into introducing his guest, Johnny Osborne, an acclaimed long-distance hiker, adventurer, rock climber, and mountain biker, also renowned for his social media skills, with well over a million followers on various forms of social media platforms. He lives in Tennessee and is 20 minutes away from the Smokies National Park. He became passionate about outdoor lifestyles due to his fond memories with his family like going to the Smokies and bonding. Osborne became serious about hiking after being invited by his sister numerous times to go hiking with her. He used to run rather than hike while in college but once he went hiking with his sister again, it “ignited a fire” that made him fall in love with it again. He talks with Joseph about some intriguing memories of hiking.

Joseph mentions Johnny’s social media channels and how he talks about the leave no trace principles of hiking in many of his videos. This topic is about cleaning our environment, educating, advocating, and more when it comes to recreating responsibly. Johnny also mentions a nonprofit organization, Save Our Smokies, which is having an event on the weekend of Earth Day to clean the entire Smokies National Park. He also talks about the positive impacts of being a part of the hiking community like being the voice of information to provide knowledge about being safe. Joseph talks with Johnny about his impressive social media skills and have big following. He wants to grow and create more educational content for his youtube channel. Johnny talks about doing challenges and taking on the South Beyond 6,000 challenge which he read about in an article. This challenge encourages hikers to climb forty 6000-foot peaks in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

Johnny speaks with Joseph about his experience hiking in the Black Mountain Crest Trail. He also did the Great Smoky Mountains National Park nine hundred-mile hike which includes going through all of the trails in the area. Johnny also speaks about doing the Foothills Trail Hike in the Appalachian Mountains. He talks about a funny moment of how on his first day on this hike, a huge storm came along. When this happened, he found a spot to camp, and the next morning he realized that he was about only 2 miles from where he wanted to be. Johnny has hiked in many states and countries. He reminisces about the beautiful atmosphere when he hiked in the Rocky Mountains. When it comes to his social media, he refers to himself as someone who is encouraging and not an influencer. He differentiates these two terms as someone who is selling something (influencer) and someone who is coaching (encouraging). He says that it's about supporting and motivating others when educating people about hiking. Johnny also gives some of his thoughts about how other people on social media can grow their platforms and build a community. He speaks about being consistent in delivering relatable content.

In the final segment, Johnny speaks about being involved with the Blackberry Farm and Mountain Resort in Tennessee. He has been with them for 7 years and is an information technology manager at Blackberry Mountain. He says that they are opening up a restaurant at the brewery they have in the location. Johnny speaks about his passion for the Great Smoky Mountains and advocating for being responsible while enjoying recreation and memorable experiences. Other things Johnny also enjoys besides hiking is going mountain biking or even kayaking. He talks more with Joseph about places he enjoys visiting in Tennessee and the Smokies. His favorite rock climbing spot for example is Ijams in Knox County. You can reach out to Johnny on Instagram at johnny on the trail, as well as on Facebook and Youtube with the same username. Johnny also shares with us that he has merch and the proceeds will go to nonprofit organizations and park charities. Joseph thanks Johnny Osborne for being on the show and looks forward to hiking with him sometime soon!

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00:00:30.270 –> 00:00:35.220 Joseph McElroy: Howdy, thanks for joining us on this week’s episode of Gateway to the Smokies.

00:00:36.090 –> 00:00:47.370 Joseph McElroy: This podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the surrounding towns, this area is filled with ancient natural beauty.

00:00:48.030 –> 00:00:53.280 Joseph McElroy: A deep-storied history of rich mountain cultures that we explore with the weekly episodes.

00:00:54.120 –> 00:01:02.550 Joseph McElroy: I’m Joseph Franklyn McElroy a man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains, my families living the great smokies for over 200 years.

00:01:03.360 –> 00:01:17.640 Joseph McElroy: my business is in travel, but my heart is in culture. In today’s podcast we’re talking about hiking and experiences in the smokies but first, let’s talk about sponsors has happened to be me.

00:01:20.160 –> 00:01:30.510 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place evocative of motors courts of the past in a modern environment with a Chic Appalachian feel a place for adventure and for relaxation.

00:01:31.110 –> 00:01:40.650 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on fire and eat accompanied by a fine wine and craft beers.

00:01:41.010 –> 00:01:58.710 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place in the old-time music, the World Cultural sounds imagine a place where we’re mountain heritage food, and that was an underground Speakeasy. There is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel Maggie Valley North Carolina your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay. Also, sponsoring us

00:02:00.060 –> 00:02:07.050 Joseph McElroy: smokies adventure.com smokies plural adventure singular information and listings about the smoky.

00:02:07.860 –> 00:02:15.030 Joseph McElroy: it’s got information about hiking wedding menus and books is got resources like trail maps and guides.

00:02:15.510 –> 00:02:24.990 Joseph McElroy: and histories of the smokies the emphasis of smokies adventure is on outdoor recreation outdoor life events like weddings and adventures, along with.

00:02:25.320 –> 00:02:35.220 Joseph McElroy: Providing information on lodging family entertainment events conventions honeymoons and more the goal is to become the leading information portal, the smoky mountains.

00:02:36.570 –> 00:02:38.970 Joseph McElroy: I have some upcoming events table.

00:02:40.410 –> 00:02:46.590 Joseph McElroy: We have never seen winter’s final hurrah but the first by sides of springs are starting to emerge in Haywood County.

00:02:47.430 –> 00:02:55.080 Joseph McElroy: Witness the changing of the stream seasons first hand by joining a guided height with the Haywood County recreation.

00:02:55.800 –> 00:03:08.160 Joseph McElroy: The guided hike offer a chance to connect with fellow hikers and explore new trails will experience local guide it’s only $10 per hike and you can call 828-452-6789

00:03:08.940 –> 00:03:18.000 Joseph McElroy: To find out more information there’s for a hike there’s for hikes already I know for March there are more slides it’s a 5.5-mile hike the.

00:03:18.810 –> 00:03:28.650 Joseph McElroy: trail and shiny rock march 16 is a 7.5 mile like in the Boggerman trail that Cataloochee Valley of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

00:03:29.190 –> 00:03:37.140 Joseph McElroy: there’s a march 19 and 9.4-mile hike have a little Cataloochee trail, and unless you have traveled area, the Cataloochee

00:03:37.740 –> 00:04:00.690 Joseph McElroy: And march 30 there’s a 5.6-mile moderate hike in the mountains to see the trail to Scott Creek overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway, this is a part of the install isn’t a storm in the mountains to sea trail hiking series hiking the MST from Haywood County lead by Kathy or Body and Steve.

00:04:04.140 –> 00:04:10.050 Joseph McElroy: I just looked at that it says a Penske so I’m assuming hopefully I did justice to it.

00:04:11.820 –> 00:04:18.330 Joseph McElroy: upcoming to the Meadowlark in today’s world you might forget that for all of history humankind has lived or journey.

00:04:18.750 –> 00:04:23.220 Joseph McElroy: into environments that require fundamental survival skills in order to flourish.

00:04:23.730 –> 00:04:33.810 Joseph McElroy: Wilderness survival, also known as bushcraft because the ability to utilize natural and limited materials of the traditional ways to stay alive and escape danger.

00:04:34.470 –> 00:04:37.680 Joseph McElroy: We might not think we need these skills if we avoid it.

00:04:38.430 –> 00:04:47.970 Joseph McElroy: But there are still interesting instances where we might need to call a pet that includes natural disasters, getting lost in the woods extreme shifts, and weather accidents.

00:04:48.300 –> 00:04:54.960 Joseph McElroy: causing some form of contract incapacitation and many other unforeseen circumstances.

00:04:55.710 –> 00:05:02.880 Joseph McElroy: Therefore it is proven wise for every human to have at least a rudimentary capability in the basic skills of survival.

00:05:03.450 –> 00:05:17.790 Joseph McElroy: These include the ability to build a fire build a shelter tie knots navigate without a GPS apply first aid, evaluate and choose the right gears and supplies and master the essentials of hiking and camping.

00:05:18.600 –> 00:05:34.890 Joseph McElroy: The Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center is proud to announce the addition of Acclaimed Author outdoors outdoor survival expert record-setting high hiker elite wilderness search and rescue team Member Nancy East to a roster of expert artists for 2022

00:05:36.540 –> 00:05:50.640 Joseph McElroy: Remember, she was on the program here a couple of weeks ago and so we’re having a first wilderness survival skills weekend with Nancy East on March 19 at 4 pm through March 20 to all-day 11 pm.

00:05:51.990 –> 00:06:04.590 Joseph McElroy: it’s $275 Nancy will launch the presentation Friday night describing her adventures as a search and rescue Member and she’s had some really exciting stories and.

00:06:05.010 –> 00:06:15.540 Joseph McElroy: And rescues to talk about and then on Saturday march 19 will default, the Internet, it will devote the entire day to a variety of those survival skills.

00:06:16.440 –> 00:06:30.900 Joseph McElroy: topics to ensure your safety comfort of enjoyment, as you create memorable experiences hiking in the great smokies space is limited to 10 students to their guarantee you get individual tension and Nancy provides all the materials needed for the event.

00:06:31.980 –> 00:06:42.030 Joseph McElroy: after the event, you will be able to have a free Barbecue and listen to wonderful music like Mike by Mike Ogletree was a former drummer simple minds on Saturday night.

00:06:42.750 –> 00:06:53.280 Joseph McElroy: So it makes for an enjoyable weekend your website meadowlarkmotel.com to purchase your tickets or just call 828 926 1717 to reserve.

00:06:54.210 –> 00:07:08.100 Joseph McElroy: And don’t forget to remember to go little details but there’s a fishing camp coming up on April 15 and 16th at the meadowlark motel and there’s gonna be an able to two-day event with lots of wonderful fishing.

00:07:09.120 –> 00:07:10.740 Joseph McElroy: instruction hands on.

00:07:11.820 –> 00:07:26.010 Joseph McElroy: You know, going actually out to the streams and fishing, you know be trout tales and entertainment and foods things like that so again, you can call 828 926 1717 to find out more and make reservations.

00:07:27.150 –> 00:07:29.580 Joseph McElroy: And a lot of you know I like to do a little poem sometimes.

00:07:30.960 –> 00:07:39.690 Joseph McElroy: Since we’re talking about hiking a lot today, I found one by Lawrence Hall it’s called New hiking shoes for the trail ahead.

00:07:40.770 –> 00:07:52.890 Joseph McElroy: While I was looking for something else I found a pair of hiking shoes still in their box from a year ago in anticipation of a summer vacation that never was.

00:07:53.460 –> 00:08:05.700 Joseph McElroy: And there was no holiday again that here it was all coronavirus and foreign wars I’d forgotten those shoes, but here they are already for some sunlit summer road.

00:08:06.750 –> 00:08:12.840 Joseph McElroy: While I was looking for something else I found a pair of hiking boots and a bit of hope.

00:08:14.550 –> 00:08:19.050 Joseph McElroy: So today we have a great guest his name is Johnny Osborne.

00:08:20.790 –> 00:08:31.050 Joseph McElroy: He’s a Tennessee native and he’s an acclaimed long-distance hiker adventure rock climber, and mountain but also renowned for his social media skills.

00:08:31.590 –> 00:08:44.280 Joseph McElroy: With well over a million followers in various forms of social media platforms Johnny is a master of creating memorable online hiking experiences of the great smoky mountains, for which he has a passion.

00:08:44.970 –> 00:08:54.360 Joseph McElroy: Johnny also uses his social media skills to help brands like Blackberry Farm and Blackberry Mountain Resort. Hello Johnny how are you doing?

00:08:54.930 –> 00:08:57.060 Johnny Osborne: Hey Joseph I’m doing well, how are you?

00:08:57.270 –> 00:09:03.360 Joseph McElroy: Fine, fine so we’re talking about hiking shoes, do you do boots or sneakers.

00:09:04.980 –> 00:09:06.060 Johnny Osborne: I do both.

00:09:06.390 –> 00:09:08.490 Johnny Osborne: yeah yeah sometimes a trial run.

00:09:09.030 –> 00:09:10.290 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah that’s truly cool.

00:09:11.460 –> 00:09:12.180 Joseph McElroy: So you were.

00:09:13.020 –> 00:09:15.330 Joseph McElroy: You were born and raised in East Tennessee right.

00:09:15.630 –> 00:09:22.290 Johnny Osborne: yeah I was born and raised in East Tennessee my entire life I grew up here but county on a small country farm.

00:09:23.400 –> 00:09:26.490 Johnny Osborne: plan outside was just normal natural for me so.

00:09:27.750 –> 00:09:28.500 Johnny Osborne: Just where I am.

00:09:29.190 –> 00:09:40.320 Joseph McElroy: I grew up in Western North Carolina and my grandfather had a small farm we lived up on top of the mountain and it just living outside it’s basically what you do.

00:09:41.880 –> 00:09:42.270 Johnny Osborne: Right.

00:09:43.350 –> 00:09:46.110 Joseph McElroy: So you still live in our code Tennessee right.

00:09:46.890 –> 00:09:52.410 Johnny Osborne: I do they still live now code I’ve been that code for about 15 years but I’ve always been in La County.

00:09:53.520 –> 00:09:54.150 Joseph McElroy: You know, still.

00:09:54.780 –> 00:09:56.130 Johnny Osborne: To South Carolina.

00:09:56.850 –> 00:09:59.160 Joseph McElroy: yeah what keeps you in this focus.

00:10:00.060 –> 00:10:08.520 Johnny Osborne: You know focus is really, really close to, I mean there is a 20-minute drive from my home and from my work from my office just a few steps away.

00:10:09.000 –> 00:10:24.570 Johnny Osborne: I’m taking a walk out of my office and being the national park and minutes, which is really nice so it’s nice to you know, be able to get away and go for a quick hoc after work or picnic or overnight trip and.

00:10:25.980 –> 00:10:38.730 Johnny Osborne: I think the things that keep me going to the smokies it’s just nice to go and unplug from society, you know, being in technology and it’s nice to go in and plug and then one from the stress of the day.

00:10:40.170 –> 00:10:47.370 Joseph McElroy: Like if you guys are so passionate about the great outdoors I mean besides that relaxation, I mean there seems to be more of an also a deep passion for it.

00:10:48.540 –> 00:10:48.930 Johnny Osborne: yeah.

00:10:50.130 –> 00:11:03.210 Johnny Osborne: gosh my passion came from A to the smokies instead is from my parents, when my sister and I were little when we were younger and our parents took us to smokies quite often.

00:11:03.840 –> 00:11:15.300 Johnny Osborne: And we’d go up for a mixer to hack and Sam I’m fondest memories are just as playing the strings we did more string playing, and I think we get hockey but.

00:11:16.410 –> 00:11:24.330 Johnny Osborne: This seven my parents always did with us going to the smokies and having family fun bonding time.

00:11:25.980 –> 00:11:31.230 Joseph McElroy: And you know you’ve become a real, serious hiker how did you become serious about hiking.

00:11:32.160 –> 00:11:32.730 Johnny Osborne: Oh gosh.

00:11:34.650 –> 00:11:35.250 Johnny Osborne: and

00:11:36.720 –> 00:11:39.090 Johnny Osborne: You know hocked early on in life and.

00:11:40.140 –> 00:11:42.090 Johnny Osborne: And, as I got into school and.

00:11:43.800 –> 00:11:49.650 Johnny Osborne: college and all that I stopped hocking as much and started running another runner.

00:11:50.880 –> 00:12:02.880 Johnny Osborne: And my sister Cape on and on and on about coming with me come hock with me, come hock with me and I’m like no I bet this run the day that you know 10 miles 15 miles whatever I want to run.

00:12:03.930 –> 00:12:15.930 Johnny Osborne: And now I’m not going to go and I’ll just wait and she was very persistent about it and so she kept on following I gave in and went but I’m really, really glad that she did because I mean that.

00:12:17.190 –> 00:12:23.910 Johnny Osborne: hurt invited me to come hock with her in the smokies was, I mean it just ignited a fresh start.

00:12:26.010 –> 00:12:35.130 Johnny Osborne: And I fell in love with hacking and stuff he’s all over in here, it was just I’d forgotten what it was like after all those times being away from it so.

00:12:36.330 –> 00:12:39.510 Johnny Osborne: a fun fact about my sister as far as we know.

00:12:41.490 –> 00:12:47.100 Johnny Osborne: we’re the only two siblings that have hot and all the trails in the Smokies and our.

00:12:49.020 –> 00:12:49.590 Joseph McElroy: fabulous.

00:12:49.920 –> 00:12:52.170 Joseph McElroy: yeah How often do you like now?

00:12:54.060 –> 00:12:57.540 Johnny Osborne: And I try to hack at least oh my gosh.

00:12:58.710 –> 00:12:59.310 Johnny Osborne: At least.

00:13:02.280 –> 00:13:06.630 Johnny Osborne: I tried at least three weekends and Sundays in a week.

00:13:09.330 –> 00:13:09.690 Johnny Osborne: hmm.

00:13:11.220 –> 00:13:11.640 Johnny Osborne: Very.

00:13:12.210 –> 00:13:14.400 Joseph McElroy: Good you gotta feed that social media profile too.

00:13:17.100 –> 00:13:19.860 Joseph McElroy: Internet is a gaping more than needs content.

00:13:20.100 –> 00:13:22.050 Johnny Osborne: yeah I gotta keep creating content.

00:13:23.010 –> 00:13:29.490 Joseph McElroy: So I have you had any exciting adventures, well, I think, like meeting a bear or boar or something like that.

00:13:30.030 –> 00:13:36.360 Johnny Osborne: um yeah bet both I was at what shelter was that it was.

00:13:38.250 –> 00:13:47.370 Johnny Osborne: Oh gosh I don’t remember them the shelter, but I was getting water and filling it with water bladder for not Pack and I had just raised up my coffee cup and.

00:13:47.970 –> 00:14:01.500 Johnny Osborne: about water by the water source and I’m blaming them there and filling up a water bladder and this bear just walked up right behind me, I mean probably 10 feet from me, I didn’t see it didn’t hear it.

00:14:03.750 –> 00:14:20.160 Johnny Osborne: Well, if my stuff’s they’re backed away slowly facing the bear the entire time and it was just a curious Barry walked up to my water bladder my coffee cup and sniff around a little bit he took his Paul and he just you know to turn my water butter over to smell it and the.

00:14:21.240 –> 00:14:26.370 Johnny Osborne: shredding the water bladder and I know why, over the next couple of days, but.

00:14:28.380 –> 00:14:30.570 Johnny Osborne: Should we shoot the airway he left.

00:14:32.100 –> 00:14:42.540 Johnny Osborne: And then I get my things and pack the rest of my beer from the shelter and left so it’s very eventful but still exciting.

00:14:42.960 –> 00:14:45.240 Joseph McElroy: Still, mostly yeah it’s exciting right.

00:14:45.240 –> 00:14:51.450 Joseph McElroy: yeah you know I grew up living in the mountains remember not too far from the Appalachians.

00:14:52.470 –> 00:15:05.490 Joseph McElroy: I would sleep at night, I had an outdoor deck in Cali slept with me and I will I woke up one night in the middle of the night and I left my window open my dog was screaming bloody head up and I looked up and there was bear stinking his head in my window.

00:15:08.490 –> 00:15:09.300 Joseph McElroy: Just a curious.

00:15:10.290 –> 00:15:10.890 curious.

00:15:12.120 –> 00:15:12.570 Johnny Osborne: curious.

00:15:13.470 –> 00:15:23.160 Joseph McElroy: Well, listen we gotta take a break, but I’m gonna come back are talk about some of the principles you employ a wall while you hike and then we’ll maybe we’ll get into social media or life.

00:15:23.670 –> 00:15:25.260 Johnny Osborne: sounds great mm-hmm.

00:17:41.100 –> 00:17:46.890 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the Gateway to the Smokies podcast my guest Johnny Osborne.

00:17:48.390 –> 00:17:59.100 Joseph McElroy: So Johnny I looked at your YouTube channel, as well as your tik-tok too, but most of your YouTube channels, the ones got like 1.5 million or 1.15 million followers.

00:17:59.790 –> 00:18:11.460 Joseph McElroy: It’s a pretty impressive following I looked at some of your videos and you often talk about the leave no trace principles of hiking in the wilderness, can you tell my audience about that.

00:18:12.120 –> 00:18:26.550 Johnny Osborne: Absolutely and I’ll even take it a step further than leave no trace, which is responsible stewardship and those values are deeply rooted in that together we can foster ethics, to make all of our public lands cleaner and better place for everyone.

00:18:27.690 –> 00:18:39.390 Johnny Osborne: And we’ll do that through education, education through action, whether it’s digitally Facebook YouTube Instagram or physically go out and volunteering.

00:18:40.650 –> 00:18:52.020 Johnny Osborne: You want to be an advocate you want to raise awareness of the issues of our public land sorry we want to raise awareness of the issues of public lands to face and use our reach, to become a part of the solution.

00:18:53.820 –> 00:18:54.540 Johnny Osborne: donate.

00:18:55.710 –> 00:19:02.910 Johnny Osborne: Give with a purpose either financially or physically and know your impact may prepared and know what to expect.

00:19:03.900 –> 00:19:19.200 Johnny Osborne: And the last of those ethics take action, which is to volunteer in the park or several so many volunteer programs that the park offers and that you can be part of they have to get back to the park and all that’s.

00:19:20.250 –> 00:19:23.790 Johnny Osborne: All tied together to rick recreating responsibly.

00:19:25.590 –> 00:19:29.130 Joseph McElroy: cool and there are some fundamental principles of leave no trace right this.

00:19:29.130 –> 00:19:32.160 Johnny Osborne: year are there are seven principles to leave no trace.

00:19:34.500 –> 00:19:36.300 Johnny Osborne: concertos are like but.

00:19:36.780 –> 00:19:40.290 Joseph McElroy: I think it’s good I mean think it’s good to educate, if you do it quickly, though, that I think.

00:19:40.950 –> 00:19:42.210 Joseph McElroy: Sure yeah.

00:19:42.570 –> 00:19:43.170 yeah so.

00:19:46.350 –> 00:20:03.480 Johnny Osborne: plan ahead and prepare, so I was one of my favorites I always want to you know to prepare for your hot for you though you’re backpacking trip that you want to add to this travel and camp on durable surfaces three dispose of waste properly and that’s really a huge issue in the smokies.

00:20:04.680 –> 00:20:10.380 Johnny Osborne: For belief what you find number five minimize campfire impacts.

00:20:11.520 –> 00:20:16.530 Johnny Osborne: Six respect the wildlife and seven is to be considerate of others.

00:20:17.460 –> 00:20:19.320 Joseph McElroy: which we have a problem with sometimes too right.

00:20:19.380 –> 00:20:21.210 Johnny Osborne: And we did.

00:20:21.960 –> 00:20:27.000 Joseph McElroy: I think we’re I think that the clothes that are popular part because people were not being considered right.

00:20:27.030 –> 00:20:28.800 Johnny Osborne: Reason let’s turn.

00:20:29.220 –> 00:20:35.970 Joseph McElroy: there’s a real shame that yeah they were just abusing it so badly that was getting ruined, we had to close it down so yeah.

00:20:36.090 –> 00:20:37.710 Johnny Osborne: That was what Max types, I think.

00:20:37.770 –> 00:20:43.980 Joseph McElroy: Re Max patches a popular one not to parking maybe so yeah I think they close it down for the whole year right so.

00:20:44.190 –> 00:20:48.450 Johnny Osborne: Now they close it down at sunset and it’s open back up at sunrise.

00:20:50.190 –> 00:20:52.200 Joseph McElroy: camping That was a people would camp.

00:20:52.290 –> 00:20:52.680 Johnny Osborne: yeah.

00:20:52.770 –> 00:20:55.950 Joseph McElroy: And they were just abusing it badly camping ruin it.

00:20:56.040 –> 00:21:00.000 Johnny Osborne: Leaving Dreading that being a big college party scene.

00:21:00.060 –> 00:21:11.640 Johnny Osborne: area getting trashed every weekend and several friends of mine, would go up there and the weekend after weekend every weekend and carry out loads and loads and loads of trash.

00:21:11.910 –> 00:21:14.370 Johnny Osborne: yeah so something had to be done.

00:21:15.120 –> 00:21:27.600 Joseph McElroy: It has to be a culture of is you know when I went to burning man, believe it or not, right and they do that they had like when I went there I don’t know what how many people now, but I did it like 2002 and I was young enough to walk around half-naked.

00:21:30.930 –> 00:21:32.580 Joseph McElroy: Maybe a little bit more than half-naked.

00:21:37.260 –> 00:21:39.120 Joseph McElroy: or another for another story.

00:21:40.590 –> 00:21:47.340 Joseph McElroy: But they would have 30,000 people in the desert bringing in the camping and everything else, but when they left.

00:21:48.060 –> 00:21:56.700 Joseph McElroy: They left it pristine and they actually went you know inch by inch over that whole property getting rid of anything that might have been left behind so.

00:21:57.240 –> 00:22:13.230 Joseph McElroy: If a culture of it yeah yeah so it’s important to have been advocates, for you know, taking care of our resources, I appreciate you doing that so consistently and in your work so yeah.

00:22:13.410 –> 00:22:23.490 Johnny Osborne: And speaking of that I want to flood the save our smokies real quick, they are doing a huge event on April, the 23rd is Earth Day weekend that we can.

00:22:24.990 –> 00:22:29.880 Johnny Osborne: They are the plan is to clean the entire smoky mountains National Park.

00:22:30.270 –> 00:22:30.960 Joseph McElroy: Oh wow.

00:22:31.080 –> 00:22:40.650 Johnny Osborne: yeah so the registration for this opens starts today marks the first, and you can register for this that save our smokies.org.

00:22:41.520 –> 00:22:48.960 Johnny Osborne: And at the end of the day that day we’re going to they’re going to provide food and drinks and live music for all the volunteers.

00:22:49.500 –> 00:23:03.300 Johnny Osborne: And the goal that days to remove 5000 pounds of the layer from the park and remain as much as possible, so it’s gonna be a super fun day I’m definitely going, and I would encourage anybody else that loves the smokies come on out.

00:23:03.750 –> 00:23:07.590 Joseph McElroy: yeah Oh well, this is April 23 right.

00:23:08.700 –> 00:23:13.860 Joseph McElroy: I’ll show you know that’s around that that fishing event I think so maybe I’ll try to.

00:23:14.340 –> 00:23:16.560 Joseph McElroy: Fish a little bit and then come down and go to that too.

00:23:18.150 –> 00:23:31.500 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah that’d be great so obviously you are very passionate about the Hiking Community so So what are the positive impacts, for you, you know that you find that.

00:23:32.790 –> 00:23:39.840 Joseph McElroy: Hiking Community like personally socially physically mentally what is being part of that community, what are the positive impacts.

00:23:46.710 –> 00:23:51.900 Johnny Osborne: I guess the positive impacts that I’m seeing is what I like to be a part of is you know getting back and.

00:23:53.880 –> 00:23:58.830 Johnny Osborne: Being that voice of information, you know give back in a sense that.

00:24:00.240 –> 00:24:06.270 Johnny Osborne: I can provide some knowledge, it may be beneficial to someone that hasn’t been out and has hockey as much.

00:24:09.300 –> 00:24:10.170 Johnny Osborne: I just like.

00:24:11.310 –> 00:24:12.330 Johnny Osborne: I can talk for.

00:24:13.470 –> 00:24:17.130 Johnny Osborne: hours about hockey tip to new people you know.

00:24:17.610 –> 00:24:21.210 Joseph McElroy: Oh, you know I look I’m gonna be I’m sort of doing more hiking.

00:24:21.270 –> 00:24:29.100 Joseph McElroy: You know, even in the even in the get-go and starting to notice that yo legs are working, a little bit better from this.

00:24:29.880 –> 00:24:42.510 Joseph McElroy: I’m gonna do a lot more I’ve only been at and a neophyte of it but and there seems to be also it’s also a Community hiker know each other, and you know and communicate right and there are clubs and things like that.

00:24:44.880 –> 00:24:47.280 Johnny Osborne: yeah there are in one of the things.

00:24:48.630 –> 00:24:59.730 Johnny Osborne: says here one of the things that I’m really super proud of is this Facebook group that was created about four years ago, three, four years ago, five years ago, maybe hacking the smokies

00:25:00.600 –> 00:25:03.270 Johnny Osborne: And it’s just really fun.

00:25:04.290 –> 00:25:07.560 Johnny Osborne: a group of people very knowledgeable of.

00:25:08.790 –> 00:25:12.210 Johnny Osborne: what’s going on trail conditions things like that.

00:25:13.980 –> 00:25:13.980 Johnny Osborne: and

00:25:14.970 –> 00:25:18.450 Joseph McElroy: Now I’ve been a member and I didn’t know that was you so yeah.

00:25:18.840 –> 00:25:21.750 Johnny Osborne: yeah I mean I think there’s like 85,000 members.

00:25:21.750 –> 00:25:23.370 Joseph McElroy: Now, if we have a.

00:25:23.640 –> 00:25:24.330 crazy.

00:25:25.620 –> 00:25:42.900 Joseph McElroy: So so um it was someone born and raised in the smoky mountains myself I’m always interested in how people acquire their skills, especially in the computer things, how did you learn about your social media skill you just do it yourself, do you go to college went to do.

00:25:43.290 –> 00:25:46.740 Johnny Osborne: And you know it’s I’m still learning social media skills

00:25:47.250 –> 00:25:47.370 As.

00:25:48.990 –> 00:25:51.690 Joseph McElroy: Well, that they changed it every day you’re never going to stop.

00:25:53.010 –> 00:25:54.630 Joseph McElroy: bandwagon for long yeah.

00:25:56.640 –> 00:26:03.870 Johnny Osborne: The algorithms change so frequently it’s like so what’s the end now and Instagram reals are it photos is it.

00:26:05.130 –> 00:26:09.870 Johnny Osborne: works, I mean what’s the thing, there was a new craze now yeah.

00:26:12.390 –> 00:26:22.080 Joseph McElroy: So just you know, one of the things I tell people is that you know teaching yourself, is the best way with, especially with computers in general, you know and.

00:26:22.800 –> 00:26:34.200 Joseph McElroy: You know because it’s really it’s an amalgam of human mind thought and getting in there and understanding that at that level is much better for you than trying to learn rules.

00:26:34.440 –> 00:26:34.950 But now.

00:26:36.450 –> 00:26:47.340 Johnny Osborne: One of the things I want to do this year and I found my mom for quite a while, is, I want to create more education on YouTube content and, if anything, just for the betterment of the hacking community.

00:26:48.930 –> 00:26:51.870 Johnny Osborne: You know it’s really so hard to compete.

00:26:54.570 –> 00:27:00.630 Johnny Osborne: With the larger YouTube channels and it’s hard to be seen, sometimes as a small YouTuber.

00:27:01.980 –> 00:27:07.050 Joseph McElroy: Right yeah well, I mean you gotta put that in perspective, most of our bigger small.

00:27:07.110 –> 00:27:08.040 youtuber is.

00:27:09.180 –> 00:27:14.700 Joseph McElroy: A few hundred or a few thousand and they think of them, as well as a small YouTube here a big you do remote people but.

00:27:16.800 –> 00:27:34.650 Joseph McElroy: What do you think million 1 million mark you’re of interest in a way, so well cool and I wanted to talk about some of the accomplishments and so people know you know sort of fun things that you can do, and so you are a South beyond 6000 finishers what’s that.

00:27:37.500 –> 00:27:38.790 Johnny Osborne: The southern sixer.

00:27:41.280 –> 00:27:51.480 Johnny Osborne: yeah I love that challenge that was one of my favorite challenges and how I kind of got to this to do this, the South be on 6000 was.

00:27:52.230 –> 00:28:05.640 Johnny Osborne: I was wrapping up my smokies 900 miler my APP and I’ll think about what I wanted to do next, and the idea of the sat down 6000 came to me after reading an article online about this challenge and.

00:28:06.540 –> 00:28:14.370 Johnny Osborne: read about how hard it was and that’s kind of up my alley I like to do hard challenges but.

00:28:15.930 –> 00:28:31.440 Johnny Osborne: I had one little issue, though it kind of worried me a little bit, and I know how to use a map, I know that he’s accomplice, and all that good stuff but I wasn’t Okay, with just you know mediocre right, I wanted to know more, I wanted to know.

00:28:32.670 –> 00:28:41.940 Johnny Osborne: Because I know a lot of those 6000 that Piques our Australia hawks and so really wanting to brush up on my knowledge is reading a map and compass and.

00:28:42.930 –> 00:29:02.190 Johnny Osborne: So I reached out to my friend lane, the cost is Haywood County search rescue team Member and he was holding an off or he was about to hold it off and bounced off-trail hiking sorry nostril navigation class, and so I reached out to him and signed up for that it was wonderful.

00:29:03.480 –> 00:29:21.450 Johnny Osborne: Today overnight trip at Max match and one of the biggest and most helpful takeaways from this class from him was that it gave me the confidence that I needed to go out and do these off-trail hawks and climb these mountains because there aren’t for us to the summits.

00:29:22.080 –> 00:29:30.480 Joseph McElroy: Like so how many mountains and you have to climb to achieve this finish there was like they’re all 6000 or more per night right.

00:29:30.570 –> 00:29:41.250 Johnny Osborne: yeah they are if there’s 40 well there’s more than 40 but there’s 40 that’s designated by the Carolina mountain climb for this challenge, so there’s 46,000-foot summits

00:29:41.790 –> 00:29:46.740 Joseph McElroy: So it’s 40 heights you gotta go climb a mountain to finish well how long it is a few.

00:29:48.990 –> 00:29:51.360 Johnny Osborne: They got them and about a year, maybe listen to yours.

00:29:51.600 –> 00:29:55.350 Joseph McElroy: cool well that’s like one almost one every week yeah.

00:29:55.620 –> 00:29:57.510 Joseph McElroy: Now yeah it was cool.

00:29:57.600 –> 00:29:59.100 Johnny Osborne: And a few of those I did you know.

00:30:00.630 –> 00:30:15.780 Johnny Osborne: The black mountain Crest try their luck as fat peaks on that trade-off I did those five that we can or well that day I didn’t two more, the day before the day after I can’t remember which so that’d be a few hours each weekend cool.

00:30:16.080 –> 00:30:25.230 Joseph McElroy: Well, we have to take another break and we’ll come back and we’ll talk about some of these other fun travel trips and then get into a little bit about more about your social media and stuff like.

00:32:31.830 –> 00:32:38.520 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast and my guest Johnny Osborne.

00:32:39.690 –> 00:32:46.650 Joseph McElroy: So John you’ve done some amazing different hikes you mentioned the Black Mountain CREST trail had some peaks on what was that in it.

00:32:48.180 –> 00:32:54.600 Johnny Osborne: Oh, my gosh that was so fun and I love that too I love that hock and.

00:32:55.680 –> 00:33:11.250 Johnny Osborne: I started out first off it’s called the march of death right map quest has more to do with is one of those crazy weekends, is a subtle hot, for me, I didn’t really know what to expect and I’ve heard the trail was super brutal it kind of was.

00:33:12.720 –> 00:33:27.720 Johnny Osborne: So I packed my bag my backpack for an overnight trip, just in case I ran into any issues or couldn’t finish it as a day hock but I didn’t I fishes they hocked but started Bowling creek and a hocked it all the way through to Mount Mitchell.

00:33:30.780 –> 00:33:34.920 Johnny Osborne: Like I said earlier, things five or six 6000 foot summits.

00:33:35.160 –> 00:33:35.580 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:33:35.730 –> 00:33:40.440 Johnny Osborne: there are some ropes on the training after I’ve kind of used to pull yourself up.

00:33:43.350 –> 00:33:44.100 Johnny Osborne: It was amazing.

00:33:44.790 –> 00:33:48.270 Johnny Osborne: The views up there, just like anywhere else so beautiful.

00:33:48.720 –> 00:33:52.260 Johnny Osborne: wow I’m hoping to go back and maybe the next month.

00:33:52.950 –> 00:33:57.090 Joseph McElroy: Well yeah that sounds like if that there’s really clear to pull up I’m probably.

00:33:57.090 –> 00:33:57.570 Johnny Osborne: Not yeah.

00:33:58.800 –> 00:33:59.790 Johnny Osborne: yeah exactly.

00:34:00.870 –> 00:34:01.740 Johnny Osborne: So crazy.

00:34:02.130 –> 00:34:09.990 Joseph McElroy: And then you did the great smoky mountains National Park 900 mile which is doing all the trails in the smoky mountain National Park right.

00:34:11.520 –> 00:34:11.790 Johnny Osborne: yeah.

00:34:11.820 –> 00:34:13.050 Joseph McElroy: Did you do a good time.

00:34:13.890 –> 00:34:17.070 Johnny Osborne: I did it in about a little over a year.

00:34:17.430 –> 00:34:20.940 Johnny Osborne: And I wasn’t in any hurry to do it, or anything but.

00:34:22.770 –> 00:34:30.540 Johnny Osborne: it’s kind of fun and I’m doing a second one soda and not really said it’s official but about halfway through with a second one, but.

00:34:30.930 –> 00:34:47.910 Johnny Osborne: wow it’s just one of the things I’m just going out on a weekend or whatever and I’ll make I may go out and do a backpacking trip or just a short day hock and how about that trail and done cool thing about that too is I just checked the stats a.

00:34:49.260 –> 00:34:54.030 Johnny Osborne: a couple of weeks ago there were 733 members of the 900 our club.

00:34:54.810 –> 00:34:57.810 Johnny Osborne: Was super cool it’s a small crowd.

00:34:58.770 –> 00:35:02.550 Joseph McElroy: Now you’ve also done the foothills through trail thru-hike what is that.

00:35:03.480 –> 00:35:20.520 Johnny Osborne: yeah and the thumbnails trail goes from table rock to county state park and took off a few days for more to solo hock through at least through such a boozy trail loved it, it was well maintained through and through.

00:35:21.690 –> 00:35:28.740 Johnny Osborne: gosh it was such a delight to Hock and I would totally hock that through any time again and a funny story about that hock.

00:35:30.210 –> 00:35:41.550 Johnny Osborne: My first day on the Hock I was I had planned my campsite long before I went, but on the trail, I was talking along and the storm came is a huge storm.

00:35:42.240 –> 00:35:53.160 Johnny Osborne: And I’m like well I’m not where I want to be for camp, so I dove into this little spot and had my tarp and my hammock and cook dinner hi my feedback and.

00:35:53.640 –> 00:36:03.150 Johnny Osborne: Change clothes went to bed that makes more impact up and started hocking and come to find out, I was Point two miles from where one is the first place I mean, even though.

00:36:14.340 –> 00:36:15.420 Joseph McElroy: That story right.

00:36:15.630 –> 00:36:16.770 Johnny Osborne: yeah yeah.

00:36:17.130 –> 00:36:21.390 Joseph McElroy: I was sleeping I’m sleeping on the one side of the mountain where we’re supposed to be was just oh yeah.

00:36:26.100 –> 00:36:33.090 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah so So if I mean you’ve done a lot in the smokies I assume you’ve done the Appalachian trail right.

00:36:33.360 –> 00:36:34.260 Johnny Osborne: I have not.

00:36:34.320 –> 00:36:38.880 Joseph McElroy: You have not okay yeah that’s one on your bucket list right.

00:36:39.360 –> 00:36:41.100 Johnny Osborne: um gosh you know.

00:36:42.750 –> 00:36:49.380 Johnny Osborne: Maybe maybe not matter right, I really don’t have a desire to hockey but I’ve got so many sections of it.

00:36:51.720 –> 00:36:52.320 Johnny Osborne: One day.

00:36:52.710 –> 00:36:55.200 Joseph McElroy: you’ve hiked in other places across the United States right.

00:36:55.200 –> 00:37:01.380 Johnny Osborne: Now absolutely I thought oh my gosh I’m having so many states and so many countries.

00:37:02.250 –> 00:37:05.940 Joseph McElroy: Was it what’s one highlight of those two you can recommend.

00:37:07.380 –> 00:37:08.340 Johnny Osborne: Of the.

00:37:08.430 –> 00:37:10.410 Joseph McElroy: Other hypothesizes smokies yet.

00:37:11.130 –> 00:37:21.420 Johnny Osborne: yeah I went to the Rockies last year was my first time to the Rockies and that was really a neat experience out there because when I went in the fall will say in those Aspen trees.

00:37:22.350 –> 00:37:40.290 Johnny Osborne: It was such a delight those things are so beautiful and those our panel aches for one they’re beautiful but today it’s no joke get into them because are over 10,000 feet right so you’re climbing a lot to get to him so, but it was worth that ever been it was worth it.

00:37:41.940 –> 00:37:57.000 Johnny Osborne: And one of my last hocks in Colorado with a quandary peak, which is a 14,271-foot summit, and I was just I mean when I got to the summit, I was just really overjoyed with happiness.

00:37:58.080 –> 00:38:12.870 Johnny Osborne: mean it was I literally cried, in fact, if you watch my YouTube video of this I’m bawling it’s tonight, and the fact is all about Africa mark can’t believe it it’s just so humbling to be there was just so cool but.

00:38:12.900 –> 00:38:18.300 Joseph McElroy: Talking about YouTube you have you on social media you call yourself an encourager

00:38:18.330 –> 00:38:19.860 Joseph McElroy: Not an influencer, why do you.

00:38:19.860 –> 00:38:20.550 differentiate.

00:38:22.050 –> 00:38:24.450 Johnny Osborne: that’s a really good question and.

00:38:25.740 –> 00:38:30.330 Johnny Osborne: To me, and in my opinion, to influence and persuade someone in something or.

00:38:31.830 –> 00:38:36.600 Johnny Osborne: And most influencers, in my opinion, are selling something or fishing something on you.

00:38:38.160 –> 00:38:42.570 Johnny Osborne: As an encourager is kinda like coaching you know I’ve had thousands of miles.

00:38:44.160 –> 00:38:51.330 Johnny Osborne: And in my mind, I believe that anyone can have any single trail, I thought I mean there’s absolutely no reason they can’t.

00:38:52.140 –> 00:39:05.670 Johnny Osborne: You know, all it is is one step at a time and it’s at your own pace and that’s, the keyword at your own pace and so to me, it’s about supporting them or to motivate me motivated.

00:39:07.860 –> 00:39:11.160 Johnny Osborne: Whereas to influence is to control or manipulate something or someone.

00:39:12.180 –> 00:39:28.560 Johnny Osborne: So I try to be like a coach or be the good advice or you know I’m just today, you know commenting on a friend amounts post that’s working on a 900 mater map and I’m like hey so proud of you keep going.

00:39:29.790 –> 00:39:31.080 Johnny Osborne: Now, and I think that’s.

00:39:31.860 –> 00:39:40.830 Joseph McElroy: etc, do you feel like you make an impact in the Community, we are seeing in the stories of how you’ve impacted by that sort of differentiation.

00:39:41.550 –> 00:39:44.910 Johnny Osborne: um you know from time to time, I might see.

00:39:46.020 –> 00:39:51.510 Johnny Osborne: Someone that I’ve you know encouraged along the way, reach that goal.

00:39:52.530 –> 00:39:55.560 Johnny Osborne: I mean it’s really hard to it’s hard to say if know.

00:39:56.820 –> 00:40:01.170 Johnny Osborne: How, you know what their what’s in their mind, or what they’re doing what they’re going through, but.

00:40:02.640 –> 00:40:09.660 Johnny Osborne: um you know I just think it’s gratifying to coach others and give them encouragement keep motivating them but keep going.

00:40:11.730 –> 00:40:19.410 Johnny Osborne: Going after something that maybe they had doubts about that first hock or that first overnight trip in the smokies or wherever it may be.

00:40:21.480 –> 00:40:24.690 Johnny Osborne: I did get some feedback, but not not not a whole lot.

00:40:25.110 –> 00:40:26.400 Johnny Osborne: yeah yeah.

00:40:27.090 –> 00:40:30.060 Joseph McElroy: Oh, you know you have you know.

00:40:31.170 –> 00:40:39.150 Joseph McElroy: You have a large following and you know, on yeah on Twitter, you have some Facebook and YouTube definitely got it.

00:40:40.350 –> 00:40:47.520 Joseph McElroy: Is there you know these platforms, you know there’s a lot of businesses use them and, like you said influencers trying to sell something.

00:40:48.000 –> 00:40:58.110 Joseph McElroy: But for people that don’t necessarily want the selling thing, but in to encourage people to build communities do you have any particular tips or secrets you like to share with them to help build their community.

00:41:02.280 –> 00:41:07.290 Johnny Osborne: gosh, you know I’m always looking for somewhere to add value on social media platforms.

00:41:08.490 –> 00:41:10.380 Johnny Osborne: You know whether it’s Instagram or Facebook.

00:41:11.430 –> 00:41:11.910 But.

00:41:14.100 –> 00:41:26.400 Johnny Osborne: I think the girl these platforms, you know to me once worked for me just be consistent with content, you know, create fresh, new and here’s, the keyword in my mom is relatable content.

00:41:26.940 –> 00:41:38.880 Johnny Osborne: If I can create content that’s relatable to the person watching it or searching for it then they’re most likely going to follow or subscribe, or whatever so I’m just trying to create content daily that’s relatable.

00:41:39.690 –> 00:41:51.570 Joseph McElroy: mm hmm have you found any format, so the content that makes it more viral or more watchable we’re getting more views than than than other types of formats.

00:41:53.340 –> 00:42:07.470 Johnny Osborne: Right now Instagram reels are absolutely taken off, I mean they’re not now Instagram reels there’s there aren’t any advertisements on this grammar so it’s kind of like an open market that Instagrams kind of opened up.

00:42:07.980 –> 00:42:19.980 Johnny Osborne: Their platform to go hey we need content creators to come on and create reels and if you’ll create real express will promote your videos and.

00:42:21.510 –> 00:42:26.400 Johnny Osborne: You get tons of locks and tons of use it’s crazy how it works.

00:42:27.420 –> 00:42:29.400 Johnny Osborne: same with YouTube shorts and.

00:42:30.630 –> 00:42:34.410 Johnny Osborne: Think there’s another platform it over call everyone, we have a law that.

00:42:36.000 –> 00:42:42.840 Johnny Osborne: You just have kind of have to deal with what’s trending right now it’s not want to be like open forever is from reels isn’t that.

00:42:42.900 –> 00:42:43.650 Johnny Osborne: Right now it’s.

00:42:43.950 –> 00:42:45.060 Johnny Osborne: wide open for the.

00:42:45.180 –> 00:42:52.920 Joseph McElroy: For the taking my target I might check that out my wife loves he loves Instagram so you have something called base camp chat what is that.

00:42:54.330 –> 00:43:09.930 Johnny Osborne: Okay yeah basically chat I was a guest on the hock podcast with Lori Pramod and also on the podcast just or section hacks host about Julie Gay heart and we had so much fun chatting better ventures.

00:43:10.980 –> 00:43:22.470 Johnny Osborne: And, along with the Beanie Braden we started base camp chat two years ago with a fourth episode season one and we talked about anything from our fears, while, on the trail.

00:43:23.250 –> 00:43:30.840 Johnny Osborne: To you know to advance that we would give to the listener, that it may be their first time hockey or their first time backpacking.

00:43:32.250 –> 00:43:47.790 Johnny Osborne: And the base camp chat was just the feedback was phenomenal so we brought it back for season two, we have already recorded season or episode one into episode one is out already.

00:43:48.870 –> 00:43:53.970 Johnny Osborne: And season two will be or episode two will be out later this week or next.

00:43:55.230 –> 00:44:01.770 Johnny Osborne: But our objective here was just to create a fun educational atmosphere about hacking or the outdoors.

00:44:02.790 –> 00:44:05.070 Johnny Osborne: For the listeners just to make the content relatable.

00:44:06.150 –> 00:44:14.550 Johnny Osborne: And one cool thing, though, our fourth and last show season two will be alive, so will be fielding questions and comments from our listeners.

00:44:15.210 –> 00:44:16.410 Joseph McElroy: Oh wow that’s good.

00:44:16.950 –> 00:44:19.620 Joseph McElroy: yeah live interaction is always good yeah.

00:44:19.740 –> 00:44:20.700 Johnny Osborne: Sometimes ticket.

00:44:21.270 –> 00:44:23.250 Joseph McElroy: yeah well, you can go south, you have to get the.

00:44:23.250 –> 00:44:23.520 Right.

00:44:26.790 –> 00:44:27.330 Johnny Osborne: what’s the answer.

00:44:29.670 –> 00:44:36.690 Joseph McElroy: will do you think social media is a good way to learn about this, the great smoky mountains, and to promote it.

00:44:38.700 –> 00:44:46.020 Johnny Osborne: Then yeah I think if you want to you know go out and hack or spend time in the smokies it’s good there’s some homework or.

00:44:46.740 –> 00:44:57.960 Johnny Osborne: The number one principle ain’t no traces plan and prepare so you know to go online study the trail and one cool thing about the hock in the smokies Facebook group is.

00:44:59.250 –> 00:45:14.730 Johnny Osborne: If you’re wanting to hockey and smokies go and do a search and that group for that trail and say what feedback, you may get back you’re going to see that out of 85,000 members somebody hock the trail you’re looking for recently.

00:45:15.990 –> 00:45:30.090 Johnny Osborne: To get the most current up-to-date trail conditions that you wouldn’t get from you to know any other website was kind of almost start loud but it’s you know days or weeks oh come, you know, information and it’s always helpful.

00:45:30.630 –> 00:45:33.210 Joseph McElroy: cool yeah we got to take another break.

00:45:33.690 –> 00:45:40.980 Joseph McElroy: And then we’ll come back we’ll finish up with some of the other things that you’re doing and switch out to us.

00:47:43.440 –> 00:47:49.710 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast and my guest Johnny Osborne.

00:47:51.150 –> 00:48:03.690 Joseph McElroy: Johnny you’re involved with a place called Blackberry farm and mountain resort and East Tennessee now it’s a big beautiful place also become fairly large enterprise didn’t they just by Wyndham resorts.

00:48:04.830 –> 00:48:07.020 Joseph McElroy: heard the rumor mill that they might have.

00:48:09.150 –> 00:48:24.150 Joseph McElroy: The resort winded had its own separate resort business and, though we might my company excuse to do some content for them and I thought it wasn’t a great buy that they had so I was pretty surprised, but can you tell us about the Blackberry farm and mountain resort?

00:48:24.630 –> 00:48:30.120 Johnny Osborne: Sure absolutely and, as far as that Wyndham I don’t know if they have or not.

00:48:31.560 –> 00:48:41.700 Johnny Osborne: But we have my reform like very mountain and over in the cashiers, we have Hampton inn and it’s all a family tree resort hotel.

00:48:42.810 –> 00:48:46.230 Johnny Osborne: Every farm Blackberry mountains, right at the foothills of the great smoky mountains.

00:48:47.340 –> 00:48:55.050 Johnny Osborne: In-wall in Tennessee and I’ve been with the company for seven years I’m an information technology manager at library mountain.

00:48:56.130 –> 00:49:05.700 Johnny Osborne: And as I said earlier, the property butts up at Instagram smoky mountain National Park, so he stepped away, I mean apart super cool.

00:49:06.720 –> 00:49:08.370 Joseph McElroy: Like a brewery there and.

00:49:08.370 –> 00:49:10.620 Johnny Osborne: All that yeah we have a brewery.

00:49:12.540 –> 00:49:19.770 Johnny Osborne: we’re getting ready to open up a food restaurant there to the brewery so it’s happening, I think, in April.

00:49:21.030 –> 00:49:21.540 Johnny Osborne: yeah.

00:49:23.910 –> 00:49:40.410 Joseph McElroy: cool well you know I am I heard, I read recently that where you said, your goal is to create memorable experiences and the great smoky mountain National Park, while also promoting and perpetuating the park’s legacy is that a fair depiction of your quote.

00:49:41.100 –> 00:49:48.900 Johnny Osborne: It is yeah I felt like we cherish our memories and I want to encourage others to go out and create those new ones spring swan smokies.

00:49:49.530 –> 00:50:04.350 Johnny Osborne: Really anywhere but for me here in the snow peas, but to go a step further, but also preserving parks history back creating the generational sustainability and this goes back to responsible stewardship recreating responsibly.

00:50:05.670 –> 00:50:14.970 Johnny Osborne: And the objectives are just to go to a park at Dell business park and trade as law firm here with his friends and family but leave the park better than you found it.

00:50:15.570 –> 00:50:25.680 Joseph McElroy: Right yeah that’s pretty cool you know one of the intentions of the Meadowlark and why we built a Heritage Center and everything else is to create a memorable experience.

00:50:25.830 –> 00:50:34.920 Joseph McElroy: Absolutely yeah one is you know it’s my heritage and I, you know I want to have people have those flashbulb memories of something wonderful happening for them.

00:50:35.340 –> 00:50:43.530 Joseph McElroy: But from a marketing standpoint, if you market were you creating memorable experiences you actually create.

00:50:44.130 –> 00:50:59.580 Joseph McElroy: Better brand loyalty and better revisit intention so it’s both practical and good for people for companies to turn to try to create those memorable experiences and so that is our ethics, so I really appreciate what you’re doing there.

00:50:59.730 –> 00:51:01.290 Joseph McElroy: Absolutely yeah.

00:51:02.820 –> 00:51:08.670 Joseph McElroy: So you’re actually a wide variety in another outdoor thing besides hiking right.

00:51:09.990 –> 00:51:17.250 Joseph McElroy: So what are some other good adventurous locations to do things besides taking that you enjoy the smoky mountains.

00:51:18.000 –> 00:51:26.100 Johnny Osborne: And I left a mountain bike rode cycle course I’ve been running earlier left to run I’m also a kayaker.

00:51:27.660 –> 00:51:28.020 Johnny Osborne: and

00:51:29.070 –> 00:51:30.810 Johnny Osborne: Nothing anything outside.

00:51:31.320 –> 00:51:33.570 Joseph McElroy: what’s your favorite mountain biking spot.

00:51:33.600 –> 00:51:51.840 Johnny Osborne: The most folks yeah we have a spot here in Knoxville called items it’s at the see as part of the legacy parks foundation part there and South Knoxville and logo in there to ride, one of my other favorite places in obstacles makers creek and.

00:51:53.550 –> 00:51:55.230 Johnny Osborne: it’s two types of riding so.

00:51:56.940 –> 00:52:04.740 Johnny Osborne: This is more like cross country riding where it’s like makers creatures down he’ll be riding with big massive jumps.

00:52:05.280 –> 00:52:18.180 Johnny Osborne: And both are super fun, but we pick and choose how you feel that they and there’s also a brand new mountain biking area that just recently opened later part of last year in towns and it’s called the hollow.

00:52:19.200 –> 00:52:25.290 Johnny Osborne: I haven’t been yet, but as soon as the weather breaks stops raining dries out want to go check it out.

00:52:25.830 –> 00:52:28.440 Joseph McElroy: How about the North Carolina side any places you like to go.

00:52:29.040 –> 00:52:33.060 Johnny Osborne: I am there are gosh what’s it called and.

00:52:35.910 –> 00:52:41.700 Johnny Osborne: there’s a place over there, that I went a few years ago, spend some time writing De pon.

00:52:42.150 –> 00:52:42.750 Joseph McElroy: Okay.

00:52:42.810 –> 00:52:43.860 Johnny Osborne: The de pon area.

00:52:45.180 –> 00:52:55.230 Johnny Osborne: Lots of really good writing over there loved it and I really can’t wait to go back and do this more so much, of course, like here, this is your riding up a mountain to ride down.

00:52:57.300 –> 00:52:59.970 Johnny Osborne: In an hour ride never run a ton of amount.

00:53:01.080 –> 00:53:04.500 Joseph McElroy: Of this, that you can work to get up and then you get to enjoy coming down.

00:53:06.900 –> 00:53:07.320 Johnny Osborne: Right.

00:53:07.650 –> 00:53:09.990 Joseph McElroy: So you rock climbing what’s your favorite Rockland spot.

00:53:10.860 –> 00:53:23.190 Johnny Osborne: At the rock and rock climb Stephen I used to do with my friends years and years ago and I kind of picked it back up about two or three years ago I don’t even know why to pick it back up but I enjoy it it’s like.

00:53:24.330 –> 00:53:33.180 Johnny Osborne: To me, it’s kind of like solving a puzzle or working with a puzzle, you know each handhold and each foot move is like putting a piece of the puzzle together but.

00:53:35.520 –> 00:53:42.960 Johnny Osborne: This is a new challenge for me, but my favorite spot to climb is outdated it’s one of my favorite areas to go there, quite often.

00:53:44.430 –> 00:53:46.080 Johnny Osborne: there’s a place in Knoxville.

00:53:47.130 –> 00:54:00.810 Johnny Osborne: Also at items that are done climates and established plumbing destination Maggie legacy Ford foundation it’s bolted, which is super cool and it’s a lot crowded, and this every time.

00:54:01.230 –> 00:54:05.430 Johnny Osborne: They so I’m making cheese I go there, go to the gym.

00:54:06.540 –> 00:54:07.110 Joseph McElroy: cool.

00:54:07.590 –> 00:54:19.020 Joseph McElroy: yeah So what if somebody wants to you get so many things to shout out what you wanted to shout out your how people will follow you find out more about you things like that.

00:54:19.710 –> 00:54:24.810 Johnny Osborne: Sure yeah I mean you can reach out to me on Instagram at Johnny on the trail.

00:54:26.010 –> 00:54:36.750 Johnny Osborne: Facebook Instagram and Facebook YouTube saying Johnny on the trail or you can search for Johnny Osborne on Facebook I’m on there as well, grabbed me that way too.

00:54:37.110 –> 00:54:38.190 Joseph McElroy: And you have a link tree right.

00:54:39.210 –> 00:54:42.600 Johnny Osborne: And I do yeah it’s on my Instagram page.

00:54:43.830 –> 00:54:45.120 Joseph McElroy: So you’re the Instagram look for.

00:54:45.120 –> 00:54:47.460 Joseph McElroy: jazz wasn’t Johnny on the trail and then.

00:54:47.730 –> 00:54:49.170 Joseph McElroy: find your link tree cool.

00:54:50.190 –> 00:54:56.490 Joseph McElroy: And you’re doing some interesting stuff in social media, they have you doing much more merchandise.

00:54:56.730 –> 00:54:57.390 Joseph McElroy: But you’re actually.

00:54:57.420 –> 00:55:00.420 Joseph McElroy: donating it also the park charities all right.

00:55:00.690 –> 00:55:08.820 Johnny Osborne: yeah we sure are and we are an idea that I had thought of a while back into quite a bit of time to get some things together for it but.

00:55:09.930 –> 00:55:20.280 Johnny Osborne: After talking to some of my group’s admins about creating some sort of fundraiser we decided to do some you know some marketing perhaps a merchant bass and.

00:55:20.970 –> 00:55:28.950 Johnny Osborne: Have all that profit that we raised on that bill to nonprofits and the idea really took off quickly.

00:55:29.700 –> 00:55:36.480 Johnny Osborne: And so we designed the logo and we came up with some clever wording and the wording is really cool it’s together we are.

00:55:37.320 –> 00:55:54.510 Johnny Osborne: Together we are hocking the smokies and that’s what’s on our shirt together we are funny and that was meant to represent that the committee at this might represent the Community as a whole that together we are supporting the park and together we are supporting the nonprofits.

00:55:55.590 –> 00:55:58.770 Joseph McElroy: And together with us in building a Community that’s enjoying it so that’s.

00:55:58.860 –> 00:55:59.970 Johnny Osborne: Absolutely yeah.

00:56:00.360 –> 00:56:02.670 Joseph McElroy: Well, thank you so much for being on the show this.

00:56:02.730 –> 00:56:06.240 Joseph McElroy: Absolutely, I look forward to maybe hiking with us at some point.

00:56:06.660 –> 00:56:07.320 Johnny Osborne: me great.

00:56:07.410 –> 00:56:13.980 Joseph McElroy: sounds good, this is the gateways to the smoky podcast and you find out more about this.

00:56:14.460 –> 00:56:25.860 Joseph McElroy: smokiesadventure.com and there’s a link to the gateways to the smokies podcast on the top of the menu bar, you also go to facebook.com/gatewaytothesmokiespodcast.

00:56:26.220 –> 00:56:42.270 Joseph McElroy: Where we have these live broadcasts as well as some of the old shows and posts about things going on in the smoky mountains that were part of talkradio.nyc network and network of live podcasts every day, seven days a week.

00:56:43.560 –> 00:56:53.970 Joseph McElroy: That has a vast variety of shows, ranging from self-help to travel to small business and big business marketing.

00:56:55.410 –> 00:57:09.480 Joseph McElroy: dogs and cats health, so I recommend you look at the go-to the talk radio dot nyc and look up the shows you listen to live while you’re there to whatever’s going on and it’s really fulfilling effort.

00:57:11.310 –> 00:57:25.350 Joseph McElroy: I actually have two podcasts of those networks, I have another one about content and marketing called wise content creates wealth on Fridays from noon until till one.

00:57:26.250 –> 00:57:36.240 Joseph McElroy: Hope you’ve come visit that and, of course, this podcast gateway the smokies runs on Tuesdays from six to seven, I look forward to seeing you next week, and thank you very much for listening.

GUEST: WILLIAM RITTER

In this episode, you will learn about the amazing life and career of a man who has dedicated his life to the study of early mountain music. He is dedicated to preserving the history, talent, and culture of old-time music.

Our host, Joseph is joined by our special guest, William Ritter, He is an award-winning historian, author, folklorist, singer, and songwriter, can play almost any stringed instrument, is an expert on heirloom seeds, and has devoted a good part of his adult life to documenting the contributions of old-time Appalachian musicians and ballad singers.

https://www.songtoseed.com/#/

https://sarahandwilliam.weebly.com/

Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

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Joseph opens today’s show mentioning a couple of events coming up. The Meadowlark Smoky Mountains Heritage Center which is located at the Meadowlark Motel is having a series of twenty heritage-themed events scheduled for this year to inform people about different elements of Smoky Mountain culture. The first event is this Saturday. Another event is about fly fishing. The motel is offering a fly fishing camp weekend. Their goal is to bring like-minded people together through fly fishing, food, camp, and more. Learn more at meadowlarkmotel.com. Joseph also reads the lyrics of “The Storyteller” written by Mike Jones, a folk singer in the 1980s. He then introduces his guest today, an award-winning historian, author, folklorist, singer, and songwriter, William Ritter.

Joseph talks with Ritter about an event Ritter did where he did a performance of an adaptation of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night’s Dream. He worked with a group of young actors who were in college and mentions how special it was for him to work with them and be a part of their early experiences in front of an audience. They also discuss the Happy Valley Fiddlers Convention, which Ritter has been a part of in the past. The convention was on a two-year hiatus but will be back this year. Ritter speaks about what makes the Smokies special for him. He mentions the mountain culture and the scenes of nature around the area. He also mentions the food is special. The culinary tradition is something he says is much different from something you’d find outside of the Smoky Mountains. It’s very unique.

Ritter talks about growing up going to the Penland School of Craft where his parents were also instructors. He also talks with Joseph about working with Bob Plott, the manager at the Meadowlark Motel and with Bobby McMillion, ballad singer, musician, and storyteller. Ritter was able to do performances with McMillion. Through the North Carolina Arts Council in partnership with a foundation called South Arts, they put together a grant opportunity for a mentor and an apprentice to study together. Ritter was trying to find an apprentice for Bobby and Bobby told Ritter that he should be the person. He was able to document Bobby going on the road to performances. Ritter would record their conversation during their rides in the car and mention the great stories Bobby would talk about with him on stage and on their rides. Ritter describes how special Bobby was as a storyteller as he'd make you feel like you were speaking to a random person at a bar or anywhere else. He made it feel intimate and not so much like a performance in front of a lot of people. He was the same person on and off stage. Ritter talks more about McMillion’s life, his passing, and the Bobby McMillion Project to continue his legacy.

Ritter is booked for a special concert at the Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center’s Plot Fest Reunion in June. he says that there will be a mix of different ranges of country music and Appalachian culture, and mentions several artists and storytellers of influence. Joseph asks him about how he stays active as a musician during these different times since the pandemic began. Ritter says that he recently tried something new called Riverside FM, where you can record audio and videos with good quality. They both talk more about the mediums used for storytelling and different platforms. Advanced technology today has created a lot of opportunities for creators. To find out more about what William Ritter is up to, you can go to blueridgeheritage.com as well as sarahandwilliam.weebly.com. Joseph thanks William Ritter for joining him again for today’s podcast episode.

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00:00:41.250 –> 00:00:44.610 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy I’m herewith.

00:00:44.640 –> 00:00:55.770 Joseph McElroy: This week’s episode of Gateway to the Smokies, this podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the surrounding towns.

00:00:56.250 –> 00:01:05.010 Joseph McElroy: This area is filled with ancient natural beauty deep storied history and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes.

00:01:05.610 –> 00:01:18.720 Joseph McElroy: I am Joseph Franklyn McElroy, as I mentioned once already, A man of the world but also deep roots in these mountains my family is lived in the great smokies for over 200 years my business is in travel, but my heart is a culture.

00:01:19.530 –> 00:01:29.580 Joseph McElroy: today’s podcast we’re talking about a legendary storyteller of the smokies amongst other interesting tidbits but first a little bit from our sponsors.

00:01:30.420 –> 00:01:41.040 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place evocative of motor courts of the past at modern and vibrant with a Chic Appalachian feel a place for adventure and for relaxation.

00:01:41.610 –> 00:01:52.020 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on fire and eat accompanied by fine wine or craft beers.

00:01:52.470 –> 00:02:10.440 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place with old-time music and world cultural sounds imagine a place with mountain heritage, food, and underground speakeasy there is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley North Carolina your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay.

00:02:11.760 –> 00:02:17.760 Joseph McElroy: smokies adventure.com at smokies plural adventure singular.com

00:02:18.360 –> 00:02:29.760 Joseph McElroy: it’s a place for information listings about the smokies hiking and wedding venues books and trail marks and trail maps and resources to help you experience the smoky mountains.

00:02:30.120 –> 00:02:36.300 Joseph McElroy: In a more fulfilling way, the emphasis of the smokies is on outdoor recreation outdoor.

00:02:36.720 –> 00:02:50.790 Joseph McElroy: Life events like weddings and adventures, along with providing information on lodging family entertainment events conventions honeymoons, and more The goal of this site is to become the leading information portal of the smoky mountain.

00:02:52.950 –> 00:02:54.840 Joseph McElroy: So I got a couple of events to tell you about.

00:02:56.220 –> 00:03:04.590 Joseph McElroy: somewhere between character and caricature their existing authentic a truly unique culture of the smoky mountains.

00:03:05.160 –> 00:03:17.250 Joseph McElroy: understanding that culture blends the global and the local the old the new and gains relevance and understanding of the elements of cup culture that brought us to where we are now and where we can go in the future.

00:03:18.930 –> 00:03:31.890 Joseph McElroy: The Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center located at the beautiful Meadowlark Motel is proud to announce a series of 20 I think now 21 heritage-themed events scheduled for 2022.

00:03:32.640 –> 00:03:48.660 Joseph McElroy: Each of these events is designed to be to understand a different element of smoky mountain culture elite members and guests on a journey of understanding for the past and the future and the first event is this Saturday, February 26 at 4 pm at the Meadowlark Motel.

00:03:49.980 –> 00:03:58.260 Joseph McElroy: it’s going to be led by Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center General Manager and Award-winning Author Bob Plott.

00:03:58.830 –> 00:04:08.820 Joseph McElroy: As he launches the first of six heritage book programs and a book signing of his book Bob’s first program this weekend focuses on the history of the Plott Hound

00:04:09.300 –> 00:04:23.070 Joseph McElroy: The official state dog of North Carolina is a legendary breed with a rich and storied history in Haywood County and it features Bob’s first book strike and stays the story of the Plott Hound.

00:04:25.350 –> 00:04:38.970 Joseph McElroy: This fun informative program we followed by a delicious Barbecue dinner and acoustic music with Mike Ogletree former drummer for simple minds and some friends, making for an entertaining afternoon and evening.

00:04:39.690 –> 00:04:48.150 Joseph McElroy: the event is free to motel guests and heritage club members and nonmembers and local residents are welcome to attend the program enjoy.

00:04:48.510 –> 00:05:02.280 Joseph McElroy: dinner music for only $10 call 828 926 1717 to book your room and or your reservation, to find out, but other events and the heritage series and go to the website Meadowlarkmotel.com

00:05:03.540 –> 00:05:07.500 Joseph McElroy: And look at this document Heritage Center under events under the events.

00:05:08.610 –> 00:05:09.630 Joseph McElroy: menu selection.

00:05:10.920 –> 00:05:12.600 Joseph McElroy: Coming up in March.

00:05:14.070 –> 00:05:18.660 Joseph McElroy: And April coming up into action April is a fly fishing camp.

00:05:19.830 –> 00:05:27.990 Joseph McElroy: what’s better for the soul than throwing a line upstream watching it pass and doing it again and again, and perhaps getting a bite.

00:05:29.430 –> 00:05:38.520 Joseph McElroy: All anglers know that fly fishing isn’t only about reeling in the big one that always the, although that always gets my heart jumping.

00:05:39.090 –> 00:05:46.860 Joseph McElroy: fly fishing is about being one with the river and its magnificent presence while witnessing a valuable ecosystem.

00:05:47.850 –> 00:06:02.760 Joseph McElroy: So the Meadowlark Motel offering a fly fishing camp weekend in the smoky mountains, our goal and we’re gonna do multiple this in the first ones in May, but our goal is to bring like-minded people together through fly fishing to drink stories at a campfire.

00:06:04.140 –> 00:06:14.490 Joseph McElroy: camp weekends are perfect for those new to fly fishing and who are in those looking for some extra instruction or anyone with experience who enjoys fishing and small group and making new friends.

00:06:14.940 –> 00:06:23.580 Joseph McElroy: Each trip is built around those attending and we will all share in the experience you can expect quality time in the river and nights around the campfire with.

00:06:24.000 –> 00:06:35.640 Joseph McElroy: A drink in hand truths and tall tales are allowed, are all allowed at the camp camps are limited to 20 anglers it’s good to have some great.

00:06:37.620 –> 00:06:49.590 Joseph McElroy: Experts expert guides it’ll be led by Dan Sasser and Charles Humphrey III and the ancestors, the owner of high trout guides limited based in Highlands North Carolina.

00:06:50.370 –> 00:06:56.790 Joseph McElroy: and his mission is to provide and promote the ultimate fly fishing experiences for clients and friends.

00:06:58.860 –> 00:07:08.940 Joseph McElroy: It was formed by Sasser lead professional fly fishing tracks from Montana to Georgia, it was renowned as an innovator in the fly fishing industry.

00:07:09.870 –> 00:07:25.200 Joseph McElroy: Charles Humphrey III who’s been on this show is a grammy award-winning musician and endurance athlete who also has three decades of elite guiding experience and fly fishing he’s led fishing John’s from Alaska candidate Oregon Wyoming.

00:07:26.250 –> 00:07:35.430 Joseph McElroy: Colorado and all across the smoky mountains and there’ll be additional guides professional guides as well because there’ll be a minimum of one guy per to participants.

00:07:35.880 –> 00:07:49.770 Joseph McElroy: So the weekend is April 15 and 16th there’ll be beside the five fishing there’ll be an evening of videos on stories of smoked trout fishing in the mountains.

00:07:50.370 –> 00:07:56.220 Joseph McElroy: there’ll be the music they’ll be free Barbecue there’ll be breakfast is that includes two nights

00:07:56.760 –> 00:08:07.890 Joseph McElroy: The price is $875 per person includes two nights’ lodging the breakfast is the barbecues you know beverages in the Speakeasy.

00:08:08.490 –> 00:08:14.160 Joseph McElroy: And then hands-on instruction on Saturday morning and then real intense fishing on some elite streams.

00:08:14.430 –> 00:08:26.670 Joseph McElroy: In the afternoon and, of course, we have a trout stream at the Meadowlark Motel it’s a Mountain Heritage Trout Stream so on your own time or as part of this wherever you want to fish you’ll have time to also fish and practice what you learn.

00:08:28.500 –> 00:08:32.370 Joseph McElroy: Call 82 89261717 to make reservations.

00:08:33.420 –> 00:08:46.800 Joseph McElroy: So we’re talking about fishtails and we’re gonna be talking about storytellers so you know I like to you know, sometimes find a poem or something and last time I think I made will break down and cry and solve on the show so.

00:08:47.160 –> 00:08:47.760 William Ritter: This is.

00:08:48.030 –> 00:09:00.330 Joseph McElroy: This was trying to accomplish that again so in the 1980s at focusing or night may Mike Jones wrote a song called the storyteller but I’m not a singer so I’m a read the lyrics as a poem.

00:09:02.700 –> 00:09:16.290 Joseph McElroy: I’m a Teller of tales a spinner of yarns a Weaver of dreams and a liar I’ll teach you some stories to tell your friends while sitting at home by the fire.

00:09:16.980 –> 00:09:28.530 Joseph McElroy: You may not believe everything that I say but there’s one thing I’ll tell you that’s true for my stories are given as presents to me and now they’re my gift to you.

00:09:29.370 –> 00:09:42.630 Joseph McElroy: My stories are as old as the mountains and rivers that flow through the land that they were born in they were told in the homes of peasants and rags and kings with buying clothes adorning.

00:09:43.800 –> 00:09:49.410 Joseph McElroy: there’s no need for civil a goal in great store for tail becomes richer with telling.

00:09:50.460 –> 00:09:56.820 Joseph McElroy: And as long as each listener, has a pair of good ears and matters not where they are dwelling.

00:09:57.990 –> 00:10:08.730 Joseph McElroy: A story well told can lift up your hearts and help you forget all your sorrows it can give you strength and the courage to stand and face all your troubles tomorrow.

00:10:09.450 –> 00:10:21.720 Joseph McElroy: For there’s wisdom and with beauty and charm there’s laughter and sometimes there are tears, but when the story is over and the spell is broken you’ll find there’s nothing to fear.

00:10:22.800 –> 00:10:32.970 Joseph McElroy: My stories were learned in my grandparent’s home where their grandfathers also had heard them, they have given us payment by traveling folk.

00:10:33.480 –> 00:10:49.650 Joseph McElroy: For a warm place to lay down their burdens nice stories are ages, they never grow old with each telling they are born anew, and when my story is ended how still be alive in the tales that I’ve given to you.

00:10:52.680 –> 00:11:05.160 Joseph McElroy: So today, I have a great guest his name is William Ritter he’s been on the show before he is an Award-winning Historian, Author, Folklore, Singer-Songwriter and how it can play almost any stringed instrument.

00:11:05.670 –> 00:11:15.660 Joseph McElroy: And is an expert on Heirloom Seeds and has devoted a good part of his adult life to documenting that contribute contributions of old-time Appalachian musicians and ballad singers.

00:11:16.410 –> 00:11:24.480 Joseph McElroy: William is a repeat guest on the show is on several events at the Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center and has several lined up for this year as well Hello William how are you doing.

00:11:24.840 –> 00:11:26.580 William Ritter: I’m good thanks for having me, Joseph.

00:11:27.480 –> 00:11:29.520 Joseph McElroy: Good how’s that farm up in Bakersfield.

00:11:30.390 –> 00:11:43.470 William Ritter: Well it’s still pretty sleepy we have the springs just starting to pop the Easter flowers or John calls or daffodils are peeking out in the crocus’s or are daring to bloom so.

00:11:44.340 –> 00:11:45.420 William Ritter: Things are starting you know.

00:11:45.420 –> 00:11:52.740 Joseph McElroy: What’s gonna be planting season soon you, you gave me some candy roasters seeds, I really appreciate that once.

00:11:53.670 –> 00:11:55.560 William Ritter: yeah yeah Maybe you can plant some out.

00:11:56.550 –> 00:11:57.000 William Ritter: The Meadowlark

00:11:57.390 –> 00:11:58.170 Joseph McElroy: yeah right.

00:11:59.400 –> 00:12:00.660 Joseph McElroy: when’s a good time to plant them.

00:12:01.860 –> 00:12:11.790 William Ritter: Well, that that depends I’m with well you know it’s interesting that you should say that I actually going through.

00:12:12.780 –> 00:12:17.130 William Ritter: we’ll talk a little bit more about Bob and McMillan later, but going through his things.

00:12:17.820 –> 00:12:25.800 William Ritter: There was a little bit of what I call nature sign planting which is different from celestial zodiac sign planting.

00:12:26.640 –> 00:12:37.380 William Ritter: When you will actually observe nature, to see what it’s doing to help you know when you should plant that and so cucumbers, which aren’t all that different in their requirements to squash.

00:12:38.760 –> 00:12:40.320 William Ritter: Under our nerves kind of related.

00:12:42.390 –> 00:12:50.280 William Ritter: That Bobby wrote in one of his journals that you should plant your cucumbers and I would say, you could do your squash to potentially.

00:12:50.670 –> 00:13:03.510 William Ritter: I wouldn’t plan all your seed, then, because you could have a frost, but when the the the dogwood flower is blooming is when you could go ahead and plan them that feels a little early but.

00:13:04.050 –> 00:13:04.440 Maybe.

00:13:05.820 –> 00:13:06.060 William Ritter: Not.

00:13:06.570 –> 00:13:07.710 Joseph McElroy: Every time i’ve.

00:13:08.010 –> 00:13:09.300 William Ritter: also heard when they’ve hit when.

00:13:09.300 –> 00:13:14.640 William Ritter: The when the dogwood flower actually hit the ground is when you could start and so.

00:13:14.940 –> 00:13:16.470 Joseph McElroy: I’m playing never plan all your seed

00:13:16.860 –> 00:13:18.360 William Ritter: yeah i’m back.

00:13:18.840 –> 00:13:27.600 Joseph McElroy: I’m planning on being there for March 20 to the 27th so I figured That was a give me a good window to plant some things right oh boy you.

00:13:28.050 –> 00:13:29.940 William Ritter: Just gotta look for those dogwoods.

00:13:30.180 –> 00:13:44.310 Joseph McElroy: yeah look for that dogwoods all right, well, I was so long-winded I get to the break time so we’re gonna take a break and then we’ll finish when we come back and talk a little bit more about your current events and then get into the store, you know storytelling Bobby McMillan.

00:16:00.390 –> 00:16:12.450 Joseph McElroy: Howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with a Gateway to the Smokies podcasts and my guest William Ritter, so William I saw I was looking around sneaking around stalking you a little bit.

00:16:14.490 –> 00:16:27.960 Joseph McElroy: And I saw that you did the music and perform live for 80 minutes adaption of Shakespeare’s midnight’s summers midsummer’s night dream this last fall, how did you end up doing that and how was it, how did it go.

00:16:28.890 –> 00:16:30.840 William Ritter: I mean, I think it went really well.

00:16:33.510 –> 00:16:40.170 William Ritter: It was pretty magical for me and that’s not a joke about it being a very magical play cinematically but.

00:16:41.700 –> 00:16:47.220 William Ritter: It was nice because it’s been a little while since I’ve been involved in theatre, I actually got my

00:16:47.610 –> 00:16:55.260 William Ritter: theater degree, which is another long-winded story because it’s kind of amazing I ended up with that, but if you take a lot of random classes in college you never know what you might end up.

00:16:55.260 –> 00:16:55.440 With.

00:16:57.840 –> 00:17:09.360 William Ritter: But anyways so I got invited to do this play because I had provided this the music for a previous play at Western Carolina where they had done the.

00:17:10.110 –> 00:17:18.030 William Ritter: midsummer night’s dream Shakespeare and they’d said it in the 20s in the 20s in Appalachia so it’s kind of interesting.

00:17:18.990 –> 00:17:32.970 William Ritter: To kind of draw some threads together of Shakespearean language and songs and music and kind of stew, that in together with traditional mostly tunes I mostly play traditional fiddle tunes.

00:17:34.500 –> 00:17:43.380 William Ritter: But when I did it earlier, we had had more singing and that the but they asked me I guess it was 10 years had passed since that happened, which blows my mind.

00:17:44.430 –> 00:17:50.640 William Ritter: And so they asked me again to come down last year and help with another new crop of young.

00:17:51.660 –> 00:18:08.670 William Ritter: thespians to put on the show, but they did it outside which it’s a classic play for outdoor performance and they renovated the picnic shelter into a really nice stage it was pretty amazing so Hats off to them for that, but I think what was really special to me was just.

00:18:09.810 –> 00:18:17.220 William Ritter: The kids you know they hadn’t been able to really be in front of a live audience in a long time and mean, these are actors in that.

00:18:18.300 –> 00:18:25.350 William Ritter: And, because of the pandemic had really not had an opportunity to have an audience in front of them, so it was really powerful in that to

00:18:25.860 –> 00:18:35.010 William Ritter: have them have that opportunity to they’ve been had been kind of withheld from them for a while, in me to really but also a lot of there were students that they said we’re.

00:18:36.360 –> 00:18:44.790 William Ritter: first-year juniors what’s the first-year junior gold, they were a junior in credits, but it was the first year they’d really had been like you know.

00:18:46.380 –> 00:18:48.120 Joseph McElroy: They got all their advanced placement stuff and they.

00:18:48.120 –> 00:18:50.370 Joseph McElroy: got right into junior year wow.

00:18:50.760 –> 00:18:54.450 William Ritter: Well yeah but, but you know wasn’t because they like we’re smart and went to.

00:18:55.530 –> 00:19:01.830 William Ritter: You know, a Community College, it was because there they were taking all the classes from home.

00:19:02.850 –> 00:19:06.990 William Ritter: Because of the pandemics, so it was the first play a lot of them.

00:19:07.770 –> 00:19:09.750 William Ritter: Even though they’ve been a theater major for a.

00:19:09.840 –> 00:19:16.500 William Ritter: Before that so, but they did a great job and they had a lot of passion, it was, It was good to be around.

00:19:17.010 –> 00:19:32.850 Joseph McElroy: well you know the I mean most people don’t know that the Mount smoky mountain area has a lot of actually really innovative, you know theater and you know you know Western Carolina University Ashville you know other places, you know the.

00:19:33.000 –> 00:19:33.930 William Ritter: city’s else.

00:19:34.020 –> 00:19:50.610 Joseph McElroy: Under the chosen if you consider that the black mountain school our schools there and performances and happening started, you know they’re right at John Cage doing things and Rauschenberg and you know, so the mountains have really been a place where you know.

00:19:51.690 –> 00:19:57.330 Joseph McElroy: theater performances really yeah a lot of times gone over into the real our guard.

00:19:57.870 –> 00:20:05.790 William Ritter: Right in the outdoor theater kind of movement in North Carolina has been huge and was really huge in that movement um.

00:20:06.030 –> 00:20:09.570 William Ritter: there’s a lot of interesting history interesting there for sure.

00:20:09.960 –> 00:20:18.180 Joseph McElroy: cool so are you are you serious I see you’re still involved with the Happy Valley Fiddler’s Convention, the mountains folk festival, are they going on this year they’re going last year.

00:20:18.210 –> 00:20:34.890 William Ritter: Yes, yeah we’re both of them are on so I’m excited about that we look forward to finally bringing Happy Valley Fiddler’s Convention back after you know, a two-year hiatus.

00:20:36.390 –> 00:20:40.650 William Ritter: And that’s all going well and we’re excited about it.

00:20:41.820 –> 00:20:49.620 William Ritter: And then, also the music in the mountains, last year we had it for the first time, even though it’s a 30 to 30-year-old.

00:20:51.720 –> 00:21:04.770 William Ritter: Well it’s decades in the making that they’ve had the music in the mountains in Burnsville but last year we actually moved its location so we’d have could do it outside to

00:21:05.670 –> 00:21:18.480 William Ritter: homeplace beer company, which is a great really interesting kind of an Appalachian Chic actually brewery to borrow a phrase from the Meadowlark in Burnsville and it was hugely attended.

00:21:19.980 –> 00:21:20.340 William Ritter: and

00:21:21.480 –> 00:21:28.860 William Ritter: It went well and we’re looking to build on that this year so we’re very excited about that.

00:21:29.670 –> 00:21:37.920 Joseph McElroy: And if you know I remember that you and your wife actually performed with them, I like your wife is Sarah Ogletree you guys do a lot of performances together lately.

00:21:38.880 –> 00:21:43.590 William Ritter: um no not really though we did just play at the Pinecone.

00:21:45.660 –> 00:21:50.850 William Ritter: performed as part of the Pine Cone performance series down in Raleigh just a few nights ago.

00:21:51.870 –> 00:21:58.890 William Ritter: And that was really fun that was nice to get out as part of a kind of North Carolina Gospel traditions concert.

00:22:00.480 –> 00:22:02.760 William Ritter: And we had to shake off quite a bit of rust.

00:22:04.830 –> 00:22:06.090 William Ritter: I haven’t been playing much.

00:22:06.390 –> 00:22:12.720 William Ritter: With the people, I normally play with or with Sarah either it was partly because of her work, but also just you know gigs.

00:22:13.710 –> 00:22:20.130 William Ritter: We all know how they’ve they’ve really disappeared or dried up or changed into digital events and things so.

00:22:20.880 –> 00:22:34.560 William Ritter: It was very refreshing to get out in front of a live audience and form, and it was the Pinecone is a great organization worth looking up, and if you’re in Raleigh definitely go see some of their shows.

00:22:35.280 –> 00:22:43.980 Joseph McElroy: You know I grew up in was born raised in the smokies my family came from a long time, and you know the cultural heritage that the performances.

00:22:44.430 –> 00:22:50.910 Joseph McElroy: you know it’s about that’s probably what I cherish about the region, I mean there’s the beauty there are the natural wonders.

00:22:51.300 –> 00:22:59.100 Joseph McElroy: But you know I’m not a big hiker I do I go and I’m not a big camper but I love to have a campfire at night that’s because I like to sit around and talk with people.

00:22:59.610 –> 00:23:08.340 Joseph McElroy: And you know of course there’s my family roots there so, but you know really the cultural heritage is what I find so special What about this region is so special to you.

00:23:10.380 –> 00:23:11.550 William Ritter: How long do we have.

00:23:14.100 –> 00:23:15.180 Joseph McElroy: top three highlights.

00:23:15.720 –> 00:23:20.820 William Ritter: yeah well um I would say, you know the people.

00:23:21.900 –> 00:23:23.670 William Ritter: Is big which that can.

00:23:25.110 –> 00:23:37.620 William Ritter: brings all those threads together but um you know mountain culture is its own culture um people have their own ways of talking and thinking and doing and.

00:23:39.180 –> 00:23:44.280 William Ritter: So that’s I don’t know part of its because I grew up with it and.

00:23:45.660 –> 00:24:02.010 William Ritter: it’s something that just does feel like home to me but, but it is a really rich area for folklore and traditions and there’s a rich heritage of celebrating them to which might be why we have as much as we do because of places like the Meadowlark

00:24:03.180 –> 00:24:12.060 William Ritter: You know I’ve continued to put for artists, you know, an on a platform to share with people coming into the region or the people that already live here.

00:24:13.440 –> 00:24:31.380 William Ritter: And so that is that’s a really deep well, that means a lot to me but also there’s just you can’t beat the scenic beauty, I think, whether it’s the, no matter what time of year it is there’s something about being able to see either all that green or all those colors all up before you.

00:24:32.970 –> 00:24:40.230 William Ritter: And and and in the winter all the definition and the contrast it’s it’s beautiful you know I remember.

00:24:42.150 –> 00:24:56.190 William Ritter: going to Scotland and I’m going to one spot your calendar where were some of my ancestors are from, and I remember, was the Sarah that’s like wow this is this Plott is so beautiful she’s like that looks like where we came from.

00:24:59.760 –> 00:25:09.810 William Ritter: Everywhere, I go I’m always finding something that kind of reminds me of home and that’s my favorite thing and it often frustrates people, but I love living in the mountains, I shriveled up.

00:25:09.810 –> 00:25:10.290 William Ritter: Like a.

00:25:10.350 –> 00:25:15.930 William Ritter: Little prune when I left to a place that wasn’t even really that far out of the mountains so.

00:25:16.260 –> 00:25:20.970 William Ritter: it’s just really a part of me I don’t know so the people, the place and the third thing.

00:25:25.320 –> 00:25:28.080 William Ritter: Would would maybe be the food.

00:25:32.640 –> 00:25:39.570 William Ritter: yeah I love the culinary traditions here many of which have been pretty obscured and are not easily.

00:25:40.260 –> 00:25:49.470 William Ritter: You know they’re not easily ported over into something that you would get at a restaurant, you know that they’re either like health codes would be like, no, no, no, you can’t do that.

00:25:50.850 –> 00:25:56.070 William Ritter: or they’re just they would be kind of expensive, even though they weren’t like a rich man’s food it’s just.

00:25:57.720 –> 00:26:00.660 William Ritter: kind of slow food type of thing, but you can’t really.

00:26:01.440 –> 00:26:02.610 William Ritter: monetize easily.

00:26:03.000 –> 00:26:11.040 Joseph McElroy: or people you know, the thing is that people look at southern food nothing’s that’s the same thing that we’re talking about the mountain food is not exactly like southern food.

00:26:11.370 –> 00:26:12.270 William Ritter: No, no.

00:26:13.170 –> 00:26:13.410 yeah.

00:26:15.300 –> 00:26:30.210 Joseph McElroy: I was telling people I used to eat for breakfast growing up as beans and cornbread with with with purple onions, you know, and you know and things like that you’d be amazed how good, that is when it’s done right yeah.

00:26:31.110 –> 00:26:33.930 William Ritter: yeah totally I mean yeah.

00:26:36.180 –> 00:26:38.010 William Ritter: I, I completely agree.

00:26:38.520 –> 00:26:46.290 Joseph McElroy: yeah and slow Barbecue and the way they cook chicken and the other things are just slightly different than what you would.

00:26:46.980 –> 00:26:57.510 Joseph McElroy: Consider southern food so not that I, you know, there was southern food here as well, but there was a mountain cuisine now one of the things I want to do it the Meadowlark yeah I don’t know if you know but we’re creating a restaurant.

00:26:58.350 –> 00:27:09.600 Joseph McElroy: Oh, what I’m trying to do is to find, I want to do old mountain you know recipes you know, maybe with a slight twist right yeah and so.

00:27:09.660 –> 00:27:10.770 William Ritter: Appalachian Chic, right.

00:27:11.040 –> 00:27:19.800 Joseph McElroy: Appalachian Chic here now take that that that dish of beans and cornbread and onions, well done and add some avocado on it.

00:27:21.060 –> 00:27:23.610 Joseph McElroy: Right it’s like that’s like a keen wall ball.

00:27:26.430 –> 00:27:31.560 Joseph McElroy: ball yeah mountain ball with healthy and robust and good tasting.

00:27:32.730 –> 00:27:34.380 Joseph McElroy: And hot sauce goes with it really well.

00:27:35.640 –> 00:27:38.790 William Ritter: My process and everything so pretty much I think even ice cream.

00:27:39.720 –> 00:27:40.890 Joseph McElroy: yeah so.

00:27:42.480 –> 00:27:46.200 Joseph McElroy: But no, I think that’s that you know we’re going to take another break here.

00:27:47.370 –> 00:27:57.180 Joseph McElroy: So I don’t want to start another line of questioning because we got a whole little section to go through here but we’ll be back in just a moment we’ll start talking about Bobby.

00:30:03.030 –> 00:30:12.150 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with a Gateway to the Smokies Podcasts with my guest William Ritter, so William you know you’ve.

00:30:12.810 –> 00:30:27.390 Joseph McElroy: You know, I was reading how you actually grew up on the grounds of the Pentland Focus School, which were your parents or instructors that must have been the incredible experience you learned a lot about storytelling and folk songs there right.

00:30:27.960 –> 00:30:28.320 well.

00:30:29.550 –> 00:30:38.130 William Ritter: I should say, to a degree, I mean, so the Pentland school of craft now as it was the pinnacle of crafts when I.

00:30:38.940 –> 00:30:48.570 William Ritter: was going over there, I didn’t wouldn’t say exactly grew up on the grounds, but I was there a lot because my parents met there back in the 70s.

00:30:49.440 –> 00:31:00.840 William Ritter: And they did teach a lot there over the course of the years and we didn’t live very far from there, so I was taken over to depend on quite a bit not quite as much as some of the other artist’s kids.

00:31:01.830 –> 00:31:16.410 William Ritter: But, but I certainly did spend a lot of time there, especially if mom and dad were teaching a class, you know, I have to go over there after getting out of school or something, and it was it honestly is a pretty magical place, unlike maybe like the

00:31:17.640 –> 00:31:31.230 William Ritter: Maybe like Aramark or Johnson Campbell folks school it leans a little bit more on to the the the high end of the craft, though I don’t I’m not trying to pigeonhole them there.

00:31:31.230 –> 00:31:31.770 Joseph McElroy: No, no.

00:31:33.210 –> 00:31:34.830 Joseph McElroy: I just think it is a bit of magic.

00:31:35.640 –> 00:31:47.760 Joseph McElroy: You know it intrigued me that you grew up on it so it’s kind of cool I mean you’re involved so much in heritage, music, and storytelling I mean think one of your mentors was mentors early on, was Ray danger.

00:31:48.090 –> 00:31:53.400 Joseph McElroy: Yes, yeah we talked about last time, and you know and then lately.

00:31:55.050 –> 00:32:04.110 Joseph McElroy: you’ve been involved with a guy that was you know, a legend Bobby McMillan who is was an acclaimed ballad singer and New York

00:32:04.500 –> 00:32:11.280 Joseph McElroy: North Carolina folk heritage award winner and he spent his lifetime collecting the local songs and regional variations.

00:32:11.730 –> 00:32:20.250 Joseph McElroy: And I, and I didn’t get to hear all of it, but he had one of the most expensive repertoires of any singer and you know it was.

00:32:20.880 –> 00:32:30.120 Joseph McElroy: It was incredible and you know he came to the Meadowlark last year and I guess it was one of his you know, last performances I don’t know what exactly, but it would have been in the year.

00:32:30.510 –> 00:32:40.860 Joseph McElroy: You know, and he told a great story about which ended up I love to tell dimension is ended up somehow he was hunting and he ended up catching 50 fishes pant legs.

00:32:42.330 –> 00:32:42.660 William Ritter: yeah.

00:32:43.020 –> 00:32:44.880 Joseph McElroy: And then he’s saying His story so.

00:32:46.590 –> 00:32:58.110 Joseph McElroy: And I think that you and Bob and Bobby, Bob Plott who’s the manager of the most I’ve done a lot of things together with programs together haven’t you.

00:32:58.980 –> 00:33:05.880 William Ritter: yeah we got a few do a few you know I think if it hadn’t been for the pandemic, we would have been able to do more.

00:33:06.960 –> 00:33:07.500 William Ritter: But.

00:33:08.640 –> 00:33:20.040 William Ritter: yeah we have got to do some shows together, which was really, really fun, for me, I mean it’s always fun to sing or you know or drive Bobby around and take him to performances and

00:33:21.030 –> 00:33:36.840 William Ritter: And that sort of thing but also just really you know I remember, like the look on Bob’s face when he first really like got to hear Bobby you know it was like oh my gosh you know it took him back to when he was hanging out with Stanley Hicks and those old old guys.

00:33:38.040 –> 00:33:46.560 William Ritter: And really Bobby was like a kind of really was like a blast from the past is as in terms of the storyteller he really.

00:33:46.830 –> 00:34:00.300 Joseph McElroy: was great it was it took me right back, because I, you know I remember my grandfather would tell a tall tale like Abaddon which ended up with him shooting using a musket to shoot a squirrel and in the shot it with the tamper they came out.

00:34:05.370 –> 00:34:18.540 Joseph McElroy: So you know, but I know that you were really excited to get a special grab to fund the documenting the life and works with Bobby and get them out doing shows again, can you tell us about that.

00:34:18.870 –> 00:34:29.190 William Ritter: yeah yeah so that was through the North Carolina Arts Council in partnership with a foundation that I am always happy to brag on.

00:34:30.060 –> 00:34:32.190 William Ritter: called South arts out of Atlanta.

00:34:33.870 –> 00:34:42.480 William Ritter: And they put together a grant opportunity for a mentor and an apprentice to study together.

00:34:43.650 –> 00:34:49.410 William Ritter: And it was about a $10,000 grant mostly that went towards the mentor.

00:34:50.700 –> 00:34:58.410 William Ritter: But just to try to encourage you to know that kind of deeper relationships and help fund people that might not have you know the finances to really.

00:34:59.580 –> 00:35:06.270 William Ritter: work together, you know you can be so caught up in the hustle of just paying rent and you know feeding yourself and all that that you don’t.

00:35:07.380 –> 00:35:09.810 William Ritter: get to kind of take some of those opportunities.

00:35:11.280 –> 00:35:17.760 William Ritter: And, but really what happened with me and Bobby is I was kind of doing the thing that I’m always trying to do, which is trying to like help.

00:35:18.480 –> 00:35:32.220 William Ritter: You know, help other artists, with some opportunities that I see coming down the Pike and I was trying to find an apprentice for Bobby and, finally, he said, William why don’t you just be my apprentice, and I was like.

00:35:33.300 –> 00:35:35.250 William Ritter: You know that’s a great idea let’s Do this so.

00:35:36.660 –> 00:35:42.090 William Ritter: I put together this you know package of an application.

00:35:43.380 –> 00:35:55.500 William Ritter: And just is one of those things where you just had incredible unknown foresight Bobby and I live kind of far from each other, so I developed the whole thing that we could do it mostly remotely.

00:35:56.610 –> 00:35:58.350 William Ritter: But this was before the pandemic.

00:35:59.400 –> 00:36:09.180 William Ritter: So I had no idea that that the whole thing ended up being designed perfectly really to work during a pandemic because we were able to do so much of it remotely.

00:36:10.290 –> 00:36:15.120 William Ritter: On the downside, we didn’t get to do as much of me taking him to gigs because those just disappeared.

00:36:16.350 –> 00:36:29.190 William Ritter: That was my favorite thing I put a little camera on the like you know GoPro in the car and we’d film and record the car rides because that’s like you know, a slice of.

00:36:30.330 –> 00:36:39.450 William Ritter: Of its own kind of folklore it’s just riding with these traditional artists in these old-timers places like I mean it’s just the best stories you’ve ever heard.

00:36:40.440 –> 00:36:50.730 William Ritter: In a different totally different kind of storytelling in a way, then when you get up on a stage so Bobby was always the same storyteller I felt like on a stage or singer has he was in his living room.

00:36:51.780 –> 00:36:54.990 Joseph McElroy: very, very authentic like you just tell the story to.

00:36:54.990 –> 00:36:56.730 Joseph McElroy: Friends when he’s on stage yeah.

00:36:56.790 –> 00:36:57.390 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:36:57.870 –> 00:37:08.550 William Ritter: Very important him to be like that to be like I’m not be putting on any kind of special added saucy just wanted to be himself up there a lot, you know you.

00:37:08.790 –> 00:37:20.220 William Ritter: that’s kinda like the way Doc Watson was there’s a lot of artists, that I admire that just really tried to be themselves, or at least it seemed like that or they’re trying to do, I think it was true with both of them.

00:37:21.300 –> 00:37:31.320 William Ritter: And I kind of tried to do that to it can and redeal injure you know that’s the way he was and when we get up and play you did he said is that always said is who is and I can’t get any wizard.

00:37:33.150 –> 00:37:33.540 William Ritter: and

00:37:34.080 –> 00:37:44.730 William Ritter: I always like that there’s something kind of liberating and kind of you know, can really make some people feel uncomfortable about being themselves in front of a big crowd of people, but I think it’s really.

00:37:45.690 –> 00:37:49.890 William Ritter: I’ve liked that feeling doesn’t really want to try to be anyone else and that’s part of why I.

00:37:49.890 –> 00:37:50.700 William Ritter: stopped doing theatre.

00:37:52.350 –> 00:38:01.950 William Ritter: But that’s something that I really enjoyed working with Bobby is he really was just an old-time storyteller and I love that he wasn’t.

00:38:03.150 –> 00:38:08.190 William Ritter: I hate to use the term like a Jonesboro storyteller but there’s some more professionalized.

00:38:08.190 –> 00:38:17.100 William Ritter: storyteller gets up and it’s just a different thing, but he felt like I was sitting next to some old dude in a general store hundred years ago talon yeah story.

00:38:17.310 –> 00:38:18.420 Joseph McElroy: He looked like a Uri.

00:38:18.690 –> 00:38:19.920 Uri sat around.

00:38:20.940 –> 00:38:27.360 Joseph McElroy: yeah so he died last year, what what’s the status or project now, what are you continuing.

00:38:28.200 –> 00:38:30.150 William Ritter: So we’re.

00:38:32.190 –> 00:38:44.190 William Ritter: You know, it was funny for someone That was really in poor health Bobby suffered from diabetes and some weight issues and all the things that come with diabetes.

00:38:45.750 –> 00:38:54.570 William Ritter: And, but we really all were very caught off guard by his passing, even though we hadn’t been well and it had a lot of health issues.

00:38:55.110 –> 00:39:09.030 William Ritter: It really did just kind of surprise us because Bobby had been in poor health for so long and away just he seemed to just keep ticking and I guess maybe we were we got used to the privilege of having him, and so when he passed.

00:39:10.920 –> 00:39:23.070 William Ritter: His his wife was generous and that she donated to us all of his books, what do you mean to me but but but I, you know.

00:39:24.360 –> 00:39:26.820 William Ritter: I think she did so, knowing that I would not like to keep them.

00:39:28.260 –> 00:39:30.390 William Ritter: I felt like they needed to be shared with all his books.

00:39:30.690 –> 00:39:37.230 William Ritter: His notebooks where he sat down and wrote you know all of these stories and song lyrics he’d come across.

00:39:39.060 –> 00:39:44.220 William Ritter: And just I mean a lifetimes work of papers.

00:39:45.390 –> 00:39:46.680 William Ritter: And so I.

00:39:48.660 –> 00:39:57.030 William Ritter: got together with Sheila Adams, who was probably Bobby’s one of his closest friends of not as the closest friend for over.

00:39:57.570 –> 00:40:16.020 William Ritter: 40, 40 some years and she’s a great ballad singer and storyteller and author and then she’s well acclaimed and has one you know national awards for doing the work that she does, but so and she’s on the product and also Rodney Sutton, who is great.

00:40:18.330 –> 00:40:32.310 William Ritter: dancer and personality and really, really interesting person, but both of them worked with Bobby quite a bit particularly Sheila but also Rodney documented him a lot and a project that they did together.

00:40:33.330 –> 00:40:42.900 William Ritter: And so we three got together and you know also kind of working with some other people in the network that new Bobby and appreciated him.

00:40:43.470 –> 00:40:53.880 William Ritter: kind of brainstormed on where we might take all of his papers and books and we took them decided to go to Mars Hill University, which is a small college.

00:40:55.290 –> 00:41:05.400 William Ritter: And, but it happens to be in Madison county which is kind of like you know I think of the heartland of Appalachian bouncing and because it’s still carried on there, in a way that it’s in.

00:41:06.270 –> 00:41:12.150 William Ritter: Not in a lot of other communities by people that are like you know we’re kin to the people that were.

00:41:12.390 –> 00:41:13.650 recorded before them.

00:41:14.910 –> 00:41:20.280 William Ritter: And so we felt like it was important to have it there, and so what we’ve been doing is.

00:41:21.480 –> 00:41:29.610 William Ritter: Taking bobby’s papers which are blessed his heart not well organized and try to get them organized so that.

00:41:30.570 –> 00:41:34.440 William Ritter: One you know over so that we can continue to learn from Bobby.

00:41:35.040 –> 00:41:52.110 William Ritter: For on into perpetuity but, but also to kind of fill in the blanks because Sheila and Rodney and me and others, no answers to questions that you know researcher will never know in the future so we’re just trying to be responsible, making accessible.

00:41:52.530 –> 00:41:54.090 Joseph McElroy: Good how are you funding this.

00:41:55.170 –> 00:42:00.840 William Ritter: Well, right now, we just started with a gofundme, which is a Bobby McMillan legacy.

00:42:02.670 –> 00:42:15.900 William Ritter: And that’s you can find that relatively easily online, you can also go to my song to seed website, and it has talks about the bombing McMillan legacy project we’re doing and we just crusted 4000.

00:42:16.650 –> 00:42:28.920 William Ritter: But part of that’s going to go back towards his wife Joyce because she was so generous and sharing all of this material with us, they could have ended up just moldering in a closet or being sold, because the books were valuable.

00:42:29.310 –> 00:42:41.910 William Ritter: So we’re going to give her what we’d call a love offering, which is a little financial gift but also will use the rest of it for matching grants some travel to do research and and and some other things.

00:42:43.680 –> 00:42:50.550 William Ritter: But we’re really grateful for the start that we have but there’s still a lot to go, I think, to make this what it needs to be and should be.

00:42:51.150 –> 00:42:55.980 Joseph McElroy: And what are your future plans to do with all this for honoring Bobby and perpetuating his legacy.

00:42:56.310 –> 00:43:01.440 William Ritter: Well, I will probably sing a song that Bobby did every time that I ever play anywhere.

00:43:02.010 –> 00:43:02.340 Joseph McElroy: that’s.

00:43:02.460 –> 00:43:13.080 William Ritter: On a personal level, but also, I just want to figure out through a website, maybe my website to make his stuff that scattered different places, make it accessible and way this.

00:43:14.790 –> 00:43:16.650 Joseph McElroy: album where the stories would be.

00:43:16.680 –> 00:43:18.510 William Ritter: yeah so we’ve got plans for.

00:43:18.570 –> 00:43:29.580 William Ritter: for doing something similar we’ve been talking about doing something like that there’s a lot of different threads I think that one is to have a reading room and Mars hill so people can go and they can listen to all Bobby’s music, they can read all of his.

00:43:29.790 –> 00:43:43.350 William Ritter: books and look at his notebooks there and learn from him like we learned from him so that’s part of the plan, but there’s that there’s a lot of artistic opportunities, I think, to move forward, I know, with Bobby’s work so.

00:43:44.220 –> 00:43:56.070 Joseph McElroy: Oh well, so I guess, I mean it had to be devastating, and I think to rising, and you know, find a way to perpetuate legacy is a good way to deal with that devastation right yeah.

00:43:56.520 –> 00:43:58.200 William Ritter: Totally definitely been healing.

00:43:58.980 –> 00:44:00.540 Joseph McElroy: I can imagine it’s been healing.

00:44:01.890 –> 00:44:02.790 Joseph McElroy: You know um.

00:44:05.280 –> 00:44:12.390 Joseph McElroy: You know I want to get into the next things that we’re going to talk about what we’re about to have a break so.

00:44:13.950 –> 00:44:19.230 Joseph McElroy: let’s take a break now and then we come back we’ll talk about some of the things that are coming up.

00:46:21.240 –> 00:46:32.880 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the Gateway to the Smokies Podcast and my guest William Ritter, so William I know that you have booked.

00:46:34.380 –> 00:46:53.160 Joseph McElroy: With TIM McWilliams for a special concert at the Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center Plott Fest Reunion on June 3rd to 5th 2022 that’s coming up this do, that is a little different from your typical old-time musical show how is, how is that.

00:46:54.510 –> 00:46:56.430 William Ritter: uh well.

00:46:58.500 –> 00:47:00.060 William Ritter: I don’t want to get into like a loaded.

00:47:00.060 –> 00:47:02.070 William Ritter: a critique of the old-time music genre.

00:47:02.430 –> 00:47:03.270 Joseph McElroy: No, no okay.

00:47:03.330 –> 00:47:06.690 William Ritter: um well well I think it’s a little bit different um.

00:47:08.220 –> 00:47:09.810 William Ritter: Talking about old-time music.

00:47:11.400 –> 00:47:12.180 William Ritter: In a real.

00:47:13.440 –> 00:47:14.700 William Ritter: Is this like a way to just like.

00:47:14.910 –> 00:47:15.540 William Ritter: The timing.

00:47:15.930 –> 00:47:20.970 Joseph McElroy: is just like old-time mountain music or old-time country music which one is it here.

00:47:21.060 –> 00:47:23.040 William Ritter: So it’ll be a mix of things.

00:47:24.090 –> 00:47:40.110 William Ritter: You know, Tim and I, you know, on one hand, like we love to play like Doc Watson and TIM O’Brien and some other artists, of course, both of those are Appalachian artists.

00:47:41.550 –> 00:47:47.550 William Ritter: But we also do some you know some foreign young and some other country, you know.

00:47:50.460 –> 00:47:51.090 William Ritter: You know.

00:47:52.740 –> 00:47:54.900 William Ritter: Country groups I’m.

00:47:56.130 –> 00:48:20.610 William Ritter: Pretty wide-ranging but, but just lately, I know that TIM has been doing a lot of work with Josh Goforth and Josh Goforth and TIM actually received the same grant that Bobby and I did to work together josh go forth is an amazing musician incredible storyteller and just I.

00:48:22.140 –> 00:48:38.910 William Ritter: it’s hard to say it’s hard to overstate how good of a musician he is, to be honest, they call them the acoustic wizard he’s definitely worth looking up some time as very, very talented but he also is really connected to Madison county music roots.

00:48:40.350 –> 00:48:48.750 William Ritter: and has put a lot of time into you know kind of absorbing the I would say, like the Asheville greater Asheville.

00:48:49.320 –> 00:48:54.540 William Ritter: kind of Middle Western North Carolina music traditions and so he’s been passing that on.

00:48:55.170 –> 00:49:10.050 William Ritter: To TIM and in with hopes that you know, Tim will continue to pass it on to which he does he’s a TIM as a music teacher in Ashville so he’s been trying to incorporate some of that into his school curriculum so that’s a really, really neat thing.

00:49:11.160 –> 00:49:27.870 William Ritter: So, but we are really connected to a lot of real Appalachian like local regional stuff kind of the deep cuts, we do some things that you may have heard a version of that song that we do, but it’s your different version than you probably heard.

00:49:27.870 –> 00:49:28.410 Before.

00:49:29.940 –> 00:49:40.680 William Ritter: But we also do some stuff that’s common is dirt you know that everybody played because we like that and it’s if nobody wants to hear, I think a concert where they’ve never heard any of the songs before.

00:49:42.030 –> 00:49:55.290 William Ritter: And so we do a real I think a real healthy mix and we have a lot of fun, I mean that’s the biggest thing we just have a whole lot of fun it’s always been great fun to play with TIM we both went to Grad school together at APP state.

00:49:56.970 –> 00:50:00.270 William Ritter: And so we really enjoy kind of.

00:50:01.980 –> 00:50:11.820 William Ritter: Like I said digging deeply into some of these Western North Carolina music traditions but also playing some of this stuff like I said that are the POP hits of the.

00:50:12.720 –> 00:50:13.290 Joseph McElroy: I look for.

00:50:14.670 –> 00:50:17.820 Joseph McElroy: I look forward to hearing about here and that I’ll be there for sure.

00:50:19.110 –> 00:50:33.120 Joseph McElroy: So um you know this pandemic has been tough right and I imagine it’s been tough, especially in the winter, how do you keep yourself active as a musician and performer and these times, or even doing it.

00:50:34.110 –> 00:50:36.780 William Ritter: it’s a good question Joseph, did I know the answer to.

00:50:36.780 –> 00:50:36.960 That.

00:50:39.720 –> 00:50:41.460 Joseph McElroy: Well, I mean you can do zoom concerts.

00:50:41.460 –> 00:50:43.800 Joseph McElroy: Are all the way, but it’s just not the same thing.

00:50:43.830 –> 00:50:44.580 Right now.

00:50:45.720 –> 00:50:50.760 William Ritter: Though I did recently just try something new called riverside FM.

00:50:51.420 –> 00:50:55.500 William Ritter: Which is like a podcasting service kind of like zoom ish you know.

00:50:56.550 –> 00:51:10.290 William Ritter: And did that with Sheila Adams, as the just kind of test out the service and that actually went really well I would I was really happy with that so that was neat and I’d like to try to do more of that kind of thing.

00:51:11.010 –> 00:51:27.750 Joseph McElroy: No, I would think that the clubhouse you heard a clubhouse it’s a clubhouse as an APP that’s become very popular where it’s basically people get on and it’s all audio chat rooms and people get on the talk I think that’d be great for the storyteller.

00:51:28.260 –> 00:51:30.120 Joseph McElroy: Right yeah yeah.

00:51:30.600 –> 00:51:31.320 William Ritter: That sounds.

00:51:31.800 –> 00:51:34.950 Joseph McElroy: yeah so definitely investigate that clubhouse.

00:51:34.980 –> 00:51:35.790 William Ritter: Now, look into that.

00:51:36.000 –> 00:51:46.020 Joseph McElroy: Because I know a lot of poets, especially urban poets, are doing it and having very big success getting big crowds and things coming, but I think the mountain storytelling be great on the clubhouse.

00:51:46.920 –> 00:51:59.370 William Ritter: yeah yeah, I think, maybe that’s a yeah I’ve really been I’ve been thinking about this for a long time ways that this kind of digital experience can help us kind of spread.

00:52:00.000 –> 00:52:10.590 William Ritter: kind of evangelize for these mountain traditions and I, you know even before the pandemic, I was thinking I knew all these like elder you know.

00:52:11.130 –> 00:52:21.090 William Ritter: Tradition bears as we call them or folk practitioners people that knew all these old ways and told these great stories and they weren’t necessarily always like professionals in

00:52:21.510 –> 00:52:33.720 William Ritter: You know, then in presenting their art, but you know that’s what I wanted really it was a had this I hate to use the word authenticity, but, but that was what I was looking for.

00:52:34.890 –> 00:52:48.060 William Ritter: And I wanted to find a way that people that couldn’t really even get out of their house necessarily or were really mobility bound or their health prevented them from sharing their art but um.

00:52:48.960 –> 00:52:55.260 William Ritter: You know I don’t know so I want to figure out a way to do that and that’s part of why I was exploring with Bobby.

00:52:56.880 –> 00:53:08.880 William Ritter: And did learn a lot about I think that some possibilities and I think more have come out of it because of the endemic more opportunities have come along that we’ve invested in the technology more people are familiar with it.

00:53:09.780 –> 00:53:14.850 William Ritter: But you know, like a podcast is a great medium for an older story Teller.

00:53:16.410 –> 00:53:17.520 William Ritter: To get out anymore.

00:53:18.150 –> 00:53:23.820 Joseph McElroy: I think this club has I’ve been thinking about doing like a Meadowlark storytelling lounge or something like that yeah.

00:53:23.850 –> 00:53:25.440 Joseph McElroy: Because I think it was great.

00:53:25.470 –> 00:53:26.850 Joseph McElroy: medium for that yeah.

00:53:27.150 –> 00:53:28.440 William Ritter: yeah I.

00:53:28.680 –> 00:53:34.140 William Ritter: I’d love to see something like that I, you know there’s a really good storyteller in.

00:53:34.680 –> 00:53:40.530 William Ritter: Silva named Gary Carden um and he has you know some pretty serious health issues that he sees.

00:53:40.860 –> 00:53:56.820 William Ritter: That you know, had to work with and it made it hard for him to get out but he’s a fabulous storyteller I mean to use these really incredible he’s just kind of relaunched, but a podcast that someone’s helping him do, and I really hope that works out for him.

00:53:57.660 –> 00:53:58.530 Joseph McElroy: that’d be great.

00:53:58.650 –> 00:53:58.950 But.

00:54:00.060 –> 00:54:00.450 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:54:00.780 –> 00:54:03.870 Joseph McElroy: Great so uh anything that.

00:54:05.040 –> 00:54:12.210 Joseph McElroy: you’re coming from you’d like to let the audience know about you know anything that they should watch out for.

00:54:13.080 –> 00:54:15.360 William Ritter: um well you know, dear.

00:54:18.360 –> 00:54:27.030 Joseph McElroy: I just had the wildlife guy here last week that’s doing the Crossways over the I- 40 so.

00:54:27.960 –> 00:54:29.700 William Ritter: fascinating I am just.

00:54:29.790 –> 00:54:34.350 William Ritter: I am thrilled that they’re doing that and it’s a really good idea, because, let me it’s incredibly dangerous.

00:54:34.440 –> 00:54:35.070 Joseph McElroy: All right.

00:54:36.480 –> 00:54:40.080 Joseph McElroy: So how can people get Ahold of you where to look you up to find out more about what you do.

00:54:40.440 –> 00:54:49.050 William Ritter: yeah so um there’s a couple of ways, one you could go to a songtosee.com that song and to not a number two song to.

00:54:50.520 –> 00:54:57.210 William Ritter: songtosee.com and on there, you can actually there’s a section, that is, the.

00:54:58.350 –> 00:55:03.000 William Ritter: The Bobby McMillan legacy that’s kind of home for it right now, you can listen to a lot of bobby’s recordings.

00:55:03.870 –> 00:55:10.200 William Ritter: And things like that, as like transfer them over for these cassettes, and things and some bits of wisdom that we’re finding.

00:55:10.980 –> 00:55:21.390 William Ritter: And then, but, but also on our website, you can find out more about what I do from music and also the seed saving part which we talk more about and the last podcast that I was on here.

00:55:22.710 –> 00:55:30.390 William Ritter: But then there’s also you could go to the Blue Ridge Heritage area website, they have a directory that you can find all these different.

00:55:31.830 –> 00:55:36.210 William Ritter: You know, artists, that are practicing traditional.

00:55:37.770 –> 00:55:48.960 William Ritter: folkways and folk songs on things like that, so you can find a lot of them on there I’m on there, it says a little bit about me and also there’s a website that’s

00:55:49.530 –> 00:56:03.840 William Ritter: My wife and I have that’s SarahandWilliam.Weebly.COM, but any of those ways will get you to me and also songtoseed has a, of course, has a Facebook page, but we also have a YouTube channel.

00:56:04.980 –> 00:56:13.260 William Ritter: where you can go and most of what I have on there, right now, as Bobby McMillan stuff that I’ve been uploading so you can kind of see in here some of what we’ve been talking about.

00:56:13.470 –> 00:56:29.550 Joseph McElroy: Well, I want to, I want to thank you for being on the show today second time around, has been very informative very good I’m pleased to have you and I look forward to seeing you this summer at the Meadowlark Heritage Center Plott Fest it some other things too.

00:56:30.000 –> 00:56:32.340 William Ritter: yeah me too I’m definitely looking forward to it.

00:56:32.850 –> 00:56:40.470 Joseph McElroy: Yes, this is the Gateway to the Smokies podcast we’re on if you go to smokies adventure.com, you can see the podcast.

00:56:41.190 –> 00:56:56.490 Joseph McElroy: Link at the top of the page to get all the previous things we also have a Facebook page Facebook.com/gatewaytothesmokiespodcast where you can watch it live what streaming find out more information we’re part of talkradio. nyc, which is a network of.

00:56:58.260 –> 00:57:13.830 Joseph McElroy: That has live podcast every day, ranging from small business and self-help to travel to all sorts of interesting thing, so this podcast the gateway the smokies is every week Tuesdays from six to seven now see you next Tuesday, thank you all for listening.

We are joined by our special guest, Jeff Hunter, Senior Program Manager with the National Parks ConservationAssociation (NPCA) in Asheville, where he works on a variety of issues pertaining to protecting and improving the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. Presently, he is focused heavily on a collaborative project designing and building a wildlife crossing on I-40 in the Pigeon Forge in Haywood County, near the Tennessee state line.

In our conversation with Jeff, he discusses the importance of Preserving our Natural Resources and improving the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. He mentioned how you can help by spreading awareness, identifying solutions, and providing leadership to make it happen.

https://smokiessafepassage.org/ 

https://www.npca.org/people/jeffrey-hunter

Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

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00:00:41.010 –> 00:00:44.400 Joseph McElroy: Howdy! Thanks for joining us on this week’s episode of

00:00:44.460 –> 00:00:54.240 Joseph McElroy: Gateway to the Smokies, this podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the great smoky mountains national park, and the surrounding towns.

00:00:54.600 –> 00:01:05.610 Joseph McElroy: This area is filled with ancient natural beauty deep-storied history wonderful adventures and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes.

00:01:06.060 –> 00:01:19.290 Joseph McElroy: I am Joseph Franklin McElroy a man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains my family’s lived in the great smoky for over 200 years my business is in travel, but my heart is in mountain culture.

00:01:20.460 –> 00:01:24.510 Joseph McElroy: Today’s podcast we’re talking about safe wildlife passages in the smokies.

00:01:25.920 –> 00:01:29.460 Joseph McElroy: But first let’s hear from our sponsors, which happens to be me.

00:01:31.320 –> 00:01:40.020 Joseph McElroy: hey imagine a place evocative of motor courts of the past in modern and vibrant with a Chic Appalachian feel.

00:01:41.010 –> 00:02:01.560 Joseph McElroy: The amenities, of a country and a place for adventure and for relaxation imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill to catch on fire and eat accompanied by fine wine or craft beers imagine a place with the old-time music and world cultural sounds.

00:02:02.820 –> 00:02:15.630 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place with mountain heritage, food, and an underground speakeasy there is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley North Carolina, your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay.

00:02:17.250 –> 00:02:28.170 Joseph McElroy: smokies adventure.com that’s plural smokies singular adventure information and listings about the smokies it, it provides lots of.

00:02:29.970 –> 00:02:42.420 Joseph McElroy: Resources for hiking, trail maps, knowledge about the area even things like wedding venues outdoor wedding venues, you can get books, you can get.

00:02:44.040 –> 00:02:51.600 Joseph McElroy: hiking guide, you can get books about the mountain culture it’s a really great resource, the emphasis of the smokies adventure.

00:02:51.870 –> 00:03:12.870 Joseph McElroy: Is I said outdoor recreation outdoor life events like weddings and adventures, along with providing information about lodging entertainment events conventions honeymoons tourist opportunities and it’s a great resource for being one of the top information portals on the smoky mountains.

00:03:14.580 –> 00:03:25.140 Joseph McElroy: Upcoming, so somewhere between caricature and character, there exists in authentic a truly unique culture of the smoky mountains.

00:03:25.950 –> 00:03:38.160 Joseph McElroy: understanding that culture blends the global and the local the old and the new and gains relevance and understanding of the elements of culture that brought us to where we are now and where we can go in the future.

00:03:39.210 –> 00:03:52.200 Joseph McElroy: The Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center located at the beautiful Meadowlark Motel is proud to announce a series of 20 heritage-themed events scheduled for 2022.

00:03:53.430 –> 00:04:02.520 Joseph McElroy: Each of these events is designed to understand a different element of smoky mountain culture and lead members and guests on a journey of understanding for the past and the future.

00:04:03.270 –> 00:04:11.640 Joseph McElroy: The first event is Saturday, February 26 2022 at 4 pm at the Meadowlark Motel, Maggie Valley.

00:04:12.540 –> 00:04:25.500 Joseph McElroy: it’ll be led by the Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center General Manager and Award-winning Author Bob Plott, as he launches the first of six heritage book programs and a book signing of his books.

00:04:26.100 –> 00:04:42.600 Joseph McElroy: The first program focuses on the history, of the Plott Hound the official state dog of North Carolina a legendary breed with a rich and storied history in Haywood County featured will be Bob’s first book strike and stay the story of the Plott hound.

00:04:43.890 –> 00:04:56.760 Joseph McElroy: Which is recognized as one of the premier hunting dogs in America, the Plott hound is unique among honey dog breeds because it descends from Germanic stock rather than the traditional English foxhound.

00:04:57.390 –> 00:05:07.260 Joseph McElroy: The breed story began when its original breeder Joe Hound Plott and his brother Enoch left Germany in 1750 with their prize honey dogs.

00:05:07.710 –> 00:05:19.830 Joseph McElroy: it’s this trip across the Atlantic that began the 200-year journey that will culminate in the North Carolina Mountains with the development it was now arguably the world’s finest breed of honey hunting dog.

00:05:20.880 –> 00:05:34.860 Joseph McElroy: This fascinating story of the Plott family and the Plott hound is a classic American tale of adventures and underdogs a story that Bob Plott, the great great great grandson of Joe Hounds Plott is uniquely qualified to tell.

00:05:35.460 –> 00:05:40.470 Joseph McElroy: This upon an informative program will be followed by a delicious Barbecue dinner and acoustic.

00:05:40.920 –> 00:05:47.970 Joseph McElroy: Music with Mike Ogletree the former drummer for Simple Minds and some other friends, making for an entertaining afternoon and evening.

00:05:48.540 –> 00:06:04.440 Joseph McElroy: The event is free to motel guests and heritage club members and non-members and local residents are welcome to attend the program and enjoy dinner and music for only $10 per person call 828 926 1717 to book your room and or your reservation.

00:06:05.520 –> 00:06:14.880 Joseph McElroy: More upcoming what’s better for the soul than throwing a line upstream watching it pass doing again and again and perhaps getting a bite.

00:06:15.630 –> 00:06:20.820 Joseph McElroy: All anglers know that fly fishing isn’t only about reeling in the big one.

00:06:21.540 –> 00:06:32.970 Joseph McElroy: All that’s all though that’s the one that always gets our hearts jumping blushes fishing is about being one with the river and its magnificent presence while witnessing a valuable ecosystem.

00:06:33.630 –> 00:06:39.330 Joseph McElroy: The Meadowlark Motel is offering fly fishing trout camp weekends and the smoky mountains.

00:06:39.870 –> 00:06:51.120 Joseph McElroy: What began as a way to get a group of friends together on the river is going into a way of bringing like-minded people together through fly fishing food, drinking the campfire in our recreation area.

00:06:51.690 –> 00:07:01.980 Joseph McElroy: camp weekends are perfect for those new to fly fishing and those looking for some extra instruction or anyone with experience, who enjoys fishing and a small group of making new friends.

00:07:02.640 –> 00:07:14.520 Joseph McElroy: Each trip is built around those attending and we all share those experiences, you can expect quality time in the river and nights around the campfire or in the speakeasy if it’s not so nice.

00:07:14.790 –> 00:07:24.690 Joseph McElroy: With a drink in half-truths and tall tales are always at the camp and camps are limited to 20 anglers and there’s going to be one instructor to every two campers.

00:07:25.770 –> 00:07:39.750 Joseph McElroy: So the first one is April 15 to 16th 2022 located at the Meadowlark Motel that’s $875 per person in the guide services beast coast anglers owned and operated by

00:07:40.260 –> 00:07:50.880 Joseph McElroy: Charles Humphrey III, really interesting guys have master fisherman he’s also been on this podcast talking about.

00:07:51.570 –> 00:07:59.700 Joseph McElroy: Music, amongst other things, he’s an award-winning songwriter in fact we’re talking about doing a songwriting camp with him later in the year.

00:08:01.140 –> 00:08:07.560 Joseph McElroy: and includes a couple of nights for lodging free breakfast and on Saturday and Sunday for a Barbecue dinner.

00:08:08.160 –> 00:08:16.140 Joseph McElroy: To free beverages and speakeasy a half a day of hands-on instruction in the morning and then four hours of intense fishing on this.

00:08:16.410 –> 00:08:25.350 Joseph McElroy: On an elite stream Saturday afternoon and entertainment at the motel Saturday evening, and then a little checkout and Sunday morning with a nice breakfast probably with some trap.

00:08:27.120 –> 00:08:34.290 Joseph McElroy: Call eight to 8289261717 to make reservations and they are also some programs on the history of fly fishing.

00:08:35.250 –> 00:08:41.280 Joseph McElroy: And also what’s happening in the mountains about fishing, but now we’re here to talk about wildlife.

00:08:42.030 –> 00:08:53.490 Joseph McElroy: passages and preserving the smokies and our guest today is Jeff Hunter he is a Senior Program Manager of the National Parks Conservation Association, the NPA CA and national.

00:08:53.910 –> 00:09:04.740 Joseph McElroy: where he works on a variety of issues pretending to protect and improve the great smoky mountains National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Appalachian National scenic trail.

00:09:06.090 –> 00:09:17.670 Joseph McElroy: Presently, he is focused heavily on a collaborative project designing and building a wildlife crossing on I-40 in the Pigeon Forge in Haywood County, near the Tennessee state line. Hello Jeff.

00:09:18.510 –> 00:09:20.550 Jeff Hunter: hey Joseph good to see you thanks for having me.

00:09:20.820 –> 00:09:26.610 Joseph McElroy: Sure thing good to see you, so I understand you’re originally from New York State Rockland County I think.

00:09:26.970 –> 00:09:27.570 Jeff Hunter: I am.

00:09:28.080 –> 00:09:32.760 Jeff Hunter: yeah CHF and Clark county high school North class of 1979.

00:09:33.060 –> 00:09:40.680 Joseph McElroy: cool well back then raccoon was I was pretty full of wildlife, I read that you called your childhood Pharaoh What did you mean.

00:09:41.490 –> 00:09:50.430 Jeff Hunter: I was in the woods every chance, I could get fishing and looking for frogs and toads and turtles and snakes anything I could find that was while.

00:09:51.840 –> 00:09:58.200 Jeff Hunter: And that slow, I saw that slowly disappear over the years, you know, was an inspiration to do what I do today.

00:09:58.740 –> 00:10:01.530 Joseph McElroy: wow you know I grew up in Haywood County and.

00:10:02.760 –> 00:10:05.160 Joseph McElroy: I guess I would describe mine as a little bit Feral like that.

00:10:06.750 –> 00:10:10.380 Joseph McElroy: I think, was to go down to the pond or the Greek and fish for our so.

00:10:12.420 –> 00:10:24.450 Joseph McElroy: So I’m so pretty early on, you got involved in environmental issues, you were part I ever that you were part of an effort in the 90s, to save sterling forest what inspired you and how did you get involved in that.

00:10:24.960 –> 00:10:26.130 Jeff Hunter: Well, that was my home.

00:10:26.760 –> 00:10:28.620 Jeff Hunter: Forest was you know my backyard.

00:10:29.130 –> 00:10:34.680 Jeff Hunter: Well, I hike or I fished, and there was a this is 18,000 acres with a privately-owned lance.

00:10:35.190 –> 00:10:50.340 Jeff Hunter: And the orange of those lands had plans for 14,000 housing units and 8 million square feet of commercial office space in the headwaters of North New Jersey is drinking water supply and so myself and others who love that place got together and.

00:10:51.480 –> 00:11:00.390 Jeff Hunter: You know, eventually, the owner of that land became a willing seller and turn that over, and now we have sterling for a state park in New York, so what.

00:11:00.450 –> 00:11:01.740 Jeff Hunter: about protecting what you love.

00:11:02.640 –> 00:11:05.940 Joseph McElroy: What was the what will you think there was a tipping point to make that happen.

00:11:06.780 –> 00:11:16.170 Jeff Hunter: I think the public sentiment and persuading the local Congressman that it was in the best interests of his constituents to protect this place so.

00:11:16.890 –> 00:11:19.230 Joseph McElroy: How big is your crew, did you guys have that we’re doing this.

00:11:19.530 –> 00:11:23.370 Jeff Hunter: Oh, there were hundreds of folks I played I played a bit part let’s be honest.

00:11:23.430 –> 00:11:25.230 Joseph McElroy: I mean you were young, yeah you know.

00:11:26.280 –> 00:11:32.100 Jeff Hunter: You know, I was in my 30s at the time, and I was raising a family, but I stood up at public meetings and.

00:11:33.240 –> 00:11:39.060 Jeff Hunter: Let my voice be heard and volunteer and got involved at the volunteer level right.

00:11:40.290 –> 00:11:46.020 Jeff Hunter: And that set the stage for you know changing careers and moving on to what I do today.

00:11:46.680 –> 00:12:00.840 Joseph McElroy: Well, prior to coming down South you had a 20-year degree career 20-year career in New York, most of that was a Verizon as an engineer, but your college degree was in environmental studies, how did you end up there.

00:12:02.580 –> 00:12:17.340 Jeff Hunter: Good question, so I ended up in Verizon because I didn’t apply myself in college, shall we say, so what one takes what they get but you know I worked hard and I started in the Union position and was promoted to management and.

00:12:18.720 –> 00:12:26.730 Jeff Hunter: You know, raise some kids and bought a home in orange county New York, but eventually, you know that wasn’t enough, so I wanted a little bit more out of life and.

00:12:28.080 –> 00:12:31.950 Jeff Hunter: started to look around for volunteer opportunities and get involved in the Community.

00:12:33.150 –> 00:12:35.040 Jeff Hunter: And one thing leads to another, and here we are.

00:12:35.370 –> 00:12:42.750 Joseph McElroy: yeah well remember you were telling me one story about something happening in New York City of you are involved with security or something like that.

00:12:43.830 –> 00:12:51.630 Jeff Hunter: yeah I handled a New York state’s metadata for the horizon and the 90s and that’s every single call the data so.

00:12:52.890 –> 00:13:03.090 Jeff Hunter: I worked with those national security issues, and it was an interesting time it was usually pretty boring but every once in a while, like a hot when there was a terrorist incident, for instance.

00:13:04.500 –> 00:13:04.980 Jeff Hunter: So.

00:13:06.390 –> 00:13:15.990 Joseph McElroy: cool wow big difference well we’re gonna take a break right now and then we’ll come back and we’re talking about how you made that change what led up to that change in your life.

00:13:16.890 –> 00:13:17.190 Okay.

00:15:32.910 –> 00:15:45.030 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts with my guest Jeff Hunter so Jeff, I will, I have two different stories yeah ready website that.

00:15:45.690 –> 00:15:58.080 Joseph McElroy: The Appalachian trail through high changed your life and that’s why you made your career change with you just you texted me about music and you said, the grateful dead or larger responsible for my career change, so I got two stories I got here.

00:15:58.380 –> 00:16:03.060 Jeff Hunter: Sure sure okay so back in the 90s.

00:16:04.440 –> 00:16:23.490 Jeff Hunter: You know, I was a fan of live music and the dead was one of my favorite bands and I got some tickets to go see a benefit concert at the garden in New York, and so I attended, and it was the dead and a bunch of other folks Baba today all the tunji the great Nigerian drummer and.

00:16:25.080 –> 00:16:31.530 Jeff Hunter: lots of other folks and they were talking in between artists about the issue of tropical rainforest ecosystems.

00:16:32.220 –> 00:16:46.500 Jeff Hunter: And it really you know I’d never heard anything about it, and so I started a group in my community and started reaching out to public schools and engaging Community members, and you know, I was that lit my fire more than.

00:16:48.120 –> 00:16:49.170 Jeff Hunter: Verizon did shall we.

00:16:49.170 –> 00:16:49.470 say.

00:16:50.550 –> 00:16:57.270 Jeff Hunter: And so you know if you can find a way to get paid for what your passion is you know that’s the path that I chose to follow.

00:16:57.870 –> 00:17:06.330 Jeff Hunter: And you know along the way, speaking of paths, you know, then the Appalachian trail came along, and in 2000 I took a leave of absence and.

00:17:06.870 –> 00:17:17.190 Jeff Hunter: walk from Georgia domain and that was the coup de gras right there the corporate experience you know I did not want to go back to white noise and 68 degrees and the hum of mainframe computers.

00:17:18.690 –> 00:17:24.630 Jeff Hunter: The call of the wild, shall we say, apologies to jack London was begging to me.

00:17:25.200 –> 00:17:26.940 Joseph McElroy: You know that’s it’s funny but you know.

00:17:29.070 –> 00:17:40.170 Joseph McElroy: The grateful dead concert was also instrumental in me making a major career-changing my existence, I was working at IBM research triangle park out of college for eight years and.

00:17:40.890 –> 00:17:48.210 Joseph McElroy: You know I sort of got burned out, you know wasn’t I did really well, but I wasn’t I didn’t like big corporate existence and I.

00:17:48.630 –> 00:18:07.740 Joseph McElroy: I went to I and I’ve been working on losing some weight and lost a lot of weight and then I went to a grateful dead concert and in Raleigh right and I went dressed in a coat and tie suit and tie right from work, and when I left I no longer had the coat and tie and bought.

00:18:09.090 –> 00:18:09.930 Joseph McElroy: All sorts of.

00:18:11.010 –> 00:18:13.440 Joseph McElroy: stuff and it was working that.

00:18:14.670 –> 00:18:32.070 Joseph McElroy: And really after that never looked never even considered core corporate existence anymore, within a few months, I had left and was you know traveling and doing my artistic entrepreneur existence, it was like you know it was like the catalyst.

00:18:32.130 –> 00:18:38.430 Jeff Hunter: So you know, and I know that there’s nothing like a grateful dead concert and you know those are days gone by.

00:18:38.700 –> 00:18:47.790 Jeff Hunter: Oh, it was such a profound experience you know, and when issues of the day, were brought into that wonderful music, it was moving and inspiring.

00:18:48.120 –> 00:18:58.350 Joseph McElroy: yeah so um so so you know this so 2000 years how long did you how did long did it take you to do that three through like I mean it’s interesting to me.

00:18:59.040 –> 00:19:11.400 Jeff Hunter: If people five and a half months, so I started march seven down in Georgia, you know winter conditions in the mountains for sure and got to Maine on August 21st so.

00:19:12.870 –> 00:19:21.420 Jeff Hunter: five and a half months with 26 or 28 days, where I didn’t walk a mile what we would call a zero-day where you take a day off so.

00:19:21.930 –> 00:19:28.620 Joseph McElroy: We hear a lot about people taking us working through walking it, but how many people actually do the through the whole thing.

00:19:29.460 –> 00:19:33.210 Jeff Hunter: You know, since I did it 22 years ago the numbers have almost doubled.

00:19:33.480 –> 00:19:36.540 Jeff Hunter: Really, which is a concern, because you know listen.

00:19:37.920 –> 00:19:40.200 Jeff Hunter: There are finite resources in the mountains and.

00:19:42.120 –> 00:19:42.420 Jeff Hunter: But.

00:19:43.530 –> 00:19:53.640 Jeff Hunter: it’s the most beloved trail in the world, and I think at the time that I did it there were maybe somewhere around 400 or 500 people who completed it that year.

00:19:53.970 –> 00:20:00.690 Jeff Hunter: mm hmm I don’t know what the current numbers are but the volume of traffic on the trail is increased significantly.

00:20:01.410 –> 00:20:04.350 Joseph McElroy: that’s interesting, do you think they’ll have to do some sort of.

00:20:05.730 –> 00:20:13.200 Joseph McElroy: eventually have to do something to slow that down or segment it out, or you know, giving maybe let people do segments, or what would they do.

00:20:13.380 –> 00:20:15.840 Jeff Hunter: You know that’s a question for brighter minds the mind.

00:20:15.870 –> 00:20:28.890 Jeff Hunter: But, clearly we want to have a sustainable trail right, we want to have an experience that our children can have our grandchildren can have, and make sure that that remains, you know, an amazing place.

00:20:30.090 –> 00:20:31.170 Jeff Hunter: to inspire and.

00:20:33.450 –> 00:20:35.460 Jeff Hunter: make people curious about the natural world.

00:20:36.330 –> 00:20:51.090 Jeff Hunter: So thankfully it’s the largest volunteer effort, I think, in the States, it’s the trail is maintained by volunteers, the Appalachian trail conservancy is amazing in their stewardship of this trail it’s also a unit of the National Park service.

00:20:51.450 –> 00:20:51.900 So.

00:20:53.130 –> 00:20:54.900 Jeff Hunter: it’s got some own behind it, shall we say.

00:20:54.960 –> 00:20:59.550 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know there’s a nice little segment of it that goes to the rocky mountain park right.

00:21:00.330 –> 00:21:02.880 Jeff Hunter: yeah the smokies I did the smokies and six days.

00:21:04.290 –> 00:21:09.870 Jeff Hunter: It was cold, it was wet and I was glad to come out of the mountains, but the beauty was not lost on me.

00:21:09.960 –> 00:21:10.170 Right.

00:21:11.250 –> 00:21:16.620 Jeff Hunter: You know whether it was climbing the rich molly’s rich damn Python time and Bam or you know.

00:21:17.790 –> 00:21:26.220 Jeff Hunter: up at newfound gap trying to hitchhike a ride down into Gatlinburg to no avail, and then continuing in the snow onto the north, end of the park.

00:21:27.990 –> 00:21:33.420 Jeff Hunter: Now I probably complained a little bit back then, but here I am in the warmth of the home, and I can look back and say.

00:21:34.740 –> 00:21:36.210 Jeff Hunter: Forget about the aches and pains.

00:21:37.860 –> 00:21:45.540 Joseph McElroy: You know we have a lot of hikers that come and stay at the hotel when they come out of the mountain and they all talk about the beauty of it, you know it’s like a.

00:21:45.990 –> 00:21:53.460 Joseph McElroy: You know it’s really a trend transcended for some of them, so when you did this hike was that your first time in the smoky mountains.

00:21:53.880 –> 00:21:54.810 Jeff Hunter: It was actually.

00:21:55.290 –> 00:21:57.000 Jeff Hunter: You know it’s funny today.

00:21:58.230 –> 00:22:03.480 Jeff Hunter: my daughter Martha sent me a photograph of something I mailed to her from the trail.

00:22:04.710 –> 00:22:06.090 Jeff Hunter: I was at a hostel in

00:22:07.350 –> 00:22:14.970 Jeff Hunter: a place that no longer exists called mountain mama’s country store was your big creek at the Waterville exit off I- 40.

00:22:15.630 –> 00:22:26.460 Jeff Hunter: And I found a piece of sycamore bark and I wrote my daughter a note on this piece of bark and I mailed it to her when she was 10 years old and so 22 years later today.

00:22:27.330 –> 00:22:36.420 Jeff Hunter: And it said something to the effect of you know, this is a beautiful place and I want to, I want to bring you here someday and she lives in Tennessee now and I live in North Carolina.

00:22:36.450 –> 00:22:41.580 Joseph McElroy: wow did you ever think when you were doing that hike you would end up living in this area.

00:22:41.970 –> 00:22:44.370 Jeff Hunter: Not in my wildest dreams, to be honest with you.

00:22:45.660 –> 00:22:48.150 Jeff Hunter: it’s you know I’m a lucky man.

00:22:49.350 –> 00:22:59.190 Jeff Hunter: You know my I followed my passion and my dad used to always say work hard and it’s not my favorite thing to do, but.

00:23:00.840 –> 00:23:05.130 Jeff Hunter: I tried to follow his advice and it’s led to some good outcomes I’m grateful for that.

00:23:05.580 –> 00:23:06.990 Joseph McElroy: Well, how did you end up in the smokies

00:23:09.390 –> 00:23:10.830 Jeff Hunter: You mean on the trail or.

00:23:10.890 –> 00:23:13.290 Joseph McElroy: No, no, moving down here how did you end up here.

00:23:13.530 –> 00:23:21.360 Jeff Hunter: Oh gosh so it’s a real circuitous journey, I guess, in 2003 I moved from the lower Hudson Valley, I was living in Warwick New York.

00:23:21.420 –> 00:23:22.140 Jeff Hunter: orange county.

00:23:22.320 –> 00:23:33.570 Jeff Hunter: Apple Country to Chattanooga Tennessee and I worked for five years for the American hiking society working on recreation issues involving trails in a nine-state region.

00:23:34.410 –> 00:23:46.740 Jeff Hunter: And from there, I was recruited to go and lead a wilderness campaign focused on the Cherokee national forest which eventually protected permanently four and a half miles of the Appalachian trail and a new wilderness area.

00:23:48.630 –> 00:24:04.470 Jeff Hunter: From there, I was recruited to go out to California, to the Eastern Sierra a high desert landscape, to work on that in that place, and then I was lucky enough to be able to come back here to the East and work for National Parks Conservation Association in the Asheville area.

00:24:05.130 –> 00:24:11.850 Joseph McElroy: Oh cool what was a well when we first came here to American hiking society, what was the project that attracted you.

00:24:12.570 –> 00:24:21.270 Jeff Hunter: it’s called the Southern Appalachian initiative, and it was an effort to build a 5000-mile interconnected network of hiking trails in a nine-state region.

00:24:22.830 –> 00:24:27.690 Jeff Hunter: included something at the time that was called the Western Appalachian alternative which was.

00:24:28.140 –> 00:24:43.890 Jeff Hunter: This view of long-distance south to north hiking trail west of the Appalachian trail, which today exists it’s called the Great Eastern trail so that vision of a new system of protected lands that would offer experiences to folks really called to me.

00:24:45.570 –> 00:24:51.240 Jeff Hunter: And it’s funny a friend of mine sent me that job posting for someone who I met in Manhattan.

00:24:52.290 –> 00:25:05.250 Jeff Hunter: who’s now he’s gone he’s passed, but I would not have known about that job unless you’ve mailed me that that announcement you know so sometimes it’s about being in the right place right time and connected to the right people and.

00:25:05.850 –> 00:25:10.620 Joseph McElroy: Did you have anything to the mountain to the sea trail part of that or is it something different.

00:25:10.920 –> 00:25:19.470 Jeff Hunter: Oh yeah the mouse to sea trail was definitely involved so in 2007 I I’m a facilitator it’s one of the things I do I facilitated their first-ever.

00:25:21.210 –> 00:25:22.170 Jeff Hunter: Strategic Plan.

00:25:23.280 –> 00:25:29.820 Jeff Hunter: I also work with the Carolina mountain Club in Asheville that same year, and helped them with this change plan their first.

00:25:32.520 –> 00:25:39.930 Jeff Hunter: So yeah I love the MST I’ve walked parts of it in the smokies and parts of it along the Blue Ridge parkway it’s a great system.

00:25:40.860 –> 00:25:45.930 Joseph McElroy: So you, you went hippie for a little while went out to California and then he came back.

00:25:48.480 –> 00:25:54.090 Joseph McElroy: And what was the project that brought you back to the national parks conservatory conservation association.

00:25:54.210 –> 00:25:57.060 Jeff Hunter: Well it’s interesting you know when I interviewed for the job.

00:25:58.830 –> 00:26:05.280 Jeff Hunter: The gentleman interviewing me tossed up a book on the table in front of me and said there’s your work plan, and it was a.

00:26:05.970 –> 00:26:14.790 Jeff Hunter: was a document that was drafted by a friend and colleague of mine who are when you know works for the wilderness society, it was called return the great forest.

00:26:15.420 –> 00:26:22.380 Jeff Hunter: And in that document, it talked about the issue with interstate 40 being an obstacle to wildlife moving from the South to the North.

00:26:23.040 –> 00:26:31.620 Jeff Hunter: And that, when I heard about that I thought wow that’s a topic, I think I could sink my teeth into because who likes to see an animal get hit on the road right nobody.

00:26:32.730 –> 00:26:41.040 Jeff Hunter: And the older, I get the more it pisses me off, frankly, and so it provided an opportunity to put some energy into that effort.

00:26:42.360 –> 00:26:47.520 Joseph McElroy: So what is the type of work that you do, what is it you actually do in your job.

00:26:48.090 –> 00:26:51.960 Jeff Hunter: Sure, I like to think I bring people together to have.

00:26:53.610 –> 00:26:56.730 Jeff Hunter: Successful meetings with good outcomes that benefit the natural world.

00:26:58.200 –> 00:27:05.670 Jeff Hunter: And the communities that surround them so whether it’s protecting clean water or clean air or teaching the next generation about.

00:27:07.350 –> 00:27:20.820 Jeff Hunter: civics how to get involved in the system, how our parks are owned by all of us that’s lost on people they don’t realize the smokies belongs to every single American is our heritage.

00:27:21.960 –> 00:27:31.350 Jeff Hunter: And it’s entrusted to the National Park service they manage those lands for us but Congress ultimately appropriates the funds that make that system run.

00:27:31.860 –> 00:27:35.430 Jeff Hunter: And, and the American voice is important, so we lift up voices and.

00:27:36.690 –> 00:27:39.450 Jeff Hunter: Protect place and wildlife and it’s.

00:27:42.840 –> 00:27:45.390 Jeff Hunter: it’s it’s a large responsibility.

00:27:46.800 –> 00:27:47.190 Jeff Hunter: To have.

00:27:48.090 –> 00:27:53.910 Joseph McElroy: So a little bit of a Community organizing a little bit of PR and a little bit of hard work right.

00:27:54.750 –> 00:28:05.220 Jeff Hunter: yeah you know I learned how to be an organizer when I lead the Tennessee wild wilderness campaign if you’re going to pass legislation in Congress, you need to bring people together and so it’s about.

00:28:06.690 –> 00:28:12.960 Jeff Hunter: Bringing diverse voices, you know all across the political spectrum together and common cause and that’s what I do.

00:28:14.730 –> 00:28:21.600 Joseph McElroy: All right, well, we have to take another break and when we come back we’ll talk the more about this passion for the wildlife and the safe passage.

00:30:28.110 –> 00:30:34.650 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast my guest Jeff Hunter.

00:30:35.130 –> 00:30:41.820 Joseph McElroy: So Jeff one of our earliest guests in the show is a colleague of yours, Frances Figart and we’re carrying her.

00:30:42.630 –> 00:30:56.580 Joseph McElroy: You know her book safe passages book at the Heritage Center bookstore and you know it’s a wonderful little story for finding out about, especially for teams, I think, to learn about wildlife crossings and why they’re good.

00:30:57.690 –> 00:30:58.320 Joseph McElroy: Can you.

00:30:59.520 –> 00:31:05.370 Joseph McElroy: Can you tell us you’re working on a project now to create a wildlife crossing you mentioned, where is that.

00:31:06.660 –> 00:31:18.120 Jeff Hunter: Here, so I facilitate a collaborative effort it’s you know we have federal state tribal and non-governmental organizations coming together around the table.

00:31:18.870 –> 00:31:28.170 Jeff Hunter: working to improve wildlife’s ability to cross Interstate 40 in a 28-mile stretch just outside the smokies that are eight miles in Tennessee.

00:31:28.500 –> 00:31:38.670 Jeff Hunter: And 20 miles north Carolina from the Maggie valley exit to the State line in the state line to the foothills parkway in Tennessee we’re looking really closely and seeing how can we.

00:31:40.080 –> 00:31:41.520 Jeff Hunter: How can we fix this situation.

00:31:42.630 –> 00:31:49.140 Jeff Hunter: For instance, we had 101 dead bears down along the side of the road, and the last three years.

00:31:50.220 –> 00:31:57.630 Jeff Hunter: 2019 2020 2021 three years and that’s probably two and a half times low that numbers and that’s.

00:31:59.040 –> 00:32:05.670 Jeff Hunter: Some people would say that’s the cost of doing business and I disagree and so we’re coming together working on that.

00:32:06.990 –> 00:32:09.630 Joseph McElroy: Have you how do you get, how do you get those mortality records.

00:32:11.250 –> 00:32:18.960 Jeff Hunter: Well, historically, they exist across various agencies, but you know, for the real-time stuff the last three years are driving surveys.

00:32:20.010 –> 00:32:26.040 Jeff Hunter: Every week going out and driving the corridor and looking you know, on the road to see.

00:32:27.300 –> 00:32:36.300 Jeff Hunter: what’s been hit our focus species have been black bear white-tailed deer and elk big stuff you know, because if you hit that with your car.

00:32:36.690 –> 00:32:41.700 Jeff Hunter: It could cause serious property damage, maybe personal injury and you can actually quantify the impact.

00:32:42.300 –> 00:33:00.750 Jeff Hunter: Of that damage and, of course, if you can make it better for those big things to cross the road, perhaps you, you can improve it for the little stuff right and the smokies are filled with little stuff whether it’s salamanders or snakes or you name it, you know raccoons small mammals.

00:33:01.830 –> 00:33:09.090 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah I mean for all those big ones die there are probably 10 times that are the small animals or die right.

00:33:09.240 –> 00:33:10.770 Jeff Hunter: The small stuff has no shot.

00:33:10.800 –> 00:33:18.240 Jeff Hunter: In this corner right there’s it’s two lanes each direction there’s a concrete barrier in the middle.

00:33:19.800 –> 00:33:28.110 Jeff Hunter: You know it’s a death trap, but some of the big stuff can get through, but with 26,000 vehicles, a day you know a lot of stuff that gets killed.

00:33:28.410 –> 00:33:38.310 Jeff Hunter: we’re looking forward to the day when there’s 35,000 vehicles, a day or 45,000 vehicles, a day and nothing has a shot that’s the situation we’re trying to avoid.

00:33:38.700 –> 00:33:43.560 Joseph McElroy: When a lot of cases humans get hurt too, but pretty badly there’s a lot of costs associated with that right.

00:33:44.040 –> 00:33:50.670 Jeff Hunter: Well, on average over 200 Americans every year are killed in wildlife-vehicle collisions so it’s a real situation.

00:33:51.960 –> 00:33:58.020 Jeff Hunter: You know and Maggie Valley right there are thousand-pound bull elk you did not want to hit a bullet with your

00:33:59.550 –> 00:34:00.510 Joseph McElroy: Total your car.

00:34:01.470 –> 00:34:02.280 Jeff Hunter: You know so.

00:34:02.370 –> 00:34:17.100 Jeff Hunter: You know the US 19 through Maggie Valley right there that’s a slower road than I 40 and so you’re going 60 miles an hour on I-40 and an elephant here in the middle of the road that’s a problem that’s a big problem.

00:34:18.750 –> 00:34:29.670 Joseph McElroy: You know I you I went to that presentation you didn’t Maggie Valley chamber, commerce and you were talking about that I thought was an interesting project you guys do use you put up live cameras right to keep track of where they’re crossing.

00:34:30.540 –> 00:34:40.080 Jeff Hunter: Now we had about 120 cameras spread out in the gorge over two years you know, in the right of way seeing what’s encroaching on the roadway also.

00:34:41.670 –> 00:34:51.780 Jeff Hunter: Checking structures, like you know exits are their animals going underneath the bridge or the crossing on the highway there and so we’ve got an A tremendous amount of information.

00:34:52.980 –> 00:35:08.580 Jeff Hunter: Next month will be reconvening the stakeholders and making some key decisions about our research findings, you know where can we agree on priority areas in the gorge you can’t fix everything right you can’t literally fix everything on every road.

00:35:09.450 –> 00:35:16.320 Jeff Hunter: We can establish priorities and get together and make a concerted effort to make the world that place we’ve all wanted to see.

00:35:17.400 –> 00:35:27.330 Joseph McElroy: that’s cool you know, one of the wonderful I really sort of uniquely memorable experiences reaches is not only the great geographical beauty but.

00:35:28.380 –> 00:35:38.670 Joseph McElroy: The easy access and exposure to unusual wildlife big ones like the elk and deer Turkey and black bears and I know that, during my lifetime.

00:35:40.170 –> 00:35:51.750 Joseph McElroy: When there was time those animals were almost extinct, and you know, in our case, the elk was extinct and it’s got reintroduced so it’s really great to see all these species have rebounded and are increasing.

00:35:52.980 –> 00:36:05.760 Joseph McElroy: But it took decades to do that, and the last thing we want is to see these animals will be decimated again now so I’m pretty happier doing so what is the current status of the project.

00:36:06.720 –> 00:36:07.290 So.

00:36:08.370 –> 00:36:22.080 Jeff Hunter: We conducted this to your research, as I mentioned, and we’re in the final stages of analysis and late in late March march 29 actually will be convening stakeholders and Haywood Community College.

00:36:23.760 –> 00:36:27.930 Jeff Hunter: Shannon Rabbie there who runs the wildlife program is opening up that.

00:36:29.940 –> 00:36:36.330 Jeff Hunter: That University that College for us that Community college and will be his students will actually be volunteering and observing.

00:36:36.690 –> 00:36:52.170 Jeff Hunter: Alongside folks from the National Park Service, the fire service, the North Carolina Department of Transportation the Tennessee wildlife resource agency, and lots of other groups, looking at maps, looking at the hotspots where stuff getting killed and what might we do together.

00:36:53.490 –> 00:37:00.930 Jeff Hunter: to fix that and I certainly don’t have all the answers, right here, right now, those answers will need to come together.

00:37:02.970 –> 00:37:03.930 Jeff Hunter: through collaboration.

00:37:04.290 –> 00:37:05.730 Joseph McElroy: mm hmm what.

00:37:06.750 –> 00:37:12.660 Joseph McElroy: What is it all government-funded or also private money or donations how’s it getting funded.

00:37:13.080 –> 00:37:20.640 Jeff Hunter: So so for my work, we don’t receive government funding national parks conservation association is funding funded by ours.

00:37:21.090 –> 00:37:33.630 Jeff Hunter: members and supporters and if folks want to learn more they can check us out at mpc a dot Org but in terms of safe passage our research partners, while dance network and my organization.

00:37:34.710 –> 00:37:36.990 Jeff Hunter: Are funding the research have funded the research.

00:37:38.040 –> 00:37:48.270 Jeff Hunter: And we’re coming together when we first started talking about this issue, there were no dollars at the state or federal level to do anything about reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions.

00:37:48.750 –> 00:37:57.240 Jeff Hunter: But here’s the good story here’s the exciting stuff now just in the last six months, Congress has passed an infrastructure bill.

00:37:58.230 –> 00:38:06.180 Jeff Hunter: That appropriate that that provides 350 million dollars over five years for pilot projects to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions.

00:38:07.110 –> 00:38:21.030 Jeff Hunter: So there are issues all over the country, but when you have all the stakeholders together in one room already talking about the issues following science taking a science-based approach we’ve got a real shot at those competitive dollars so.

00:38:22.620 –> 00:38:24.600 Jeff Hunter: there’s good stuff on the horizon we’re hoping.

00:38:25.020 –> 00:38:28.440 Joseph McElroy: As soon as well you know how long it take to takes to complete this one.

00:38:29.580 –> 00:38:35.070 Jeff Hunter: You know it’s hard to say, this is nothing that happens quickly in the transportation world.

00:38:36.180 –> 00:38:44.310 Jeff Hunter: These agencies plan out 2025 years so looking at the growth they’re anticipating where they’ll need to widen roads so.

00:38:45.690 –> 00:39:01.080 Jeff Hunter: Hopefully there’ll be some short-term benefits for wildlife, you know if we can figure out areas where fencing can funnel wildlife to existing structures and get them safely under the road to protect motorists and the wildlife themselves.

00:39:02.400 –> 00:39:09.900 Jeff Hunter: will look for those I’m sure bigger stuff if there’s the new infrastructure needed, you know whether that’s why like overpasses or underpasses.

00:39:11.160 –> 00:39:13.980 Jeff Hunter: That will take a little longer right because you have feasibility.

00:39:16.350 –> 00:39:20.370 Jeff Hunter: I’m an organizer our research tells us where the problems are right, but you need.

00:39:20.370 –> 00:39:30.420 Jeff Hunter: an engineer to say Okay, the geology here is stable enough to do something, whether it’s a wildlife overpass or an underpass so those folks you know.

00:39:30.900 –> 00:39:40.380 Joseph McElroy: So you’re going to build a mix of things like going through culverts and doing stuff at overpasses and only animals use and that sort of there will be people be able to use as overpasses.

00:39:41.310 –> 00:39:45.480 Jeff Hunter: So, best practices wildlife only for overpasses right.

00:39:46.710 –> 00:40:02.760 Jeff Hunter: And so that would be certainly my desire, I will say this, that not far from Maggie Valley it’s probably about a 90-minute drive if someone was Dr 19 down to near Fontana Dam on North Carolina 143.

00:40:04.080 –> 00:40:12.000 Jeff Hunter: The do T as an answer they’re going to build a bridge for wildlife and Appalachian trail hikers at a place called stucco a gap.

00:40:12.300 –> 00:40:24.240 Jeff Hunter: Oh, this is between sheila bald and Fontana damn on the trail that’s a rugged area it’s also the first place, I did a 20-mile day to get to a payphone to call my 10-year-old daughter, on her.

00:40:27.960 –> 00:40:38.130 Joseph McElroy: Well that’s fabulous I mean it’s so nice to see that there are others are there, others are happening, do you are, you are you do you know of any other projects, you might be working on that are.

00:40:41.130 –> 00:40:48.030 Jeff Hunter: You know, every interstate highway this east, west where it passes through public lands becomes a problem for wildlife.

00:40:48.120 –> 00:40:50.250 Jeff Hunter: If you don’t have wildlife.

00:40:52.320 –> 00:40:59.940 Jeff Hunter: factored into the design of the roadway so so we’re looking you know where we’re looking at I 40 we’re looking a little north or south.

00:41:01.020 –> 00:41:05.880 Jeff Hunter: The key is that we’re working with the agencies we’re building a community of practice right.

00:41:06.240 –> 00:41:07.770 Jeff Hunter: Here in the East, you don’t have as.

00:41:07.770 –> 00:41:16.500 Jeff Hunter: Many wildlife overpass underpass structures to see do out West, you know, because the majority of public lands in this country let’s face it, or out West.

00:41:17.070 –> 00:41:33.570 Jeff Hunter: But here in North Carolina and Tennessee we’ve got the smokies but 523 000 acres you know, surrounded by the napa Haleigh the pisco Cherokee national forests, the Blue Ridge parkway there’s an abundance of public lands and so it’s in the public’s interest right.

00:41:34.680 –> 00:41:37.230 Jeff Hunter: 14.1 million visitors to the smokies.

00:41:37.350 –> 00:41:42.690 Jeff Hunter: yeah who wants to hit a bear on your way to make a what a way to ruin a vacation right.

00:41:42.750 –> 00:41:43.140 Joseph McElroy: Real quick.

00:41:43.320 –> 00:41:44.520 Joseph McElroy: Real quick in her yeah.

00:41:44.940 –> 00:41:45.720 Jeff Hunter: Right so.

00:41:47.250 –> 00:41:49.680 Jeff Hunter: You know it’s a big picture approach we’re taking.

00:41:50.460 –> 00:42:01.560 Joseph McElroy: Well, besides, you know obvious government regulations and bureaucracy and things like that Where are you getting pushback from anything for doing this sort of thing.

00:42:02.580 –> 00:42:11.730 Jeff Hunter: You know it’s funny it’s nice to have an issue like this right, I mentioned earlier, I ran a wilderness campaign wilderness can be pretty contentious you know because.

00:42:11.940 –> 00:42:20.910 Jeff Hunter: you can’t take a mountain bike you can’t take anything motorized and wilderness can’t even take a chainsaw wilderness right, you have to clear the trails with a cross-cut saw the old-timey way.

00:42:21.960 –> 00:42:28.290 Jeff Hunter: The issue I’m working on with safe passage is is the public is just responding and great ways.

00:42:29.370 –> 00:42:43.560 Jeff Hunter: They understand the issues clearly I mean every you drive the interstate you’re going to see that there are deer dead raccoons dead foxes and coyotes it gets old right it’s like can we fix that and.

00:42:44.730 –> 00:42:51.870 Jeff Hunter: So people get excited about the idea of actually having their tax dollars spent on something that not only benefits them but benefits wildlife.

00:42:52.740 –> 00:43:04.860 Joseph McElroy: cool well, we got to take another break here when we come back we’ll talk a little bit about you know your knowledge of the area where visitors might want to come to do.

00:45:05.910 –> 00:45:12.120 Joseph McElroy: howdy it is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with a gateway to the smokies podcast and my guest Jeff Hunter so.

00:45:12.540 –> 00:45:17.400 Joseph McElroy: Jeff you, you know the Appalachian trail you’ve gone the whole distance and you know you know the.

00:45:17.970 –> 00:45:33.360 Joseph McElroy: Great smoky mountain national park and the Blue Ridge parkway so I doubt there are many folks that know all these betters all these three areas, better than you so where what would you tell visited this area that are really nice places to visit what’s your favorite place.

00:45:33.930 –> 00:45:35.580 Jeff Hunter: Oh gosh there’s so many.

00:45:36.900 –> 00:45:45.330 Jeff Hunter: You know I’ve got a map of the smokies here, open up on my desk while I’m talking to you, and you know, one of my favorite places of the Blue Ridge parkway.

00:45:46.080 –> 00:45:53.520 Jeff Hunter: To hike in the smokies is that flat creek trail and that’s just a short distance from Maggie Valley it’s.

00:45:54.120 –> 00:46:12.630 Jeff Hunter: it’s a relatively easy trail of walk with big rewards, particularly in spring with songbirds and flowers that are a favorite place or you can drive up to the parkway and go north to what a rock knob which has over 6000 feet beautiful views cool weather.

00:46:14.460 –> 00:46:18.750 Jeff Hunter: You know that’s close right now, because of the season, but those are a couple of favorite places.

00:46:20.130 –> 00:46:21.330 Jeff Hunter: The Cataloochee Valley.

00:46:21.810 –> 00:46:23.310 Jeff Hunter: um which is you know.

00:46:23.370 –> 00:46:24.390 Joseph McElroy: A spectacular.

00:46:25.020 –> 00:46:40.020 Jeff Hunter: Maggie Valleys the gateway there that’s where elk reintroduced just over 20 years ago and there are historic structures there a lot of historical interpretation about the folks who live there, back in the day and.

00:46:41.100 –> 00:46:49.710 Jeff Hunter: Last time I was there I saw a couple of bears eating apples and some apple trees that and those trees are there because there were settlers there.

00:46:50.190 –> 00:46:51.570 Jeff Hunter: And one of the partners created.

00:46:53.430 –> 00:47:01.920 Joseph McElroy: Now I took my three-year-old up there, when I was, like last time now down there they just they got to see out for the first time that first big animal of any sort and they were just dumped.

00:47:03.540 –> 00:47:09.960 Joseph McElroy: old enough to know that it was something you know what I mean it’s like yeah getting their experience the wildlife early is great.

00:47:11.610 –> 00:47:18.660 Joseph McElroy: Do you have any places where a real experienced hiker needs to get you would have to go to anything like that.

00:47:18.810 –> 00:47:22.890 Jeff Hunter: Oh yeah I totally do I’m flipping the map over here.

00:47:24.660 –> 00:47:28.560 Jeff Hunter: I’ll tell you a little story, if I may.

00:47:28.830 –> 00:47:32.010 Jeff Hunter: Sure, my wife and I, Carra.

00:47:33.660 –> 00:47:41.820 Jeff Hunter: We went to the park in late December with the goal of hiking the Booger Man trail.

00:47:42.270 –> 00:47:52.680 Jeff Hunter: Boogerman trail goes through the old-growth forest this huge giant oak trees and poplar trees and all the hemlocks are dead, sadly, but lots of big trees remain.

00:47:53.250 –> 00:48:01.470 Jeff Hunter: We were going to make a loop with the Caldwell for the trail, and unfortunately there were a series of bridges out on the Caldwell for the trail.

00:48:02.280 –> 00:48:13.770 Jeff Hunter: that’s a result of the maintenance backlog with the park service and that’s an issue we work on to ensure park funding so that parking infrastructure allows for safe experiences for visitors now.

00:48:15.000 –> 00:48:24.450 Jeff Hunter: I guess we’re not your typical visitors we like that you know Alan a hairy edge sometimes, so we ended up doing all those stream crossings waiting across them in the winter.

00:48:25.920 –> 00:48:28.260 Jeff Hunter: The water was waist-deep in some places.

00:48:30.330 –> 00:48:36.990 Jeff Hunter: It was exhilarating it was in nursing, but in the end, it’s an experience will never forget.

00:48:37.590 –> 00:48:39.960 Joseph McElroy: So that the experience people don’t take your kids there.

00:48:41.760 –> 00:48:51.000 Joseph McElroy: But that’s cool well you’re also you told me a music aficionado and you live in the Asheville area whatever what are you some of your favorite music places in that area.

00:48:51.330 –> 00:48:57.210 Jeff Hunter: Well, so there’s a new place called rabbit downtown that has a lot of outdoor shows.

00:48:58.230 –> 00:48:59.010 Jeff Hunter: In Ashville.

00:49:00.120 –> 00:49:10.560 Jeff Hunter: And we have tickets to go see bony there this June and Bonnie light Horsemen that should be fun of course he had the orange peel and places like the great eagle great venues.

00:49:11.790 –> 00:49:16.230 Jeff Hunter: You know it’s really a shame, what the pandemic has done to these live music venues they’re.

00:49:17.520 –> 00:49:27.960 Jeff Hunter: Really they’re there they’re trying to keep above water, so you know as we emerged from this crisis, you know I would encourage people to support the local establishment’s local music scene.

00:49:28.590 –> 00:49:38.670 Jeff Hunter: You know here in Burnsville where I live, and Yancey County, which is about 40 minutes from Asheville we have a place called the homeplace brewery and you’ll get a kick out of this.

00:49:39.690 –> 00:49:44.160 Jeff Hunter: This spring marks the 50th anniversary of the grateful dead’s Europe 72 tour.

00:49:44.310 –> 00:49:48.990 Jeff Hunter: Oh so on may 25 of 2022.

00:49:49.590 –> 00:49:50.160 Jeff Hunter: On the air.

00:49:50.250 –> 00:50:04.080 Jeff Hunter: The MC and a host for an event at the homeplace brewery in Burnsville where we will stream the show from May 26 1972 the Lyceum in London, England, and will stream that in its entirety.

00:50:04.920 –> 00:50:11.700 Jeff Hunter: Hopefully, will you know get the dance a little bit and enjoy the days leading up to Memorial Day weekend so.

00:50:11.790 –> 00:50:15.240 Joseph McElroy: wow you’d be able to give some commentary about what you remember.

00:50:15.810 –> 00:50:19.680 Jeff Hunter: Well, you know at the time I was 11 right my show is was 78.

00:50:19.740 –> 00:50:30.510 Jeff Hunter: So, but that’s my favorite period of music the beauty, is that folks back in the day recorded the show, so these recordings for man are artifacts.

00:50:32.310 –> 00:50:37.770 Jeff Hunter: And they’re out in the public domain it’s you know it’s a gift that keeps on giving.

00:50:38.160 –> 00:50:43.200 Joseph McElroy: Did you see that documentary of the Beatles that last concert that just recently came out.

00:50:43.590 –> 00:50:52.650 Jeff Hunter: I haven’t known, and you mentioned Frances who you had on your podcast recently she and I were corresponding over the weekend and she asked if the car and I had seen that yet.

00:50:52.950 –> 00:50:57.870 Jeff Hunter: She and her husband had just seen it so it’s on the yes pile, but we will get there.

00:50:58.440 –> 00:51:02.010 Joseph McElroy: yeah I got so many on my got to see pile it’s like yeah.

00:51:03.090 –> 00:51:16.680 Joseph McElroy: there’s too much content these days and I’m a content producer so it’s always an adventure so what’s the website people can go to to find out more information about wildlife past the wildlife passages.

00:51:16.860 –> 00:51:27.690 Jeff Hunter: sure that the address is smokies safe passage and that’s Smokiessafepassage.Org

00:51:29.190 –> 00:51:38.580 Jeff Hunter: And you know, there are six nonprofit organizations that have come together, specifically to create that website and push information out to the public.

00:51:39.240 –> 00:51:44.850 Joseph McElroy: cool and if they want to follow you is do you have any place for them to come follow you.

00:51:45.690 –> 00:52:00.960 Jeff Hunter: I, the only place I’m at other than here and Burnsville are LinkedIn, believe it or not, you know, I was an early adopter to that networking platform and that’s really it’s actually helped in my work and building the efforts.

00:52:02.280 –> 00:52:04.290 Jeff Hunter: To protect places like the smokies so.

00:52:04.590 –> 00:52:09.780 Joseph McElroy: I noticed that to find you those Jeffrey H you don’t have your last name up there yeah.

00:52:09.840 –> 00:52:12.330 Jeff Hunter: I think that’s the privacy setting you just have to.

00:52:12.720 –> 00:52:13.170 Jeff Hunter: Really.

00:52:13.230 –> 00:52:15.090 Jeff Hunter: Unless you’re connected to me you can’t see the last name.

00:52:15.180 –> 00:52:21.660 Joseph McElroy: Well, to try and find somebody is trying to search for you right you try to search for the different hunter and you will find you.

00:52:22.590 –> 00:52:23.790 Jeff Hunter: I think they’ll find, I think.

00:52:24.960 –> 00:52:34.560 Joseph McElroy: I was just trying to do that earlier and I couldn’t I had to do it, I had actually gone Jeffrey and then your position and you’re an organization that’s I found.

00:52:34.710 –> 00:52:41.040 Jeff Hunter: yeah listen to people who want to reach out here’s my email is Jayhunter@NPCA.Org

00:52:41.460 –> 00:52:43.560 Jeff Hunter: And I love a conversation over coffee.

00:52:43.560 –> 00:52:45.030 Jeff Hunter: Virtual or otherwise.

00:52:45.540 –> 00:52:54.750 Joseph McElroy: Well cool I appreciate when I come down here, you should come out to Meadowlark and see what we’re doing there and hang out and have a car, I have, I have something the speakeasy we’re doing some music now too so.

00:52:55.410 –> 00:52:58.050 Jeff Hunter: I’ll do that, you can rest assured.

00:52:58.470 –> 00:53:09.510 Joseph McElroy: All right, that’d be cool I’d like to hang out appreciate you being on this podcast it’s been enlightening I think you’re doing is a fantastic thing and I love the grateful dead connection.

00:53:12.270 –> 00:53:13.410 Joseph McElroy: Of the small world isn’t it.

00:53:13.410 –> 00:53:15.270 Joseph McElroy: Oh, to do a dead, have you ever been to burning man.

00:53:16.320 –> 00:53:16.770 Jeff Hunter: You know.

00:53:17.490 –> 00:53:31.260 Jeff Hunter: I’ll just throw this and I actually teach classes on the grateful dead at UNC Asheville it’s a volunteer effort, I just through the pandemic I’ve been doing it virtually to bring people together and build community and that’s what I do is build Community I try anyway.

00:53:31.770 –> 00:53:44.610 Joseph McElroy: So cool alright so again, thank you very much, so this podcast is on the talk radio dot NYC network, which is a network of the live podcasts.

00:53:45.720 –> 00:53:52.620 Joseph McElroy: ranging from small business help to self-help to travel shows to you know to.

00:53:53.760 –> 00:54:01.830 Joseph McElroy: Health shows alternative wellness and I think it’s a very interesting network, you should go to talkradio.NYC and look at all the shows and.

00:54:02.130 –> 00:54:11.130 Joseph McElroy: Follow someone can listen to them live, I also have another podcast on Fridays at noon it’s called wise content creates wealth, which focuses in.

00:54:11.580 –> 00:54:22.650 Joseph McElroy: On using content to build your opportunities, whether it’s you’re looking for a profit of monetary sense or building a community is fun getting followers is just giving a cause known.

00:54:23.520 –> 00:54:41.670 Joseph McElroy: You know, you can find out more about that, on my podcast this podcast at the gateway to the smokies and you can find out more about it it’s smokiesadventure.com there is a link at the top, for the gateway to smoking’s podcast you can see all the previous podcast.

00:54:42.930 –> 00:54:50.970 Joseph McElroy: And, and the newsletter that you can sign up to you can also go to talk radio dot nyc to their shows section and click there and find out more about the shows.

00:54:51.780 –> 00:55:01.410 Joseph McElroy: We also have a Facebook page where it streamed live its facebook.com/gateway tothesmokiespodcast where you will definitely.

00:55:03.060 –> 00:55:06.000 Joseph McElroy: see more and more about us.

00:55:07.290 –> 00:55:12.990 Joseph McElroy: it’s been a really great pleasure to have you again, and I want everybody to go to that safe.

00:55:14.070 –> 00:55:30.480 Joseph McElroy: passages website that he mentioned and donate I notice there’s a donate button there, and so we should all go in a little, because what is happening is very important, and I think that we should be part of it looks like you got a great section on getting involved too.

00:55:30.870 –> 00:55:32.730 Joseph McElroy: Really for newsletter take a.

00:55:32.730 –> 00:55:38.460 Joseph McElroy: pledge education and even though, about what upcoming events you have that grateful dead there when I hope so.

00:55:40.290 –> 00:55:44.070 Joseph McElroy: Anyway, see you guys next week it’s been a pleasure bye.

We are joined by our special guest, Darren Nicholson, an Award-winning Charter Member of the Legendary Contemporary Bluegrass Group, Balsam Range, and fronts his own Darren Nicholson Band on side projects, while also doing solo gigs and multiple collaborative efforts with other musicians-- including duo concerts with his wife Jennifer.

We had him on the show last season and even repeated it once last year due to its popularity, so we invited him again this year, especially since he has a new project that has just been released-“Man on a Mission.”

Darren Nicholson is a gifted singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist. You will learn from him some of his original American music from the mountains of Western North Carolina. He also discusses with us his newly released project " Man on a Mission."

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Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

Joining us again on this second season of Gateway to the Smokies is Darren Nicholson. Before speaking with Nicholson, Joseph talks about his sponsor for today’s show which is his own Meadowlark Motel and Smokiesadventure.com, focusing on outdoor life in the Smoky Mountains. He also goes into special events happening at the motel such as activities like fly fishing. He then introduces Nicholson, who is a member of the legendary contemporary bluegrass group, Balsam Range, and fronts his own Darren Nicholson Band on side projects, while also doing solo gigs and multiple collaborative efforts with other musicians. Nicholson talks about dealing with the pandemic and getting back to songwriting going into 2021 when he wasn’t performing live. Joseph recalls when Nicholson helped out last year in Haywood County when there was a big flood. He along with Balsam Range did a concert to bring the community together during the relief efforts. Nicholson also talks about the Balsam Range Art of Music Festival.

Joseph and Nicholson discussed their collaboration last year to create the Darren Nicholson All-Star Bluegrass Band Camp. Nicholson talks about wanting to do this to pass down and share the Mountain music and keep the culture strong with others who are passionate about music and want to play. He describes it as a communal experience inspiring and engaging with others. Nicholson also mentions some artists in his lineup for his music festival and how special it was to have them in. They talk about his recent past performances at the motel and Haywood County and more about bluegrass music. Nicholson also talks to Joseph about being more of a mentor now being almost a veteran in the bluegrass industry. He talks about one of his own mentors, Steve Sutton, and the invaluable time he spent with him and how he has helped him over time in maturing and becoming the man he is today.

Joseph talks with Darren about his new album called “Man on a Mission.” Darren talks about some of the music on the album sounding edgy to even some having a bluegrass sound as well as rock n roll. This he says is his fourth solo project which is on the Mountain Home label. Darren mentions writing about himself and his experiences. He says he likes to write songs that tell stories, not paint pictures. He says that there's something about bluegrass and country music that is so authentic and connects people together. Joseph says that his favorite song for the album is called “All Night Long.” he says that it relates to old Appalachian music. Darren talks about the feeling of loss and lonesome which was one of the emotions that he wanted to get out of this song.

Joseph and Darren talk about Charles Humphrey who was a co-writer on his EP. You can go to darrennicholson.net to check out more of Darren’s music and merchandise. His new album can be downloaded on many streaming platforms like Itunes. Some Of his merchandise are stickers. Being someone who is an old-school wrestling fan, they joke about some of the humor like putting his face on Ric Flair’s body. He also talks about Balsam Range going into their 15th year together as well as making a Vinyl record. Darren also mentions that later this year he’ll be releasing a gospel album called “Songs of Hope and Inspiration.” Darren is also working with a bluegrass band called The No Joke Jimmys, from Nashville. There are a lot of fun shows he will be a part of this year. Darren also discusses always wanting to reinvent himself with his music. Joseph thanks Darren for coming on for today’s episode and Darren thanks him as well for a great conversation and for being a part of keeping the culture strong in North Carolina.

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00:03:01.980 –> 00:03:06.630 Joseph McElroy: Today, thanks for joining us on this week’s episode of gateway to the smokies.

00:03:07.140 –> 00:03:08.820 Joseph McElroy: This is the second season.

00:03:09.120 –> 00:03:19.440 Joseph McElroy: Of this podcast focuses on the life, culture, and tourism of America’s most visited National Park, the great smoky mountains national park, and the surrounding towns.

00:03:19.920 –> 00:03:29.520 Joseph McElroy: these areas are filled with ancient natural beauty a deep storied history and stunning adventures, and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly events or

00:03:30.420 –> 00:03:43.560 Joseph McElroy: episodes I’m Joseph Franklyn McElroy a man of the world, but also a deep roots in these mountains my family’s lived in the great smoky for over 200 years my business is in travel, but my heart is in culture.

00:03:44.460 –> 00:03:50.040 Joseph McElroy: today’s podcast we’re talking about original Americana music coming from Western North Carolina.

00:03:51.090 –> 00:03:55.080 Joseph McElroy: First let’s talk about our sponsors, which happens to be me in this case.

00:03:57.780 –> 00:04:11.850 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place evocative of motor courts of the past, it modern and vibrant with a Chic Appalachian feel a country in amenities, a place for adventure and for relaxation.

00:04:12.360 –> 00:04:23.580 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on fire and eat accompanied by a fine wine and craft beers.

00:04:24.030 –> 00:04:37.740 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place of old-time music and world cultural sound imagine a place with mountain heritage, food, and an underground speakeasy where music kind of source play and listen to really great tracks.

00:04:38.370 –> 00:04:45.690 Joseph McElroy: There is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel Maggie Valley North Carolina your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay.

00:04:47.760 –> 00:04:58.050 Joseph McElroy: Also, sponsoring us as smokies adventure.com smokies, smokies is plural, adventure is singular.com it’s got information and listings about the smokies it’s a.

00:04:58.410 –> 00:05:12.720 Joseph McElroy: Big directory and also has a lot of articles about the going and enjoying the smokies focuses on outdoor life like hiking camping and family adventures and outdoor recreation also gets into.

00:05:13.260 –> 00:05:24.780 Joseph McElroy: where you can have outdoor weddings and then find out information on lodging and cabins and conventions of honeymoons and more it’s it’s going to become the leading information portal just smoking out.

00:05:26.160 –> 00:05:33.300 Joseph McElroy: Now there’s a couple of events coming up at the Meadowlark I wanted to mention on February 26 at 4 pm we

00:05:33.900 –> 00:05:39.960 Joseph McElroy: were going to launch the Meadowlark smoky mountain heritage Center six-part heritage book series.

00:05:40.560 –> 00:05:50.910 Joseph McElroy: With award-winning author and general manager of the meadowlark smoky mountain heritage Center Bob Plott, the first book will be talked about what we strike and stay the story the Plot Hound

00:05:51.900 –> 00:06:00.210 Joseph McElroy: recognize now is one of the premier hunting dogs in America, the Plott bear, how does unique among honey dog breeds because it descends from Germanic stock.

00:06:00.720 –> 00:06:11.490 Joseph McElroy: Rather than the traditional English box, the breed story began when its original breeder Joe hands Plott and his brother Enoch left Germany in 1750 with their price, how many dogs.

00:06:11.910 –> 00:06:24.840 Joseph McElroy: And the trip across the Atlantic to give a 200-year journey that would culminate in the North Carolina mountains, with the development of what is now arguably the world’s finest breed of hunting dog.

00:06:25.500 –> 00:06:36.390 Joseph McElroy: And it’s now the state dog of North Carolina so the program well will be about that book and have wonderful stories that Bob is a great storyteller.

00:06:36.660 –> 00:06:42.720 Joseph McElroy: And it will be followed by a Barbecue dinner around six culminating in live acoustic music with Mike Ogletree

00:06:43.170 –> 00:06:55.170 Joseph McElroy: Former drummer with the super band simple minds and some of his friends, all this is free for Motel guests and $10 for visitors call eight to 8289261717 and reserve your spot.

00:06:56.160 –> 00:07:02.250 Joseph McElroy: And then I want to mention far ahead and April on the 15th and 16th we’re gonna have a fly fishing camp.

00:07:02.790 –> 00:07:13.050 Joseph McElroy: it’s a there’s going to be high trout guides limited it’s and owned by world-class fishermen named Dan Sastre who’s a 15 year veteran of the fly fishing industry.

00:07:13.410 –> 00:07:21.630 Joseph McElroy: and staff, including Charles Humphrey III a Grammy award-winning songwriter and long-time fly fishing expert.

00:07:22.050 –> 00:07:27.150 Joseph McElroy: There will be an instructor for every two students with a maximum of 20 students.

00:07:27.630 –> 00:07:41.820 Joseph McElroy: The price is $875 per student and includes and it will be in the instruction, but two nights of lodging free breakfast Saturday and Sunday free Barbecue dinner Saturday night two free beverages of your choice at the speakeasy on Friday night.

00:07:42.330 –> 00:07:48.840 Joseph McElroy: one half of the day, on Saturday, will be instruction on in the morning on Saturday and then you’re going to go out with the instructors.

00:07:49.470 –> 00:08:01.680 Joseph McElroy: For four hours of intense fishing on various elite streams around Haywood County and then it will be able to come back to have some Barbecue and entertainment on the Motel on Saturday evening.

00:08:03.000 –> 00:08:19.110 Joseph McElroy: And then we have a mountain heritage for stream right in the backyard and mountain meadowlark where you, you can practice your trout stream experience fishing experience and learn a few things on your own call eight to 8289261717 to book your experience.

00:08:20.850 –> 00:08:34.770 Joseph McElroy: Now, as I mentioned, we will be talking about original new Americana music in Western North Carolina day, and in my research, I found a brief cold call poem called smoky mountain woman by Mary Lou Iweaka.

00:08:35.820 –> 00:08:49.860 Joseph McElroy: smoky mountain woman herself of Cherokee and Scotch Irish descent so often I think ballads and songs of Appalachia focus on a woman from a man’s point of view, so I thought I would just read this as an acknowledgment.

00:08:50.970 –> 00:08:59.010 Joseph McElroy: I rise in silence steadfast in the elements with thought a smoke movil drown drawn around me.

00:08:59.700 –> 00:09:11.130 Joseph McElroy: seasons clothed me and Laurel and bittersweet in ice, but my art part is constant fire scars and Torrance a road my shape.

00:09:11.700 –> 00:09:40.530 Joseph McElroy: But strength wells within me to bear new life and sustain what lives already four streams of wit relieve my heavy mind smoothing boulders cast up raw edge and the raven’s lonesome cry reminds me that the soul is is, as it has ever been time cannot support my stubborn thrust toward heaven.

00:09:42.720 –> 00:09:43.800 Joseph McElroy: I think that a man can.

00:09:45.510 –> 00:09:50.310 Joseph McElroy: Understand that who’s actually I think written some songs that talk about that.

00:09:50.700 –> 00:09:57.720 Joseph McElroy: Is Darren Nicholson he an award-winning charter member of the legendary contemporary bluegrass group balsam range.

00:09:58.080 –> 00:10:08.430 Joseph McElroy: And they also front his own Darren Nicholson band man on many side projects, I also did, while also doing solo gigs and multiple collaborative efforts with other musicians.

00:10:08.820 –> 00:10:29.280 Joseph McElroy: Including duo concerts with his wife Jennifer a gifted songwriter singer and instrumentalists Darren’s new solo project is a man on a mission which captures a wide range of his talents, as he focuses on the various variety of electric and acoustic American economy music. Hello Darren

00:10:29.790 –> 00:10:31.560 Darren N: I think, but glad to be here.

00:10:32.400 –> 00:10:39.540 Joseph McElroy: I’m glad you’re back it’s a really appreciate you coming back, we had you on our show last season.

00:10:40.590 –> 00:10:48.060 Joseph McElroy: Then we even repeated at once, because you were so popular you were by far the biggest listen to episode.

00:10:49.140 –> 00:10:49.800 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:10:50.850 –> 00:10:53.340 Darren N: I remember, they must have been desperate during the pandemic.

00:10:53.670 –> 00:10:53.970 Joseph McElroy: I know.

00:10:54.000 –> 00:10:57.720 Joseph McElroy: must have been desperate desperation maybe it’s just my stellar questioning.

00:11:00.750 –> 00:11:17.520 Joseph McElroy: But you have a new album which we’ll talk about a little bit, but tell me, we met, we talked in the middle of 2021 and you were just getting back to starting to do some live tour this 2020 was a pretty horrible year, what was the highlights of 2021 for you.

00:11:22.170 –> 00:11:24.570 Darren N: I tell you what there were a lot of great highlights for.

00:11:26.250 –> 00:11:32.010 Darren N: Well 2020 and 2021 you know I tried to keep a good attitude to the whole thing I think that’s important.

00:11:32.790 –> 00:11:38.760 Darren N: You know, when you can’t change the things around you you can’t change your attitude and so.

00:11:39.450 –> 00:11:51.540 Darren N: That helped me through the pandemic, but in 21 and even the year before I really dove into songwriting because I wasn’t touring I wasn’t playing live shows, I really.

00:11:52.230 –> 00:12:01.590 Darren N: dug my heels into the songwriting aspect and recording so I’ve got I’m sitting on a pile of recordings right now that that is going to be coming out in the next year and a half that.

00:12:02.280 –> 00:12:06.930 Darren N: That are just sitting on the shelf there’s going to be a bunch of new music released in the next year and.

00:12:08.250 –> 00:12:16.350 Darren N: Just lit a fire in me to create and now I get to go out and play live shows as well, so it’s an exciting time for my musical.

00:12:17.640 –> 00:12:18.450 Darren N: creativity.

00:12:18.990 –> 00:12:27.780 Joseph McElroy: yeah it looks like you guys that balsam range you launched a new album and September what was called moxie and metal and that was, I think, received pretty well right.

00:12:28.140 –> 00:12:34.320 Darren N: Oh yeah yeah we had four number one songs off of it, one was number one for six weeks.

00:12:35.400 –> 00:12:39.060 Darren N: And it’s been a good record for us.

00:12:39.420 –> 00:12:41.850 Joseph McElroy: Santa Barbara That was the one that was like four weeks.

00:12:42.240 –> 00:12:43.770 Darren N: I think it was richest man.

00:12:43.860 –> 00:12:44.730 Joseph McElroy: richest man.

00:12:47.190 –> 00:12:48.630 Darren N: Barbara was number one.

00:12:50.160 –> 00:12:53.070 Darren N: Rivers and rains runaway trains and.

00:12:55.620 –> 00:12:59.370 Darren N: Trends think there was maybe possibly grit and grace.

00:12:59.940 –> 00:13:02.910 Joseph McElroy: Alright cool well i’m.

00:13:03.060 –> 00:13:04.020 Darren N: dying time anyway.

00:13:04.320 –> 00:13:09.000 Joseph McElroy: So you didn’t get to start doing some touring there so I think like you said that was really good.

00:13:09.690 –> 00:13:22.620 Joseph McElroy: yeah but you know one thing that stuck out to me, and I remember reading about it and reminded about it when we’re here is you guys really stepped up when the Haywood county had a big flood last year and.

00:13:23.280 –> 00:13:29.580 Joseph McElroy: yeah and you, you guys jumped right in and did some relief work for the victims and you did a concert right.

00:13:30.330 –> 00:13:41.490 Darren N: But we did in August of last year, there was a major catastrophe here and haywood county major flooding several people lost their lives and.

00:13:41.970 –> 00:13:57.960 Darren N: Hundreds of people were displaced lost their homes lost everything and it was a and you know balsam range was a part of that, but it was just a chance for the community to come together a lot of people in this Community worked really hard and that’s what you do.

00:13:59.190 –> 00:14:12.810 Darren N: You there there’s so much divisive missing and things in our country now where it’s there’s so many polarizing issues and when something like it, unfortunately, it takes something like.

00:14:13.260 –> 00:14:24.390 Darren N: 911 or a major catastrophe, whether it’s on a major you know, a national scale or in your community to realize hey we’re.

00:14:25.830 –> 00:14:33.810 Darren N: we’re kind of in this together we’re still human beings, and we have to help each other and love each other and we got to be there to support each other and.

00:14:34.680 –> 00:14:51.000 Darren N: And that’s what people did, and it got our mind off the riffraff and the fray for a few minutes, and we all dug in and really helped and then a couple of months later, we went right back to crapping on each other on Instagram Twitter as we did.

00:14:54.150 –> 00:14:55.350 Darren N: Like we did it that’s all we do.

00:14:57.840 –> 00:14:58.740 Joseph McElroy: More yeah.

00:14:59.610 –> 00:14:59.850 Darren N: But.

00:14:59.880 –> 00:15:03.870 Darren N: But it was good, it was good to see the Community pulled together and.

00:15:03.870 –> 00:15:06.420 Darren N: We have we were part of that same way so.

00:15:06.660 –> 00:15:13.920 Joseph McElroy: You guys actually do a number of concerts even though you’re like a big band number ones, all that stuff you do you actually do I think.

00:15:16.710 –> 00:15:23.190 Joseph McElroy: More than a surprising amount of concerts in Haywood County right you got your own balsam range festival right.

00:15:24.060 –> 00:15:40.860 Darren N: Here we usually do to concerts a year in Haywood County has balsam range both of those are like Junalaska the auditorium and that’s probably the biggest venue there and the art of music festival that’s in December, the first weekend of December.

00:15:41.910 –> 00:15:52.800 Darren N: And we did that, for a couple of reasons, one economically that was the slowest weekend on record every year in Haywood County so we wanted to do something to bring folks into the show.

00:15:53.910 –> 00:16:01.470 Darren N: All these people were we travel all over the country we tell them about Western North Carolina balsam range, which is the mountain range here and Haywood County.

00:16:02.010 –> 00:16:11.310 Darren N: And we invite them to our home and they get to come and December, and it does something to stimulate the economy here, and it also is a chance for us to

00:16:11.760 –> 00:16:24.540 Darren N: showcase mute bring music that we find out on the road and show off to our home folks that they wouldn’t ever get to see and Haywood county and we get to bring folks in and show off our home county and so.

00:16:25.860 –> 00:16:32.940 Darren N: it’s just it’s been growing we started it as we’re in the fourth or fifth year now doing it exciting.

00:16:33.720 –> 00:16:36.420 Joseph McElroy: exciting it’s a big it’s a pretty big thing and that’s.

00:16:37.290 –> 00:16:43.140 Joseph McElroy: You and the other one is your own is that the balsam range festival, is that the way to Junaluska art festival.

00:16:44.250 –> 00:16:50.910 Darren N: it’s the same thing it’s it’s like General it’s like Junalaska but it’s called the balsam range art of music festival.

00:16:50.970 –> 00:16:52.080 Joseph McElroy: I see okay.

00:16:52.620 –> 00:16:58.260 Darren N: Because we didn’t call it a bluegrass festival because it’s not just bluegrass.

00:16:58.590 –> 00:17:02.970 Darren N: We did an album with the Atlanta POPs orchestra, and so we do a set of music.

00:17:04.140 –> 00:17:16.740 Darren N: that’s balsam range with the orchestra, but you know we have everything from rock and roll to country to do it’s too old-time ragtime blues, and so it really is music, which is what we love.

00:17:17.070 –> 00:17:29.520 Joseph McElroy: You know Bob Plott loves that you know I mentioned him as a GM of the Meadowlark and he wanted to make sure that I put in a pitch to say hey you know you do some openings prior to that we can we come in the Meadowlark

00:17:31.890 –> 00:17:32.460 Joseph McElroy: I.

00:17:32.490 –> 00:17:37.470 Darren N: we’re open to anything we want to we’ve tried to get Haywood County involved and incorporate.

00:17:38.520 –> 00:17:43.410 Darren N: Different venues and places throughout the year so we’re always open for new ideas.

00:17:43.650 –> 00:17:46.170 Joseph McElroy: Alright sounds good, well, we got to take a break.

00:17:48.600 –> 00:17:55.470 Joseph McElroy: Now, and we’ll come back we’ll talk about a little bit more about some stuff we’ve done ago, like the bluegrass band camp and then we’ll get into how.

00:20:11.430 –> 00:20:20.970 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and my guest Darren Nicholson, so there last year last summer.

00:20:22.020 –> 00:20:29.670 Joseph McElroy: We collaborated actually on presenting a band camp, the Darren Nicholson all-star bluegrass band camp.

00:20:30.270 –> 00:20:43.740 Joseph McElroy: And it was holding them in Meadowlark and I thought you know, for the first year we were doing anything with the mountain the smoky mountain heritage Center I think it was the most successful event, I think it was successful for being the first one.

00:20:44.940 –> 00:20:53.250 Joseph McElroy: And you know, I was, I was pleased now I wasn’t very heavily involved in creating that or whatever Bob and you, I think, discussing how did that come about.

00:20:54.210 –> 00:21:08.640 Darren N: Well, I think it was Bob’s idea, he approached me about doing something like that, at the Meadowlark and I said yeah I think that’d be a great idea I’m always for bringing new artists to Haywood County and I’m all always.

00:21:09.960 –> 00:21:22.380 Darren N: Looking to anything to promote mountain music, especially if it’s a band camp where folks are coming who are interested in music and doing workshops and camps, who are interested in playing because that is.

00:21:23.370 –> 00:21:29.940 Darren N: A big part of the fabric of Western North Carolina and and and mountain music is passing it down passing it on.

00:21:30.420 –> 00:21:39.060 Darren N: Like in my family, it was a family thing from generation to generation, but it was also a Community thing and that music was shared and.

00:21:39.570 –> 00:21:50.850 Darren N: that’s how the music got around you know it left Kentucky East Tennessee and Western North Carolina and bluegrass is all over the world, now, you know there’s bluegrass.

00:21:51.270 –> 00:22:01.740 Darren N: association in Switzerland there’s a bluegrass association in Europe and Australia I’ve played bluegrass there’s a fest there are festivals in Australia and.

00:22:02.370 –> 00:22:09.120 Darren N: I know, in the 50s and 60s my dad left Western North Carolina and these.

00:22:09.870 –> 00:22:20.070 Darren N: mountain people they went a lot of them went out West to the Seattle area to be a part of the login boom and they were part of the logging industry, just like.

00:22:20.490 –> 00:22:27.780 Darren N: folks in Tennessee and Virginia went north to work in the auto industry near Detroit and Ohio.

00:22:28.560 –> 00:22:34.800 Darren N: They went out west to log and they took the music with them and now there are bluegrass festivals and old-time music.

00:22:35.220 –> 00:22:46.320 Darren N: all over the place in Barrington Washington and Seattle there’s winter grass winter hog there’s all this bluegrass out there, so much that years ago they used to have a festival and say I will call the tar heel picnic.

00:22:47.520 –> 00:23:02.730 Darren N: It all comes from that spirit of sharing this music and sharing this culture right so anytime somebody has an idea to do something like that which I know Bob’s a big fan of that stuff and when y’all offered I’m on board with anything like that.

00:23:03.120 –> 00:23:12.390 Joseph McElroy: I remember seeing a young guy young boy, there was this guitar sitting the audience and then you go for, but he was like ecstatic right.

00:23:13.020 –> 00:23:14.070 Darren N: And then he still.

00:23:14.070 –> 00:23:16.740 Joseph McElroy: playing a really you know in.

00:23:16.770 –> 00:23:26.550 Darren N: Those kind of thing I remember as a player when players that I looked up to or older players encouraged me and said hey come on people with us and.

00:23:27.090 –> 00:23:34.260 Darren N: And and it’s such a Community thing music is one of the things that really brings people together and.

00:23:35.070 –> 00:23:44.010 Darren N: It is a communal experience and that young man is now I’ll let him borrow mandolin that I’ve got and he’s playing the mandolin he’s playing the.

00:23:44.910 –> 00:23:54.330 Darren N: guitar he’s doing less than several times a week and he’s becoming quite a musician and I’m really he’s named Henry and I’m really proud of him and.

00:23:55.110 –> 00:23:55.830 Darren N: But that’s.

00:23:56.370 –> 00:23:58.710 Darren N: that’s the lifeblood of this music.

00:23:59.610 –> 00:24:09.420 Joseph McElroy: wow that’s amazing you know that’s that is you’re getting younger generations to become totally enthralled with it and embrace it as a way it lives on.

00:24:09.990 –> 00:24:21.360 Joseph McElroy: forever I’m really glad of that and what small part I might have helped you know it makes me feel good that we did that now, you had an incredible all-star lineup including ADI Blaylock all right.

00:24:22.290 –> 00:24:27.660 Joseph McElroy: Can you tell me I can’t tell us about the people you lined up for that, and what they’re known for.

00:24:28.410 –> 00:24:35.670 Darren N: yeah already blade lock is a professional touring bluegrass musician he makes his home in Indiana but.

00:24:36.780 –> 00:24:44.040 Darren N: He started as a teenager with one of the legends of bluegrass Mr. Jimmy Martin Mr good and country.

00:24:52.110 –> 00:25:01.140 Darren N: And so, he went to school with and learned traditional bluegrass from probably the best teacher there was and.

00:25:02.220 –> 00:25:05.790 Darren N: And so already I’ve always loved his singing and he’s got this amazing.

00:25:06.840 –> 00:25:16.080 Darren N: voice, he can switch from lead to tanner just flawlessly he was born to sing bluegrass and country music and and and so.

00:25:16.920 –> 00:25:25.560 Darren N: far he doesn’t get to play in western North Carolina whole lot and for us to be able to bring him down here was a with a great big tree because he’s got a lot of fans, but he.

00:25:27.060 –> 00:25:38.520 Darren N: He was on the list of bass players was read Jones he tours with Ali and I knew they would they’re so used to playing in together the rhythm section very important in bluegrass so the.

00:25:38.520 –> 00:25:39.690 Darren N: bass guitar where.

00:25:40.140 –> 00:25:49.470 Darren N: I wanted that to be locked in and the fellow who played banjo is an award-winning banjo player from up in Wilkes Barre North Carolina name Eric Ellis.

00:25:49.890 –> 00:26:02.280 Darren N: And Eric’s a legendary banjo player he never traveled much he’s gone out and he did professional recordings and travel some but Eric was one of those guys that.

00:26:03.030 –> 00:26:21.900 Darren N: He was smart enough to get a job with the state of North Carolina and play bluegrass on the weekends and we live in an area it blows people’s minds that they’re guys that that work at the post office that play bluegrass at a higher level than most people in Ashville.

00:26:22.020 –> 00:26:23.040 Darren N: Right, no, I mean.

00:26:23.610 –> 00:26:33.690 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah I mean I think bluegrass is like you know they say poets usually can’t make a living and they have big jobs, I think it was the same thing for bluegrass right.

00:26:34.650 –> 00:26:38.700 Joseph McElroy: It can make poetry with the music, but a lot of times they have big jobs.

00:26:39.570 –> 00:26:40.530 Darren N: Exactly but.

00:26:40.860 –> 00:26:54.210 Darren N: It was fun, it was a fun time and On another note, audio is coming back in at the end of March 1 of April to do a couple of shows in Asheville and Haywood county with me so that’s all.

00:26:54.990 –> 00:26:56.700 Joseph McElroy: The haters your wife.

00:26:57.870 –> 00:26:59.700 Darren N: yeah well it’s his first cousin.

00:27:00.120 –> 00:27:10.080 Darren N: Oh really years ago I’d filled in with him at IBMA, he was in Nashville at the time, the international bluegrass music awards association and.

00:27:11.550 –> 00:27:24.720 Darren N: And he called me and I went and did a road date with him a couple of months later in Michigan and he said we’re playing it his cousin school and we went up there and, in my mind, I thought his cousin.

00:27:25.890 –> 00:27:30.390 Darren N: I don’t know why I had this in my head, because he didn’t say either way, but I thought his cousin was a guy.

00:27:31.110 –> 00:27:41.700 Darren N: And we went he’s we’re walking up to her apartment he said we’re going to go see my cousin was the night before we played the show the next day we’re walking up there, and he said hey my cousin’s pretty good looking.

00:27:44.130 –> 00:27:48.750 Darren N: And I realized what was going on and We walked through the door and man, she was.

00:27:50.520 –> 00:27:52.590 Darren N: And that’s how we met and.

00:27:54.150 –> 00:27:55.080 Darren N: next thing you know.

00:27:55.440 –> 00:27:56.520 Joseph McElroy: You play music together.

00:27:57.750 –> 00:27:58.170 Darren N: together.

00:27:59.040 –> 00:28:10.440 Joseph McElroy: that’s fabulous well I, you know that was, I want to say that that you that bluegrass man, which you sort of put together for this was a fabulous I mean that was the hard drive and.

00:28:11.970 –> 00:28:20.760 Joseph McElroy: That was real you guys play for hours, I mean it wasn’t just an hour concert you play for a long time you just seem like you’re having a blast right.

00:28:21.240 –> 00:28:35.310 Darren N: That was like getting the that was like getting a full dose of medicine, it was the straight shot to the arm of full unadulterated in your face.

00:28:36.960 –> 00:28:49.920 Darren N: adrenaline bluegrass like high octane bluegrass not just there’s within bluegrass there are 50 different styles, but that is like intense.

00:28:50.400 –> 00:29:03.210 Darren N: You got to bring your a game it’s not for the faint of heart bluegrass and in it, it puts it keeps me on my toes it’s at the top of what I can do musically and it challenges me and that’s why I like playing with him.

00:29:03.750 –> 00:29:07.890 Joseph McElroy: And the audience is there because it’s bluegrass they were just they were really into.

00:29:08.370 –> 00:29:12.300 Darren N: They don’t get to hear music like that it’s like a punk rock it’s that intensity.

00:29:12.450 –> 00:29:12.900 Joseph McElroy: And like.

00:29:13.830 –> 00:29:19.830 Darren N: A lot of bluegrass doesn’t sound like that and it’s as mark says it’s like getting hit in the face with a wet squirrel.

00:29:22.230 –> 00:29:25.050 Joseph McElroy: Well I’m hoping that we can do another one you think we can.

00:29:25.620 –> 00:29:29.340 Darren N: we’d love to yeah the guys, they said they’d love to come back anytime so.

00:29:29.490 –> 00:29:33.570 Joseph McElroy: Well, I think it’s Bob’s putting it on the schedule and working it out because I think it’d be.

00:29:33.570 –> 00:29:47.490 Joseph McElroy: Great of the fact you know, we want to do things where there are more camp things for not only adults or kids too and yeah now it’s where we’re you know we’re looking at some others as well.

00:29:48.840 –> 00:29:53.280 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know you have you’ve been having you actually had an opportunity.

00:29:54.480 –> 00:30:04.590 Joseph McElroy: To mentor and teach those guests about the music and songwriting on an afternoon is that something you enjoy doing is mentoring, the mentor quite often.

00:30:05.850 –> 00:30:18.630 Darren N: We get when people ask you know you know I, I would like to say that you know I’ve had some influence on you know some folks but.

00:30:19.110 –> 00:30:27.450 Darren N: I’ve always you know I’m the youngest one in the band I’ve always kind of been the one that’s been mentors but I’m starting to get to that point in my career where.

00:30:29.070 –> 00:30:33.450 Darren N: I’m getting some age on me, you know my hair’s falling out my beards turning Gray and.

00:30:34.890 –> 00:30:36.120 Darren N: I actually did a gig.

00:30:37.980 –> 00:30:47.010 Darren N: a few weeks ago over in Tennessee and I got there and I played with a young guy i’d never met before his name was John and he’s like what.

00:30:47.730 –> 00:30:59.100 Darren N: I was like hey I’m there and Nice to meet you and he goes what’s your last name and I said Nicholson and he said oh my God I love your me he goes I’ve listened to you since I was a little kid.

00:31:00.870 –> 00:31:01.290 Darren N: honor.

00:31:02.280 –> 00:31:02.580 And that’s.

00:31:05.850 –> 00:31:08.100 Darren N: talk to me the rest of that but.

00:31:09.720 –> 00:31:11.910 Joseph McElroy: Your third year 38 right now you’re still.

00:31:13.470 –> 00:31:15.090 Darren N: he’s 20 you know he’s 20.

00:31:15.780 –> 00:31:16.080 well.

00:31:17.220 –> 00:31:18.090 Joseph McElroy: Your toddler.

00:31:19.710 –> 00:31:22.800 Darren N: yeah he was he was super nice but.

00:31:23.970 –> 00:31:29.010 Darren N: yeah I’m starting to become the older generation of bluegrass and maybe.

00:31:30.060 –> 00:31:34.020 Darren N: Maybe I can mentor some folks I’ve been more of the tour mentor.

00:31:35.370 –> 00:31:35.610 Darren N: and

00:31:38.850 –> 00:31:44.070 Joseph McElroy: Well you’ve had you said, your boss ranger been mentor you had a great mentor and Steve Sutton did you.

00:31:45.600 –> 00:31:54.630 Darren N: yeah yeah he was one of the guys who played with Jimmy Martin and he knew more about music than anybody ever met.

00:31:55.020 –> 00:32:02.970 Darren N: And not only did I learn everything I know about music, but everything I know about people and how to treat people in the music business.

00:32:03.360 –> 00:32:15.420 Darren N: We would travel to Nashville almost every week and so it’d be a four-hour drive down a four-hour drive back in the whole time we were talking about music or people or relationships or.

00:32:17.040 –> 00:32:19.590 Darren N: And you know, he was.

00:32:20.670 –> 00:32:39.090 Darren N: My number one influence and now that I’m getting older and getting some clarity and maturity, there are a lot of things that he said to me, you know 15 16 years ago that are just now I’m like oh now nobody man and my time with him are invaluable I owe him everything.

00:32:39.960 –> 00:32:43.440 Joseph McElroy: You have in a benefit concert an auction coming up for his family right.

00:32:43.740 –> 00:32:52.560 Darren N: yeah it’s actually not for his family we’ve we’ve set up a trust fund and we give a scholarship we give half the money to the IBMA trust fund.

00:32:53.340 –> 00:33:03.630 Darren N: To help musicians in need and then the other half goes to a scholarship for a test cola hospital student for music scholarship he was a trumpet major at Tesco.

00:33:05.010 –> 00:33:16.590 Darren N: We just it’s something to help the Community and keep his name out there and that’s going to be Friday march 18 at holt move Center in Waynesville okay cool.

00:33:17.850 –> 00:33:18.060 Joseph McElroy: thing.

00:33:19.230 –> 00:33:20.160 Joseph McElroy: To find out about it.

00:33:20.670 –> 00:33:22.500 Darren N: and get tickets at fault move to work.

00:33:23.400 –> 00:33:28.440 Joseph McElroy: OK cool Oh, we got to take a break now and then we’ll come back and finally talk about this new album you got.

00:35:35.250 –> 00:35:48.180 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McIlroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and my guest Darren Nicholson, So Darren, you have a new musical project out an album called the man and the mission.

00:35:49.770 –> 00:35:54.750 Joseph McElroy: And the I guess is devoted to Americana music, correct?

00:35:55.860 –> 00:36:01.770 Darren N: I guess when they can’t figure out what label, to put it under.

00:36:03.300 –> 00:36:07.920 Darren N: But it’s not really a genre clearly that they just call it America.

00:36:09.060 –> 00:36:12.300 Joseph McElroy: Like from like show tunes to country music right.

00:36:13.230 –> 00:36:15.180 Darren N: Exactly yeah exactly.

00:36:16.320 –> 00:36:16.800 Darren N: reggae.

00:36:17.280 –> 00:36:29.730 Joseph McElroy: But you that you use a lot of electric and acoustic instruments and wide variety songs I mean I listened to it and it’s like goes from blues to bluegrass to old-time country all sorts of stuff.

00:36:30.240 –> 00:36:42.330 Darren N: yeah well that’s what I want to sound like some of these tunes are a little more edgy rock and roll edgy and then there’s a song on there, that is straight-up country music and then there’s one song that.

00:36:43.200 –> 00:36:51.210 Darren N: sounds like something maybe Glen Campbell would have done back in the day, like you know it’s almost like a pop.

00:36:52.320 –> 00:36:52.590 Darren N: But.

00:36:53.010 –> 00:37:08.460 Darren N: it’s almost a bluegrass song and then, then there are a blues seven-bar blues and then there’s one slow pretty ballot on there and then it ends up with more rock and roll in your face with Lita Jones lyric Jones.

00:37:09.360 –> 00:37:11.850 Joseph McElroy: singing on there so whatever goes.

00:37:13.080 –> 00:37:17.100 Joseph McElroy: It started out with a bluegrass thing, and all of a sudden, it goes into southern rock and rolls it’s like.

00:37:17.130 –> 00:37:22.980 Joseph McElroy: yeah it was crazy that was that the drop there was like wow.

00:37:24.810 –> 00:37:26.490 Joseph McElroy: I totally took me by surprise.

00:37:26.520 –> 00:37:32.970 Darren N: that’s what I was wanting I wanted this album to be a curveball if I would have done this record on an electric record four or five years ago.

00:37:33.570 –> 00:37:47.430 Darren N: I think people would I would have done a classic country-sounding record and I think that’s what people were expecting out of me and so I’ve just got that rebellious thing in me where I can’t do what people are expecting.

00:37:47.940 –> 00:37:57.720 Joseph McElroy: yeah wow so you’ve had you this is on the mountain home label right me, but you have experienced with them it’s balsam range, but this is what your first solo project with that right.

00:37:58.710 –> 00:38:03.630 Darren N: yeah, this is my fourth solo record, but my first one on that label.

00:38:04.080 –> 00:38:07.260 Joseph McElroy: And what does that mean for you know that’s a pretty prestigious label so it’s.

00:38:07.290 –> 00:38:10.080 Darren N: it’s pretty yeah for sure, and just to have it.

00:38:11.160 –> 00:38:21.300 Darren N: That quality and I brought in a co-producer because I’ve done three records on my own, I know what a record sounds like when I produce it and I’ve had success doing that.

00:38:22.290 –> 00:38:28.980 Darren N: I locked away my record sound when I produce them I know exactly what I will, but I also I don’t want to get in a rut.

00:38:29.640 –> 00:38:39.120 Darren N: This sounds the same every this guy’s records they sound the same every time and so Jeff Collins came in and produce to help produce this thing.

00:38:39.570 –> 00:38:45.030 Darren N: And he got me out of my comfort zone, a little bit there were, I gave him the songs.

00:38:45.390 –> 00:38:57.450 Darren N: I had some very specific ideas on some songs we had some knock down drag out fights over some things, and then there were some things that I let go up that’s why you have a guy there and then there are some things that you.

00:38:59.130 –> 00:39:13.260 Darren N: That he took and made totally different and I’m like man that’s awesome I never would have thought of that and, and so it was just we think we both had a great time hey we would do another one together in a heartbeat I think is a great experience.

00:39:13.830 –> 00:39:19.800 Joseph McElroy: Well, I saw I saw a quote, that you the paper of you’re describing this album right.

00:39:20.280 –> 00:39:30.450 Joseph McElroy: And it was almost poetry, and it was you said it was a journey into the human condition with relationships and feelings turned into Appalachian Americana roots tapestry.

00:39:30.990 –> 00:39:38.850 Joseph McElroy: And then you were saying it’s saying goodbye to an old friend and a hello to a new one it’s like a rocket Saturday night house party and lonely Sunday morning.

00:39:39.150 –> 00:39:51.660 Joseph McElroy: its tongue in cheek it’s from the heart and songs written about the life and human condition now that’s a pretty amazing scope right there that’s a huge but ambition right, how do you feel about that how far you went towards that.

00:39:52.410 –> 00:39:55.140 Darren N: I think I nailed all those things in this record.

00:39:55.560 –> 00:40:02.460 Darren N: yeah that that that’s what I was going for because and that’s what I write about you know I write about.

00:40:04.170 –> 00:40:15.900 Darren N: My life, the only thing I’m qualified to write about is myself, you know and I’ve you know I’ve had relationships that didn’t work out I’ve had really hard difficult things I’ve been through I’ve had.

00:40:16.980 –> 00:40:23.730 Darren N: You know funny experiences in life, you know I don’t write about living in a cabin 200 years ago.

00:40:24.000 –> 00:40:30.180 Darren N: Now I never have you know, but I can write about things that I’ve experienced and.

00:40:31.650 –> 00:40:39.900 Darren N: You know, sometimes I’ll write a song I don’t like I would rather write songs it tells stories than songs that paint pictures.

00:40:40.320 –> 00:40:49.320 Darren N: I know to me anybody can write a song that paints a picture, but to tell your story and open up and talk about what you’re really feeling.

00:40:50.460 –> 00:40:56.340 Darren N: It just goes a little deeper, and I think people can connect with it that’s what I always loved about country music.

00:40:56.820 –> 00:41:03.960 Darren N: Is it was heartache it was trying, it was a Gospel song, it was hope and inspiration, it was.

00:41:04.770 –> 00:41:20.250 Darren N: It was sadness, it was the joy it was all those things in the music, you know it was a journey through real-life and authenticity there’s something about country music and when I say country music, I mean bluegrass.

00:41:22.410 –> 00:41:25.980 Darren N: I mean a lot of these different things you know it’s.

00:41:28.170 –> 00:41:31.620 Darren N: it’s authentic it’s the real deal.

00:41:33.900 –> 00:41:47.430 Joseph McElroy: You know this is, I mean for surprisingly how much it affected me, I mean, and then you know I heard you were describing the song called love is war, you described in all relationships, not just romantic has been a battle.

00:41:48.960 –> 00:41:52.740 Joseph McElroy: And then you said in there you don’t have to agree with somebody to love them.

00:41:53.760 –> 00:41:54.210 Darren N: and

00:41:54.300 –> 00:42:06.390 Joseph McElroy: I can’t help but think you know that that it was not just personal I felt like there you are also speaking to this polarized age this age of where we’re battling each other as citizens.

00:42:06.810 –> 00:42:10.710 Joseph McElroy: And I felt like there were some element of that and, in this in this song.

00:42:11.100 –> 00:42:21.960 Joseph McElroy: Are you saying we can as citizens love each other that agree on each other, I don’t know if that’s true, but I just felt there was a sense of that the two were channeling something in the Zeitgeist of where we’re living now.

00:42:22.470 –> 00:42:25.650 Darren N: What we do where the society that likes to scold each other.

00:42:26.040 –> 00:42:28.680 Darren N: Right, you know and that’s.

00:42:30.210 –> 00:42:42.180 Darren N: that’s and don’t realize that the hypocrisy and that is hey none of us are perfect mm-hmm, but I think what we don’t realize is is that where we get.

00:42:43.230 –> 00:42:46.920 Darren N: Where we get value in that is it makes us feel better.

00:42:47.490 –> 00:42:57.660 Darren N: When we cut someone else’s head off it makes us feel taller and we don’t have to look at our sales, as long as somebody else is screwing up worse than me that I don’t have to look in the mirror at myself.

00:42:58.410 –> 00:43:03.000 Darren N: And so you know, and I think that’s where a lot of that comes from is nobody.

00:43:03.690 –> 00:43:16.350 Darren N: You know it’s kinda it’s really hypocritical, but you know and I’ve been guilty of it, you know, but as I get older I realized that you know if I want to be forgiven and I have to learn to forgive.

00:43:18.510 –> 00:43:19.140 Joseph McElroy: We lost you.

00:43:22.380 –> 00:43:30.630 Joseph McElroy: Well, he jumped off folks will be back in just a second I’m pretty sure, but he had some I’m going to tell you this was a great album.

00:43:31.890 –> 00:43:37.860 Joseph McElroy: There was an I really enjoyed this song called all night long on that album.

00:43:39.390 –> 00:43:45.000 Joseph McElroy: And it was and I felt that a song that really resonated with old Appalachian music.

00:43:46.830 –> 00:43:47.250 Joseph McElroy: It was.

00:43:48.300 –> 00:43:53.250 Joseph McElroy: You know, like the old ballads from Scotland and Ireland, and also like.

00:43:54.270 –> 00:44:05.790 Joseph McElroy: Like classic American American song, so I guess you’d call Americana like nat King Cole seeing stardust or George Jones seeing he stopped loving her today.

00:44:07.230 –> 00:44:24.210 Joseph McElroy: I’m sure that he was he if he gets back here, he would talk about how that really had a real sort of reached back in time to that old kind of balance and then made him current because it was really about.

00:44:25.440 –> 00:44:25.890 Joseph McElroy: You know.

00:44:26.970 –> 00:44:35.760 Joseph McElroy: sort of a loss, and you know that the trigger but that the protagonists were going to be there all night long there is hey.

00:44:38.820 –> 00:44:39.840 Joseph McElroy: I can’t hear you.

00:44:42.900 –> 00:44:44.070 Joseph McElroy: I can hear you now okay.

00:44:44.130 –> 00:44:46.710 iPhone: More than I like I’m so sorry I lost you there.

00:44:47.340 –> 00:44:51.510 Joseph McElroy: that’s all right, well, I was telling everybody about your song all night long right.

00:44:51.570 –> 00:44:52.080 iPhone: Oh yeah.

00:44:52.530 –> 00:45:00.360 Joseph McElroy: And I was saying that I thought it resonated with that belief old Appalachian music, because it was you know, like the old balance from Scotland and.

00:45:01.650 –> 00:45:13.680 Joseph McElroy: It talked about last right, it was like that hi hi lumps of sound, but I also thought it resonated they brought me back to classic old American songs like even like nat King Cole singing stardust.

00:45:14.130 –> 00:45:19.860 Joseph McElroy: or floors don’t sing he stopped loving her today what was your inspiration for that song.

00:45:20.730 –> 00:45:26.250 iPhone: yeah well that’s I mean that’s what we were going for I was like that song needs to be.

00:45:27.270 –> 00:45:41.070 iPhone: pitifully lonesome because that’s the feeling, you know that’s the feeling you’re trying to convey and then it’s someone who’s lost, you know the person who means everything to them, you know, or you know.

00:45:42.900 –> 00:45:43.380 iPhone: That.

00:45:45.180 –> 00:45:52.410 iPhone: And there’s no I want the music to match the lyrics I’ve heard sad songs that have really happy music.

00:45:52.980 –> 00:45:57.300 iPhone: And I know we’ve got a drag to the long term, out of this.

00:45:57.690 –> 00:45:59.790 Joseph McElroy: But I was a classic.

00:45:59.790 –> 00:46:03.990 Joseph McElroy: High lonesome sound man I just I cried I really literally cry.

00:46:04.260 –> 00:46:08.460 iPhone: Well, thank you man that’s that’s probably my favorite song on the record.

00:46:09.660 –> 00:46:16.500 iPhone: And I started writing down these words when I had the first verse and.

00:46:18.840 –> 00:46:28.920 iPhone: and part of the chorus and I sent it to send it in a text to Charles Humphrey and I just I wrote it down, just like poetry and send it to him.

00:46:29.670 –> 00:46:44.010 iPhone: And then he started he sent back the third verse and we tweaked a few things we got together the next day and tweaked a few things and I picked a key on the guitar and I started arranging the music and then.

00:46:45.090 –> 00:46:47.310 iPhone: When we got in there, it was just an idea to put.

00:46:48.420 –> 00:46:52.860 iPhone: A stack of who’s on it, just like the eagles would.

00:46:54.240 –> 00:47:08.730 iPhone: You know, and so it’s got this vocal chorus in there that’s reminiscent of something in the eagles where there’s an in the bridge and it just turned out beautifully it’s losing the living life and.

00:47:09.060 –> 00:47:13.290 Joseph McElroy: it’s a classic song man I’m just telling it to class I hope it gets.

00:47:13.320 –> 00:47:14.190 iPhone: It gets me the.

00:47:14.280 –> 00:47:14.760 Joseph McElroy: way.

00:47:15.150 –> 00:47:16.680 iPhone: I will go ahead.

00:47:17.400 –> 00:47:18.180 Joseph McElroy: yeah I know.

00:47:21.630 –> 00:47:24.990 Joseph McElroy: Because I felt like that actually spoke to smoky mountains history because.

00:47:25.410 –> 00:47:34.380 Joseph McElroy: You know, if you read about history and some of the women scholars right today, you know smoky mountain women Appalachian women really had to deal with a lot of hardship and everything else, and they.

00:47:34.920 –> 00:47:41.040 Joseph McElroy: They could come across as being hard a little bit hateful, but they were really loved by their husbands right.

00:47:41.130 –> 00:47:41.910 iPhone: Oh yeah that.

00:47:42.540 –> 00:47:45.300 Joseph McElroy: That that I think that that really brought a.

00:47:46.800 –> 00:47:55.380 Joseph McElroy: a sense of that Appalachian woman like that original poet, but who found you found relief in her wit and you know.

00:47:55.500 –> 00:47:57.930 Joseph McElroy: around you know found loving her husband.

00:47:58.110 –> 00:48:05.910 iPhone: Right oh yeah yeah tongue in cheek very, very fun, you know it meant to be fun yeah yeah.

00:48:06.810 –> 00:48:12.270 Joseph McElroy: Well cool we’re going to take another break and come back and finish up with a little bit of what’s going on in the future here.

00:50:13.950 –> 00:50:22.560 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast my guest Darren Nicholson, so there, and you mentioned Charles Humphrey.

00:50:23.340 –> 00:50:28.020 Joseph McElroy: he’s a Co-writer on that on that EP and a fellow songwriter and.

00:50:28.740 –> 00:50:34.110 Joseph McElroy: And he’s also been a guest on this show, and he said he’s gonna be doing a fly fisherman camp and April with us, but.

00:50:36.930 –> 00:50:42.180 Joseph McElroy: he’s talking, I think, working with you to do a songwriting camp later this year is think that might happen.

00:50:43.140 –> 00:50:44.430 Darren N: There and be a lot of fun.

00:50:46.710 –> 00:50:53.220 Darren N: Or are the six songs on the EP, I wrote, with him, I wrote a song with him last week I’m going to go record tomorrow the DEMO for it we’ve written.

00:50:53.910 –> 00:51:04.650 Darren N: A 90% of the songs I’ve written I wrote with I’ve written with him and he’s an amazing talent and he is an incredible Fly fisher, Fisherman, I mean he’s the man.

00:51:06.210 –> 00:51:07.740 Joseph McElroy: He knows his stuff I.

00:51:08.850 –> 00:51:19.500 Joseph McElroy: mean we talk fishing quite a bit so where can people find get a copy of this this this album and your other music as well.

00:51:19.950 –> 00:51:28.200 Darren N: yeah well, you can, if you want to support the artists directly there and nicholson.net is the best place to do it my website darrennicholson.net

00:51:30.870 –> 00:51:43.440 Darren N: darrennicholson.net and I’ve got T-shirts and my other albums are on there I’ve got a new Gospel album instrumental mandolin record my other solo projects are on there all kinds of stuff hats things.

00:51:44.700 –> 00:51:51.480 Darren N: And then, if you want to find man on a mission it’s on all the streaming services, you can download it on iTunes.

00:51:52.650 –> 00:51:55.950 Darren N: Is a great way to get it, but the streaming services as well.

00:51:56.700 –> 00:51:57.630 Joseph McElroy: anywhere you.

00:51:58.800 –> 00:51:59.640 Joseph McElroy: Go sorry.

00:52:00.300 –> 00:52:00.660 Darren N: Go ahead.

00:52:01.350 –> 00:52:05.490 Joseph McElroy: I was gonna say you know the stickers and T-shirts are hilarious how.

00:52:06.000 –> 00:52:07.170 Joseph McElroy: Did you come up with those ideas.

00:52:08.100 –> 00:52:16.770 Darren N: yeah I’ve got well I’ve got a friend up in Kentucky who who who actually designed a couple of those I can’t take credit for that, but.

00:52:17.550 –> 00:52:36.420 Darren N: I have taken credit for ordering them and selling them but he’s in graphic designer he just sent me a new one, the other day because I’m always joking about wrestling old school wrestling and he did, one of my faces on rick flares body and it’s pretty cool.

00:52:37.290 –> 00:52:37.890 Joseph McElroy: I mean a.

00:52:38.730 –> 00:52:41.880 Darren N: Great the two great North Carolinians Earl Scruggs and Rick Flair

00:52:45.330 –> 00:52:56.970 Joseph McElroy: Wait to tell you I don’t know how do you have fulfill those orders, but what we discovered a new service service recently it’s pretty good it’s called principle right and they actually will manufacture on-demand T-shirts and.

00:52:57.000 –> 00:53:01.470 Joseph McElroy: mugs and all that, so you don’t have to keep any inventory it’s like.

00:53:01.470 –> 00:53:03.150 Joseph McElroy: it’s crazy it’s good yeah.

00:53:03.330 –> 00:53:04.560 Darren N: that’s really good yeah.

00:53:05.130 –> 00:53:07.320 Darren N: Because one one T shirt.

00:53:07.410 –> 00:53:08.100 Darren N: A year so.

00:53:08.220 –> 00:53:09.210 that’s really good.

00:53:10.920 –> 00:53:13.440 Joseph McElroy: yeah you buy 100 T shirts to keep them for 10 years.

00:53:16.770 –> 00:53:22.020 Joseph McElroy: yeah it’s like buying by the library books and sold a couple everyone so i’m still.

00:53:22.020 –> 00:53:25.920 Darren N: Trying to sell some cassette tapes I’m going to feel those are you guys looking for.

00:53:26.940 –> 00:53:30.270 Joseph McElroy: I met a guy wants to put out an album and he.

00:53:31.920 –> 00:53:35.070 Joseph McElroy: hadn’t sold me had like 2000 copies under his bed.

00:53:36.660 –> 00:53:40.830 Joseph McElroy: Well that’s All I will say this bottle is making a comeback.

00:53:40.890 –> 00:53:51.780 Darren N: In the plan is, you know i’m not trying to let the cat out of the bag, but the plan is for balsam range to do some kind of vinyl at some point because this is 15 this year is 15 years of balsam range.

00:53:52.200 –> 00:53:59.370 Darren N: And so I don’t have any details or any specifics on that, but you know that’s that’s.

00:54:00.300 –> 00:54:07.350 Joseph McElroy: We put a fabulous record player in the speakeasy with a actually a wall mounted album.

00:54:09.000 –> 00:54:16.050 Joseph McElroy: You know, storage and when we play albums there, so you definitely have to get us one of those man.

00:54:16.560 –> 00:54:31.890 Darren N: was a warm sound there they go that plan is to only print like 200 and do you know, and if people who love balsam range and the real diehard fans that have been there for 15 years of people won’t want it’s kind of a novelty, you know.

00:54:32.490 –> 00:54:34.530 Joseph McElroy: i’m i’m buying.

00:54:36.660 –> 00:54:39.990 Joseph McElroy: I’m buying it, no matter what it costs all right well yeah.

00:54:40.110 –> 00:54:41.640 Darren N: i’m not gonna spend a million oh that’s.

00:54:42.720 –> 00:54:43.830 Darren N: $8,000 apiece.

00:54:47.070 –> 00:54:47.250 Joseph McElroy: what’s.

00:54:47.910 –> 00:54:49.770 Darren N: what’s the most you give and not back out.

00:54:50.880 –> 00:54:52.230 Joseph McElroy: The most out give.

00:54:52.440 –> 00:54:53.490 Darren N: For now back out.

00:54:54.000 –> 00:54:54.360 Darren N: And not.

00:54:55.860 –> 00:54:56.100 Darren N: yeah.

00:54:56.940 –> 00:54:58.080 Darren N: that’s my feet.

00:54:58.170 –> 00:54:58.650 Joseph McElroy: My buddy.

00:55:01.860 –> 00:55:06.720 Darren N: I was trying to buy this instrument off my buddy Danny one time, and I said how much do you want for it, and he said.

00:55:07.980 –> 00:55:09.330 Darren N: what’s give and not back out.

00:55:13.170 –> 00:55:17.010 Joseph McElroy: So any other big projects, you have coming up this year.

00:55:17.610 –> 00:55:20.040 Darren N: yeah several things actually.

00:55:21.510 –> 00:55:29.880 Darren N: i’m going to officially be releasing this you can get a copy of my Gospel album through the website it’s kind of a pre order thing.

00:55:30.840 –> 00:55:37.680 Darren N: But i’m later on in the year i’m going to be releasing a Gospel record called songs of hope and inspiration and.

00:55:38.400 –> 00:55:49.080 Darren N: One of the songs I wrote with my buddy Eric Gibson and it’s being played on satellite radio right now and it’s been a few stations if bluegrass DJ is out there woman, they can contact me and get it, but.

00:55:51.060 –> 00:55:56.220 Darren N: balsam range I talked about the the 15 years we’re going to do some special for that.

00:55:58.230 –> 00:56:05.550 Darren N: I’m also recording and doing a handful of shows, with a blue all star bluegrass band called the no joke jimmies.

00:56:07.260 –> 00:56:16.320 Darren N: bunch of guys from Nashville and a bunch of around the country that are in national touring bands ones in the seldom-seen two is from the grass goals.

00:56:16.740 –> 00:56:24.270 Darren N: One you know plays with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder and it’s a bunch of buddies of got together and we’re in the process of.

00:56:24.660 –> 00:56:41.010 Darren N: We just released a single we’re making a full album i’ve been in Nashville last weekend recording on that and we’re going to be doing some of the major festivals around the country obviously when i’m not with balsam range and they’re not with their respective bands, but.

00:56:42.480 –> 00:57:01.770 Darren N: And also end of March 1 of April, going to be doing some shows in western North Carolina with all the block and just writing songs cranking out music got a bunch of bands and bluegrass who have a bunch of my songs i’ve written on hold it’s just an exciting time a.

00:57:01.800 –> 00:57:02.220 Darren N: lot of.

00:57:02.250 –> 00:57:10.530 Darren N: Really fun shows coming up this year things that I’m really excited about and life is good, you know.

00:57:11.070 –> 00:57:18.600 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know, a Gospel thing sounds great I mean you know i’ve been in a couple places like Barbados and plays and other places, never.

00:57:18.990 –> 00:57:30.810 Joseph McElroy: A Gospel brunch on Sunday is everybody, leaving the tourism area and they’re huge they’re really huge you know people really love that especially a Gospel on a Sunday morning.

00:57:31.200 –> 00:57:42.720 Joseph McElroy: right they not gonna be able to stay until 12 and go to you know go-to service that they go through 10 or 11 or whatever, and then get on the road, but they love that that the things I’ve been thinking about that, yeah but.

00:57:45.840 –> 00:57:48.120 Darren N: Gospel thing is something i’ve wanted to do for a while.

00:57:49.200 –> 00:57:56.760 Darren N: This man on the mission, I want to keep I want to keep reinventing myself there’s guys like Marty Stuart and Darrell Scott, who.

00:57:57.450 –> 00:58:06.540 Darren N: Who when they do records they might do a California country record they might do a blues record they might do a black Gospel record they might do a bluegrass record.

00:58:07.020 –> 00:58:17.100 Darren N: But they’re always changing it up, but it’s always a quality record I don’t know what Marty Stewart’s going to do next, but I will go by his record, because I know.

00:58:17.610 –> 00:58:28.620 Darren N: he’s a steward of American music and and he wants to carry American music forward whether it’s bluegrass country old time Gospel roots music.

00:58:29.880 –> 00:58:38.160 Darren N: But his records are always good and he kind of keeps reinventing himself and keeps pushing boundaries and that’s what I want to do with my music.

00:58:38.730 –> 00:58:39.060 and

00:58:40.200 –> 00:58:47.970 Joseph McElroy: Random you’re doing an Americana is actually a brilliant move on your part, because you can really go wide range with that.

00:58:48.420 –> 00:58:50.550 Darren N: Open canvas yeah.

00:58:50.760 –> 00:59:04.620 Joseph McElroy: It really is it’s a brilliant idea, well, I am I got a call to close it’s been a wonderful thing I wanted a whole time talking to you I didn’t get a chance to ask about your feud with the cleverly bland band but i’m sure other.

00:59:04.710 –> 00:59:07.080 Joseph McElroy: Well, I wouldn’t I wouldn’t talk about them anyway.

00:59:07.350 –> 00:59:07.920 Okay.

00:59:10.350 –> 00:59:10.800 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:59:12.210 –> 00:59:23.520 Joseph McElroy: so next time we will we will hopefully have another time but anyway we’ll see a few things in the future, I thank you for showing up.

00:59:23.670 –> 00:59:29.310 Darren N: Alright, so much for having me appreciate what you do for our culture here in Western North Carolina oh.

00:59:29.820 –> 00:59:38.640 Joseph McElroy: This this you can find more about this podcast on facebook.com slash gateway to the smokies podcast.

00:59:39.630 –> 00:59:45.210 Joseph McElroy: we’re streamed live, we also have on smokies adventures.COM, there is a.

00:59:45.870 –> 00:59:52.650 Joseph McElroy: there’s a link at the top, taking you to the smokies to the gateway to the smokies podcasts and all the episodes and transcripts.

00:59:53.070 –> 01:00:10.620 Joseph McElroy: and other information mailing list touching it on to find out more about what’s coming up this podcast is on the talk radio talkradio.nyc network where there are lots of great podcasts about travel business self-help and various other things are all live podcasts.

01:00:11.700 –> 01:00:16.830 Joseph McElroy: scheduled weekly this podcast appears every Tuesday from six to seven.

01:00:17.970 –> 01:00:27.120 Joseph McElroy: And we’ll have another great show next week for you and I look forward to seeing all of you again or well here, and all of you, or something like that.

01:00:28.500 –> 01:00:29.520 Joseph McElroy: Thank you very much.

GUEST: Boyd Burton

Boyd shared with us some of his world-class memorable tourism experiences. Watch this episode and you will learn about local culture, refreshments, and hedonism in the Great Smoky Mountains. 

In today's podcast episode, Joseph McElroy is joined by our special guest, Boyd Burton, a world-class pickle ballplayer, an avid BMW motorcycle enthusiast, as well food, music, and beverage aficionado. For more than three decades Boyd has traveled the globe, working hard and playing hard, utilizing these skills as he has created and developed world-class memorable tourism experiences for his clients and guests--just as he is doing today at the "Appalachian Chic" Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley, N.C." 

Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

Segment 1

Starting off tonight's show, Joseph mentions his sponsor, who is part of his business. The topic of tonight is comfort and memorable experiences. Joseph’s guest is Boyd Burton who has 25 years of experience in management consulting. He also specializes in operational and financial consulting for hospitality, construction, and manufacturing industries. Now, Boyd is the manager at the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley. When talking about being a management consultant, Boyd says that he focused on helping businesses run better financially as well as changes with technology. Over time, Boyd felt like he had done everything he wanted to do in his career. So he ventured on to other aspirations and eventually came back to consulting for a bit more. Boyd ended up doing what he does best as a consultant in Costa Rica, having met two people who were architects and were doing good business. He recalls around 2008-09 when the economy wasn’t doing well, that he bought a hotel that had a defunct restaurant and casino. He renovated the place and turned it into something that hopefully people around can enjoy. Boyd and Joseph talk more about Boyd’s career in hospitality as well as some of his upbringing.

Segment 2

Boyd discusses his journey coming to North Carolina and Maggie Valley. Boyd is a motorcycle enthusiast and enjoyed riding through N.C. Passing by the Meadowlark Motel, he eventually met Joseph. Their ideas on hospitality were very similar and Boyd also likes the decor and look of the motel. He likes to see and make people happy, something that he shares with Joseph. They also discuss the changes happening in the motel as Boyd began to join them. Joseph talks about the demand in hospitality to make sure people are safe. They talk about the relationship they have with visitors and customers who stay at the Meadowlark and how they bring people together to create an enjoyable experience. Boyd and Joseph emphasize creating a family feeling, especially since Joseph grew up in this area and grew up with a family in the hospitality industry. They mention music performances that happen in the motel and recreating what Joseph enjoyed growing up but in the world that we live in now.

Segment 3

Boyd and Joseph talk about the challenges they've experienced in creating a great experience for customers. They also talk about the mountain culture and American culture that they bring to the experience including things like music and souvenirs. Boyd recalls a customer who told him that they were so distracted being at the motel that they forgot to check their phone for two days, expressing how great their stay was. Joseph says that it’s refreshing when the structure of your day changes like this. They also talk about creating a real speakeasy in the basement of the motel. They found that creating this place where people can hang out, have a drink and listen to music, becomes fun when they and the customers enjoy it together. Joseph also mentions bringing his New York experience to this as well. Joseph and Boyd say that they also have a vision of bringing good, and not-so-complicated food that fits the place and that customers will like. 

Segment 4

Joseph and Boyd talk about road culture and motorcycles. Boyd says that sections of West N.C and Virginia are great places for riding. He says the traffic, views, and weather are great for him. Boyd mentions the future of the Motel such as events coming up into the Spring such as weddings, live music, barbecues, and more. You can find out more about Boyd Burton by visiting meadowlarkmotel.com. Boyd says that anyone can call and ask for him, or ask any questions about their stay and experience and even recommend music or anything that you would want to see from the motel. They always welcome any ideas to make sure your experience is the best. Joseph also says that they will be having a heritage club that focuses on the local culture.

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00:02:53.280 –> 00:03:03.780 Joseph McElroy: howdy thanks for joining us on this week’s episode of gateway to the smokies podcast this podcast is about America’s most visited National Park.

00:03:04.170 –> 00:03:18.060 Joseph McElroy: The great smoky mountains national park and the surrounding towns there are areas filled with ancient natural beauty a deep storied history and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes.

00:03:19.080 –> 00:03:20.220 Joseph McElroy: I’m Joseph Franklyn McElroy

00:03:23.310 –> 00:03:33.480 Joseph McElroy: a man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains my family’s lived in the great smoky for over 200 years my business is in travel, but my heart is in culture. today we’re talking about finding comfort.

00:03:34.110 –> 00:03:43.590 Joseph McElroy: And memorable experiences in the smokies, first let me tell you a little bit about our sponsors now the sponsors are obviously.

00:03:44.100 –> 00:03:53.010 Joseph McElroy: Some of you watch a long time is also part of my business so we happen to be sitting at the meadowlark motel in Maggie Valley.

00:03:53.460 –> 00:03:59.910 Joseph McElroy: in Meadowlark Motel I want you to imagine a place evocative of motor courts in the past.

00:04:00.300 –> 00:04:20.460 Joseph McElroy: Yet, with a modern and vibrant feel that we have Appalachian the chic it’s got the services and amenities, an old country in it’s a place for adventure and relaxation imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream real the catch on fire and eat accompanied by a fine wine or craft beer

00:04:22.830 –> 00:04:38.970 Joseph McElroy: imagine a place with old-time music and world country sounds cultural says there is no other place like the meadowlark motel your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay.

00:04:41.790 –> 00:04:46.110 Joseph McElroy: Today we’re going to be talking about comfort and.

00:04:47.250 –> 00:04:56.790 Joseph McElroy: memorable experiences and I have a great guest his name is Boyd Burton and he has had a 25-year career in management consulting.

00:04:57.450 –> 00:05:14.490 Joseph McElroy: And with an international CPA consulting for one of the top five firms, he specialized in operational and financial consulting for hospitality construction and manufacturing industries, but then you got into a different life.

00:05:16.350 –> 00:05:18.990 Joseph McElroy: And he left that world and he became.

00:05:20.430 –> 00:05:31.590 Joseph McElroy: involved heavily in hospitality hotels, restaurants, and bars in places like Virginia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, but then he ended up in Maggie Valley.

00:05:32.130 –> 00:05:36.720 Joseph McElroy: Looking to perhaps retire and I talked to him and now he.

00:05:37.350 –> 00:05:43.020 Joseph McElroy: believed in the vision we have here, and he become the manager of the Meadowlark motel here in Maggie Valley.

00:05:43.260 –> 00:05:52.860 Joseph McElroy: Hello Boyd, how are you doing?

Boyd: good glad to be here,

00:05:53.370 –> 00:06:03.150 Joseph McElroy: So, you grew up in Richmond so there are some similarities to the southern culture of Richmond to the mountain culture, the smoky mountain very much so I grew up south of Richmond towards Petersburg and if you look back at the migration patterns, the Scotch Irish.

00:06:03.540 –> 00:06:10.530 Joseph McElroy: came into Central Virginia and spread to the mountains of Virginia mountains of North Carolina when I’m here the names are mostly the same.

00:06:11.310 –> 00:06:20.640 Joseph McElroy: The people look and culturally or a lot like people that I grew up with just the accents a little bit different and the land is a lot less flat yeah.

00:06:24.720 –> 00:06:35.910 Joseph McElroy: You know this, this area is because now, but you’re right the the the Scotch Irish the settlers, besides the Cherokee and stuff do have a certain look that is reminiscent of what you see in other parts of.

00:06:36.900 –> 00:06:45.360 Joseph McElroy: The mountains here, because the Scotch Irish came in through the Charleston and Philadelphia just build up the Appalachians and surrounding areas so.

00:06:46.770 –> 00:06:49.860 Joseph McElroy: You were a management consultant tell me what that means.

00:06:51.480 –> 00:07:01.320 Joseph McElroy: Well, in my practice, it was helping companies early in my career, I did very big fortune 500 companies and mid to later part of my career, I focused on privately held.

00:07:01.800 –> 00:07:09.000 Joseph McElroy: You know, a medium hotel chain 100 million a year manufacturer My job was to go in and help them.

00:07:09.510 –> 00:07:22.020 Joseph McElroy: run more efficient operations and understand their finances better and provide the skill sets that as a medium-sized company they couldn’t necessarily afford on their own and help them in the last 30 years.

00:07:24.360 –> 00:07:30.300 Joseph McElroy: The technology changes the transition that midsize successful businesses have been pressured hard from the big.

00:07:31.020 –> 00:07:40.470 Joseph McElroy: brother to Walmart or whatever, and we, we tried to even the playing field a little bit form, yeah I mean yeah I remember that very good, I was in IBM and that time and now.

00:07:40.950 –> 00:07:46.020 Joseph McElroy: While they had they were still being very much a technology company, not as much management consulting but.

00:07:46.470 –> 00:08:02.670 Joseph McElroy: You know, you were mentioning stuff about EDI and that air I was being involved in the EDI and XML and that transition, so it was an exciting and troubling time, it seems like for lifetimes ago right, so how did you.

00:08:04.080 –> 00:08:10.080 Joseph McElroy: You know 25 years and you were senior partner, how did you just decide to go off into hospitality.

00:08:11.040 –> 00:08:21.720 Joseph McElroy: Well, I really wasn’t a decision to go off in the hospitality, it was more of a decision that I didn’t think I could do 20 more years as a partner working 80 hours a week I kind of lost.

00:08:23.730 –> 00:08:24.150 Joseph McElroy: My.

00:08:25.440 –> 00:08:35.250 Joseph McElroy: lost my desire to do it well at it and it was financially successful but I have done I’ve accomplished what I wanted to do I tend to be kind of goal-driven and, at the time I didn’t have.

00:08:36.300 –> 00:08:41.250 Joseph McElroy: No children and was divorced at the time and to be quite honest, I just needed to do something else for a bit.

00:08:41.760 –> 00:08:49.980 Joseph McElroy: And something else was one of my true love which is blues music water neighborhood bar and converted it into a blues venue with local, regional, national.

00:08:50.370 –> 00:08:57.360 Joseph McElroy: acts and in Virginia you can’t have just a bar, you have to have a restaurant, so it a little boutique restaurant music venue and I did that.

00:08:57.840 –> 00:09:03.420 Joseph McElroy: And instead of taking it easy I worked 80 hours a week, doing that for three years and making no money.

00:09:04.200 –> 00:09:16.530 Joseph McElroy: But I saw some of the great blues acts all down the east coast, really, and it was a Labor of love yeah they’re truly was a Labor of love, and what was the transition from that where did you go after that what was the reason for the transition.

00:09:17.700 –> 00:09:21.480 Joseph McElroy: I was tired yeah I got tired of the bar business the bar part of art.

00:09:24.630 –> 00:09:34.170 Joseph McElroy: and music venues all music venues are really tough yeah and at that point, I went back and did some consulting for young individual consulting for some of my clients.

00:09:34.800 –> 00:09:42.390 Joseph McElroy: out of the blue, some guys I’d done some work for asked me to go to Costa Rica and evaluate some companies they wanted to buy do due diligence on it, and I.

00:09:42.780 –> 00:09:52.530 Joseph McElroy: knew nothing about Costa Rica, other than I heard it was a nice place to go visit and I spoke zero Spanish, so I took the job, again I tend to you know in those days in particular.

00:09:53.070 –> 00:10:00.750 Joseph McElroy: I wasn’t tied down or something interesting I went down from 90 days actually recommended that they not by the company which ended up being pretty good advice.

00:10:01.140 –> 00:10:21.360 Joseph McElroy: While I was down there and a poker game, I met a Colombian architect, and a Spanish engineer we’re building hotels and condos and Panama Nicaragua, Colombia, Costa Rica and they knew how to build and they knew how to run.

00:10:24.030 –> 00:10:30.480 Joseph McElroy: Businesses in those countries, needed an operations finance guy that understood construction hospitality I happen to be one of those.

00:10:31.440 –> 00:10:43.170 Joseph McElroy: They literally offered me the job, a few days later, and I just decided to stay so I’ve now been living in Costa Rica, trying to learn Spanish on the fly which I’m functional with very ugly Spanish.

00:10:44.640 –> 00:10:55.920 Joseph McElroy: I can deal with taxi drivers and restaurants and I speak in phrases but uh mostly can do what construction guys enjoyed it, it was great yeah I had worked a lot internationally.

00:10:56.310 –> 00:11:03.300 Joseph McElroy: But this was the first time actually moved out of the country, and it was interesting Costa Rica, has a lot of English speakers and a lot of.

00:11:04.110 –> 00:11:11.550 Joseph McElroy: A blog people love to go there right yeah the weather 60 days, and then the valley, and you know there’s some things I didn’t like as much tubers lovely place.

00:11:11.940 –> 00:11:22.590 Joseph McElroy: And I enjoyed the work until the real estate crash wipe this just about out but didn’t you own a hotel room I did, but that was a result of the crap.

00:11:24.840 –> 00:11:33.660 Joseph McElroy: out, so I built up some equity in this business whole business was basically Canadians and Americans coming down by in second condos and 2008 2009 and.

00:11:34.740 –> 00:11:45.360 Joseph McElroy: It hit her further down harder down there yeah in order to get my equity out I took a boutique hotel that had a defunct restaurant at the casino license.

00:11:46.320 –> 00:11:55.680 Joseph McElroy: I took that because I couldn’t cash out, so I run a restaurant before and I’d run a bar before I knew about the hotel business but hadn’t hands-on runway.

00:11:56.280 –> 00:12:16.620 Joseph McElroy: So we renovated, the place put a little casino in it and turned it into a very focused ex-pat bar that’s kind of are you looking at the experiences that people were looking for and made it man exactly so something as simple as we had a real Philly cheesesteak no.

00:12:18.270 –> 00:12:23.010 Joseph McElroy: One in Costa Rica, I would have guys drive three hours to the beach on a sunny day.

00:12:25.830 –> 00:12:37.860 Joseph McElroy: or even got corn before me, and it was a neighborhood bar where everybody was welcome locals and expats from all over the world and we had music and food, and it was a comfortable place to be if you’re in Costa Rica is a.

00:12:39.330 –> 00:12:46.650 Joseph McElroy: hotel little banner, and it was 35 rooms right yeah you know, actually, it was either it’s either 34 35 this is how many we have here.

00:12:47.640 –> 00:12:56.760 Joseph McElroy: I was kind of luck yeah so you know how did, how did that, how did you get out of that one I ended up getting married and had a daughter and.

00:12:57.540 –> 00:13:08.850 Joseph McElroy: My wife at the time was from Nicaragua and I had an opportunity to sell my share I didn’t know it all, but I was one of the main owners and also, I was the general manager and President.

00:13:10.350 –> 00:13:15.930 Joseph McElroy: cashed out and we moved to Nicaragua for a couple of years and again bottle small hotel up there.

00:13:17.070 –> 00:13:23.160 Joseph McElroy: With less success actually yeah tougher market we get Okay, with it, I was.

00:13:26.430 –> 00:13:32.310 Joseph McElroy: Good reputations Costa Rica for pleasant, it was building to that the surfers are they are great Sir and.

00:13:32.850 –> 00:13:43.830 Joseph McElroy: Before I was actually statistically safe and unsafe in Costa Rica have enough here I mean Everybody talks about Costa Rica early versions of the tourists are getting out of surfers are coming to start building towards it, and that was kind of the hope and.

00:13:44.850 –> 00:13:55.650 Joseph McElroy: It got hard enough to make enough to support you know the future for my daughter, and all that I came back home, decide to come back to Virginia Richmond Virginia right yeah.

00:13:56.310 –> 00:14:08.850 Joseph McElroy: So, and you got a historical preservation business yeah so I had always been involved in that I’m from five generations of partners, the same Scotch Irish burton’s from North from Yorkshire and southern Scott when.

00:14:10.050 –> 00:14:16.200 Joseph McElroy: My grandfather always said, they all learned to be carpenters because they hated pulling the backup um that was much better

00:14:17.490 –> 00:14:22.500 Joseph McElroy: then I pulled the bag That was their options and made by and they all would shake their head.

00:14:26.430 –> 00:14:33.390 Joseph McElroy: That is, I grew up in a small home building business and my mom and dad encouraged me to go to school, and get a good education but I worked.

00:14:33.780 –> 00:14:43.800 Joseph McElroy: weekends and summers my whole childhood and into it and then personally when I lived in Richmond all those years, and of course, Richmond and peter are where we’re from have some of the most historic houses in the country.

00:14:44.250 –> 00:14:52.260 Joseph McElroy: I always personally lived in historic houses and restore them and thought when I would get them just about right that sell them and torture myself with another one.

00:14:52.770 –> 00:15:02.070 Joseph McElroy: For another four or five years, but I decided when I came back, I wanted to kind of reopen Burton custom builders, and actually renamed it Burton built.

00:15:02.580 –> 00:15:15.060 Joseph McElroy: and focus exclusively on historic houses pretty much 1880 and, earlier we worked on some stuff from the 19 1600s or at least 1700s the Thomas Wallace house where Lincoln and.

00:15:15.720 –> 00:15:22.410 Joseph McElroy: grant shook hands at the end of the civil war, we rebuilt, the porch where they shook hands on well I want some architectural awards for that.

00:15:26.280 –> 00:15:35.040 Joseph McElroy: And what it was kind of a Labor of love, I really the theme throughout the big farm management consulting which I love that the time I’ve kind of done whatever interesting at the time.

00:15:35.550 –> 00:15:48.030 Joseph McElroy: Not so focused about making money but doing things that I enjoy yeah and try to make a little bit of money at it well good, well, when we come back we’ll take a break now, when we come back we’re talking about how your how you ended up at the Meadowlark and found that joy good.

00:18:05.670 –> 00:18:15.750 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast with my guest Boyd Burton happens to be the manager of the Meadowlark Motel.

00:18:16.890 –> 00:18:22.320 Joseph McElroy: So Boyd your Richmond you’re going to historical preservation business.

00:18:26.910 –> 00:18:32.310 Joseph McElroy: skills as a master carpenter but you again, you decided to retire.

00:18:33.390 –> 00:18:40.500 Joseph McElroy: I sold my company to my partner, am I share the data my intent I’ve been coming to the smoke East arrived my I’m an avid motorcyclist.

00:18:41.190 –> 00:18:49.350 Joseph McElroy: BMW guys and coming up here to ride motorcycles forever he 20 years all through North Carolina and Virginia and I’ve written the entire parkway.

00:18:49.980 –> 00:18:55.470 Joseph McElroy: And I decided, I wanted to be somewhere in this vicinity west of Asheville and.

00:18:56.070 –> 00:19:02.040 Joseph McElroy: was looking around and found a beautiful place here Maggie valley and kind of fell in love with the place and my goal was to.

00:19:02.490 –> 00:19:18.600 Joseph McElroy: knock around for a couple of years and ride motorcycles play a little poker and just take it easy and that lasted about a week actually lasted about 45 days I really, really nice 45-day vacation yeah riding motorcycles and playing poker and eating good food.

00:19:21.300 –> 00:19:24.690 Joseph McElroy: And ran into you, yeah That was the real key to it.

00:19:28.290 –> 00:19:40.560 Joseph McElroy: No idea I’ve seen the meadowlark sign is a very interesting retro 50 sign, which is part of my design style and the place looks more like a lodge than a motel I’ve been riding by here and.

00:19:41.850 –> 00:19:50.340 Joseph McElroy: I had the opportunity to meet you and you are so very clear about which one to do with the place that you know more than a room and a key and that.

00:19:50.730 –> 00:19:57.900 Joseph McElroy: You wanted it to be as we later started to say yes still look and feel like a retro 50s motel to run it like a nice country yeah.

00:19:58.560 –> 00:20:11.430 Joseph McElroy: and your ideas about hospitality and the front end match the way I felt about it, as someone who had spent most of my adult life staying in hotels and motels and an end and.

00:20:12.780 –> 00:20:15.180 Joseph McElroy: Also, just the future, the place itself is beautiful.

00:20:16.320 –> 00:20:24.960 Joseph McElroy: The actual grounds, here in the buildings have a lot to offer as far as the renovation and potential for which we’re.

00:20:27.390 –> 00:20:33.720 Joseph McElroy: In the process of as kind of all over the place, which is kind of the last 20 years that’s what’s happened yeah it’s all over the place in a.

00:20:33.930 –> 00:20:41.610 Joseph McElroy: kind of have to be that way for me to want to work now yeah I couldn’t go back and do management consulting for any amount of money is like I can’t go and do.

00:20:41.940 –> 00:20:49.380 Joseph McElroy: I can’t do coding or thanks for people yeah it’s like if the certain boy year you’re beyond the on-call performance of things you know and.

00:20:50.220 –> 00:20:56.400 Joseph McElroy: it’s like you go to pursue the things you love when we have to make people happy here, I like making people happy that’s fundamental.

00:20:56.880 –> 00:21:03.390 Joseph McElroy: You know the hospitality gene is there with me and that I genuinely like seeing people well you know what I appreciate is that.

00:21:04.020 –> 00:21:08.010 Joseph McElroy: You make sure when you know there’s going to be a number of people here.

00:21:08.460 –> 00:21:25.290 Joseph McElroy: You make sure every time, no matter what’s happened you’re here in the morning to hear them as they come in to have breakfast and say hello and talk to them and feel the pulse of what they were they enjoyed themselves and you really want to help them feel like they.

00:21:27.810 –> 00:21:34.170 Joseph McElroy: were themselves into you know into figure out what if something’s wrong to fix it thing, I think that whole sense of.

00:21:35.070 –> 00:21:50.160 Joseph McElroy: of your care for the people is permeated the whole staff right well we’re lucky with the staff we have Kate and Amanda and Sharon and Linda and Alford are phenomenal we had a whole staff turnover when I got here if you remember when I got here you’re cleaning.

00:21:51.180 –> 00:22:02.790 Joseph McElroy: And I asked who the staff was you said you’re looking at them don’t know I put I know I, I have to add bit twins, I have three-year-old twins and.

00:22:03.210 –> 00:22:10.740 Joseph McElroy: yeah at the time, you know I would come down, and I wanted to bring them down because their grandparents are here, but yeah was.

00:22:11.100 –> 00:22:25.860 Joseph McElroy: You know they can’t get back say don’t three years old, and so I wanted to bring them to a safe environment, but then I found out that nobody here was vaccinated which I’ve been led to believe they were so I put in a vaccine mandates right yeah good old fashioned back.

00:22:29.880 –> 00:22:40.680 Joseph McElroy: But both the concern, out of concern for my children and yeah this is hospitality right our ethics demand is to provide a safe place for our clientele.

00:22:41.130 –> 00:22:51.780 Joseph McElroy: And whether you agree with it or not, 70% of the people think that vaccinated establishment is the most safe so being a businessman I’m going to.

00:22:52.170 –> 00:23:03.720 Joseph McElroy: Of course cater to my biggest clientele right so and the ethics of it which I also happen to believe was is that I need to put in a vaccine mandate well, as you know that went nationwide.

00:23:04.830 –> 00:23:14.040 Joseph McElroy: A little no tellin Maggie valley and nationwide press I got all sorts of interesting responses to it, but then you showed up because I was doing it all, on my own.

00:23:14.850 –> 00:23:26.220 Joseph McElroy: I was renting rooms drive around the cart taking telephone calls and things like that, and here you show up, it was like almost like it was really surreal I couldn’t be some of your experience.

00:23:29.220 –> 00:23:40.050 Joseph McElroy: And I was interested and working here, it was there was a big turnaround for us, yeah well I just for me it was wonderful I fall in love with the place and.

00:23:40.560 –> 00:23:48.540 Joseph McElroy: The good news is we’re able to go out and find a staff that you know, had similar feelings about things, how we wanted to do things and we can teach them.

00:23:49.230 –> 00:24:03.180 Joseph McElroy: Are kind of focused on hospitality and what we wanted the hotel to be there wasn’t any baggage leftover from prior regime so that part was a little tough, the first month on have on you, in particular, cleaning rooms, but we got through it and.

00:24:04.290 –> 00:24:07.950 Joseph McElroy: The fun in hospitality I think it’s just a hands-on thing right.

00:24:08.220 –> 00:24:16.200 Joseph McElroy: You know, you can have a really nice place but people want when they come to a place like this, they want to kind of get to know the people, the fact that you grew up here in the building it’s important to them.

00:24:16.950 –> 00:24:26.310 Joseph McElroy: The fact that I’m willing to set out front and talk to them, and you know it’s very much by design and you’re exactly right breakfast is when and also.

00:24:28.470 –> 00:24:33.900 Joseph McElroy: While they’re still here if something isn’t exactly right or there’s more we can do for them, I can fix that.

00:24:34.410 –> 00:24:42.150 Joseph McElroy: Three days from now, and they’re gone yeah it’s either a good review or a bad review or meeting review, but there’s not anything I can do about it right it’s a sunk cost at that point.

00:24:42.540 –> 00:24:49.230 Joseph McElroy: or sunk opportunity and you really get the pulse of it, the Saturday morning breakfast and we also use that as a way.

00:24:49.710 –> 00:25:00.270 Joseph McElroy: of setting, we do a free Barbecue for everybody every Saturday night and live music and it’s a way of getting the customers here a connection to us and it’d be it’s fine.

00:25:00.690 –> 00:25:07.860 Joseph McElroy: Foods good and the music’s good but a way of getting them connected to us in the place and each other people from all over meet each other.

00:25:08.430 –> 00:25:18.480 Joseph McElroy: And some people want to be left alone and want to sit by the fire pit and eat their bbq and just chill out, but other people are you know, want to meet other motorcyclist or other leaf watchers or other.

00:25:18.960 –> 00:25:26.340 Joseph McElroy: Family trail hikers or other families and we have a lot of that, and people are starting to schedule to come back together, which is really.

00:25:29.100 –> 00:25:38.940 Joseph McElroy: really makes me feel good when that happens, and even in our gifts six months, together, we already are having quite a bit of repeat business, yeah I, including today, let a couple that was a family was here for the big snow and.

00:25:39.150 –> 00:25:42.870 Joseph McElroy: You wanted to bring his wife back for a couple of days just husband and wife getaway.

00:25:43.470 –> 00:25:49.680 Joseph McElroy: And there with us today, the hospitality, because you know I think it’s a lost art in some ways and connecting.

00:25:50.010 –> 00:25:56.700 Joseph McElroy: Listen to one of the things that have been a challenge for me is I grew up in a family of hospitality and the classic roadside.

00:25:57.120 –> 00:26:04.170 Joseph McElroy: motel traditions right there’s family own they’re here now even that it was all just.

00:26:04.860 –> 00:26:13.050 Joseph McElroy: A cop, you know, a place to put your head, it was on the road, but because of his family and you got to come to have a conversation with family and things.

00:26:13.320 –> 00:26:27.210 Joseph McElroy: There was conventionality there was a relaxed environment, you know that you were connected very close to the what the local culture, and I do, I wanted to really recreate that because.

00:26:30.090 –> 00:26:42.870 Joseph McElroy: other places, our not owned by people that area or their investment properties and they put in real staff that are professional adequate, but not necessarily that sort of family feel.

00:26:43.350 –> 00:26:52.890 Joseph McElroy: successfully been able to understand what I’ve been trying to do and create that family field here when you’re a big part of that, and the other thing that people realize people realize genuine versus non-genuine.

00:26:53.880 –> 00:27:00.240 Joseph McElroy: They realize that we care about the place be it’s part of your family your heritage that it’s really important to you.

00:27:00.960 –> 00:27:10.260 Joseph McElroy: and see that we enjoy being here, we like the place we like the music we like the bbq we like seeing them and they realize that you can’t fake that.

00:27:10.650 –> 00:27:27.480 Joseph McElroy: yeah people realize that Well, no, you guys like being here to this must be a fun place that you can see it and everybody always you know, a friendly owner that’s on-premises quite a bit and is enjoying themselves is a huge asset right people always want to make them feel.

00:27:29.820 –> 00:27:39.300 Joseph McElroy: Better about saving money here yeah when you for one of the first things you learned is that when we got here, we had Michael tree, he was the drummer for simple minds badminton is the artist’s arrest and he does a great job.

00:27:39.690 –> 00:27:46.620 Joseph McElroy: of putting on task interesting show for people, and so a lot of music here is performed by him or curated by him right.

00:27:48.270 –> 00:27:54.990 Joseph McElroy: And, but we had a pavilion that was the law of this performance in the warm in and what’s the weather performed right.

00:27:55.860 –> 00:28:00.300 Joseph McElroy: That had basically no management so Mike was on his own doing a performance.

00:28:00.720 –> 00:28:07.590 Joseph McElroy: You know what was the challenges of getting the pavilion into a structure that makes people really happy and keep some sticking around.

00:28:07.980 –> 00:28:20.310 Joseph McElroy: interacting with each other and enjoying the experience, well, I think, quite honestly, you had all the components that pavilions great it’s got a stage it’s got a bar it’s got a kitchen it’s got a bathroom got a fireplace I’ve got a fireplace it sets you to know.

00:28:20.610 –> 00:28:25.020 Joseph McElroy: A short distance from the creek has got fire pits all around it it’s beautiful, so it would.

00:28:26.700 –> 00:28:27.600 Joseph McElroy: mix an intro.

00:28:31.980 –> 00:28:39.660 Joseph McElroy: a combination of Irish and Scottish people like to hear and fits culturally here, it really just needed it needed a bartender and a host.

00:28:40.320 –> 00:28:53.100 Joseph McElroy: And really that’s convincing people to come out there it’s a short walk across the yard, but the front just team and myself if you’ve been here a couple of days leading into a Saturday, and you haven’t had at least three of us invite you to the BAT.

00:28:54.540 –> 00:29:01.680 Joseph McElroy: We feel like we’ve you know when they say oh yeah I’ve heard that everybody in this building has told me that makes me very happy very, very happy.

00:29:02.460 –> 00:29:11.280 Joseph McElroy: When they get out there, once again just be friendly offer them a beer talk to them a little bit introduce them to the guy that’s two doors down from the hotel.

00:29:11.820 –> 00:29:27.540 Joseph McElroy: And it’s really a nice environment so well I didn’t think that was the hard part, well, it was interesting because you know I’ve been in marketing and am not grew up in this business, it was a different kind of time, then so you know people come into a motel or hospitality experience.

00:29:31.110 –> 00:29:33.720 Joseph McElroy: To be direct with people versus like a.

00:29:34.710 –> 00:29:42.960 Joseph McElroy: movie or something and so trying to create recreate that experience I grew up with, but in a different world was a challenge for me and see what the things that you are doing.

00:29:43.260 –> 00:29:55.290 Joseph McElroy: Is an inspiration yeah I created the, yeah I mean I stole the idea, a little bit, but I started cooking cookies in the afternoon exactly and reminding them about the bbq and that was really.

00:29:55.680 –> 00:30:01.950 Joseph McElroy: Fulfilling and successful right it’s just a small thing like that, and the other thing we talked about this, the other day.

00:30:02.400 –> 00:30:10.500 Joseph McElroy: Is that well look it’s a free Barbecue we provide it now do you look at that as well that’s a cost, we provided as something that attracts people here.

00:30:11.040 –> 00:30:23.370 Joseph McElroy: But you know, are we interested in everybody in the place eating the bbq well, yeah we actually sit, even though we’re not charging them for the bbq we’re selling them on the idea of how much fun it’s going to be, and it is, and it is it’s always asked.

00:30:23.850 –> 00:30:28.230 Joseph McElroy: Well we’re gonna come back we’ll talk more about the things that we’re doing and interest.

00:32:39.150 –> 00:32:53.460 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast and My guest Boyd Burton, who is the manager of the Meadowlark Motel, amongst many other great and fabulous skills.

00:32:54.870 –> 00:33:04.890 Joseph McElroy: You know, we were talking about the other challenges that we faced you know getting restarted and really focusing on the experiences that we give customers.

00:33:05.580 –> 00:33:11.280 Joseph McElroy: One of the things that we brought in, is the Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center.

00:33:11.760 –> 00:33:29.220 Joseph McElroy: Which is doing a lot of interesting special that’s how difficult, is it to have been to integrate those into our you know our offerings to clients, as well as I think it’s it’s a very good fit and nobody else here in this area seems to be particularly focused on it and.

00:33:32.820 –> 00:33:45.150 Joseph McElroy: People are interested in the mountain here and offering some insight into that and understanding that was not a weekend goes by, we don’t get some five people to say yeah my family Scotch Irish from somewhere in the mid-Atlantic.

00:33:45.660 –> 00:33:55.620 Joseph McElroy: And they’re interested in the Scotch Irish mountain culture and you know people frankly love you know to love you know the music the music big part of the.

00:33:56.220 –> 00:34:00.510 Joseph McElroy: hospitality, because you know you’re being friendly to people was always a big part of.

00:34:00.810 –> 00:34:09.600 Joseph McElroy: growing up here in the here, in the main building we play Appalachian music all day long yeah just to help kind of set the tone of this is where you’re at and you’re.

00:34:10.020 –> 00:34:17.430 Joseph McElroy: getting an authentic experience this place has been authentic mountains from the basic end of the 40s.

00:34:17.910 –> 00:34:29.520 Joseph McElroy: I mean the first little built was built in the 40s yeah it has been part of roadside American culture and mountain culture, its whole existence now and it’s really I’m really pleased by how successful.

00:34:32.130 –> 00:34:46.800 Joseph McElroy: We are now in a modern setting all the modern efficiencies and the computer systems and things like that, but we’re still able to we’ve translated that whole you know, experience and you’ve understood that experience to be.

00:34:48.300 –> 00:35:02.220 Joseph McElroy: Getting a true mountain culture experience with the cover and with the road motel part of it, people get excited about having a real key that’s yeah we get four or five comments, a week of man, a real key this is cool those are you know.

00:35:03.330 –> 00:35:08.760 Joseph McElroy: We have little blue tags and sort of diamond shape blue tags, those are original tags from.

00:35:09.600 –> 00:35:20.220 Joseph McElroy: Right and people really liked the idea, and you know we found we found shot glasses that we’re assuming your shot glasses from 70 or 74 that we’re.

00:35:20.610 –> 00:35:30.180 Joseph McElroy: Selling that we have a big stock of it was surprising we’re selling those you know so it’s been good, but the Heritage Center has been interesting because we’ve been very.

00:35:33.390 –> 00:35:42.630 Joseph McElroy: difficult to hers and you know and more foragers and Cherokee culture and even some West African influences on the mountain cultures.

00:35:43.500 –> 00:35:57.720 Joseph McElroy: And so I’ve been I think that’s been a huge success in terms of you know, creating awareness and you know we call it memorable experience right and it’s understanding connecting to you know, a local, you know traditions.

00:35:58.500 –> 00:36:07.410 Joseph McElroy: And I think that we’ve been very good at that, and I think it’s yeah you’ve been on the forefront of really even very quickly pushing it along with Bob Plott who’s yeah.

00:36:07.920 –> 00:36:19.920 Joseph McElroy: That means that’s his life he’s written six books rises these, one that top of the civilian award in the state of North Carolina so you know he is creative God of that heritage, saying that there’s has to be.

00:36:20.400 –> 00:36:30.180 Joseph McElroy: organizational thing to make it happen, I just think it’s such a natural fit with what we do here yeah well it’s I mean there’s actually if you look at my original business plan.

00:36:32.160 –> 00:36:44.490 Joseph McElroy: So I mean I hadn’t thought it out well, this is, we need to bring heritage, you know the original people recent people came to the mountain just because of mountain culture right yeah then me the parks.

00:36:44.970 –> 00:36:50.550 Joseph McElroy: goes down in Hollywood and all these things came in and it’s great and they’re fun they’re wonderful, but their their their consumer culture.

00:36:50.850 –> 00:36:55.170 Joseph McElroy: right there consumer culture where’s mountain culture is authentic and my.

00:36:55.410 –> 00:37:04.170 Joseph McElroy: a goal which you have totally embraced is this authenticity of mountain culture and a place to relax yes and a place to relax I think that’s a really important that.

00:37:04.410 –> 00:37:10.980 Joseph McElroy: You can really like your it’s not like you’re an old-time or new time in the future the past year, in no time when you’re here.

00:37:11.460 –> 00:37:21.630 Joseph McElroy: And no time exists here it’s like everything exists at once, and you can enjoy it all, and you know if we’re super friendly with the guests, and we also have a five-acre.

00:37:22.290 –> 00:37:30.270 Joseph McElroy: green space along the creek if a guest wants to sit and do nothing next to a fire nobody’s going to bother them while they’re.

00:37:31.290 –> 00:37:40.320 Joseph McElroy: Doing nothing and just this past weekend I had a guest say that they forgot to check their phone for two days and.

00:37:41.790 –> 00:37:47.970 Joseph McElroy: I got really excited about it, it kind of startled them they’re like oh that makes me so happy like why I mean cuz you relax.

00:37:48.300 –> 00:38:06.090 Joseph McElroy: You know, this morning I said yeah I was, I was, I was sitting outside drinking beer and enjoying the snow as forgot to check this morning I got up, we have down here and I got up, I went out to the rise and shine Chamber commerce, which is actually pretty good.

00:38:07.380 –> 00:38:09.210 Joseph McElroy: a group of people, business people around here.

00:38:10.260 –> 00:38:20.490 Joseph McElroy: But they meet very informally and yeah I went to that and I did a couple of things and I was going to the coffee shop we’re going to be to look for the business person I realized.

00:38:20.910 –> 00:38:30.510 Joseph McElroy: I hadn’t had my phone for all-day all morning I had my phone and check my phone and the interest of my phone is like yeah I live in New York City I’m on my phone constantly.

00:38:33.210 –> 00:38:42.810 Joseph McElroy: Here it changes the structure of your day right exactly the structure of your existence gets changed and it’s very refreshing.

00:38:43.050 –> 00:38:50.130 Joseph McElroy: And you know people come here to make you value for a number of reasons, we have motorcyclist we have people that want to come, see the leaves and October.

00:38:50.820 –> 00:38:56.970 Joseph McElroy: We have people that come from weddings where people come just to get away from the heat and humidity and places like where I’m from Richmond.

00:38:57.300 –> 00:39:02.460 Joseph McElroy: come up here where it’s much cooler people come to ski and the snow they come from the mountain culture.

00:39:02.940 –> 00:39:12.810 Joseph McElroy: I think our job is twofold one provides them a nice comfortable place to stay that’s the fundamental basis of it, clean comfortable place to say treat them nicely.

00:39:13.290 –> 00:39:23.280 Joseph McElroy: But the next step, and what we’ve done here, and are still continuing to improve upon is a place for them to enjoy and relax while they’re here doing other things they’re doing yeah.

00:39:23.760 –> 00:39:30.480 Joseph McElroy: And then, when they leave and say the best part of my whole day was where was the bbq in the music and.

00:39:33.360 –> 00:39:36.600 Joseph McElroy: I’m doing that and we just hung around and fun yeah yeah.

00:39:37.980 –> 00:39:49.740 Joseph McElroy: excited about that well, what do you feel we’ve done something new or created a real speakeasy I had a basement area that hasn’t been to us, you and I collaborated we’ve created a real speakeasy.

00:39:51.000 –> 00:40:02.160 Joseph McElroy: In the Meadowlark motels what, what do you think about that what’s the vision for that oh I’m super excited about when it’s a beautiful little space we are handled bar Joseph’s artwork.

00:40:02.640 –> 00:40:13.620 Joseph McElroy: is in there very good artwork and a little story is I use I studied a lot at the classically from the nudes so I have a lot of paintings big paintings of nudes.

00:40:13.920 –> 00:40:26.700 Joseph McElroy: So we know these would be good for a speakeasy my wife was like yeah see who’s The co-designer of the experience here, and you see everything that visual here my wife has been heavily involved in making sure that it’s totally aesthetic.

00:40:27.390 –> 00:40:30.570 Joseph McElroy: But she was like well okay, but if you’re going to put nudes

00:40:34.380 –> 00:40:39.270 Joseph McElroy: You can’t lose I don’t want a man cave so we’ve also got male nudes on the wall

00:40:40.680 –> 00:40:48.300 Joseph McElroy: guests yeah we’ve been opened, it’s up on Fridays and Saturdays and basically, we were all music aficionados here you guys.

00:40:49.260 –> 00:40:59.580 Joseph McElroy: rock and roll star and you’ve been headed blues bar with some of the top people in the world and we curated just an incredible list of world music and but it’s just you know.

00:41:00.150 –> 00:41:13.800 Joseph McElroy: Typical night down there at this point is, people are out snow skiing they come back they’ve had dinner, they want to come down have a couple of beers we start playing some music and yo two Saturdays ago turned into a dance party this one.

00:41:15.030 –> 00:41:21.480 Joseph McElroy: Again, the place was designed to be a place that we enjoyed and wanted to hang out and we find that the guests to

00:41:21.720 –> 00:41:31.050 Joseph McElroy: yeah I would say that the essence of us in a lot of ways, is the music started right the musical under the place and we had that Bob was really great that recruiting some.

00:41:33.870 –> 00:41:46.470 Joseph McElroy: Great music Balsam Range Member playing Darren Nicholson and a few others here and yeah we’ve had world-class music here I mean that has been one of the greatest.

00:41:46.800 –> 00:41:53.670 Joseph McElroy: News sources of pride, I have is the world-class music, we now have, if I don’t say so myself world-class art.

00:41:55.080 –> 00:42:04.590 Joseph McElroy: I got things in museums accounts right yeah it’s been really like the art isn’t meant to be a fun key and something different, and Maggie Valleys a.

00:42:05.760 –> 00:42:09.300 Joseph McElroy: The local watering holes and Maggie Valley, or what I would kind of determine as.

00:42:10.260 –> 00:42:18.930 Joseph McElroy: Sports bars and one of them, I like to go to watch football and have a drink but it’s a sports bar a lot of TVs kind of loud basic menu and or.

00:42:19.530 –> 00:42:31.890 Joseph McElroy: restaurant bars, but no yeah not really any bar so we went to this will be a funky little bar yeah for people to hang out after a long day and yeah they don’t have to drive anywhere and I wanted.

00:42:34.770 –> 00:42:39.240 Joseph McElroy: Everything about heritage and every part of my from my childhood my growth and everything else but.

00:42:39.690 –> 00:42:45.330 Joseph McElroy: I wanted to bring a little bit of my New York experience here too yeah so it’s got that so we got like a little sliding thing for people to.

00:42:46.260 –> 00:42:54.660 Joseph McElroy: ask for permission to come in collecting but fine so we’re also creating a restaurant because to get lifted by the drinks North Carolina hotels got to have a restaurant.

00:42:54.960 –> 00:43:02.820 Joseph McElroy: So we’ve actually come up with the concept for a restaurant and you have a great experience with that what would you say is the vision that we’ve been talking about.

00:43:03.540 –> 00:43:12.240 Joseph McElroy: Well, I think you know we’re still flushing it out, I think we need more restaurants and Maggie Valley, we need more restaurants that serve past nine o’clock at night.

00:43:12.720 –> 00:43:16.860 Joseph McElroy: So there’s definitely demand there and certain people want to eat where they’re staying.

00:43:17.520 –> 00:43:32.280 Joseph McElroy: So we believe that demands there and we have the facility to do it, we have a kitchen we’re converting We already have a nice dining room right over behind us, but I think the food we want it to be accessible, we want to have dishes that.

00:43:35.520 –> 00:43:46.500 Joseph McElroy: altar but also to them, yes right thing that both Joseph and I are I characterize ourselves as good amateur cooks not chefs, yeah but we’re both food easy probably tell by looking at.

00:43:47.010 –> 00:43:52.500 Joseph McElroy: That we haven’t missed a whole lot of meals and we’ve eaten all over the world, and we want some interesting but not.

00:43:53.040 –> 00:44:01.800 Joseph McElroy: Not food, food, not complicated interesting good food that’s different once again a different offering but still that you’re comfortable and accessible.

00:44:02.160 –> 00:44:08.400 Joseph McElroy: yeah that’s the framework and we’re building the menu, I mean, I think that yeah we are, we know some really good line cups.

00:44:08.850 –> 00:44:15.540 Joseph McElroy: But what we’re gonna do is we’re you know it’s hard to get a chef to come to the real small motel in the mountains alright

00:44:15.870 –> 00:44:32.550 Joseph McElroy: But as he said, we know a lot of important we’re going to curate great recipes and then have really good natural cook people cook it right good ingredients and that’s the fun part is curating the menu, and once again just like we’re doing with the.

00:44:36.630 –> 00:44:41.550 Joseph McElroy: a menu that we think fits the place and customers like, but also that we like yeah yeah.

00:44:42.750 –> 00:44:52.980 Joseph McElroy: So we’re not In addition the restaurants were actually also arranging for Meadowlark to respond toMeadowlark design tours right.

00:44:53.490 –> 00:45:00.480 Joseph McElroy: And I know you haven’t been as much involved this yet, but I think you feel it is pretty important to have this kind of adventure, to offer people.

00:45:00.780 –> 00:45:05.460 Joseph McElroy: And a lot of them are going to be very comfortable tours like you’re gonna be able to see the mountains, particularly.

00:45:05.820 –> 00:45:10.710 Joseph McElroy: You have a van that’s going to drive exactly, but you have the opportunity to get out and enjoy it.

00:45:11.130 –> 00:45:21.900 Joseph McElroy: yeah we yeah because of where we’re at we have people come in and they want to do things in the area and we have other places that we recommend that tour companies, we have tour companies we’re partnering with but yeah.

00:45:22.500 –> 00:45:32.760 Joseph McElroy: one of the reasons I moved here is because this is one of them, I think, maybe the absolute best spot to ride a motorcycle and certainly on the east coast and maybe the whole United States yeah.

00:45:37.680 –> 00:45:48.990 Joseph McElroy: And you know I wanted for that, for our guests and walking tours and fishing tourists and make sure that we can actually really help them maximize the enjoyment, while they’re here and not just hope that they find something that suits them somewhere else.

00:45:49.410 –> 00:45:56.010 Joseph McElroy: Well, I mean we have we’re gonna come back and we have to take a break now where it comes back in a few minutes to talk about some of the.

00:45:56.280 –> 00:46:06.180 Joseph McElroy: motorcycle rides that you’ve been on because he’s a bit on all the motorcycle rides the world, and maybe we talk about some that you’ve done in this area and other road culture type things that you might want to talk.

00:48:08.280 –> 00:48:17.430 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast my guest Boyd Burton the manager of the Meadowlark Motel, So Boyd,

00:48:17.910 –> 00:48:33.660 Joseph McElroy: You know, we do a lot of adventure start from this area Maggie Valley, you know Meadowlark Motel Smoky Mountains yeah outdoor adventures, and one of the biggest things is road culture right yeah a lot of people come here to go.

00:48:36.390 –> 00:48:45.150 Joseph McElroy: the fact we have a motorcycle museum across the creek from us in our backyard that people go to so it’s an important part of you know what’s.

00:48:45.630 –> 00:48:52.770 Joseph McElroy: What happens in the mountains is you know, being able to travel and see so you’ve been all over the world, with the motorcycle riding right.

00:48:53.460 –> 00:49:02.400 Joseph McElroy: Some of the best rides at least in the country I have to say that this is the best right for my money the Northern Rockies.

00:49:02.880 –> 00:49:11.250 Joseph McElroy: Glacier National Park that area is maybe more spectacular, but in terms of mountain roads that are rideable and enjoyable on a motorcycle I think.

00:49:11.640 –> 00:49:18.060 Joseph McElroy: You know, really, this whole this section of Western North Carolina and then the similar sections of Southwestern Virginia.

00:49:18.630 –> 00:49:33.720 Joseph McElroy: I think is just I think they’re the best and I’ve got you to know pretty good I’ve been everywhere in the lower 48 riding right and then there are beautiful rods all over but you’ve got good writing weather eight months out of the year it’s not too hot in the summer we just.

00:49:37.170 –> 00:49:46.740 Joseph McElroy: The traffic’s not bad and there’s titan twisting our roads will spectacular views every direction the gas come in and go, you know, give me your favorite ride I jokingly say pick a direction and go uphill.

00:49:47.580 –> 00:49:58.950 Joseph McElroy: in every direction is upheld, by the way, we’re in a valley yeah and then a lot of famous rides a tail of the dragon and the rattler and sure house skyway all are within you know.

00:50:00.180 –> 00:50:06.720 Joseph McElroy: less than an hour yeah less than an hour, if you draw a circle, this is a great place to be base camp for motorcycles.

00:50:07.320 –> 00:50:15.660 Joseph McElroy: As a motorcyclist, I like to drink and have a beer, but I don’t like to do that and ride yeah so being able to come back somewhere like the Meadowlark and.

00:50:16.620 –> 00:50:33.390 Joseph McElroy: be able to hang out go anywhere else go anywhere is really important, we a lot of car shows here and it’s just a beautiful place to come for a ride yeah I mean road culture was a big part of Americana you know when we were identifying what our modern culture is and.

00:50:37.590 –> 00:50:42.540 Joseph McElroy: So you know Mountain Heritage and American road culture heritage are important.

00:50:42.900 –> 00:50:51.810 Joseph McElroy: You know aspects of it, and you know frankly road closures are perfect for the covid era right because you write it upright to your door you don’t have to interact with anybody if you’re worried.

00:50:52.200 –> 00:51:05.700 Joseph McElroy: Right, so I walk right in the door because it is a motel, and uh yeah we get some people have been coming up here for road vacations for 40 years yeah that new your grandmother, and your mother still ask of them yeah I know.

00:51:06.840 –> 00:51:21.060 Joseph McElroy: That makes me feel good you connected to something real that’s been here for a few generations, we have about 1974 Meadowlark sign backlit down the Speakeasy that I think is a nice reminder of that the history of the place.

00:51:22.080 –> 00:51:28.830 Joseph McElroy: So what are some upcoming things that you’re looking forward to hearing well really the spring, for us, is about.

00:51:30.120 –> 00:51:34.260 Joseph McElroy: Getting the restaurant open and getting the full ABC.

00:51:37.260 –> 00:51:42.210 Joseph McElroy: We have lots of events coming up recycle groups and car groups and.

00:51:42.660 –> 00:51:54.750 Joseph McElroy: wedding parties so really getting ready for spring and the next step for us as a full restaurant and full bar environment to go along with the pavilion and what we’ve done this year it’s additive to it, and this is more opportunity to.

00:51:55.140 –> 00:52:05.250 Joseph McElroy: host and be hospitable and enjoy you know the company of our clients it’s a lot of work we’ve got a lot to do in the next 90 days to be ready for spring but we’re.

00:52:05.850 –> 00:52:12.930 Joseph McElroy: we’re on track I’m pretty proud that you know when you think about it when we open the when the summer comes we’re going to have.

00:52:13.500 –> 00:52:21.720 Joseph McElroy: him, do you not only get your experience to come to stay in a nice place and sleep, you know to go to take your ventures all over when you come back you got.

00:52:23.070 –> 00:52:34.680 Joseph McElroy: A restaurant, this will be mountain parodies inspired you’re gonna have a speakeasy you have a pavilion that’s them live music Barbecue you have a really nice pool environment where you can.

00:52:37.590 –> 00:52:49.200 Joseph McElroy: tie this huge recreation purpose so mountain heritage trout stream, you can fish in the children to learn a lot and also tube in the water, so it’s pretty exciting.

00:52:50.220 –> 00:52:52.410 about what we were creating here.

00:52:54.210 –> 00:52:59.670 Joseph McElroy: So what where do people find out more about you right.

00:53:01.350 –> 00:53:16.260 Joseph McElroy: Well, as part of that getting away from it all thing I came to the mountains, I actually decided to I had a pretty big social media presence related to historic to music and historic preservation and part of my semi-retirement were to get away from that.

00:53:17.400 –> 00:53:34.530 Joseph McElroy: But I now connect you know connecting back in through things like this podcast and our website and the smokies adventure, so I can go to our website and use the contact for sure we’d love to look for ideas for music and then also our for.

00:53:37.890 –> 00:53:45.870 Joseph McElroy: So can come into booking agencies or book directly through our site, you also can pick up the phone and call and you will get myself, Amanda, Kate.

00:53:46.170 –> 00:53:52.770 Joseph McElroy: We will do our very best to help you on the phone and talk to any questions you have been booked the room old style and also things like tours and exactly.

00:53:53.130 –> 00:54:02.880 Joseph McElroy: yeah that’s really cool it’s like family, you know family-run place done if you know corporate efficiency, but without the near of.

00:54:03.360 –> 00:54:12.360 Joseph McElroy: That corporate dryness it’s all about you know, being the family, yeah we’re here enjoying the place, so we hope people will come to enjoy it with us yeah I think so.

00:54:12.750 –> 00:54:28.680 Joseph McElroy: So the site is meadowlarkmotel.com, yes, we have a couple of Facebook pages, we have the Facebook page for the meadowlark motel but we also have a Facebook page for the Meadowlark smoky mountain heritage Center so you can just search for both those right.

00:54:30.000 –> 00:54:35.250 Joseph McElroy: You need to contact form on our website to get to both me and Anvil.

00:54:38.610 –> 00:54:47.220 Joseph McElroy: make suggestions or recommend music, you know always open to ideas that fit within and this now boy, thank you for being on the show oh it’s my pleasure.

00:54:47.520 –> 00:54:55.440 Joseph McElroy: Nice enjoyed the time and he did it out of the goodness of his heart it’s not like yeah it’s a motel or anything now, this is a Labor of love.

00:54:56.550 –> 00:55:05.400 Joseph McElroy: And I fell in love with the place and so we’re part of the talkradio.nycnetwork and

00:55:05.910 –> 00:55:17.580 Joseph McElroy: This podcast appears every Tuesday from six to seven on that network, I recommend you investigate the little I podcast on this network there are some great ones from self-help to

00:55:17.970 –> 00:55:30.270 Joseph McElroy: You know, to business to other travel destinations, you know there’s a great one on the work that you have to explore and you know I live in New York, as well as live I live in two places at once, somehow, but I’m here.

00:55:30.630 –> 00:55:35.700 Joseph McElroy: You know, constantly because I’m really dedicated passionate about this, but I have a family.

00:55:39.300 –> 00:55:42.000 Joseph McElroy: Through your parents, I’m involved with that as well

00:55:43.200 –> 00:55:53.610 Joseph McElroy: You can with this we are, we have the podcast also smokiesadventure.com, you can click on a link at the top of take you to all the previous podcasts.

00:55:54.810 –> 00:55:58.620 Joseph McElroy: As well as links to interesting information related to the podcast.

00:55:59.700 –> 00:56:11.700 Joseph McElroy: We, have a Facebook page it’s a gateway to the smokies podcast on Facebook, which I recommend highly that you take a look at.

00:56:13.080 –> 00:56:18.330 Joseph McElroy: Where there are the live feeds are going on all the time, and we also have good conversations.

00:56:19.350 –> 00:56:32.250 Joseph McElroy: smokies adventure is a great website for you to visit it’s related to what we’re doing but it runs independently, it provides lots of information about.

00:56:33.390 –> 00:56:35.910 Joseph McElroy: You know, visiting the smokies where to stay what.

00:56:38.910 –> 00:56:46.560 Joseph McElroy: Part of books and trail guide and explanations about what to do in your outdoor adventures of the smokies.

00:56:47.280 –> 00:56:55.290 Joseph McElroy: And then the Meadowlark motel we have a great site that also has a lot of interesting shopping we just introduced a tin cup that’s become very popular.

00:56:55.590 –> 00:57:04.620 Joseph McElroy: And my wife sourced it and she came up with the idea that, basically, says the on the outside of the cup you drink out of this TIM coffee cup and it says.

00:57:06.240 –> 00:57:07.590 Joseph McElroy: This might be moonshine

00:57:09.810 –> 00:57:19.530 Joseph McElroy: we’re loving that so I recommend you go to our website look at that we got some good T-shirts and things like that, as well and we’re going to be introducing a Heritage club.

00:57:19.980 –> 00:57:35.970 Joseph McElroy: it’s more focused on regional and local people to be able to come on a regular basis we’re going to be doing things like we’re naming some of the rooms with when we’re doing sort of museum quality, you know installations in the rooms of pictures in history, the first one to be the.

00:57:39.570 –> 00:57:43.350 Joseph McElroy: legendary women of the smaller craft room mountain crafts room.

00:57:44.670 –> 00:57:53.250 Joseph McElroy: And we have openings in these rooms it’s going to have you know a lot of discussions about the art history related we’re also going to be doing.

00:57:54.090 –> 00:58:08.250 Joseph McElroy: A series of mountain cultures with books and authors that have written things about the mountain, so we look forward to you coming and visiting us and listening to this to gateway the smokies and thank you all for being here and see you next week.

GUEST: Nancy East

In this episode, you will learn about some hiking trails and trips in Haywood County. Nancy will share with us some of her favorite regional hiking trails, from easy to strenuous. You'll also hear about her memorable tourism experiences, and she'll give us suggestions for the best places to visit in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Our special guest, Nancy East, is a renowned Author, Program Director, Outdoor Survivalist, and Search and Rescue Expert, as well as a Record-setting Distance Hiker. A former Veterinarian, Nancy has hiked and led seminars and programs all over the United States, but her favorite trails are near her Haywood County home in the Great Smoky Mountains. 

https://www.hopeandfeathertravels.com/

Tune in for this fun conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

Segment 1

In today’s episode Joseph and his guest, renowned Author and Outdoor Survivalist, Nancy East, talk about things for families to do. The first place Joseph begins talking about is down in North Carolina called the Cataloochee Ski Resort which is one of Joseph’s family's favorite places to visit. Joseph talks about a few other places that he and his family enjoy visiting including a few foodie towns and some restaurants that serve what he calls “mountain heritage food.” Nancy begins to talk about how she ended up in Haywood County where she has been for twenty years now. 

Segment 2

At the beginning of the second segment Nancy talks about what drew her to Haywood County, and she talks about how she loves the natural beauty and the strong community. Nancy begins talking about one of her rescue stories in a crazy snowstorm, and how she and her team serve by saving others in some dangerous endeavors. Nancy begins talking about how she raised her kids to learn safety protocols whether that be skiing, dressing correctly, or using the proper equipment so that they won’t ever be in harm; in the same way she tells others to be cautious when they are planning a trip so that they will always have the right equipment as well.

Segment 3

Joseph and Nancy begin talking about how to keep little kids engaged when they are on an adventure, and Nancy has some great ideas from her years of experience, such as a scavenger hunt, or using electronics to learn compass and mathematics. There are also some great places for you to take your children to hike such as Flat Creek and Big Creek; they are one-way hikes which makes it super easy for the whole family. Nancy says that kids love water so any trail with a creek or a waterfall will keep the kids occupied. Nancy talks about a term she used in her book called Nature Deficit Disorder where Nancy explains that parents these days are so afraid of the woods. Nancy is aware that electronics are used more than outdoor time is allotted, but she isn’t fond of this, and definitely is a firm believer in the outdoors. At the end of this segment, Joseph and Nancy begin talking about her book, Chasing the Smokies Moon. 

Segment 4

At the beginning of the last segment, Nancy and Joseph talk about their memorable moments in the Smokies. One of Nancy’s first experiences was backpacking around the Smokies which she chose to do instead of getting a hotel, and this showed her how much she loves the outdoors, nature, and being in the mountains. These experiences that Joseph and Nancy are talking about, Joseph refers to them as “flashable memory experiences.” There are so many treasures to see in the mountains, and Joseph and Nancy both agree that there are breathtaking things to do and to see in all of these mountain resorts they talk about today.

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00:02:53.370 –> 00:02:54.240 Joseph McElroy: howdy.

00:02:54.330 –> 00:03:04.710 Joseph McElroy: Thanks for joining us on this week’s episode of gateway to the Smokies, this is the second season of this podcast which focuses on life, culture, and tourism.

00:03:05.070 –> 00:03:14.190 Joseph McElroy: In America’s most visited National Park, the great smoky mountains National Park in the surrounding towns, this area is filled with ancient natural beauty.

00:03:14.580 –> 00:03:21.600 Joseph McElroy: A deep-storied history of stunning adventures and rich mountain cultures that we will explore with weekly episodes.

00:03:22.080 –> 00:03:33.930 Joseph McElroy: I am Joseph Franklyn McElroy a man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains my family lived in the great smokies for over 200 years my business is in travel but my heart is in culture.

00:03:35.490 –> 00:03:43.140 Joseph McElroy: In today’s podcast we’re talking about family adventures and outdoor experiences in the smokies, but first, let’s talk about our sponsors.

00:03:43.650 –> 00:03:52.860 Joseph McElroy: Meadowlark Motel imagine a place evocative motor courts of the past, yet moderate and vibrant with a Chic Appalachian feel.

00:03:53.490 –> 00:04:06.120 Joseph McElroy: a place for adventure and relaxation imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on fire and eat accompanied by fine wine and craft beers.

00:04:06.630 –> 00:04:24.930 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place of old-time music and world cultural sounds imagine a place with mountain heritage, food, and underground speakeasy there is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay.

00:04:26.610 –> 00:04:31.380 Joseph McElroy: Another sponsor is smokies adventure.com that’s smokies plural adventure.

00:04:32.160 –> 00:04:42.960 Joseph McElroy: singular.com is a site for information and listings about the smokies hiking information wedding venues, books, trail maps resources.

00:04:43.260 –> 00:04:55.650 Joseph McElroy: The emphasis of smokies adventures on outdoor recreation outdoor life events like weddings and adventures, along with providing information on lodging family entertainment events conventions honeymoons, and more.

00:04:56.190 –> 00:05:01.290 Joseph McElroy: The goal of this site and its becoming, that is, become the leading information portal of the smoky mountains.

00:05:03.030 –> 00:05:13.590 Joseph McElroy: So we’re talking about family today and I have three-year-old twins and so we’ve experienced some things to do in the mountains with family and I thought I mentioned a few of the things that we do.

00:05:15.720 –> 00:05:30.180 Joseph McElroy: I don’t know if you know it, but North Carolina has the southernmost ski resort in the nation it’s a Cataloochee ski resort and there you can go skiing and snowboarding from essentially the end of November, until March.

00:05:31.680 –> 00:05:38.370 Joseph McElroy: And it’s it has a fairly lengthy snow season and also manufacturers its own so snow.

00:05:39.660 –> 00:05:51.000 Joseph McElroy: And the slopes are very good for beginners 44% of them are for beginners so that’s great for families to go to and in 39% intermediate so there’s very little advanced.

00:05:51.930 –> 00:06:01.710 Joseph McElroy: But there’s enough for one family member to go to the advanced stuff and then the rest of the family goes to the intermediate and basic stuff and they got great.

00:06:02.340 –> 00:06:13.020 Joseph McElroy: classes in the fact I took classes there when I was a kid and private lessons if you want and there’s also snowboarding up there, in fact, there’s great snowboarding sharp.

00:06:13.530 –> 00:06:28.980 Joseph McElroy: snowboarding shop at the foot of the hills recently, one of the X Games Gold Medal of gold medal winners was a snowboarder from Waynesville North Carolina to spend a lot of his time training on Cataloochee

00:06:29.340 –> 00:06:43.110 Joseph McElroy: So it’s a great place to go for winter adventures now at the bottom in the mountain right in Maggie itself is snow, to me, and they manufacturer the kitty slope of.

00:06:44.670 –> 00:06:57.390 Joseph McElroy: snow and kids can go up there and have just an incredibly fun time so let’s see sliding down on tubes almost the whole winter season is great for the entire family because they got these giant tubes that I could sit on.

00:06:58.710 –> 00:07:02.820 Joseph McElroy: And I’m a pretty big dude so it’s an unforgettable experience.

00:07:03.870 –> 00:07:07.980 Joseph McElroy: And you should book a time before you go, because it can get crowded, especially on the.

00:07:08.520 –> 00:07:19.830 Joseph McElroy: On the weekend now don’t forget to go winter hiking and smokies there are a lot of easy hikes you can look up online and they are sure our guests coming up, you mentioned a few but.

00:07:20.760 –> 00:07:32.070 Joseph McElroy: the beauty of hiking in the mountains as a couple in the winter is a couple one is it it’s not crowded like it is during the spring and summer in the fall.

00:07:32.550 –> 00:07:40.470 Joseph McElroy: And so you don’t have to deal with a lot of crowds but to is you might think losing all the leaves is a detriment, but.

00:07:40.770 –> 00:07:54.540 Joseph McElroy: What you get when you lose all the leaves his views you give incredible vistas that you get to look at and see so it’s something that you don’t get any other time of the year is this vast vista that you can see.

00:07:55.050 –> 00:08:15.180 Joseph McElroy: So it’s a great time to come up, it can be very safe, and you know and some of those waterfalls get ice on them that just make them dazzling frozen spectacles, and now you can also find museums in the mountains and there are some great ones, I personally went.

00:08:16.830 –> 00:08:22.200 Joseph McElroy: With the cred the new museum of the Cherokee Indian a few years back, I went there and I was dumbfounded.

00:08:22.590 –> 00:08:31.620 Joseph McElroy: They had a hologram which doctor that followed you through the whole presentation every exhibition is holograms show up, and it was just.

00:08:31.980 –> 00:08:49.200 Joseph McElroy: Incredibly, engaging and it’s just it’s a really beautiful elegant experience explaining a lot of the Cherokee culture that I just can’t recommend highly more highly enough, and they have, there are also lots of arts and crafts there’s actually a big.

00:08:50.280 –> 00:09:03.780 Joseph McElroy: You know sort of facility near next right across from the museum that has lots of native American Cherokee Indian crafts, especially mask incredibly number of mass and I love that place.

00:09:04.860 –> 00:09:11.040 Joseph McElroy: You can also, the Meadowlark motels and actually put into Meadowlark smoky mountain Heritage Center where we have.

00:09:11.400 –> 00:09:18.000 Joseph McElroy: A little we have exhibits on like the Plott hound and the State dog North Carolina we’re actually installing.

00:09:18.990 –> 00:09:29.700 Joseph McElroy: regularly new exhibits right now we’re installing one for called them moonshine room and we’ll have openings for people to see you know the history of moonshiners in the mountains.

00:09:30.420 –> 00:09:35.310 Joseph McElroy: In a way, maybe you haven’t seen before, so, and of course the Asheville museum.

00:09:36.120 –> 00:09:51.780 Joseph McElroy: there are museums in Gatlinburg in Pigeon Forge so it’s and there’s lots of great art, you know the Asheville area was immersive arts, for most of its time and said some great writers great artists, you know the black mountain school with.

00:09:52.830 –> 00:09:54.120 Joseph McElroy: Jake about bears and.

00:09:55.470 –> 00:10:02.310 Joseph McElroy: Rauschenberg and those others of that period, all work the black mountain school and it was incredible.

00:10:04.110 –> 00:10:13.950 Joseph McElroy: Speaking Asheville is a foodie town, and I could recommend restaurants galore in Asheville is, I think one of the top three towns in North Carolina may be in the eastern seaboard.

00:10:15.150 –> 00:10:23.280 Joseph McElroy: And you can go there, but in terms of things in the area, Silva has some great little restaurants Gulu pays is fabulous.

00:10:24.360 –> 00:10:34.770 Joseph McElroy: Mexican restaurant Silva Waynesville have some really good ones like sweet onion or they have one of the top 10 Barbecue joints in the nation according to the really recent magazine.

00:10:35.010 –> 00:10:40.920 Joseph McElroy: called Hazelwood smokehouse, of course, Maggie Valley, we have a wonderful family restaurant called J Arthur’s.

00:10:41.280 –> 00:10:52.800 Joseph McElroy: It from its get-go over 40 years ago the earth was a family-oriented steakhouse where fathers could get a steaks kid could get good food that appeals to them moms could get a great big.

00:10:53.190 –> 00:11:01.650 Joseph McElroy: Famous gorgonzola salad if she wanted, but they also serve fabulous rainbow trout there’s a great Barbecue place in Maggie called POPs but on the creek.

00:11:02.970 –> 00:11:18.930 Joseph McElroy: And it’s just fabulous, of course, the Meadowlark is opening upstarts and crafts that’ll be coming soon and it’s gonna be a small place but focusing on a different take a mountain heritage food so look forward to that.

00:11:20.190 –> 00:11:28.680 Joseph McElroy: Other places to go and in the mountains is there’s a lot of greats shopping and there’s a Christmas shop.

00:11:29.010 –> 00:11:44.070 Joseph McElroy: You know there’s a there’s one called Nancy touch Christmas shop, but of course, in Maggie, we have a wonderful one called cabbage rose is very unique and it’s got an eclectic shopping Center I think it has over 2000 square feet of Christmas.

00:11:45.630 –> 00:11:53.520 Joseph McElroy: Experience and you know and displays and mannequins and trains and moving parts and things like that.

00:11:53.850 –> 00:12:07.560 Joseph McElroy: So don’t forget that also I really love and recommend people go to the Maggie Valley rock and rock shop and Jim mine is really great for kids I get to see all these colorful stones and you know and experiences.

00:12:08.310 –> 00:12:13.500 Joseph McElroy: That, I think, is worthwhile and of course, there’s the market square in Maggie Valley, it has a lot of.

00:12:13.920 –> 00:12:21.990 Joseph McElroy: gift shops that are got a lot of one of a kind things, and then the beginning of Maggie there’s a mountain now you mountain near crafts, which is.

00:12:22.500 –> 00:12:34.560 Joseph McElroy: Which is a is an institution in Maggie valley been there for 10,000 years and it’s just a wonderful place to take kids because there are all sorts of wonderful gifts and toys that kids can enjoy.

00:12:35.280 –> 00:12:39.690 Joseph McElroy: So anyway, some ideas about what you can do in Maggie valley there’s a lot more.

00:12:40.140 –> 00:12:50.160 Joseph McElroy: You can just search online ago family things to do in the mountains, you can find there are all sorts of amusement parks you got you got the polar express, which is railroads.

00:12:50.850 –> 00:13:00.450 Joseph McElroy: there are still some amusement parks like Sanchez land, of course, over and the gap that in Gatlinburg Pigeon Forge area there’s a tremendous thing like Dollywood and.

00:13:01.260 –> 00:13:09.840 Joseph McElroy: Things like that and worthwhile taking them kids and family to in general, you know you know if you go up in the cage cove and go look at the elk.

00:13:10.260 –> 00:13:16.050 Joseph McElroy: and take the kids up there there are things to do, besides just seeing the elks which blow them away but there are old buildings.

00:13:16.320 –> 00:13:24.180 Joseph McElroy: There streams there are things that just will tickle their imagination, even a three-year-old, we took him up there, and they were engaged the whole time.

00:13:24.990 –> 00:13:35.850 Joseph McElroy: So anyway person who might know about a lot of this is our guest Nancy East, Nancy is a renowned author hiker, and outdoor educator.

00:13:36.270 –> 00:13:42.840 Joseph McElroy: A former veterinarian, not Nancy is hiked and leads seminars and programs all over the United States.

00:13:43.290 –> 00:13:54.210 Joseph McElroy: But our favorite trails are near her Haywood County home in the great smoky mountains, where she holds the fastest known time for hiking over 900 miles of all the trails.

00:13:54.630 –> 00:14:05.940 Joseph McElroy: In the smoky mountain National Park, she has an outdoors blog where she writes about the outdoors and what are the possible adventures with children in the wilderness Hello Nancy.

00:14:06.390 –> 00:14:08.370 Nancy Mercure East: hey there glad to be here.

00:14:08.670 –> 00:14:22.530 Joseph McElroy: I’m glad you’re here, so I like one of your quotes that I saw that although all you’re not a native and Haywood county you got here as fast as he could and now resided here for over 20 years.

00:14:22.620 –> 00:14:23.790 Nancy Mercure East: I have something.

00:14:24.060 –> 00:14:25.410 Joseph McElroy: To where were you before.

00:14:25.860 –> 00:14:34.770 Nancy Mercure East: Atlanta so definitely a big departure from where I grew up but I welcome change I think I’ve always been a country girl at heart, who just happened to grow up in a city.

00:14:35.730 –> 00:14:39.330 Joseph McElroy: and your What was your skills and professional background in Atlanta.

00:14:39.960 –> 00:14:49.590 Nancy Mercure East: yeah so I went to high school, they are graduated from high school and I headed over to Alabama lived there for about eight years, while I was an undergraduate and veterinary school.

00:14:49.800 –> 00:14:59.580 Nancy Mercure East: And then I was lucky enough to land my first job right here in Waynesville downtown Waynesville and I’ve never left it’s always been home since and it’s where I’ve raised my family.

00:14:59.880 –> 00:15:04.950 Joseph McElroy: Great it’s a great place to live raise a family so that’s why you’re Haywood county that’s fabulous.

00:15:05.100 –> 00:15:17.550 Joseph McElroy: yeah well um, we have to take a break now, I guess, I was long-winded on that first stuff so I want to talk about so you know what you learned about the region and then there’s some recent news we got to talk about.

00:15:17.640 –> 00:15:19.710 Nancy Mercure East: Alright sounds good.

00:17:34.800 –> 00:17:41.550 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast and my guest Nancy East

00:17:42.570 –> 00:17:57.030 Joseph McElroy: So Nancy you came to the Haywood County and got raise your family, and you know to build a life here what’s, the most important thing you’ve learned about this real region, and so what it what are some of the qualities you enjoy the most.

00:17:57.600 –> 00:18:07.080 Nancy Mercure East: yeah gosh that’s a great question so anything’s to answer that one that we will what brought me here undeniably was just the natural beauty.

00:18:07.800 –> 00:18:15.990 Nancy Mercure East: It was just to me almost an unfounded treasure at the time, you know Wayne’s world has grown I’m sure as you’ve seen all your life, but just in the.

00:18:16.290 –> 00:18:24.900 Nancy Mercure East: Nearly 25 years that I’ve been here to it has grown exponentially, as far as just a minute ease and services and just people but.

00:18:25.470 –> 00:18:36.150 Nancy Mercure East: The people are what makes it so special to I love the sense of community I love raising my family here and having you know, a tight network of friends, but then a broader base.

00:18:36.420 –> 00:18:41.250 Nancy Mercure East: of just Community contacts everybody seems to want to help each other in Waynesville and.

00:18:41.550 –> 00:18:54.300 Nancy Mercure East: That means a lot, you know it’s hard to find that I think sometimes in a big city it’s a little harder to seek out and find anyway, so it felt like an instant connection when I moved here in that regard and has never let me down.

00:18:55.260 –> 00:19:01.440 Joseph McElroy: You know, when I grew up that I mean that was always the mountain hospitality or something we’re always proud of yeah.

00:19:02.400 –> 00:19:14.700 Joseph McElroy: Always there’d be a hitchhiker coming in the mountains and then my dad would stop and pick him up many times you find out there were students from somewhere like in German student once we put them up in a camper that we had on the property.

00:19:14.910 –> 00:19:17.910 Joseph McElroy: yeah it was like yeah that was important to just.

00:19:18.390 –> 00:19:19.470 Joseph McElroy: Be hospitable.

00:19:19.530 –> 00:19:21.870 Joseph McElroy: Right, I guess it runs in my blood that’s why I’m on.

00:19:22.050 –> 00:19:23.460 Joseph McElroy: hospitality guy now.

00:19:24.420 –> 00:19:25.710 Nancy Mercure East: There you go very fitting.

00:19:26.730 –> 00:19:38.040 Joseph McElroy: So you’re on the search and rescue team for Haywood County and there is some recent news that made the papers that were what a recent.

00:19:39.150 –> 00:19:44.430 Joseph McElroy: hiker got lost in the region snowstorm and shining rock Miller scenario.

00:19:44.610 –> 00:19:50.670 Nancy Mercure East: yeah yeah that was quite an interesting search, it was the day that the snow came in, you know the heavy snow we had.

00:19:50.670 –> 00:19:56.460 Nancy Mercure East: Last area yeah and I honestly I was walking back from my bedroom into the kitchen.

00:19:56.790 –> 00:20:04.470 Nancy Mercure East: And my husband said, you have a call out your phone just we have an alert that goes off on our phones and I really thought he was playing a prank I said yeah right he said no seriously you.

00:20:05.400 –> 00:20:10.260 Nancy Mercure East: And even still I thought this has got to be a practical joke nobody’s out in this weather, but they were.

00:20:10.650 –> 00:20:20.490 Nancy Mercure East: And it was a hiker or a backpacker rather who was hiking the art low trail, which is you know, is about a 30-mile trail that traverses through the shining rock wilderness.

00:20:20.910 –> 00:20:31.080 Nancy Mercure East: And that’s about when he called 911 was when he was upon the highest point near black balsam tenant mountain You know, as you know about 6000 feet in elevation.

00:20:31.440 –> 00:20:38.220 Nancy Mercure East: And he was standing, probably in about a foot of snow at that point and was in over his head as far as skillset gear.

00:20:38.580 –> 00:20:53.070 Nancy Mercure East: The whole bit he just didn’t check the weather, it was an innocent mistake that you would not believe, how many people may before they head into our hills and so he did the right thing, I applaud him for doing the right thing and calling for help because that’s what we’re here for.

00:20:54.150 –> 00:20:56.190 Joseph McElroy: fabulous but you guys breastfeed him right.

00:20:56.220 –> 00:20:58.770 Joseph McElroy: yeah your picture was in the paper I.

00:20:58.770 –> 00:20:59.760 Joseph McElroy: saw you right there.

00:21:00.180 –> 00:21:12.180 Nancy Mercure East: Was yeah so yeah we won’t do it on snowshoes and yeah that’s not that quick selfie of our team and yeah that thing just it’s been all over the nation, now it got a lot of media attention, for whatever reason, it was a fun picture.

00:21:12.930 –> 00:21:19.980 Joseph McElroy: So you knew the hiker personally he was a guest that he was like the father of somebody that’s a friend, with your kids or something like that.

00:21:20.310 –> 00:21:22.590 Nancy Mercure East: No, no, I didn’t know this particular hiker.

00:21:22.590 –> 00:21:23.790 Nancy Mercure East: I really because you were.

00:21:23.790 –> 00:21:33.030 Joseph McElroy: quoted as saying it fuels my fire to keep going out there for him, all I have to do is just look at my husband, the bed next to me and think it could be him out there.

00:21:33.390 –> 00:21:35.490 Joseph McElroy: because somebody that somebody love.

00:21:35.520 –> 00:21:37.020 Nancy Mercure East: dearly yeah.

00:21:37.380 –> 00:21:40.530 Joseph McElroy: I think that’s what drives us all, but what he didn’t know him.

00:21:40.650 –> 00:21:49.230 Nancy Mercure East: I did not know him but yeah to your point, though that’s all I have to do is to think of my child or my husband or my sister’s brothers anybody that I love dearly.

00:21:49.530 –> 00:21:55.950 Nancy Mercure East: Being the one that we’re going to help and it’s all I have to do to drop everything, even when it’s you know risking my own.

00:21:56.760 –> 00:22:06.180 Nancy Mercure East: You know, safety in the endeavor and that’s I think how our whole team feels you know we’d love to be outdoors we’re not going to lie we kind of enjoy getting called out in some of these crazy experiences, but.

00:22:06.480 –> 00:22:13.290 Nancy Mercure East: At the same time, what drives it for us over and over and over is the love of helping other people, you know just.

00:22:14.370 –> 00:22:16.290 Joseph McElroy: empathy for the family of the last.

00:22:16.290 –> 00:22:17.400 Joseph McElroy: that drives you right.

00:22:17.430 –> 00:22:18.510 Nancy Mercure East: Absolutely yep.

00:22:18.990 –> 00:22:23.520 Joseph McElroy: cool so as a father of three-year-olds I’m very interesting.

00:22:24.840 –> 00:22:30.330 Joseph McElroy: very interested in that family and do that and all the aspects of the family, you write about on your blog.

00:22:30.810 –> 00:22:35.460 Joseph McElroy: And I’m interested in having a great experience outdoor and I read on your website.

00:22:35.880 –> 00:22:43.860 Joseph McElroy: I’m an avid believer and Richard loves principles outline is popular book last child in the woods curing nature deficit disorder.

00:22:44.310 –> 00:22:58.260 Joseph McElroy: My goal is apparent is to raise my kids as stewards of the earth and with an understanding of how vital the natural world is for the mental health of happiness So how do you start teaching kids to be stewards of the earth and understanding the importance of the natural world.

00:22:59.160 –> 00:23:08.610 Nancy Mercure East: yeah So for me and for everybody that looks differently, but for me personally just from a young age, even as infants, it meant something as simple as.

00:23:08.880 –> 00:23:16.770 Nancy Mercure East: rocking my babies out on my front porch when the weather was nice or even when it wasn’t bundling them up, so we were prepared for those conditions and.

00:23:17.100 –> 00:23:27.660 Nancy Mercure East: just getting them outdoors and not being scared to face certain elements as long as we are prepared to instill that confidence in them from an early age really to.

00:23:28.320 –> 00:23:38.250 Nancy Mercure East: get to the zero such things as bad weather just improper clothing and gear are kind of my mantra and it’s I think a Swedish proverb that that comes from that says it much more eloquently than that but.

00:23:38.550 –> 00:23:44.490 Nancy Mercure East: Just from yeah their infancy I’ve really just tried to expose them to as many opportunities as I can, through.

00:23:44.790 –> 00:23:52.680 Nancy Mercure East: hiking backpacking skiing we’re very outdoorsy as a family, so, whatever their energy wants to be channeled into.

00:23:52.920 –> 00:24:02.070 Nancy Mercure East: We seize on that and just take advantage of it and it changes all our kids are teenagers now so it’s a completely different realm than what you’re in and he tells you it’s not going to get any easier, but.

00:24:04.500 –> 00:24:12.360 Joseph McElroy: I keep seeing these tik tok videos and videos of three years old skiing down the mountains like it’s nothing how likely it is I’m gonna be able to teach back its.

00:24:14.220 –> 00:24:14.700 Joseph McElroy: Old.

00:24:15.870 –> 00:24:25.620 Nancy Mercure East: yeah I’m not a skier so my husband’s on ski patrol in Cataloochee actually so yeah so where they’re well versed in skiing but their mom I would rather cross country ski if I’m going to ski.

00:24:25.950 –> 00:24:26.910 Joseph McElroy: OK cool.

00:24:27.690 –> 00:24:38.070 Joseph McElroy: So if, as a parent, I’m worried about taking my children out in the wilderness, what is the best advice you can give me to keep my children, safe and not last.

00:24:38.460 –> 00:24:52.890 Nancy Mercure East: Oh, I love this question prepare yourself don’t ever forget to pack, you know really what’s between your ears your brain that most importantly, but fill that brain up with the knowledge, you need to stay safe, most importantly.

00:24:53.460 –> 00:25:02.190 Nancy Mercure East: Think almost in a negative fashion before setting out and think what could go wrong, what if somebody gets injured and we can’t walk out and have to wait out help.

00:25:02.490 –> 00:25:11.370 Nancy Mercure East: What kind of weather is going to come our way in the next few days that’s a very common mistake, just like the backpacker and shining rock did not check the weather forecast beyond the day of their height.

00:25:11.820 –> 00:25:18.510 Nancy Mercure East: And then, all of a sudden they’re stuck in a snowstorm or drench will rain without the proper gear to endure that or clothing.

00:25:19.110 –> 00:25:24.750 Nancy Mercure East: So just empower yourself with knowledge, but also and it’s all on my website if people want to look it up.

00:25:25.230 –> 00:25:30.750 Nancy Mercure East: carry those 10 essentials it’s a very common kind of a buzz phrase in hiking and mountaineering

00:25:31.050 –> 00:25:38.640 Nancy Mercure East: These 10 essentials and they don’t have to weigh you down you don’t have to feel like a pack mule but it’s just basic things that will keep you safe.

00:25:38.880 –> 00:25:49.170 Nancy Mercure East: Should you need it and also might just enhance your experience, even if you’re not in an emergency situation if you just want to have a fire in a back country campsite while you enjoy your lunch or whatnot.

00:25:49.710 –> 00:26:03.600 Nancy Mercure East: You know, having those fire-making materials is a good thing to have for that, too, so not a big deal to do all these things, but people tend to think just don’t know what they don’t know and then they go out and realize what they don’t know when they need it, the most.

00:26:04.230 –> 00:26:19.380 Joseph McElroy: We know when I take them into a city Park, you know kids parks it’s like Oh, maybe 100 feet long 50 feet wide got some swings and things like that I have two three-year-olds right and it luckily, it has a.

00:26:20.370 –> 00:26:26.490 Joseph McElroy: fence, all the way around it, but I can what I’m them can distract me from maybe one second.

00:26:27.030 –> 00:26:31.230 Joseph McElroy: And then I’ve lost the other one now what would that be a big problem if I take them out.

00:26:33.300 –> 00:26:34.530 Nancy Mercure East: You might want to leave.

00:26:37.050 –> 00:26:41.160 Nancy Mercure East: No, but seriously, you know yours are kind of on the cusp of understanding.

00:26:41.730 –> 00:26:49.290 Nancy Mercure East: What could happen if they run off for mom and dad, but it is important, even from their ages and especially as they get older to really instill.

00:26:49.530 –> 00:27:00.720 Nancy Mercure East: Just some basic safety measures if, for some reason they did get separated from you, you know there’s the old boy scout adage of just hug a tree and that’s a good thing to teach a kid just to stay good.

00:27:00.960 –> 00:27:01.860 Nancy Mercure East: yeah yeah.

00:27:02.400 –> 00:27:06.720 Nancy Mercure East: that’s you know you don’t want to make kids think about too many things if they get lost but.

00:27:07.020 –> 00:27:17.370 Nancy Mercure East: I do one thing I used to do for my kids when they were younger and could read packed a little note I did make them carry their own backpack with just a few basic things like a warm coat.

00:27:17.730 –> 00:27:22.380 Nancy Mercure East: Ring gear that type of thing if they do get separated from me they at least had some basic survival.

00:27:22.980 –> 00:27:30.240 Nancy Mercure East: clothing items that they could put on, but I also stuck a note in there and just wrote down little bullet points of what they should do because.

00:27:30.450 –> 00:27:40.200 Nancy Mercure East: As you know, whenever we’re panicked and scared in a situation we don’t always think rationally and kids don’t either, and so, if they have just that little love note, you know, obviously with some just words of.

00:27:40.590 –> 00:27:52.380 Nancy Mercure East: You know affirmation and just hopefully comfort for them if they were ever in that situation, but also, you know sit down eat the snack and your backpack take your stuffed animal out and talk to it just really.

00:27:53.490 –> 00:27:59.250 Nancy Mercure East: keep them to stay put because really internally that’s The worst thing I can do is keep running away and trying to find you.

00:27:59.610 –> 00:28:02.790 Joseph McElroy: wow, what do you, what do you tell them to do if I see a bear.

00:28:04.050 –> 00:28:11.250 Nancy Mercure East: yeah that same thing I tell adults do not run stand your ground, you know get a little bit higher ground if possible.

00:28:12.210 –> 00:28:18.990 Nancy Mercure East: One of the things that work, the best for me honestly noise-making noise hasn’t always worked to drive them off, especially if they’re habituated.

00:28:19.290 –> 00:28:32.760 Nancy Mercure East: But waving my hiking Poles above my head that always scares them they run off it seems like every time if I do that, so it just makes me look bigger it’s as simple as that, but just giving yourself, even just those hiking Poles, the height of that it tricks them.

00:28:33.930 –> 00:28:47.160 Nancy Mercure East: yeah but do not approach the bear that’s another thing just bears have become, as you know, I’m sure so habituated in this area and it’s easy to think I can go up and pet this little cuddly bear cub or mama and obviously that’s not going to lead anywhere good.

00:28:48.000 –> 00:28:59.790 Joseph McElroy: And you know my wife was interested in a couple of questions you said what if she’s very much into natural stuff right and not buying like insects spray and things what are some natural things you can do to protect them from bugs.

00:29:00.060 –> 00:29:08.970 Nancy Mercure East: that’s yeah I tapped into a really great resource and it’s actually made here locally from hazelwood soap company it’s called both be gone and it’s a lotion.

00:29:09.240 –> 00:29:15.540 Nancy Mercure East: That has just a proprietary blend of you know citron ella and probably lemon grass I’m not sure what they put in it.

00:29:15.930 –> 00:29:29.700 Nancy Mercure East: But it’s just a bunch of just natural products that they put into a base of lotion and you just rub it on like sunscreen and it really does a great job I was skeptical my best friend used to own this company and she sold it, but I was skeptical but it works.

00:29:31.410 –> 00:29:36.150 Joseph McElroy: And then my wife, want to know is, if the track is a track is a tracking device advisable impossible.

00:29:36.810 –> 00:29:41.850 Nancy Mercure East: yeah no it’s a great thing I don’t have mine with me, but something like a satellite device a Garmin.

00:29:42.210 –> 00:29:51.000 Nancy Mercure East: In reaches what I carry and it has an SOS button, so if I’m ever in a situation where I truly need help and I don’t have cell service, which would be more common than not.

00:29:51.210 –> 00:30:02.250 Nancy Mercure East: All I have to do is push a button and obviously you want to reserve that for a true emergency but it’s a great thing to have if you can afford one before the subscription and all that I always encourage it, but a lot of people it’s cost-prohibitive.

00:30:03.300 –> 00:30:10.470 Joseph McElroy: cool well you know we have to take another break now, but when we come back we’ll finish up talking about a little bit more about the little ones, and then we’ll talk about your book.

00:30:10.890 –> 00:30:12.030 Nancy Mercure East: All right, thank you.

00:32:17.730 –> 00:32:32.490 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and my guest Nancy East so Nancy got a couple more questions from my wife and me, my wife is a city girl and her idea of camping is with the Butler and.

00:32:34.410 –> 00:32:35.670 Joseph McElroy: And it really fancy dead.

00:32:37.800 –> 00:32:52.740 Joseph McElroy: So, but okay I’m working on her to say we got to get kids out there and experience what I experienced the mountain so she wants to know is, you know yeah engaging little ones, what can you do in the woods, that really engages little children.

00:32:53.370 –> 00:33:04.020 Nancy Mercure East: yeah I think the two things that came to my mind immediately when you ask that one would be a scavenger hunt of sorts, something that is educational but fun.

00:33:04.350 –> 00:33:13.080 Nancy Mercure East: To look for something you know your kid’s ages, you said three they’re both true yeah I mean that would be like really like looking for a brown leaf or.

00:33:13.560 –> 00:33:22.650 Nancy Mercure East: pink flower, you know really keep it simple but as they grow to make those questions, a little bit more advanced maybe play on some things that they might be learning in school.

00:33:23.400 –> 00:33:31.260 Nancy Mercure East: You know, or just something that you want to teach them and have interest in anything from navigation looking at distant peaks you know even using I’m.

00:33:31.650 –> 00:33:39.480 Nancy Mercure East: I used to be really opposed to using technology in the woods, with my kids and I really started to bend the rules when I thought they’re going to have more fun if I let them.

00:33:39.720 –> 00:33:48.330 Nancy Mercure East: have this phone or an iPod or whatever it is to take a picture and try to identify a wildflower or use an APP to identify a distance.

00:33:48.330 –> 00:33:48.660 p.

00:33:49.680 –> 00:34:00.990 Nancy Mercure East: thing, so I use it to supplement I also teach the map and compass skills and you know, interestingly kids really love that stuff if you do it in the way in a way that engages them and empowers them.

00:34:01.350 –> 00:34:15.360 Nancy Mercure East: More times than not they will actually get into it, they may be resistant at first, but if you just get over that little hump of getting them out there, usually they have a much better time than they act like they will before you leave home, at least in my experience.

00:34:15.630 –> 00:34:18.930 Joseph McElroy: that’s great now that’s some good ammunition for me to take back home.

00:34:20.130 –> 00:34:22.350 Nancy Mercure East: Again, the other thing I was gonna say is games.

00:34:22.350 –> 00:34:30.420 Nancy Mercure East: file names that you know alphabet games, you can look online and Google hiking games, but my kids love to play games, or they did their teenagers so.

00:34:30.840 –> 00:34:34.620 Joseph McElroy: I love anything version of you know I spy with my little lie.

00:34:34.920 –> 00:34:40.920 Nancy Mercure East: yeah exactly no that’s the perfect one, for their ages yeah yeah really gets them interested.

00:34:41.280 –> 00:34:47.190 Joseph McElroy: Now, is there any special gear, besides the technology like electronic technology for little ones.

00:34:48.240 –> 00:34:57.390 Nancy Mercure East: You know they make specific backpacks and sleeping bags and all that type of thing if you wanted to take them on more backcountry pursuits if you’re just going to go car camping.

00:34:57.600 –> 00:35:04.050 Nancy Mercure East: I think what you probably already have at home for sleepovers and you know just grabbing blankets off of the bed is probably fine too.

00:35:04.680 –> 00:35:21.090 Nancy Mercure East: But yeah you can go crazy with a budget, and you know, there are many, many options, but I like to usually advise people to start simple see what they like, and then work up to pricier maybe just better-made things that might suit them as they grow cool.

00:35:21.300 –> 00:35:24.030 Joseph McElroy: Well, I can guarantee I’m not starting out with that.

00:35:28.890 –> 00:35:30.390 Joseph McElroy: have to be at least 10 plus.

00:35:32.370 –> 00:35:33.690 Nancy Mercure East: You may need a camper van.

00:35:37.860 –> 00:35:41.070 Joseph McElroy: So what are some great places to hike in the smokies for children.

00:35:41.910 –> 00:35:50.670 Nancy Mercure East: yeah there are so many fun places it brings back so many memories when people ask me this question and they’re still interestingly, the places I returned with my kids as teenagers.

00:35:51.000 –> 00:35:54.090 Nancy Mercure East: Just off the top of my head, some of my favorites in the park.

00:35:54.780 –> 00:36:00.600 Nancy Mercure East: Really, my top one of my top favorites for myself or with children is a flat creek which is off the Blue Ridge parkway.

00:36:00.960 –> 00:36:10.170 Nancy Mercure East: On I guess it’s up near mile-high campground and the balsam mountain campground it’s a one-way hike and you can either shuttle cars or just have a parent.

00:36:10.440 –> 00:36:15.570 Nancy Mercure East: backtrack I think it’s only about a two-mile trail backtrack to the car and drive down to the other end.

00:36:16.290 –> 00:36:18.510 Nancy Mercure East: Big creek is another family favorite.

00:36:18.810 –> 00:36:29.220 Nancy Mercure East: You can either go all the way back into walnut bottoms which is five miles one way, so that’s a little bit of a track for younger kids but even if you just go to mouse creek falls, which I think is about two miles in.

00:36:29.490 –> 00:36:33.930 Nancy Mercure East: that’s a great turnaround spot and have a picnic lunch come back out call it ago.

00:36:34.080 –> 00:36:38.040 Joseph McElroy: Three and a half old I could see it about a mile and a half I’m putting them on my back.

00:36:38.310 –> 00:36:42.030 Nancy Mercure East: yeah my two little now you’re still on the carry on the back.

00:36:42.030 –> 00:36:42.360 Things.

00:36:43.740 –> 00:36:45.780 Nancy Mercure East: you’re not far off though you’re on the coast.

00:36:46.560 –> 00:36:48.870 Joseph McElroy: Of about a half mile right now, maybe.

00:36:50.130 –> 00:36:54.360 Nancy Mercure East: ya know you can look at Cataloochee device that’s another one that I really, really love.

00:36:54.600 –> 00:36:57.690 Nancy Mercure East: Just because it’s an easy one to access from Haywood county.

00:36:57.960 –> 00:37:06.690 Nancy Mercure East: And you can go as far as you like you’ve got those big rich top views from the trail kids really like that, but really, what I find kids especially younger kids like the most is water.

00:37:06.870 –> 00:37:16.950 Nancy Mercure East: If you can find a creek that’s not flowing too strong that becomes a hazard, you know, give a kid a creek and they’re happy all day looking for salamanders and crawl it adds all that kind of stuff.

00:37:17.940 –> 00:37:18.870 Nancy Mercure East: Our data creek.

00:37:19.470 –> 00:37:32.310 Joseph McElroy: Well that’s what a lot of people with families like to come to the Meadowlark we have that Nice Jonathan creek in our backyard and then we have like the not we have you know the side that serious has gotten out of the rapids and things making a splash around and things like that.

00:37:32.580 –> 00:37:35.850 Nancy Mercure East: Absolutely yeah they never want to leave yeah no that’s a great spot.

00:37:36.450 –> 00:37:44.190 Joseph McElroy: Now, what term you used in your in that title of that book and I just wanted you to explain it real quick, is what is it nature deficit disorder.

00:37:44.880 –> 00:37:55.950 Nancy Mercure East: yeah nature deficit disorder so Richard Lewis, as you mentioned earlier coined that phrase and wrote an entire book, I even brought it since we had talked about it earlier it’s a big fat thick book, I mean it’s it became, though.

00:37:56.250 –> 00:38:02.370 Nancy Mercure East: My Bible really is, I was raising kids to give me ideas and validation that what I was doing wasn’t crazy.

00:38:02.790 –> 00:38:08.520 Nancy Mercure East: Because honestly what I found as a young mother is that people seem to fear the woods mothers fathers even.

00:38:08.910 –> 00:38:16.110 Nancy Mercure East: Were fearful of taking their kids out thinking you know there are parents out there there’s venomous snakes all these things that could hurt my children or me.

00:38:16.560 –> 00:38:23.850 Nancy Mercure East: And it’s such a disservice to our children to raise them like that, in my opinion, because if we can empower them with knowledge and.

00:38:24.240 –> 00:38:33.840 Nancy Mercure East: teach them how to mitigate those situations because sure all those things are out there there are 100 different things that most people worry about the wrong things are worried about the bears when they should worry about the ticks you know the tick.

00:38:35.610 –> 00:38:45.870 Nancy Mercure East: Well, you know that his whole just mo what that book was to get people outside again because his big kids became more connected to digital devices.

00:38:46.230 –> 00:38:49.620 Nancy Mercure East: They became more disconnected from the natural world and.

00:38:50.220 –> 00:39:02.310 Nancy Mercure East: You know, again we’re fearful of it just doesn’t it doesn’t foster stewardship of it if they don’t appreciate it and we’re just raising a generation that won’t care for it like it needs to be cared for and protected if we don’t get them out there.

00:39:02.610 –> 00:39:14.430 Joseph McElroy: And it’s really seriously not that dangerous I mean my parents would send us walking two miles down through wooded gravel road pick up the bus before was even light of day.

00:39:14.640 –> 00:39:29.610 Joseph McElroy: And we were, six, seven and eight years old train trip is traipsing through the woods and the mountains now and then coming back from school three o’clock we were out, I would go miles away from fishing ponds seven years old.

00:39:30.000 –> 00:39:30.990 Joseph McElroy: Nobody around.

00:39:31.020 –> 00:39:32.160 Joseph McElroy: No things like that.

00:39:32.340 –> 00:39:34.770 Nancy Mercure East: Absolutely yeah nobody had to tell us to go play.

00:39:34.770 –> 00:39:38.460 Nancy Mercure East: outside his kids yeah this day and age it’s a little tougher I.

00:39:38.460 –> 00:39:39.180 Nancy Mercure East: find so.

00:39:39.930 –> 00:39:43.140 Joseph McElroy: If I fell in the pond I had to figure out how to save myself and I did.

00:39:44.130 –> 00:39:45.900 Nancy Mercure East: Learn by the school of hard knocks.

00:39:45.990 –> 00:39:46.440 Right.

00:39:48.030 –> 00:39:53.670 Joseph McElroy: Now, do you have any you know any sort of programs for our programs for kids is aware of any.

00:39:54.090 –> 00:39:59.400 Nancy Mercure East: yeah I’ve worked with some local schools for sure, in the past, but I haven’t done as much of that lately.

00:39:59.460 –> 00:40:07.920 Nancy Mercure East: I work more with adults, these days, but I enjoy working with anybody who wants to learn and I’ve got some young nephews who are the age, a little bit older than your kids but.

00:40:08.190 –> 00:40:17.910 Nancy Mercure East: They are very inquisitive and curious and are being raised to really appreciate the outdoors and so that just speaks my love language all day long but yeah I treasure working with kids.

00:40:18.030 –> 00:40:30.660 Joseph McElroy: Oh, Bob Bob wanted me to give you a nudge and say hey we’re wanting to do some kids stuff and then lark are you interested in doing some things that are outdoor activities for kids and the future.

00:40:30.930 –> 00:40:43.530 Nancy Mercure East: Absolutely yeah I’d love to talk more about it and find a way to work together and do that because I think it would be a really tremendous resource to offer your guest, you know to learn together with parents and children it’s a great way to spend an afternoon.

00:40:43.860 –> 00:40:57.450 Joseph McElroy: I think, so I think that I really liked the idea of you know summer camps, you know that take advantage of hospitality, but you know that can do families can come with both great for the family and for the kids so.

00:40:57.540 –> 00:40:58.740 Joseph McElroy: Absolutely alright.

00:40:59.040 –> 00:41:04.620 Joseph McElroy: So now, you have a book called chasing the smokies moon I love that is this your first book.

00:41:04.890 –> 00:41:10.920 Nancy Mercure East: It is my first book, yes, I used to think it was my one and only but I’ve already got too many ideas in my head now, so I don’t think it will be.

00:41:11.490 –> 00:41:13.440 Joseph McElroy: Oh no yeah you should use.

00:41:13.800 –> 00:41:16.110 Joseph McElroy: The reviews are great I’m seeing people love that book.

00:41:17.850 –> 00:41:19.200 Joseph McElroy: So, how did it come about.

00:41:19.770 –> 00:41:31.950 Nancy Mercure East: yeah so it came about and kind of a multi-faceted point in my life I was on the verge of turning I think 48 at the time and feeling kind of middle-aged feeling like if I don’t do something big.

00:41:32.220 –> 00:41:40.650 Nancy Mercure East: athletically I may not be able to do it, which is kind of silly because I knew I had plenty of years left but I always wanted to pursue something that really tested by limits of endurance.

00:41:41.040 –> 00:41:48.060 Nancy Mercure East: Simultaneous to this phase of my life with my search and rescue team, we were involved in a search in the National Park at the Clement stone.

00:41:48.420 –> 00:41:58.380 Nancy Mercure East: For a woman by the name of Susan Clements she was here on vacation with her daughter and got lost on one of the most popular trails less than a mile from her car at the trailer.

00:41:58.890 –> 00:42:09.780 Nancy Mercure East: yeah it was yeah highly publicized and so she Paris she died of exposure or hypothermia where her core body temperature was no longer sustainable with life and.

00:42:10.110 –> 00:42:14.940 Joseph McElroy: It really because it was like 40 and 50 degrees, I really didn’t understand it at the time.

00:42:14.970 –> 00:42:21.450 Nancy Mercure East: yeah well but wind and rain came in and I’d rather be in 30 degrees in snow than I would 40 degrees and rain and.

00:42:21.840 –> 00:42:27.270 Nancy Mercure East: burnt, you are absolute yeah so it wasn’t surprising any of us on search and rescue that she died, but.

00:42:27.630 –> 00:42:34.500 Nancy Mercure East: It really impacted my life, and so I wanted to start that that was really a pivotal point in my life, where I wanted to retire from veterinary medicine.

00:42:34.800 –> 00:42:41.730 Nancy Mercure East: And do more intentional work with the outdoor community to educate them to stay what I like to call safe and found and so.

00:42:41.970 –> 00:42:53.400 Nancy Mercure East: I decided to merge this middle you know midlife crisis, if you will, with a fundraiser to try and raise money for the part to implement search and rescue or preventative search and rescue programs and so.

00:42:53.640 –> 00:43:08.640 Nancy Mercure East: I thought I gotta do something flashy I can’t raise $30,000 just by saying hey you know I think this is a great idea, so I teamed up with one of my best friends and we chased the speed record for hiking all the trails and the bark to draw the attention to the cause.

00:43:09.450 –> 00:43:10.710 Joseph McElroy: And you want you got the.

00:43:10.710 –> 00:43:11.160 speaker.

00:43:12.600 –> 00:43:25.770 Nancy Mercure East: was more surprised than me my friend, is a natural athlete is that a lot of really big things and it’s like that, politically, whereas I had never done anything except run a marathon so it was a stretch, for me, but yeah I got through it and we were successful.