Joe & BJ Spicer at the Pottery Shop in Gatlinburg Tennessee

June, July, August 2007...we were at the Pottery Shop...Gatlinburg, TN
In August, we were at the Bullfrog Grill....near Pigeon Forge..below are our friends
Mountain Jack on Harmonica, Tim & Jack...the Country Gentlemen

Alewine Pottery
623 Glades Road
Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738
1-866-4MY-POTS

Thursday July 19th, we went to Newport, Tennessee to a music store called "FIDDLIN' WITH MUSIC". Owner David McClary showed us his new music theater
next door to his shop...seats 100 people & he usually packs the house when bands play there. The cover charge is $10. He promotes old-time and bluegrass
music giving the bands a chance to make the money they deserve.
People stop by his store to chat or jam awhile. I spotted an accordion right away & added it to my accordion collection!

On the way back we stopped in at the Bullfrog Restaurant near Richardson's Cove Road.   We enjoyed some great home cookin'
& talked to the locals about music. Our new friend, Karen, is a coon, deer & bear hunter...told us to not be afraid of the bears! Ha
And she sang Amazing Grace at our table. She is a native of this area & actually lives real close to Jerry & Joan.
They had some hand made walking sticks. One guy showed off & played some of the dulcimers he has made & are for sale there.
We listened to 3 guys play a variety of music....country mostly. They told jokes, did a Willie Nelson impression, the harmonica player dressed in a sombrero for a
Freddy Fender song.   They were very entertaining & was a good way to spend an evening in Tennessee.   We plan to go back on Saturday night...the band
invited us to sit in for a couple of songs.

Friday 20th, we took a trip to Cade's Cove & saw lots of wildlife.

On the way back we stopped to watch some tubers in the river.   We saw a guy & his grandaughter lose control of their tubes & the little girl got swept away &
was screaming in the water. Joe actually jumped in the river and retrieve their tubes for them! I was proud of him...but, he got his new overhauls all wet! Next,
we went to Ernest Tubb's Record Shop & watched a bluegrass band called the Blue Valley Boys...2 guys & a girl...go figure? They play nightly there in a gazebo
& the locals come to clog dance. Some of the older folks had matching outfits...knee braces too! The same locals were there a month ago when we were here.

After that, we went to Cosby to a MEXICAN BLUEGRASS restaurant called the Front Porch!!! They had a bluegrass band playing....3 really entertaining guys kept
the crowd laughing & singing...it was BYOB....they were brown baggin' it! Is that legal? I don't know, but the people were really nice & asked us if we would like
to sing there on one of their acoustic Sundays....Well, heck yeah we would! We may do that the next time we come! The funny thing about this place was...we
didn't see any Mexicans...but they had great Mexican food!

Saturday and Sunday we played at the pottery shop,
which is why we came here in the 1st place.
Robert Alewine has put in a real nice stage
for the musicians to play on!

Tom the mountain story teller helped us
out & kept the popcorn coming.

Our friend mountain Jack, from the Bullfrog grill came by
& played a couple of songs on harmonica & dulcimer.
He invited people over to the Bullfrog grill where he
plays with his friends, The Country Gentlemen.
We went over there & played some songs before dinner.

On Friday Jack & Jack from the Bullfrog Grill stopped by
to see us & sit in on a couple of songs...
We sure have met a lot of really nice people here!
Jack's wife who owns a shop in the glades......................>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>....JACK>>>>
sent us some tomatoes!

We sure have found a lot of fun things to do in Tennessee

We are stayed on top of Jerry & Joan's mountain enjoyed the mountain views & local mountain people.