Gateway to the Smokies

Today's guest of Gateway to the Smokies Podcast is Ila Hatter, a Renowned Naturalist, Storyteller, and Wild Crafter.

She has been featured on N.C. Public TV as well as in multiple magazines, books, newspapers, and DVD projects and works regularly conducting programs and seminars for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Joseph and Ila will talk about wildcrafting in the Smokies.

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

SHOW NOTES:

Segment 1

Starting off today’s show, Host Joseph Franklyn McElroy, introduces a special guest Ila Hatter. She explains her initial connection with the Smokies Mountain area and the outdoors from her childhood and family. Ila tells us about all the different places she lived in from Florida to Texas to even Madrid, Spain. She talks about the different cultures that she had experienced and what she learned from them over the years, particularly about foods and plants. 

Segment 2

This segment starts off with Ila explaining her ancestry and connection with Pocahontas. She considers her home to be in the Appalachians despite growing up with the Smokies and moving around so much. And this influenced the area she chose to study and focus on the most. Ila moves on to explain what wildcrafting is. It originates from England and essentially is using forest resources for other uses, such as medicinal or crafts. 

Segment 3

Coming back from the break, Ila talks about the history of wildcrafting. Hundreds of years ago, she believes that the different groups of natives shared information about the wild with each other, and when the settlers came, she explains how it was a sharing between cultures. She explains how wild crafting evolved over time and in her career. Ila talks about how her career had led her to many opportunities and shares stories from them.

Segment 4

The last segment of this podcast starts with Joseph Franklyn McElroygiving special shoutouts to Ila’s educational programs in the Smokies area that educates people about nature and surroundings. IIa tells the audience of upcoming events that are happening where people can get educated about environmental issues while enjoying themselves. Ila gives her personal favorite vegetables and plants from the Smoky Mountains area and tips on how to cook with them.

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00:00:30.600 –> 00:00:42.150 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 surrounding towns.

00:00:42.540 –> 00:00:50.400 Joseph McElroy: This area is filled with natural beauty a deep storied history and rich mountain culture that we explore weekly episodes.

00:00:50.730 –> 00:01:09.420 Joseph McElroy: I am Joseph Franklin McElroy, a man of the world, but also deep roots in these mountains my family’s lived in the great smoky for over 200 years my business is travel, but my heart is in culture. today’s topic is wild affecting the smokies so we’re having major weather of it right now.

00:01:11.010 –> 00:01:19.590 Joseph McElroy: flash floods, a creek out back at the Meadowlark Motel, I am right now he’s up to the very tip of the top.

00:01:21.210 –> 00:01:21.840 Joseph McElroy: there’s.

00:01:24.150 –> 00:01:28.320 Joseph McElroy: outages all over the area from Whittier where our guest is to here.

00:01:29.340 –> 00:01:32.730 Joseph McElroy: So we might end up doing this in the dark with water around our feet so.

00:01:33.780 –> 00:01:37.440 Joseph McElroy: We hope to get through this and we have a few technical difficulties.

00:01:38.430 –> 00:01:46.740 Joseph McElroy: With phones and whatnot so, but this could be an exciting episode because this is our guest is a renowned

00:01:47.100 –> 00:02:01.980 Joseph McElroy: and who’s a naturalist who’s lived all over the world from Texas to Spain to the Caribbean, to the smokies to the southern Appalachian but currently lives in Whittier North Carolina where she leads hikes seminars and talks on a while.

00:02:03.030 –> 00:02:16.020 Joseph McElroy: she’s been featured on New York public television, as well as multiple magazines books, newspapers, and DVD projects and works regularly conducting programs and seminars, so the great smoky mountain National Park.

00:02:17.520 –> 00:02:18.570 Joseph McElroy: hello, how you doing.

00:02:19.740 –> 00:02:21.750 18284210743: hi Am I unmuted I hope.

00:02:22.980 –> 00:02:24.180 18284210743: Can you hear me oh you.

00:02:26.790 –> 00:02:27.030 Joseph McElroy: I.

00:02:27.090 –> 00:02:28.290 Can you’re doing well.

00:02:29.310 –> 00:02:30.870 Joseph McElroy: As all right well either you.

00:02:30.870 –> 00:02:31.830 18284210743: grew up in Texas.

00:02:32.190 –> 00:02:33.480 Joseph McElroy: yeah you’re doing good can you hear me.

00:02:34.830 –> 00:02:36.300 18284210743: Yes, okay.

00:02:36.720 –> 00:02:51.480 Joseph McElroy: So you grew up in Texas, I live in my childhood, I actually lived a couple of years in Texas my dad went to you know got out of the mountains for about three years lived in Dallas with his family.

00:02:52.890 –> 00:02:56.070 Joseph McElroy: But that’s a big city now you were part of Texas, where you from.

00:02:57.720 –> 00:03:11.940 18284210743: I was born in Houston but grew up in Austin I mean they when I was about five months old when was always I’m always glad that they moved to Austin because I never really liked Houston, although I did live there for a while, later on, yeah.

00:03:12.480 –> 00:03:12.840 18284210743: and

00:03:12.900 –> 00:03:15.210 Joseph McElroy: But you lived in an area where you can learn to go hunt and.

00:03:15.210 –> 00:03:16.740 Joseph McElroy: Fish and stuff like that right.

00:03:17.850 –> 00:03:26.910 18284210743: Oh yeah I handed my parents were in hunting and fishing a lot and so and I never had a babysitter so I went with them.

00:03:28.170 –> 00:03:30.240 18284210743: satin many a deer blind and.

00:03:31.320 –> 00:03:45.150 18284210743: shot a 22 when I was five for the first time and oh yeah I was a lot of experiences being outdoors and my father was a developer out light travels so I had a dual.

00:03:46.260 –> 00:04:03.600 18284210743: Childhood where it was you know half been out at the lake, and in half in town, you know with piano lessons and that kind of thing, so it was a great way to grow up, they have you know both of those experiences are part of my growing that was wonderful.

00:04:04.410 –> 00:04:06.840 Joseph McElroy: You know I it’s not dissimilar from what I got to.

00:04:06.840 –> 00:04:20.730 Joseph McElroy: Experience a little bit, though, when we ended up back in Haywood county that after that time we were more you know rural, but then it can then we got into Maggie valley and now the whole tour so you know a little bit different experience.

00:04:21.930 –> 00:04:22.710 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:04:26.850 –> 00:04:27.840 Joseph McElroy: Thanks very a bit.

00:04:30.690 –> 00:04:34.440 Joseph McElroy: More than understand native plants make food from native plants when you’re in Texas.

00:04:36.270 –> 00:04:51.090 18284210743: My my parents had gone through two world wars and the depression, when people ask me well how did you happen to get into this and well and my parents were so much older when I was more and they were 17 years married before they had just met.

00:04:51.750 –> 00:05:01.410 18284210743: As the only child, so they didn’t know if they’d be around the same me grown so like taught me everything they knew about you know hunting and fishing and wild foods and things that.

00:05:01.890 –> 00:05:13.980 18284210743: You know the site had to subsist on during those hard times so that’s one of the reasons that I learned so much from my mother, you know taught me a lot about.

00:05:14.790 –> 00:05:24.120 18284210743: Wild things one of my early memories, I was about five or six I guess standing on the foot of the station wagon reaching up in to get the wild grapes.

00:05:24.720 –> 00:05:43.080 18284210743: And then taking those home and standing on a chair, with my mother’s day for in China around my neck, and after making jelly out of them so yeah we were while things were just part of my you know growing up, it was just part of life, it wasn’t anything unusual to me at the time.

00:05:43.860 –> 00:05:44.430 Joseph McElroy: No, I.

00:05:44.820 –> 00:05:50.760 Joseph McElroy: I remember, making Blackberry gravy with my grandmother nobody really knows about that much anymore, but it was.

00:05:50.760 –> 00:05:51.420 Basically.

00:05:54.000 –> 00:05:56.460 Joseph McElroy: You know, was regular gravy but she ended up putting.

00:05:56.460 –> 00:05:58.980 Joseph McElroy: blackberries and it was really good Blackberry.

00:06:00.510 –> 00:06:15.450 18284210743: that’s a new word for me, I am my ancestors were out of Tennessee and the things that I found that were you know familiar to them in East and Central Texas were things that you know got passed down the family and.

00:06:16.830 –> 00:06:22.560 18284210743: Because I want to have been moved to Tennessee then, of course, I found so many things that I was already familiar with, because.

00:06:23.100 –> 00:06:37.920 18284210743: Either the same plants or you know something in the same family was there in Texas so yeah there was a great connection with that, so it did come down from you know grandmother to my mother and then on down to me oh.

00:06:38.100 –> 00:06:38.760 18284210743: I go.

00:06:39.060 –> 00:06:40.920 Joseph McElroy: hey you know your bio says you lived in the.

00:06:40.920 –> 00:06:42.390 Joseph McElroy: the Caribbean where’d you too.

00:06:44.160 –> 00:06:50.220 18284210743: Well, I was actually, I stayed there some was a stewardess with Pan Am.

00:06:51.690 –> 00:07:01.080 18284210743: After well I went to the University of Texas obviously like 1000 women and awesome and then art school in Houston and didn’t want to get married, although there was.

00:07:01.800 –> 00:07:14.820 18284210743: Great distinct possibility that I would do that, but I wanted to travel first, so I went with Pan Am and spend a weekend in Puerto Rico where we traveled from there to the.

00:07:15.960 –> 00:07:30.060 18284210743: To the islands, so I did a lot of islands hopping and then, when I had overnights and several I guess about five countries saw 19 but I actually got to visit five I did.

00:07:31.380 –> 00:07:33.390 18284210743: We stayed in Mexico City.

00:07:35.070 –> 00:07:38.010 18284210743: Nicaragua, Costa Rica.

00:07:39.720 –> 00:07:45.330 18284210743: that we can all I did go to Panama city got see the Panama Canal and we stayed overnight there.

00:07:46.350 –> 00:08:03.240 18284210743: Spent that week in Puerto Rico and San Juan and did go to Rio into when to Buenos Aires, Argentina and so so at least I got to visit a few countries but I didn’t really get to.

00:08:04.380 –> 00:08:06.360 18284210743: to live there, but I lived all over the.

00:08:07.440 –> 00:08:08.820 18284210743: South I did live in.

00:08:10.050 –> 00:08:17.460 18284210743: Oh well outside of taxes and I was in Florida based out of Miami for the airline and then.

00:08:18.480 –> 00:08:27.810 18284210743: lived in three different places, all the way up to Tallahassee and in between that went to waller and Louisiana baton rouge and New Orleans.

00:08:29.730 –> 00:08:39.540 18284210743: Atlanta Georgia and then, of course, tend to say, but in between one of those times, I was in we did live a year from in Madrid, Spain.

00:08:40.590 –> 00:08:43.410 Joseph McElroy: Oh that’s great yeah that’s beautiful.

00:08:45.150 –> 00:08:53.850 18284210743: It was an incredible experience it really was it was a I didn’t realize how far north, I was, I was kind of.

00:08:54.660 –> 00:09:05.460 18284210743: kind of strange that I really didn’t look at a globe or a map before I moved over there, I didn’t realize how far north that we were until I was visiting a.

00:09:06.390 –> 00:09:18.930 18284210743: Parents have a friend of mine daughters that had lived in Germany and we talked about the cold winters, and so I was she said well you’re in the same latitude as New York City and I went oh I didn’t realize that.

00:09:19.590 –> 00:09:33.120 18284210743: And that’s why it was so cold for so long, I remember it came Easter and they had a two-week vacation from school and jobs and everybody took off and did you know special things and Easter so.

00:09:34.230 –> 00:09:40.200 18284210743: My husband said, where do you want to go, and I said far no South I can take off my coat.

00:09:42.510 –> 00:09:50.160 18284210743: that’s exactly what we did is we were so tired of winter clothes, we weren’t used to that being raised in the south.

00:09:50.910 –> 00:09:53.580 Joseph McElroy: I know the winters could get a little long I have experienced.

00:09:53.580 –> 00:09:55.230 Joseph McElroy: That so.

00:09:55.770 –> 00:09:57.420 Joseph McElroy: So when we went to all these places.

00:09:57.570 –> 00:10:02.520 Joseph McElroy: Did you continue the foraging tradition that you learned about native plants and making food.

00:10:03.120 –> 00:10:09.030 18284210743: I did yeah I was kind of a strange stewardess I will have a party and kind I was always asked and people.

00:10:10.200 –> 00:10:17.160 18284210743: You know about the names of plants and trees, and I would ask them what did you have for breakfast you know and have the ring me, whatever their.

00:10:17.550 –> 00:10:24.960 18284210743: local food was and learned a lot about you know the seasonings and plants and things that were you know right around there and.

00:10:25.350 –> 00:10:39.420 18284210743: Visiting markets, I would you know to find the herb shops and things and ask questions, and you know I had enough Spanish that I can you know I can do that, and then in Madrid, it was interesting that they had a.

00:10:41.580 –> 00:10:49.470 18284210743: They had apothecaries and the head pharmacy so the mafia was very white were sterile and people in white coats you know, and he had prescriptions filled.

00:10:49.980 –> 00:10:55.080 18284210743: And then down the street, would be a place that just smelled wonderfully earthy.

00:10:55.590 –> 00:11:05.040 18284210743: And it was an apothecary and that’s where you went and you had herbal things that were made up for you know, for the same kind of illness and they would be a list of.

00:11:05.520 –> 00:11:14.070 18284210743: illnesses on the window and you would check and say what it was she thought she had you go in and ask for whatever was appropriate for that.

00:11:15.240 –> 00:11:20.310 18284210743: You know, for that illness and that was pretty neat that that was something that was side by side and part of their culture.

00:11:22.110 –> 00:11:23.130 18284210743: They also had.

00:11:25.590 –> 00:11:41.610 18284210743: An issue, as I thought it was queened Anne’s lace, but it was anna’s and Anna says one of their major exports as they need, and he said and even any set was used for stomach ailment so and there was Rosemary there was the only thing that I would.

00:11:42.660 –> 00:11:56.760 18284210743: say is in the pork with was Rosemary and that was Rosemary and grows wild over there and that’s one of their major seasonings so that’s you know, one of the ways that I’ve picked up some of the things from other cultures is by being aware and asking questions.

00:11:57.870 –> 00:11:58.800 Joseph McElroy: wow that’s uh.

00:11:59.190 –> 00:12:09.840 Joseph McElroy: yeah that makes you know, one of the things they say about travel, this is, people are looking for memorable experiences and one of them is to experience the local you know, to really experience.

00:12:10.320 –> 00:12:12.450 Joseph McElroy: It creates great memories and I think that.

00:12:12.450 –> 00:12:23.820 Joseph McElroy: sounds like that’s the colon Mary experience in the memories generated by local cuisine was one of your anticipated experiences to make travel local memorable.

00:12:25.350 –> 00:12:35.100 18284210743: And I remember sending Salvador is the girl to bring me what you had for breakfast I didn’t want to regular American breakfast and she brought me cold.

00:12:36.390 –> 00:12:41.250 18284210743: fry mashed black beans covered with cream and I wasn’t.

00:12:42.360 –> 00:12:58.020 18284210743: I wasn’t sure if she was kind of you know, pulling a trick on this white lady or if it’s really what you had for breakfast and I went ahead and tried a little of it, so not to embarrass her and, finally, I said, I think, I would like scrambled eggs and.

00:13:01.080 –> 00:13:09.210 18284210743: and, later on, I found out from somebody who was from Central America, oh yes that’s you know they would have leftovers for breakfast and you know the.

00:13:09.600 –> 00:13:18.720 18284210743: Black veins and cream is you know it’s cold is not uncommon that was you know very likely exactly what she did ever breakfast did get what she was.

00:13:19.860 –> 00:13:20.070 Joseph McElroy: A.

00:13:21.240 –> 00:13:23.670 Joseph McElroy: memorable experience alright, well, we gotta.

00:13:24.780 –> 00:13:25.830 Joseph McElroy: We gotta take a break.

00:13:26.340 –> 00:13:26.460 and

00:13:27.990 –> 00:13:29.730 18284210743: Come back on a.

00:13:30.180 –> 00:13:31.800 Joseph McElroy: a little bit more about your heritage.

00:13:32.910 –> 00:13:34.620 Joseph McElroy: person your background that you.

00:13:34.860 –> 00:13:37.680 18284210743: i’d like to ask about right here.

00:15:55.980 –> 00:16:04.800 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and My guess Illa Hatter.

00:16:08.790 –> 00:16:11.430 Joseph McElroy: There you are, you have to star six.

00:16:13.290 –> 00:16:15.720 Joseph McElroy: To unmute to do have to hit star six to get unmuted.

00:16:18.480 –> 00:16:21.240 Joseph McElroy: So uh so take a second but.

00:16:23.040 –> 00:16:28.140 Joseph McElroy: I understand that she is a descendant of a legendary.

00:16:30.450 –> 00:16:41.670 Joseph McElroy: Princess called Pocahontas I was gonna ask about that I like so you descended from Pocahontas oh you’re still gonna hit it you gotta hit the star six-try to hit the star six again.

00:16:48.630 –> 00:16:48.990 Joseph McElroy: and

00:16:50.820 –> 00:17:04.050 Joseph McElroy: You know there’s a lot of people down south or sending from various you know various famous individuals, you know if you do your genealogy search and you’d be surprised, what you find out.

00:17:04.800 –> 00:17:13.920 Joseph McElroy: That I was just recently doing it and found out the man named he Rogers moved into the haven county.

00:17:14.400 –> 00:17:19.650 Joseph McElroy: In the early 1800s and he married a woman and Jane Washington.

00:17:19.680 –> 00:17:20.430 Joseph McElroy: there either.

00:17:21.480 –> 00:17:22.080 18284210743:I’m here.

00:17:22.200 –> 00:17:23.100 18284210743: Oh, there you are.

00:17:25.020 –> 00:17:28.080 Joseph McElroy: I was huge he Rogers and Jane washing got married.

00:17:34.200 –> 00:17:42.480 Joseph McElroy: He was a brother George Washington so than the surprise you know we might pass so you’re you hear the direct descendant of a Pocahontas Is that correct.

00:17:43.740 –> 00:17:57.270 18284210743: Yes, I am I kept asking if there wasn’t an Indian that was any closer to a friend the day and my mother said well at least it’s an engine everybody knows to be satisfied with that.

00:17:58.380 –> 00:17:59.460 18284210743: You learned about it when you were.

00:17:59.460 –> 00:18:00.180 18284210743: fairly young.

00:18:01.260 –> 00:18:04.110 18284210743: Oh yes, my family was into genealogy.

00:18:05.430 –> 00:18:07.410 18284210743: mother and her sister both were.

00:18:08.520 –> 00:18:24.120 18284210743: Doing that for most of their lives, they were members of the doors republican Texas, and the Dir as well, and so they knew that they knew the history and I knew it from the time I was very small that we were descendants uh-huh.

00:18:24.540 –> 00:18:24.810 that’s.

00:18:26.370 –> 00:18:26.850 18284210743: Out there.

00:18:30.540 –> 00:18:30.720 18284210743: yeah.

00:18:32.190 –> 00:18:51.060 Joseph McElroy: There was a lot of starts going out a lot, and you, and so you know you’ve moved around a lot right and sometimes I noticed you say you’re in the smokies and other times you say southern Appalachian what are you, what do you consider now as a native of the smokies or Southern Appalachian.

00:18:53.670 –> 00:18:55.650 18284210743: I don’t know how you separate them really.

00:18:55.980 –> 00:18:57.450 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah.

00:18:57.540 –> 00:18:57.900 I mean.

00:18:59.100 –> 00:19:14.490 18284210743: I’m brand Blanche, and now I think I’ve been here more years I used to say I’ve been in Appalachia more years than I was all when I got here if that makes sense, of course, you know I’m still climbing Texas, but.

00:19:15.720 –> 00:19:23.670 18284210743: I’m so much more familiar now with Appalachian culture and heritage and teach it and classes at.

00:19:24.450 –> 00:19:40.350 18284210743: The Johnson Campbell folks school as well, and also about the Cherokee so that’s been I guess the last half of my life has been focused on you know the heritage of the region that I have adopted or has adopted me if you want to put it that way.

00:19:41.010 –> 00:19:42.540 Joseph McElroy: Is that how you got here, as you came to.

00:19:42.540 –> 00:19:43.050 Teach.

00:19:44.760 –> 00:19:58.380 18284210743: No I’m kind of around about the way I was back in Texas, I was in Tallahassee my mother was killed in an accident, and being an only child and I ended up in Austin moved back there.

00:19:58.920 –> 00:20:07.290 18284210743: But my daughter was getting married in Atlanta, and my mother was renting a room to a lady who was moving back to Texas from.

00:20:07.740 –> 00:20:20.580 18284210743: Gatlinburg and she was there, you know temporary while they were buying a house and she said that if I were to come by way of Gatlinburg to Atlanta for the wedding.

00:20:21.270 –> 00:20:30.420 18284210743: That I could pick up the punch bowl and silverware and all you know find things for a first-class wedding.

00:20:31.050 –> 00:20:38.760 18284210743: and take it for the wedding for my daughter, and then back to Texas, and she wouldn’t have to pack all those things, and I can take it, you know back.

00:20:39.510 –> 00:20:51.930 18284210743: home for her so that’s How come we ended up in Gatlinburg and thought about it and realized was a lot closer to Atlanta and to be near my daughter, and you know future grandchildren.

00:20:52.440 –> 00:21:01.260 18284210743: Then, to be 1000 miles away in Texas, so we backed out of some property, we were going to buy and build a house on and Austin.

00:21:01.890 –> 00:21:12.720 18284210743: And decided that weekend that we were in Gatlinburg and we found out that mother’s house it’s So while we were there so that weekend and we bought a rental chalet for.

00:21:13.980 –> 00:21:25.410 18284210743: income and our log cabin and went to the wedding in Atlanta and said no we’re not going to be taxes ranchers we’re going to be Tennessee mountaineer has.

00:21:27.330 –> 00:21:38.970 18284210743: It all changed in the space of just so you know that weekend really and I can try to come be part of the same here she’s got up next.

00:21:41.220 –> 00:21:53.310 18284210743: But that’s how I ended up here, so I was 12 years in Gatlinburg and then 94 moved over to with my second husband moved over here to North Carolina.

00:21:55.290 –> 00:21:56.790 Joseph McElroy: Finally, go on the right side as soon.

00:22:00.240 –> 00:22:05.640 18284210743: As I got it got too crazy and busy on that side, this is quiet, so I didn’t.

00:22:06.990 –> 00:22:19.110 18284210743: read it, even though my ancestors were Tennessee and you know and I’m happy to move there, the year of homecoming and I tell folks all it took five generations, but one of us finally got back home, and then the log cabin well.

00:22:20.400 –> 00:22:33.390 18284210743: But now it was worth it delighted to be on this site and we actually came over this side because of my adopted Cherokee grandmother she adopted me wasn’t the other way around.

00:22:34.830 –> 00:22:36.390 18284210743: amanda sequoia swimmer.

00:22:37.980 –> 00:22:48.420 18284210743: We had been coming over Gary had been visiting with her for several years before I came along in his life and that’s how I got to meet her and then she.

00:22:49.590 –> 00:22:58.140 18284210743: In and she and I then got to talking about you know how she had things that she had done, you know foodstuffs and these things and wild things you know for.

00:22:58.680 –> 00:23:12.660 18284210743: Raising her family and so that’s why we felt like coming over the mountains and kind of you know, be near her and take care of things for her and that’s, how can we browse the North Carolina well, you are you’re.

00:23:12.690 –> 00:23:27.780 Joseph McElroy: You’re actually a well-known world-renowned naturalist and I know that’s for a fact because we were having an event here talking about to come in here and people like oh wow I really like to impress.

00:23:28.080 –> 00:23:29.940 18284210743: yeah yeah.

00:23:34.140 –> 00:23:34.440 Joseph McElroy: well.

00:23:36.180 –> 00:23:42.540 Joseph McElroy: You refer to as wildcraft like raw wildcrafting what exactly does that mean what does its tales?

00:23:43.650 –> 00:23:57.780 18284210743: means farming the woods, the word originated in England is wildcrafting which, which again means farming, the woods, using the forest resources, and, in some cases actually.

00:23:59.070 –> 00:24:02.040 18284210743: Like over there for crafting, they would actually cut.

00:24:03.240 –> 00:24:09.990 18284210743: trees in order to have firewood they would take trees cut back, and then they come back up you know with multiple sprouts.

00:24:10.440 –> 00:24:17.700 18284210743: And as those then got hard, then they would come back and they would you know the name, have a bundle of sticks, or you know for cooking fires that kind of thing.

00:24:18.090 –> 00:24:34.680 18284210743: So that was one of the forest resources and the word gets changed into wildcrafting so it’s not making crafts, out of things out of the woods, but it’s how people you know would use the forest resources for food, medicine, you know rope.

00:24:35.760 –> 00:24:41.340 18284210743: All kinds of you know, ways that you know the thing we shingle you know, for instance, all kinds of things that will come.

00:24:42.390 –> 00:24:43.170 18284210743: out of the woods.

00:24:45.030 –> 00:24:55.320 Joseph McElroy: cool and did you become an expert in this field through a study or experience or you know or did you go to any school for bought me or anything.

00:24:56.610 –> 00:24:59.220 18284210743: I was a week away from.

00:25:00.240 –> 00:25:03.330 18284210743: signing up for a course in Escrow botany at.

00:25:04.470 –> 00:25:11.520 18284210743: The University of Florida so Sam was in Tallahassee so that would have been if you.

00:25:12.540 –> 00:25:14.700 18284210743: know if I am fish you.

00:25:16.530 –> 00:25:29.280 18284210743: And I was just I was close to getting a course, and that was when I got word that my mother killed and I had to move to Texas, so I didn’t get and that has caused by regard so an actual botany course, but I have.

00:25:30.330 –> 00:25:37.020 18284210743: You know, young people who’ve actually experienced that I have had very good friends who were botanists.

00:25:38.040 –> 00:25:51.060 18284210743: One of my main teachers for some 30 years was Murray’s manager, he was one of the first riders and foxfire for Elliot Wigginton and she and her husband had been.

00:25:52.080 –> 00:25:53.040 18284210743: botanist for.

00:25:54.240 –> 00:26:00.810 18284210743: Most of their lives, and she had started a group called the incredible edibles club there in North Georgia and acquaintance where she lived.

00:26:01.470 –> 00:26:11.250 18284210743: And I studied with her went to that group meetings we met from April to October one weekend a month and everything we ate for the weekend.

00:26:11.730 –> 00:26:20.730 18284210743: had to have a wild edible in it, and of course, you can talk about you know food without you know any plant without talking about its medicinal properties.

00:26:21.300 –> 00:26:30.690 18284210743: Food is medicine and medicine is food, so we learned both of those you know, while we were out with her so she was my, I guess, my main mentor.

00:26:31.320 –> 00:26:40.920 18284210743: And then coming up here, then I learned a lot of you know, the Cherokee things and how they used different things from you know from grandma mandy but yeah that was.

00:26:42.360 –> 00:26:59.070 18284210743: I wish I could have had a button in class and one of my good friend’s son was taking button a ut and I was telling him I said, you know I wish I had had some classes, he said, I always said, but you know the fun stuff he said.

00:27:01.230 –> 00:27:11.190 18284210743: He said that’s what people want to know you know they want the stories about it and how people use it and so that’s the fun part of, and he said you get the botanical names out of a book that’s no problem.

00:27:11.880 –> 00:27:23.340 18284210743: And so I kind of said oh okay all right, I guess that’s okay, then, so I stopped being concerned about it yeah well, you can answer you can, if you can answer a question.

00:27:23.340 –> 00:27:27.570 Joseph McElroy: For me, I had a mood shiner I think somebody in the.

00:27:27.630 –> 00:27:32.130 Joseph McElroy: liquor space and it was talking about, you know moonshine It was mentioned that.

00:27:35.190 –> 00:27:48.900 Joseph McElroy: But really simple recipes you know medicinal you know recipes in the mountains for curing all sorts of hills, but they said it wasn’t activated lets you put a little bit of moonshine and it has moonshine necessary to make mount remedies work.

00:27:51.180 –> 00:27:55.830 18284210743: Well, actually for some things, yes, because some of those plants.

00:27:58.110 –> 00:28:17.790 18284210743: chemicals that you, you want, that is the medicinal part, some of them are only soluble in alcohol and you know, some are fine and water and you make tea out of it, but others you wouldn’t get the benefit of it unless you actually did so good, you know for hall So yes.

00:28:18.840 –> 00:28:20.160 18284210743: Congress stuff was true.

00:28:20.160 –> 00:28:21.180 Joseph McElroy: that’s fantastic.

00:28:24.150 –> 00:28:33.870 18284210743: You did after you didn’t have to have it, and some of the moonshiners in knowing how to do things I could also once the season was passed for.

00:28:34.380 –> 00:28:48.030 18284210743: Making shine then like it just still herbal you know the extracts and things you know because I knew how to make the distillation process, so they were you know they were good you know, make herbal remedies as well.

00:28:48.690 –> 00:28:49.800 Joseph McElroy: So we’re going to take another.

00:28:49.800 –> 00:28:51.810 Joseph McElroy: break when we come back.

00:28:52.320 –> 00:28:57.180 Joseph McElroy: love to talk about some in Devon business beliefs and learning in your work.

00:28:59.040 –> 00:29:00.480 Okay guys.

00:29:02.670 –> 00:29:04.350 18284210743: informed about manacles and.

00:31:32.430 –> 00:31:33.930 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph.

00:31:36.960 –> 00:31:50.970 Joseph McElroy: Well back with the gateway to the smokies and my guest Ila Hatter, who is a renowned naturalist specializing and wildcrafting to explain to us earlier I’ll show you there.

00:31:53.940 –> 00:31:54.450 Joseph McElroy: To.

00:31:55.500 –> 00:31:59.220 Joseph McElroy: Their hope you’re still you’re going to hit the star six again.

00:32:01.380 –> 00:32:17.130 Joseph McElroy: You have to start 16 we are we’re having technical difficulties we’re in the mountains here and we’re having a huge storm with flash flood warnings so we’ve had to work out how to get here, and I still not still trying to get another star six yeah.

00:32:19.140 –> 00:32:31.200 Joseph McElroy: And so we put together a way to do this, but it does have a little bit of a hiccup in terms of how we get the mute unmute color coming back.

00:32:31.380 –> 00:32:32.850 18284210743: Coming back on me.

00:32:32.970 –> 00:32:34.560 Joseph McElroy: There we go hey.

00:32:36.480 –> 00:32:38.760 Joseph McElroy: There you go there, we go.

00:32:39.180 –> 00:32:39.870 So.

00:32:41.070 –> 00:32:44.100 Joseph McElroy: You have some deep native American you have any yeah.

00:32:44.580 –> 00:32:54.630 Joseph McElroy: So you have deep native American roots right, and you, you actually told me told it told us, you know, a big part of the reason you ended up in North Carolina decided, so, please.

00:32:54.990 –> 00:33:02.220 Joseph McElroy: Is your mentor Cherokee mentor so would you think that do you find that indigenous beliefs and learning are deep in your work.

00:33:05.490 –> 00:33:08.880 18284210743: Very much so now, especially you know here living in.

00:33:10.200 –> 00:33:12.210 18284210743: In the smokies and appalachia edge.

00:33:13.320 –> 00:33:16.650 18284210743: I think in the beginning, that as they.

00:33:17.880 –> 00:33:24.690 18284210743: White settlers moved in, and you know many times were saved by what the.

00:33:25.770 –> 00:33:35.460 18284210743: Indian neighbors knew, you know to heal them and then, of course, you know picked up the information from them, and I think there was a lot of sharing originally.

00:33:36.660 –> 00:33:38.730 18284210743: Between mountain people and.

00:33:39.990 –> 00:33:52.620 18284210743: In Cherokee and even in you know some of the other cultures that were you know Shawnee and Qatada and you know different states that were you know in southern Appalachian I think they learned from each other.

00:33:54.120 –> 00:33:57.870 18284210743: They when the settlers came here they had the.

00:33:58.950 –> 00:34:05.310 18284210743: They did have herbal knowledge from Europe and they added they knew about it.

00:34:08.340 –> 00:34:09.840 18284210743: Like they knew quite a few.

00:34:11.460 –> 00:34:27.510 18284210743: You know, herbal remedies, but they added about 252 the pharmacopeia from the Indian neighbors that we still use some of those today I’m sure they’re part of the pharmacopeia so it was a good sharing, I think, between the cultures.

00:34:29.340 –> 00:34:33.000 Joseph McElroy: fabulous um you know you know the.

00:34:34.170 –> 00:34:35.610 Joseph McElroy: I want to sort of dig deep.

00:34:36.690 –> 00:34:43.890 Joseph McElroy: A little bit here after you calling it wildcrafting right, what was the name, what was the.

00:34:44.400 –> 00:34:57.930 Joseph McElroy: What was the nature of your work at the beginning, and then, how did it evolve over time, what I know you do a lot of learning and a lot of experimenting but how does it manifest itself in the things that people enjoy or people learn from.

00:35:00.150 –> 00:35:01.470 18284210743: started with the food.

00:35:02.880 –> 00:35:15.570 18284210743: And I started teaching in Tallahassee and I got involved in the Florida native plant society and they didn’t have anybody that knew that much about the wild foods.

00:35:16.590 –> 00:35:30.930 18284210743: They were you know botanist and they were a lot of aquatic botanists and I went in and tell them what I did, and I said, do you have anybody that’s you know teaching that here and they looked at me and they said, we do now, so I started, then.

00:35:32.250 –> 00:35:36.870 18284210743: The same when I came up here to the to Gatlinburg and I started going to the.

00:35:38.340 –> 00:35:44.520 18284210743: The smoky mountain sales school and the wildflower pilgrimage and Dr. ED collab.

00:35:46.110 –> 00:35:55.530 18284210743: Who was Professor emeritus of botany for ut there in Knoxville and he was one of the main leaders.

00:35:56.130 –> 00:36:06.570 18284210743: And he would they talking about you know the different plants and identifying and you know and so I’m a lot of hair and tail people would eat this and they would cook I’m not sure how they would cook and how they prepare it and.

00:36:07.050 –> 00:36:18.930 18284210743: I would be raising my hand and groups and well I know and eventually after a couple of years when he left to on a sabbatical to start is 90 plant.

00:36:19.620 –> 00:36:28.920 18284210743: nursery the university said well your classes are so popular who do you know, would you suggest could take them over and he suggested me.

00:36:29.790 –> 00:36:44.460 18284210743: Like surprise me because I didn’t have a botany degree and they told me they said that’s not important you just have to know the subject, and he feels like you know the subject so at that point, then, because it was including so much in the medicinal that’s when I began actually studying.

00:36:45.780 –> 00:36:53.430 18284210743: To you know, be sure that I can add enough of that you know into it and so that that’s how that started, and I really you know.

00:36:53.850 –> 00:37:03.660 18284210743: thanked him so many times for getting me started on what became a career because of my background actually for 27 years before I moved here was in graphic arts.

00:37:04.440 –> 00:37:14.820 18284210743: But I decided that, since I was going to have to you know learn how to do all that on computers I didn’t want to be in front of a computer for eight hours a day, I wanted to be with people and, as my

00:37:15.870 –> 00:37:24.150 18284210743: husband Jerry had said well as for something you want to do to Michael lemon, what do you like to do the most and I said talk.

00:37:26.640 –> 00:37:42.150 18284210743: This is it got it well, as it turns out I’ve got I was joking about this when I do my, my charity classes, you don’t necessarily want to ask for an Indian name I didn’t ask for one, but I got one anyway.

00:37:43.260 –> 00:37:51.000 18284210743: We were with grandma mandy one time, and she was talking about her grandchildren and the names that she’d given them she always gives them an Indian name at birth.

00:37:51.780 –> 00:37:58.020 18284210743: And he said well Rambo you keep saying that I would you know, is one of your daughters well if she’d actually been born in your family.

00:37:58.800 –> 00:38:07.200 18284210743: What name, would you give her without matt and, as she said Uli that you Li and I said oh grandma what’s that mean, she said.

00:38:07.740 –> 00:38:18.570 18284210743: locust and I thought well I’m a naturalist you know the name for locust tree that’s pretty neat she said no, not that trees that little bug that comes out every seven years and won’t shut up.

00:38:24.840 –> 00:38:25.950 18284210743: talker was.

00:38:32.670 –> 00:38:36.420 18284210743: talking to Michael Evans for the last 30 years or more.

00:38:39.240 –> 00:38:41.550 18284210743: toward that, he’s also written a book did.

00:38:43.980 –> 00:38:55.770 18284210743: The incredible animal’s group put together and part of its mine and Barbie illustrations are mine and Marie gave me the rights to it roadside rambles is a cookbook.

00:38:56.820 –> 00:39:04.050 18284210743: With 390 wild food recipes in it and then I did DVDs we have.

00:39:06.660 –> 00:39:12.510 18284210743: Wild edibles and decimals of Appalachia and then I did three.

00:39:13.530 –> 00:39:27.330 18284210743: folkways programs with you and say TV, which is our in a local PBS with that with David whoa and I did three programs for our state as well, so yeah so.

00:39:28.710 –> 00:39:34.590 18284210743: I’ve been in a lot of magazines blue Ridge country, and recently garden and guns and.

00:39:35.970 –> 00:39:38.310 18284210743: any number of publications and things and.

00:39:39.510 –> 00:39:42.030 18284210743: was actually on CNN one time that was.

00:39:45.750 –> 00:39:46.950 18284210743: Was that a good experience.

00:39:48.360 –> 00:39:49.530 18284210743: That was fine.

00:39:50.730 –> 00:39:58.470 18284210743: Going into a billion homes worldwide is a big sign as you walk in and she looked at me and said anything, well, I went oh my.

00:40:03.570 –> 00:40:04.710 18284210743: I had a I had a.

00:40:04.740 –> 00:40:06.960 Joseph McElroy: brief sees and experiences it wasn’t anything major.

00:40:06.960 –> 00:40:13.320 Joseph McElroy: But I got interviewed on the street New York City about some sort of thing and I got excited I know.

00:40:13.350 –> 00:40:16.440 Joseph McElroy: My mom told her, I was going to be on the show, and this on the.

00:40:16.620 –> 00:40:24.210 Joseph McElroy: On the news show, and she watched and then she called me screaming and switches fever and she said, your boss your board I shaved my head that.

00:40:29.040 –> 00:40:30.090 18284210743: impressed you the most.

00:40:30.150 –> 00:40:32.310 Joseph McElroy: yeah was it a shot shop.

00:40:32.370 –> 00:40:34.890 Joseph McElroy: So she did you know I did that, so it was like.

00:40:40.830 –> 00:40:41.730 18284210743: Oh, my.

00:40:42.750 –> 00:40:42.930 Joseph McElroy: God.

00:40:45.450 –> 00:40:50.100 Joseph McElroy: So another fine natural on the show Adam Bigelow and.

00:40:50.730 –> 00:40:52.380 Joseph McElroy: I know I know you’re familiar with others.

00:40:52.380 –> 00:40:52.560 Joseph McElroy: Like.

00:40:52.620 –> 00:40:55.560 Joseph McElroy: hotels and Dan Dan.

00:40:56.280 –> 00:40:56.520 18284210743: Dan.

00:40:56.550 –> 00:40:58.980 Joseph McElroy: pitch low, but how’s it how’s yours.

00:40:59.820 –> 00:41:00.930 18284210743: how’s your wild crafted.

00:41:00.930 –> 00:41:01.890 18284210743: different from what they do.

00:41:03.780 –> 00:41:11.460 18284210743: I’m probably most similar to annum since he does you know the walks and talks about you know and I’ve given him some.

00:41:11.970 –> 00:41:24.870 18284210743: While he tells stories about plants, you know and things that he’s experienced with them, then I’ve occasionally when we’ve crossed paths I’ve given me some stories and said you’re welcome you know, to the stories, because you know we see each other as a.

00:41:26.280 –> 00:41:47.040 18284210743: couple we 90 plan conference over at Western Carolina, and so we were pretty similar Dan and I are good friends to and Dan is just an incredible botanist and we’ve done walks with oh and Joyce Kilmer and you know the various thing we see each other every year it’s a wildflower pilgrimage.

00:41:48.510 –> 00:41:59.250 18284210743: And I guess mine is different because I actually serve food to people I gave everybody a taste of the while so that they have some idea of how they can incorporate some of the.

00:41:59.730 –> 00:42:08.910 18284210743: Things that are growing outside in their yard, or something that they that’s come up in their garden that they might want to actually include is you know part of theirs.

00:42:09.660 –> 00:42:17.610 18284210743: harvest before they’ve even planted anything so I want them to kind of know you know how good these things are and so every class I always.

00:42:18.240 –> 00:42:27.180 18284210743: Prepare something that’s appropriate to the season back when I lived in Gatlinburg and have the log cabin I was close enough to the park that.

00:42:27.540 –> 00:42:46.740 18284210743: I would bring them home and we had a full course meal, it was from appetizer to you know to dessert the whole meal was while but I haven’t done those in a number of years I just do a taste of the while now, I think that’s how I differ, is that I actually prepare food for folks.

00:42:47.460 –> 00:42:49.080 Joseph McElroy: Well, it seems to be the.

00:42:49.140 –> 00:42:50.610 Joseph McElroy: The your homework from the.

00:42:50.610 –> 00:42:56.250 Joseph McElroy: Beginning right from this class as you were doing that Professor raising your hand to say I know how to make.

00:42:56.250 –> 00:42:57.300 Joseph McElroy: It today.

00:42:57.600 –> 00:42:58.710 Joseph McElroy: So there’s a.

00:42:58.740 –> 00:42:59.970 Joseph McElroy: there’s a tactical.

00:43:00.000 –> 00:43:05.970 Joseph McElroy: there’s tactical expertise that you have you got to get your hands and actually produce right it’s that’s the art.

00:43:06.900 –> 00:43:07.410 18284210743: The art.

00:43:07.920 –> 00:43:08.760 Joseph McElroy: Right yeah.

00:43:10.530 –> 00:43:18.240 18284210743: Like what we were out but I’m charging around my cabin and somebody said, so why don’t we think and for the salad I said you’re standing in it.

00:43:23.040 –> 00:43:25.020 18284210743: All right, we’re gonna take our final break down.

00:43:25.020 –> 00:43:30.390 Joseph McElroy: Come back and finish up with little some of the programs that people can experience with you right now.

00:44:36.030 –> 00:44:36.570 Most of the.

00:46:04.770 –> 00:46:14.610 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast my game, yes, I had her, I know, are you there yet.

00:46:16.170 –> 00:46:24.540 Joseph McElroy: he’s we begin as saying we’re in a big storm and sometimes that happens in the smoky mountains and flash flood work possibility and things like that.

00:46:27.420 –> 00:46:29.940 Joseph McElroy: yeah I think you have to hit star six again.

00:46:34.980 –> 00:46:39.150 Joseph McElroy: we’re dealing with multiple technologies here at the same time you know.

00:46:43.740 –> 00:46:54.090 Joseph McElroy: Sometimes the mountains, I was having a hard time a little bit of wireless going around trying to get a cell phone you got to find the right spot to stand in.

00:46:55.110 –> 00:47:05.220 Joseph McElroy: Oh, you don’t get in the don’t get any service at all, but then other places, you get beautiful clear service so it’s like claiming your spot here and understanding what you got to do we’ve been talking about.

00:47:06.090 –> 00:47:20.460 Joseph McElroy: Wildcrafting which is you know exploring the natural wonders of food in the mountains and you know recipes and medicinal plants and natural as a naturalist is big.

00:47:21.240 –> 00:47:32.880 Joseph McElroy: is a big industry here in the mountains, I don’t know if you’ve been seeing our previous programs but it’s been dancing you there ALA ALA know you still got to travel more time star six.

00:47:35.190 –> 00:47:39.750 Joseph McElroy: yeah so she had to call in or phone so she’s got to do this.

00:47:44.490 –> 00:47:49.110 Joseph McElroy: zoom needs to do something about it so in turn, people are back on there yet.

00:47:50.820 –> 00:47:51.510 Joseph McElroy: not yet.

00:47:52.740 –> 00:47:59.130 Joseph McElroy: Well, I love does a lot of programs with the great smoky mountains National Park.

00:48:00.660 –> 00:48:04.320 Joseph McElroy: You know, various variations of the major.

00:48:06.360 –> 00:48:06.990 Joseph McElroy: Major.

00:48:09.090 –> 00:48:14.280 Joseph McElroy: Schools and systems, schools and whatnot here in the mountains.

00:48:15.600 –> 00:48:21.780 Joseph McElroy: To the guest’s instructor for the great smoky mountains to treatment, the judge john C to Campbell folks school.

00:48:22.260 –> 00:48:41.010 Joseph McElroy: The mountain retreat Center snowbird mountain launch or she’s a member of the yellow attire member of the yellow creek botanical Institute and a storyteller for elder hospital hospitals in three states in three states so there’s a lot of education, often opportunity.

00:48:42.810 –> 00:48:43.500 Joseph McElroy: had about.

00:48:46.530 –> 00:48:52.560 Joseph McElroy: botanicals hey I’ll you back there some reason the star six is not working quite as well.

00:48:54.420 –> 00:48:57.600 Joseph McElroy: So, as he still does a lot of programs evolve.

00:48:59.550 –> 00:49:02.190 Joseph McElroy: And they’re very worthwhile programs to go to.

00:49:03.570 –> 00:49:09.630 Joseph McElroy: She was going to do one here at the Meadowlark motel we just had a naturalist weekend.

00:49:11.010 –> 00:49:16.020 Joseph McElroy: and personal circumstances dictate that she couldn’t make it but everybody was there.

00:49:16.380 –> 00:49:19.050 Joseph McElroy: wow really hopefully anticipating.

00:49:19.440 –> 00:49:20.310 Joseph McElroy: Either didn’t work.

00:49:21.150 –> 00:49:22.590 18284210743: I think your work, this time.

00:49:22.710 –> 00:49:25.200 Joseph McElroy: yeah there you go so.

00:49:26.820 –> 00:49:28.200 18284210743: I was just bragging about you.

00:49:32.730 –> 00:49:33.870 18284210743: programs that you’re involved.

00:49:33.870 –> 00:49:40.860 Joseph McElroy: With the and you’ve done some students have programs with the great smoky mountain national park for years, what kind of.

00:49:43.260 –> 00:49:46.770 18284210743: match with you to the smoky mountain field school.

00:49:47.220 –> 00:50:05.490 18284210743: And it’s a new TV program and the links are on my website, which is wildcrafting.com and there are links there to the classes and there’s a myriad of programs and things that people can you know be part of mine are foraging and folklore.

00:50:05.970 –> 00:50:12.900 18284210743: And I’ve got one coming up October 9 which is on Cherokee foods and folklore.

00:50:14.250 –> 00:50:18.120 18284210743: that’s going to be on this side of the park and Cherokee and then.

00:50:19.110 –> 00:50:28.260 18284210743: I have the Genesee Campbell folks school coming up on May 1 of next year, which is.

00:50:29.550 –> 00:50:32.130 18284210743: A title after my favorite quote from.

00:50:34.410 –> 00:50:47.130 18284210743: From there, which is the woods and sales are a table always spread is the title of the program to those are the next two coming up of the vehicle that.

00:50:49.380 –> 00:50:49.980 Joseph McElroy: Which one of the.

00:50:50.280 –> 00:50:51.690 rooms would people get to taste.

00:50:54.390 –> 00:51:04.860 18284210743: Oh, and anything that I do any of the programs that I do, I always bring a taste of the while so you’ll get some Cherokee foods.

00:51:05.460 –> 00:51:17.550 18284210743: On October night will actually probably make some Cherokee chestnut brand probably and have seen matt lemonade T most people don’t realize that the.

00:51:18.390 –> 00:51:29.970 18284210743: Quality reservation quality is actually the word for saying bad quality and quality or the words for saying back then they’ll tell you were poly because.

00:51:30.390 –> 00:51:42.660 18284210743: Polly’s farm is where they started the survey from but there’s no P, and the Cherokee language so they call her quality and so it’s actually the same back reservation if you really want a.

00:51:43.890 –> 00:51:47.880 18284210743: Specific translation anyway that’s that’s what they’ll have for.

00:51:48.180 –> 00:51:54.150 18284210743: October and then we’ll actually have origin cook things that the Campbell folks go because it’s a week-long class.

00:51:55.560 –> 00:52:01.320 Joseph McElroy: cool what’s your, what do you think are the tastiest wild plants in the mountains.

00:52:03.570 –> 00:52:10.710 18284210743: who have got several um one of my favorites as far as vegetable guys are lambs quarters.

00:52:12.030 –> 00:52:16.890 18284210743: Because you can use that any way that you use Spanish any Spanish recipe that’s one of my favorites.

00:52:18.210 –> 00:52:27.570 18284210743: As for and then ramps, of course, if anybody is you know from Appalachia there you know they know about ramps which are industrial strength onions.

00:52:28.320 –> 00:52:41.040 18284210743: I call a lot of ways to use those that not many things that you would you know, raw elderberry, of course, that they have to be cooked but elderberries are you know I made.

00:52:41.640 –> 00:52:49.440 18284210743: I’d one-third prize in Florida state prayer for elderberry wine, so that tells you how good it is and then.

00:52:50.220 –> 00:53:03.030 18284210743: We have what I call mountain wasabi do for which has horseradish flavor and I’ve been able to take a roast beef sandwich and put the two for it leaves in it for the condiments and.

00:53:03.690 –> 00:53:15.570 18284210743: And for the little Elvis quote unquote for the sandwich So those are you know and then there’s five Bush I use that a lot of spice Bush is using the limbs.

00:53:16.410 –> 00:53:34.140 18284210743: For tea learned that from the Cherokee and then the berries are dried and use like 90 volts five and I keep those grind them up use them in all kinds of pastries and cookies and things well, thank you for joining our show.

00:53:34.920 –> 00:53:38.460 Joseph McElroy: And people can find out more about your wildcrafted COM correct.

00:53:39.210 –> 00:53:46.140 18284210743: Right, yes, and right well fancy.com, or they can email me at Iowa at wild crafting.com yes.

00:53:47.250 –> 00:53:47.550 18284210743: hmm.

00:53:48.690 –> 00:53:50.040 Joseph McElroy: So thank you for being a show it’s.

00:53:50.040 –> 00:53:54.390 Joseph McElroy: been a wonderful show, and I look forward to tasting some of your stuff in the new near future.

00:53:55.620 –> 00:53:57.900 18284210743: Oh really that okay.

00:53:57.930 –> 00:54:00.450 Joseph McElroy: cool I know a message from our sponsors.

00:54:00.840 –> 00:54:09.690 Joseph McElroy: imaginative place evocative of the motor courts of the past at modern and vibrant with a chic Appalachian feel a place for adventure and for relaxation.

00:54:10.140 –> 00:54:18.420 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on fire and eat that company by fine wine or craft beers.

00:54:18.750 –> 00:54:30.540 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place of old-time music world cultural sounds, there is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel and Maggie Valley North Carolina your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay.

00:54:32.070 –> 00:54:44.040 Joseph McElroy: we’re also sponsored by smokies adventure.com smokies plural adventure singular.com where you can find event listings places to go things to do.

00:54:46.260 –> 00:54:57.270 Joseph McElroy: All sorts of taking information camping sources to enjoy your time in the mountains I’m part of the talk radio dot NYC network, we have here every Tuesday, six to seven on this.

00:54:58.290 –> 00:55:13.860 Joseph McElroy: It’s a live podcast but there are many other great live podcasts on this network, I encourage you to go and find go to and talkradio.NYC find that ones that we relevant to you, and especially for the one that follows this book about New York.

00:55:14.970 –> 00:55:33.030 Joseph McElroy: You can find more about this podcast and gatewaytothesmokies/fun or our Facebook page facebook.com/gatewaytothe smokiespodcasts I look forward to seeing you next week at six 6 pm on Tuesday for another great episode of gateway to the smokies.

Today's guest of Gateway to the Smokies Podcast is Adam Bigelow, a well-known environmental and community activist as well as an outstanding musician.

Adam runs his own business – Bigelow Botanical Excursions – where he teaches folks about the wonders of the natural world in Appalachia. They will talk about Botanical Excursions in the Smokies‍

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

Today’s episode starts off with host Joseph Franklyn McElroy introducing today’s podcast topic: the botanical excursions in the Smokies. Before continuing further, Joseph gives his shout-outs to sponsors and gives special announcements. Tonight’s guest, Adam Bigelow, is introduced. He explains how even though he was not originally from the area, he chose to live near the Smokies because he fell in love with it. Adam’s passion for botany came accidentally nearly 20 years ago and he found a community that came with this passion.

Adam talks a little more about his passion for botany and how the Smokies is a great place to go further into that passion. He talks about the physical surroundings of the mountains and the role it plays in the economy and society. Joseph asks Adam about his past achievements and experience. Adam talks about his time working with Cherokee land and talks about an old botanical garden nearby where he attempted to revitalize the garden while documenting special plants.

Coming back from the break, Adam talks about his hiking tours in the mountains. He talks about the wildlife people often run into on the hike, including beautiful and rare plants. He describes his hike tours as going back in time as you can see wildlife that has been there for hundreds of years. The conversation takes a turn to Adam’s other hobbies and activities. He talks about his acoustic bluegrass rock and roll jam band.

For the last segment of this episode, Adam explains the name of his band. Then he gives what his day-to-day itinerary would look like at the Smoky Mountains. He recommends cafes for people to visit, as well as, beautiful sightseeing places, and great dining choices.

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00:00:26.820 –> 00:00:32.850 Joseph McElroy: howdy thanks for joining us on this week’s episode of gateway to the Smokies

00:00:33.810 –> 00:00:41.850 Joseph McElroy: This podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the great smoky mountains national park, and the surrounding towns.

00:00:42.150 –> 00:00:50.850 Joseph McElroy: These areas are filled with ancient natural beauty and deep storied history and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes.

00:00:51.330 –> 00:01:00.990 Joseph McElroy: I am Joseph Franklin McElroy man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains my family’s lived in the great smokies for over 200 years.

00:01:01.440 –> 00:01:11.880 Joseph McElroy: My business is in travel, but my heart is in culture today’s podcast is about botanical excursions in the smokies but first a little bit of.

00:01:12.990 –> 00:01:20.670 Joseph McElroy: housekeeping and then a little introduction of my life, that is, I think, applicable here.

00:01:21.150 –> 00:01:31.530 Joseph McElroy: So anyway, imagine a place evocative of motor courts and the past yet modern and vibrant with the Chic Appalachian field, a place for adventure and for relaxation.

00:01:32.190 –> 00:01:42.300 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill to catch on fire and eat accompanied by fine line or craft beers.

00:01:42.660 –> 00:01:52.500 Joseph McElroy: Imagine in place with old-time music and world cultural sounds, there is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley North Carolina.

00:01:52.980 –> 00:02:02.160 Joseph McElroy: Your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay another sponsor’s smokies adventure at smokies plural adventure.

00:02:02.940 –> 00:02:14.040 Joseph McElroy: singular it’s smokies adventure.com and it’s a place where you find information listings about the smokies hiking wedding venues books trail maps resources.

00:02:14.460 –> 00:02:31.260 Joseph McElroy: The emphasis of smokies adventures outdoor recreation outdoor life events like weddings and adventures, along with providing information on logic family entertainment events conventions honeymoons anymore, it is, it is becoming the leading information portal for the smoky mountains.

00:02:32.880 –> 00:02:47.820 Joseph McElroy: An upcoming event I’d like to mention is traditional skills and naturalist weekend August 27 and 29th at the Meadowlark mountain smoky mountain Heritage Center which is at the Meadowlark motel.

00:02:49.050 –> 00:03:01.020 Joseph McElroy: it’s Ginseng granny medicine herbs it’s the botanic the exploration of the botanical Lord lord of the mountains, and it was a weekend of lectures wanderings, and entertainment.

00:03:01.470 –> 00:03:10.110 Joseph McElroy: Friday, there will be some traditional music in the evening with will return and Mike Ogletree Saturday the 28th there’ll be wildflower and native.

00:03:10.410 –> 00:03:23.310 Joseph McElroy: Plants of southern Appalachian with a tour and guide tour guide and naturalist Adam Bigelow who’s our guest today the healing powers of history of Jim single be explored with novelists and natural Jim Allen Hamilton.

00:03:24.060 –> 00:03:32.970 Joseph McElroy: medicinal herbs and granny my medicine will be explored with Renee Winchester who’s a naturalist herbalist and award-winning author.

00:03:33.450 –> 00:03:51.690 Joseph McElroy: there’ll be a program by Tyson Samson and then an acclaimed Cherokee naturalist historical lecture there’ll be an afternoon of would want woods wandering and discussion with a renowned naturalist tour guide lecturer and author Abby Artemisia.

00:03:52.950 –> 00:04:02.850 Joseph McElroy: there’ll be an heirloom seed discussion with Will Ritter there’ll be some entertainment traditional Scottish music of the Highlands with Mike Ogletree and.

00:04:03.420 –> 00:04:16.350 Joseph McElroy: who’s the former drummer or simple minds and there’ll be a song-to-seat concert with William Ritter, exploring the bluegrass and folk music of the mountains, as long as a little bit of storytelling.

00:04:16.860 –> 00:04:29.790 Joseph McElroy: And then, on Sunday morning will be sent off with a traditional mountain Gospel music service, you know when we put this book this show you know talking about botanical and.

00:04:30.780 –> 00:04:43.260 Joseph McElroy: And and herbs and met plants in the mountains, I saw that the guests were involved with Community gardens I took me back to my childhood and the memories of.

00:04:43.590 –> 00:04:55.050 Joseph McElroy: My grandmother’s both grandmother’s gardens and I got to work in both my grandmother’s garden so on an island up and running and fox run and both in Haywood County and them really.

00:04:55.860 –> 00:05:06.000 Joseph McElroy: taught me a lot about gardening my grant and the one in fox from there’s more about the real bill, vegetables and flowers by the one in Ireland was corn and.

00:05:06.510 –> 00:05:22.410 Joseph McElroy: And beans and squash the church or the traditional three sisters, along with lots of berries and and and things like that, and so there was this poem I sometimes like reemployment here, I went out and found a source, so you know spoke to me about.

00:05:23.520 –> 00:05:24.060 Joseph McElroy: That.

00:05:25.080 –> 00:05:27.570 Joseph McElroy: And it’s called string beans by Wendy Hammond.

00:05:29.070 –> 00:05:34.500 Joseph McElroy: Perhaps grandma taught me to snap the string beans for anxiety relief.

00:05:35.610 –> 00:05:49.140 Joseph McElroy: Maybe she knew more than I gave her credit for, because here I sit 40 years later, in the middle of it with a bowl of tense green beans and a pile of little endings I need to throw away.

00:05:49.950 –> 00:06:06.000 Joseph McElroy: On a hot summer day in the middle of July I split my fears and eat my tension every seven times and I see grandma’s hands showing my breaking off the split ends of life, one being at a time.

00:06:08.490 –> 00:06:10.020 Joseph McElroy: It was really nice so.

00:06:11.130 –> 00:06:27.360 Joseph McElroy: You know, and I think life is the life, in the end, growing up in the mountains is about that you know grandmothers and mothers teaching children about you know the pulse of life and the nature’s bounty and how it can you know it’d be an important part of living.

00:06:28.560 –> 00:06:40.230 Joseph McElroy: My guest today Adam Bigelow I think there’s a lot about that he lives in rural Jackson County North Carolina and is a well known, environmental and community activist, as well as an outstanding musician.

00:06:40.860 –> 00:06:52.920 Joseph McElroy: In addition to his work as an activist and artists Adam runs his own business Bigelow botanical excursions where he teaches folks about the wonders of the natural world and Appalachian how you doing Adam.

00:06:53.070 –> 00:06:55.980 Adam Bigelow: I’m doing great today Joseph, thank you for having me out here.

00:06:56.340 –> 00:06:59.100 Joseph McElroy: cool and you’re in are you in silver right now.

00:06:59.550 –> 00:07:01.410 Adam Bigelow: I’m actually in cali.

00:07:02.490 –> 00:07:10.830 Adam Bigelow: Mountain top at around 3600 feet on top of tilly creek road right at the headwaters of tilly creek.

00:07:11.850 –> 00:07:15.570 Joseph McElroy: So, are you originally from that area.

00:07:16.110 –> 00:07:16.920 Adam Bigelow: Oh no.

00:07:18.030 –> 00:07:26.130 Adam Bigelow: As they like to say here in southern Appalachia I from around here and Bigelow is certainly not a.

00:07:27.270 –> 00:07:35.610 Adam Bigelow: Traditional Appalachian settler name I grew up on the coast of Virginia and Hampton Virginia and I grew up.

00:07:36.660 –> 00:07:47.670 Adam Bigelow: disconnected from nature, not any way connected to gardening surrounded by streetlights and sidewalks and writing skateboard so I’ve come a long way from there.

00:07:48.180 –> 00:07:55.260 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah it is so uh yeah I mean your talents would have allowed you to live anywhere you want it to, but why did you end up in the Smokies?

00:07:55.770 –> 00:08:00.390 Adam Bigelow: You know how I ended up here is kind of an accidental thing like a lot of.

00:08:02.040 –> 00:08:21.030 Adam Bigelow: Things when we look back on a life that kind of random but they may eventually make sense and I’ve lived here and just mostly in Jackson county a little bit in macon county since 1993 and I moved up here to go to college at the local community college to study radio and TV production.

00:08:21.450 –> 00:08:21.810 No.

00:08:23.040 –> 00:08:31.890 Adam Bigelow: yeah I didn’t really finish that out, but I fell in love with these mountains and I’ve lived here, ever since, and I hope to live in southern Appalachian for the rest of my life.

00:08:32.370 –> 00:08:34.560 Joseph McElroy: Oh cool was that hey what Community college.

00:08:34.830 –> 00:08:37.050 Adam Bigelow: was actually Southwestern Community college.

00:08:37.140 –> 00:08:39.510 Joseph McElroy: I say, and then you go to hey what Community colleges.

00:08:39.660 –> 00:08:49.470 Adam Bigelow: I eventually did get a hey what Community college, after a long Sir code is the road that led me to find a love of plants and.

00:08:50.490 –> 00:08:57.300 Adam Bigelow: and flowers, and so I went as an adult and studied horticulture at hey what Community college.

00:08:57.870 –> 00:09:03.210 Joseph McElroy: And I know that horticulture and farming are actually big and successful program is there.

00:09:03.690 –> 00:09:18.930 Adam Bigelow: They have been in the past yeah the horticulture program has a lot of a long history of really influential graduates in the region by for the horticulture and for the forestry and natural resources department.

00:09:19.620 –> 00:09:22.620 Joseph McElroy: And then you went to Western Carolina University right.

00:09:22.980 –> 00:09:24.150 Adam Bigelow: yeah I did I studied.

00:09:25.200 –> 00:09:31.620 Adam Bigelow: Environmental science at WCU and colorway here after getting my degree in horticulture.

00:09:32.250 –> 00:09:36.060 Joseph McElroy: All right, so you get educated.

00:09:36.780 –> 00:09:40.020 Adam Bigelow: I did, and I went back to College as an adult I.

00:09:41.910 –> 00:09:48.300 Adam Bigelow: I got my bachelor’s degree from Western six days before my 40th birthday.

00:09:48.930 –> 00:09:52.290 Joseph McElroy: Well, congratulations all right well that was just like that was a few weeks ago.

00:09:54.030 –> 00:09:54.900 Adam Bigelow: or 10 years.

00:09:57.810 –> 00:10:02.940 Joseph McElroy: So now you’re a notable environmentalist and you’re passionate about botany.

00:10:03.360 –> 00:10:14.910 Joseph McElroy: And the natural world and you mentioned you got interested in plus how did that passionate of all you know, during that time between you know Southwestern and then Haywood Community college what led to that passion.

00:10:15.720 –> 00:10:25.470 Adam Bigelow: it’s all again by accident, and I am definitely a plant nerd and somewhere around 20 years ago I fell in love with wildflowers.

00:10:27.210 –> 00:10:35.190 Adam Bigelow: accidentally I had been you know living here for a while and working mostly in restaurant jobs but I enjoyed going hiking.

00:10:35.940 –> 00:10:54.720 Adam Bigelow: At the time, it was mostly about a destination what waterfall are we going to see what big view what Big Mountain, are we going to climb up and the traveled in between was just drudgery and trying to get there as soon as I can walking very fast, but I had a friend that took a.

00:10:56.460 –> 00:11:15.420 Adam Bigelow: botany course at WCU way before I ever went there and got was lucky to take classes with Dr. Dan Portillo retired botanist from the university and so as we are hiking they started talking about and pointing out some of the flowers, but I didn’t really still have an interest there.

00:11:18.300 –> 00:11:22.740 Adam Bigelow: What actually led me to get into plants was.

00:11:24.000 –> 00:11:37.110 Adam Bigelow: A bit of an accident, I went and got a job at a big box store in Franklin and they randomly put me out into the Garden Center and the rest is history, now I love plant.

00:11:38.700 –> 00:11:41.580 Joseph McElroy: ooh and did you find some mentors along the way.

00:11:42.810 –> 00:11:50.520 Adam Bigelow: Oh, very much you know everything from miss Betty who worked at the outdoor garden Center and knew all the plants at the time.

00:11:52.170 –> 00:11:52.590 Adam Bigelow: To.

00:11:54.210 –> 00:12:00.840 Adam Bigelow: One of my main friends and mentors in this work is a retired ethnobotanist.

00:12:02.310 –> 00:12:13.560 Adam Bigelow: Dr. David Koso who, up until recently was working out on the call of boundary in Cherokee and is a medical as no botanist and studied on.

00:12:14.760 –> 00:12:22.710 Adam Bigelow: The relationship of humans and plants from a Cherokee and indigenous people at the southeastern tribes perspective.

00:12:24.420 –> 00:12:29.160 Adam Bigelow: And one of the most influential things in my education in life.

00:12:30.330 –> 00:12:30.930 Adam Bigelow: Was.

00:12:32.070 –> 00:12:42.270 Adam Bigelow: right before starting horticulture school, I read a little blurb in the local paper about what I thought was a small no big deal thing called the color we native plant conference.

00:12:42.780 –> 00:12:50.880 Adam Bigelow: And so I signed up I said I’m going to go study plan, so let me go to this local Conference, and what I walked into was the largest and oldest.

00:12:51.210 –> 00:12:58.980 Adam Bigelow: native planet conference, at least on these guys then possibly in the country, and these are the folks that have had the biggest influence on me.

00:12:59.340 –> 00:13:00.870 Joseph McElroy: So you found your community.

00:13:01.320 –> 00:13:02.520 Adam Bigelow: I certainly did.

00:13:02.550 –> 00:13:03.510 Adam Bigelow: When i’m playing.

00:13:04.080 –> 00:13:12.060 Adam Bigelow: Open include me in with fellow planners, and one of the amazing things about the colorway native plant conferences it’s not.

00:13:12.420 –> 00:13:22.020 Adam Bigelow: Specific to one field of study or one trade there’s botanist there are horticulturalists there are nursery workers landscape designers home gardeners.

00:13:22.350 –> 00:13:37.410 Adam Bigelow: Everyone comes together from all over the southeastern US to Cali third week of July to share out their love and joy of seeing native plants used in the landscape cool.

00:13:37.890 –> 00:13:46.590 Joseph McElroy: All right, well, when we come back, I want to explore more about your influences and what you’ve done with those mentoring and education that you’ve got.

00:13:48.090 –> 00:13:48.360 Great.

00:16:06.780 –> 00:16:19.470 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with a gateway to the smokies podcast with my guest Adam Bigelow so Adam there’s been there’s a lot of great naturalist in this area like.

00:16:20.160 –> 00:16:29.940 Joseph McElroy: I think I had her and George Ellis and then for Tello like Those are just a few that come to mind they’ve been influences on what you do.

00:16:30.600 –> 00:16:36.570 Adam Bigelow: All three of them are big players and educators and leaders and in.

00:16:38.130 –> 00:16:44.160 Adam Bigelow: The botanical and naturalist world that I live in here in Jackson County and Southern Appalachian.

00:16:45.570 –> 00:16:52.230 Adam Bigelow: Especially is very similar I have been Ms. Ila Hatter she’s such a wonderful treasure for these.

00:16:52.740 –> 00:17:01.290 Adam Bigelow: Great smoky mountains and an educator and keeping alive the traditions that she was raised with, as well as.

00:17:02.010 –> 00:17:15.030 Adam Bigelow: she’s been very encouraging to me in my work as I set out there, trying to teach people about plants and flowers and it feels really great to have her friendship, as well as encouragement yeah.

00:17:15.600 –> 00:17:23.040 Joseph McElroy: that’s cool I mean it’s always nice to have those relationships that helped blossom what you’re doing.

00:17:24.060 –> 00:17:27.990 Joseph McElroy: And speaking about what you’re doing you you started out doing some interesting.

00:17:27.990 –> 00:17:36.660 Joseph McElroy: Things right out of HCC you did you started building your own biodiesel equipment what was that project about.

00:17:36.990 –> 00:17:52.320 Adam Bigelow: yeah so um I had been looking into you know I’ve been definitely interested in environmentalism since I was in high school, which was a long time ago and, while I was studying horticulture, I was looking at.

00:17:53.640 –> 00:18:01.800 Adam Bigelow: Potential growing different feedstocks for making biofuel and by a diesel became an interest in so.

00:18:03.060 –> 00:18:05.490 Adam Bigelow: I guess I had talked about it enough that when.

00:18:06.810 –> 00:18:19.980 Adam Bigelow: The Haywood County College automotive department and a couple of local environmental organizations won a grant to start to build a biodiesel reactor, I was hired in.

00:18:21.000 –> 00:18:33.780 Adam Bigelow: to manage that project, and so I got a first-hand experience and both collecting waste fryer grease from the local school system.

00:18:34.320 –> 00:18:48.210 Adam Bigelow: And also learning quickly the science and application of the process of turning vegetable oil into diesel fuel and over the course of the grant-funded project.

00:18:48.600 –> 00:19:04.230 Adam Bigelow: We built a small-scale bio-diesel reactor at the College and made about 500 gallons of fuel taught one continuing education class and recorded a nice little video about how to do it, it was really interesting.

00:19:04.590 –> 00:19:11.790 Joseph McElroy: That did was, I mean what was the intent was to try to get the sort of industry happening or get farmers to do it or.

00:19:12.060 –> 00:19:23.040 Adam Bigelow: What was a little bit of both it’s um there is still one of the remaining biodiesel manufacturers in North Carolina is based, out of Nashville with blue Ridge biofuels.

00:19:23.460 –> 00:19:30.510 Adam Bigelow: And so, one of the things that Community college is always trying to do is workforce development and train people to work in the industry.

00:19:31.080 –> 00:19:32.730 Adam Bigelow: At the time there was a lot more.

00:19:34.170 –> 00:19:55.140 Adam Bigelow: Support politically and economically, for biodiesel manufacturing and that that support in many ways, had been taken away over the years and suing but Blue Ridge biofuels is still able to withstand that and are thriving as a business, I hope, because I buy my fuel from them these days.

00:19:55.530 –> 00:19:57.120 Joseph McElroy: You have a bio is a car right.

00:19:57.210 –> 00:20:00.540 Adam Bigelow: I do, I drive an old Volkswagen Jetta.

00:20:01.740 –> 00:20:02.670 Adam Bigelow: TDI.

00:20:04.050 –> 00:20:13.650 Adam Bigelow: From 2005 and I buy my biodiesel in bulk from blue Ridge biofuels now, and so I have a little.

00:20:15.330 –> 00:20:29.250 Adam Bigelow: fueling station up at my house where I fill up my car it’s a really interesting thing when I fire up my car and or anybodys or run vehicle it smells like French Fries.

00:20:31.470 –> 00:20:35.370 Joseph McElroy: So you have trouble can tell you, controlling your weight.

00:20:36.390 –> 00:20:37.680 Adam Bigelow: Right, it makes me hungry I.

00:20:37.680 –> 00:20:40.440 Adam Bigelow: Get I get snack urges all the time, driving down the road.

00:20:41.070 –> 00:20:42.180 Adam Bigelow: Is a one thing that.

00:20:42.840 –> 00:20:43.950 Adam Bigelow: One thing that people don’t.

00:20:45.000 –> 00:20:55.260 Adam Bigelow: Understand or often know about biodiesel, is that it is diesel fuel, just like any other diesel fuel, except for instead of being.

00:20:56.250 –> 00:21:13.890 Adam Bigelow: made from petroleum it’s made from vegetable oil and so for my car, there was no conversion needed there was nothing that I needed to do outside of change my fuel filter after two tanks of.

00:21:14.940 –> 00:21:27.300 Adam Bigelow: Biodiesel gas running through it because diesel has a high solvency product for these that cleans out some of the builds up from petroleum so I’m able to switch back and forth.

00:21:28.320 –> 00:21:33.300 Adam Bigelow: When needed from petroleum diesel to biodiesel or do different blends.

00:21:34.620 –> 00:21:38.460 Joseph McElroy: what’s the what’s better for the environment biodiesel or hybrid cars are.

00:21:38.880 –> 00:21:42.900 Adam Bigelow: You know that’s a really deep question and.

00:21:44.190 –> 00:21:50.910 Adam Bigelow: Biodiesel is not a solution for our environmental issues, based around transportation.

00:21:52.740 –> 00:22:04.350 Adam Bigelow: hybrids run a combination of electric and gasoline so they still have emissions, the hybrid technology allows the fuel mileage to be increased.

00:22:05.370 –> 00:22:08.100 Adam Bigelow: Usually into the 40 or 50 miles per gallon.

00:22:09.270 –> 00:22:31.950 Adam Bigelow: run, but my biodiesel vehicle also is in that same mile per gallon with the Volkswagen Jetta TDI the old ones, the game-changer though in our modern world is electric vehicles, especially if you can be charging them off of electric energy that you’re producing on site.

00:22:33.750 –> 00:22:45.210 Adam Bigelow: You know if it’s running on typical coal-fired power plant electricity that comes from central Appalachia coalfields where it’s primarily.

00:22:45.840 –> 00:22:57.810 Adam Bigelow: A mountaintop removal coal mining, which has a method of blowing the tops of mountains off and filling in the valleys between to extract us 18-inch seam of call the.

00:22:58.710 –> 00:23:12.690 Adam Bigelow: Environmental impact of electricity generation has to be factored into electric vehicles, one thing I learned in studying environmental science, though, is there are no easy answers and none of it is clean.

00:23:14.220 –> 00:23:25.650 Adam Bigelow: Even are you know the lithium for lithium-Ion batteries are more modern and more efficient battery systems is still a mind product that has a lot of issues around that.

00:23:26.220 –> 00:23:30.540 Joseph McElroy: Well biking bicycle my bicycle a lot so that’s the solution right.

00:23:30.750 –> 00:23:47.460 Adam Bigelow: yeah bicycling is a really great way, especially if you live in for transportation of individuals and commuting, especially if you live in a flat land they are yeah it’s a little more challenging up here and the sales of Appalachian.

00:23:47.520 –> 00:23:51.240 Joseph McElroy: I this build up your muscles come off.

00:23:53.160 –> 00:23:53.580 Adam Bigelow: that’s right.

00:23:54.150 –> 00:24:01.500 Joseph McElroy: So you’ve had you’ve done you know you’ve done some interesting things he worked with the eastern band of the Chair he’s enterprising.

00:24:02.640 –> 00:24:03.930 Adam Bigelow: Well, I did when I was.

00:24:04.560 –> 00:24:05.850 Adam Bigelow: Still in school.

00:24:06.900 –> 00:24:13.800 Adam Bigelow: I was brought in by my friend’s day David khoya the ethnobotanist to work out in the.

00:24:14.970 –> 00:24:32.850 Adam Bigelow: For the eastern band of the Cherokee Indian on the call a reservation call a boundary right near the smoky mountains and there is they have a few places around there’s one, there is a demonstration village on the Cherokee.

00:24:34.260 –> 00:24:56.460 Adam Bigelow: reservation the color boundary and next to it is actually a very old botanical garden that was built and has kind of fallen into a little bit of disrepair and inattentiveness, and so I have hired into the walk the property over a series of a few months and document the.

00:24:57.510 –> 00:25:11.490 Adam Bigelow: native and exotic and invasive plants that are there as a precursor to what we at the time were hoping would be a revitalization of that botanical garden, so I got to go visit and.

00:25:12.300 –> 00:25:24.930 Adam Bigelow: Take notes and look up the plants and key them out and documented and also was given some of the historical documents that at the time was just a.

00:25:25.680 –> 00:25:43.320 Adam Bigelow: fated photocopied blueprint of the original planting plan and I had some friends who worked in photo restoration and we’re able to take that and digitize it and make it a little bit more readable and stronger, so the Cherokee.

00:25:44.580 –> 00:25:55.770 Adam Bigelow: Historical Association and the Cherokee preservation foundation which funded that project have those digital and physical documents now to add to their history.

00:25:55.860 –> 00:25:59.610 Joseph McElroy: historical event should get the botanical gardens rehabilitated.

00:25:59.940 –> 00:26:07.590 Adam Bigelow: Unfortunately not, but I still have hopes that it can be brought it up and I’d love to collaborate with them, I have a lot of friends.

00:26:08.910 –> 00:26:22.800 Adam Bigelow: Over in Cherokee and both cooperative extension, as well as in the Cherokee tribal government and so every once a while we have conversations about potentially seeking funding to try to bring it up, it still is.

00:26:23.610 –> 00:26:33.840 Adam Bigelow: operational and you can go tour it’s free to walk around, and it has some really neat things, including an old cabin and some traditional farming examples going on.

00:26:34.260 –> 00:26:39.600 Joseph McElroy: Does that would be a nice out-of-the-way thing for somebody visiting the area to go find right.

00:26:40.140 –> 00:26:40.650 Adam Bigelow: Oh yeah.

00:26:41.520 –> 00:26:41.910 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:26:42.030 –> 00:26:49.770 Adam Bigelow: Oh yeah driving and when you drive to the great smoky mountain National Park, for the most part, you drive through Cherokee.

00:26:50.940 –> 00:26:57.840 Adam Bigelow: The downtown area, the touristy areas, and then some of the really neat things that they’re doing to revitalize that area.

00:27:00.060 –> 00:27:00.840 Joseph McElroy: Alright, so.

00:27:01.980 –> 00:27:09.810 Joseph McElroy: I see that you’re a director of the color we Community garden, you know I’ve been involved with Community gardens up here in New York, I was in the south Bronx.

00:27:10.290 –> 00:27:18.540 Joseph McElroy: Work to communicate in terms of beekeeper so on is, I have a fondness for Community gardens to tell me what you do with the Callaway Community garden.

00:27:19.020 –> 00:27:21.810 Adam Bigelow: Community gardens are amazing and I’ve been a.

00:27:22.950 –> 00:27:37.290 Adam Bigelow: Member of the silver Community garden and downtown Silva for 16 years and about nine or so years ago we had the idea to build a brand new Garden on.

00:27:38.820 –> 00:27:48.960 Adam Bigelow: publicly owned land that’s owned by Jackson County in the colorway, and so I developed a project idea, it was basically.

00:27:50.520 –> 00:28:00.810 Adam Bigelow: It was a hot summer day and The SOFA Community garden and I had a bit of a vision to create a garden-based environmental education project.

00:28:01.200 –> 00:28:12.720 Adam Bigelow: And so I dreamed it up, I wrote it up, I did a bunch of research, and then I started talking to people about my ideas, which is something that I do frequently.

00:28:13.500 –> 00:28:28.050 Adam Bigelow: Whether my friends want me to or not, and this uh This project was actually picked up and supported for the Jackson county department of public health, and I really love that relationship and it’s still run through the health department.

00:28:29.400 –> 00:28:34.560 Adam Bigelow: And I’m a year-round part-time employee of the health department running the garden as a health educator.

00:28:35.040 –> 00:28:49.890 Adam Bigelow: And through that relationship, I get to use the phrase a garden for the public health and it’s a really powerful thing public health gardening access to fresh produce physical activity it’s a really great combination cool.

00:28:50.220 –> 00:29:00.630 Joseph McElroy: Well, when we come back, I want to explore more of what you’re doing and and and talk about some aspects of what people might come to visit in the mountains about the botanicals.

00:29:01.350 –> 00:29:02.010 Adam Bigelow: sounds great.

00:31:35.190 –> 00:31:50.430 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast with my guest Adam Bigelow so Adam we were talking about community gardens is that something that people can visit in color is it you might find interesting.

00:31:51.240 –> 00:31:57.600 Adam Bigelow: yeah I think so it’s really beautiful and it’s close to that campus of Western Carolina University.

00:31:57.990 –> 00:31:59.640 Adam Bigelow: Oh it’s really easy to find.

00:32:00.930 –> 00:32:11.370 Adam Bigelow: it’s a beautiful garden, and the way our garden works really quickly is it’s actually one big garden area that we’ve broken up, with no bunch of small individual plots that people from the Community adopt.

00:32:11.850 –> 00:32:19.230 Adam Bigelow: We provide tools equipment materials everything Someone needs to grow a garden organically, except for seeds and plants and.

00:32:19.980 –> 00:32:25.470 Adam Bigelow: So people are afraid to grow whatever flowers herbs vegetables, they want for themselves and friends and family.

00:32:25.860 –> 00:32:38.700 Adam Bigelow: And my favorite part about how the garden works is we don’t charge any money to adopt the plot instead were able to charge everybody half of their products and collect that food and donated in the local food really to help out our neighbors.

00:32:39.210 –> 00:32:39.750 cool.

00:32:41.370 –> 00:32:48.720 Joseph McElroy: that’s I mean that’s a good model I think yeah yeah so so I know also that you.

00:32:50.220 –> 00:32:54.540 Joseph McElroy: You have your own business Bigelow botanical excursions.

00:32:54.720 –> 00:32:56.730 Joseph McElroy: That come about wasn’t do.

00:32:57.360 –> 00:32:59.850 Adam Bigelow: bigelow’s botanical excursions is.

00:33:01.260 –> 00:33:12.750 Adam Bigelow: Where I take people for walks in the woods and I take people on a slow and gentle walk in the woods it’s very accepted accessible to many people.

00:33:13.140 –> 00:33:23.070 Adam Bigelow: And I teach them about the flowers and the plants that we see along the way I teach how to identify the plant some of their characteristics, I also.

00:33:24.060 –> 00:33:37.740 Adam Bigelow: share the stories of the plants, which is what really draw drew me in early on, and what continues to really excite me is the stories and the stories can be about humans used in connection whether that’s.

00:33:38.940 –> 00:34:02.070 Adam Bigelow: For edible wild foods or medicinal uses also uses for fiber fuel or different things, but they can also have stories connected with American history indigenous people in North America and their use of the plants and understanding and connection, it can be about the history of.

00:34:03.450 –> 00:34:12.810 Adam Bigelow: botany throughout the southeastern us and my I’m really something that uh that I keep diving deeper and deeper into.

00:34:13.350 –> 00:34:35.400 Adam Bigelow: Is the ecological connection between plants, each other plants, and the insects and wildlife that depend on them, including us depending on them for life on this earth so it’s um it’s a lot of fun it’s a slow walk usually after maybe two and a half hours of walking in the woods.

00:34:36.810 –> 00:34:47.370 Adam Bigelow: When it’s time to turn around and go back to our cars it usually doesn’t take us more than 20 or 25 minutes to walk back to the car, so it is definitely not hiking.

00:34:47.820 –> 00:34:49.620 Joseph McElroy: I have to ask you is a slow walk.

00:34:50.910 –> 00:34:51.750 Adam Bigelow: slow.

00:34:52.380 –> 00:35:05.490 Adam Bigelow: thing to look it’s a lesson in mindfulness is what it is it’s mindfulness practice it’s seeing every plant and talking about every flower that we notice and really just one of mine.

00:35:06.780 –> 00:35:18.810 Adam Bigelow: Big big goals and the work that I do all the work that I do is to try to help connect people with nature connect people with plants and wildflower so that they’ll fall in love with it as I did.

00:35:19.350 –> 00:35:28.920 Adam Bigelow: And so that they’ll have a bigger understanding of why we want to protect them and save these special areas that have these really rare and special wildfires in plants.

00:35:29.430 –> 00:35:30.960 Joseph McElroy: And how long you been doing this business.

00:35:31.320 –> 00:35:36.690 Adam Bigelow: I’ve been doing this for about five years and the way it came about.

00:35:37.890 –> 00:35:44.280 Adam Bigelow: Was I was approached by Southwest and Community college our local community college to teach an organic gardening class.

00:35:44.730 –> 00:35:57.990 Adam Bigelow: And I had a flash thought to pitch them a wildflower class and they said yes, and so the very first year I did a continuing ED spring wildfire class, and it was a lot of fun and.

00:35:58.650 –> 00:36:06.270 Adam Bigelow: I got paid a little bit of money to go walk into the woods and I thought that was great the very next year, I tried to pitch it again and they told me, I was late.

00:36:07.200 –> 00:36:28.230 Adam Bigelow: To suggested and wouldn’t make the catalog so I had the idea to hold the class on my own, and I made a little bit more money than I did through the Community college and I like that better so I’ve been doing it every year since and after that first year of hosting it on my own I.

00:36:30.030 –> 00:36:34.440 Adam Bigelow: I started offering I’m, not just in the springtime but throughout the year.

00:36:35.760 –> 00:36:47.580 Joseph McElroy: And the side, I mean there’s obviously the walk but what kind of services, you offer to people that come to do the tour at picking love you or they have to meet you somewhere to provide lunch or anything.

00:36:48.210 –> 00:37:09.000 Adam Bigelow: uh no not yet, but I’m working up to some of those ideas, the way it works right now is we meet every week, and right now my walks are on Fridays, and so the weekly public walks are every Friday and we meet at a different trailhead or location and go for that short slow walk.

00:37:10.710 –> 00:37:29.850 Adam Bigelow: this coming Friday we’re actually going to the Highlands botanical garden at the Highlands biological station in Highlands North Carolina but we meet at different places and my tagline for the businesses where the wildflowers are the destination, so we go to where things are blooming.

00:37:31.530 –> 00:37:42.720 Adam Bigelow: I have people meet us out at the site, and I do a morning session from 9 am to 12 and then I get an hour break to eat a peanut butter sandwich and then I do the.

00:37:43.770 –> 00:37:48.180 Adam Bigelow: Second walk at the same location every Friday from one o’clock to four.

00:37:48.570 –> 00:37:52.590 Joseph McElroy: Who I am and what are some of the other locations, besides the Highland Center.

00:37:53.160 –> 00:37:58.650 Adam Bigelow: Oh, at this time of year, especially it’s hard to stay off the blue Ridge parkway there’s so many different.

00:37:59.460 –> 00:38:15.150 Adam Bigelow: channel heads and overlooks that are special along the parkway we go to blackball some area off of the Blue Ridge parkway I love walking in panther town Valley, which is one of the most special places in all of Western North Carolina.

00:38:16.650 –> 00:38:22.470 Adam Bigelow: And so really it throughout the year, my locations bounce around a little bit.

00:38:23.580 –> 00:38:32.310 Adam Bigelow: But really it’s all focused on what’s blooming where so I have a hard time giving a long-term schedule to people.

00:38:33.330 –> 00:38:41.970 Adam Bigelow: Because every year and nature is different and the bloom times can be slower or later, and so I want to offer value to the experience.

00:38:42.480 –> 00:38:52.440 Joseph McElroy: I know that even the same trail can have dramatically different people talking about spring, white flowers in the mountain the smokies right.

00:38:52.920 –> 00:39:10.050 Joseph McElroy: But it changes, based upon how cold, it is because you know early you know the early the wildfires are down low, but then as it gets warmer up and up the mountain the wildfire is blue higher higher higher so you have a long wildfire season right.

00:39:10.050 –> 00:39:21.630 Adam Bigelow: it’s true and it’s so magical I actually talked about that and call it a reference to it as botanical time travel so as early as early February.

00:39:22.140 –> 00:39:35.310 Adam Bigelow: I can go off the mountain into upper Piedmont and see, for instance, a wildflower called the trout lily era, friendly and Virginia Virginia Anna and.

00:39:35.850 –> 00:39:46.800 Adam Bigelow: So I can see that blooming in the first weeks of February and then that’s down low may be lower than 1000 feet in elevation and I can watch that same flower bloom.

00:39:47.190 –> 00:40:01.410 Adam Bigelow: each individual plant, maybe only has a two-week bloom time but I can see the remnants of that plant up in the high smokies and 5000 6000 feet elevation at the first week of June.

00:40:02.490 –> 00:40:05.700 Joseph McElroy: fabulous So how do people find out about your tours.

00:40:06.990 –> 00:40:21.750 Adam Bigelow: The best way is to send an email to me at Bigelownc that’s BIGELOW NC like North [email protected] and then I can add you to my own.

00:40:22.500 –> 00:40:33.300 Adam Bigelow: To my email list, where I now see two weeks location I’m also available to find on Facebook at Bigelow botanical excursions.

00:40:33.870 –> 00:40:51.330 Adam Bigelow: and also on Instagram under that same thing, and you can look me up personally on Facebook, but just be aware of my tagline on my personal Facebook pages come for the pretty wildflowers stay for the environmental, social and racial justice.

00:40:53.520 –> 00:40:55.410 Joseph McElroy: yeah you put it out there that’s good.

00:40:56.910 –> 00:41:03.300 Joseph McElroy: So you know I want to also explore some other things about you it’s interesting you are also a musician.

00:41:03.870 –> 00:41:08.760 Joseph McElroy: it’s true right what kind of meat, what kind of music, do you play?

00:41:09.420 –> 00:41:27.990 Adam Bigelow: I am an I play that stand-up bass and a non-traditional string band here around Western North Carolina and we’re called old dirty bathtub and we are Western North Carolina’s premier acoustic party band.

00:41:29.040 –> 00:41:34.050 Joseph McElroy: right and what is it bluegrass or is it folk or is its a mix of all sorts of that sort of stuff?

00:41:34.140 –> 00:41:42.180 Adam Bigelow: it’s a mix, you know, if anywhere else, they would call us bluegrass but in Appalachia, people know better.

00:41:43.980 –> 00:41:47.100 Adam Bigelow: We do a lot of original songs it’s bluegrass.

00:41:48.270 –> 00:41:50.130 Adam Bigelow: As a foundation, but also.

00:41:51.690 –> 00:42:13.200 Adam Bigelow: rock and roll influence hip hop influence jam band type things, and so we have a wide-ranging influence on our music and but are my favorite stuff that we do are our original songs and we have a new album that’s available on streaming services like Spotify.

00:42:14.670 –> 00:42:18.390 Adam Bigelow: that’s called Pat, you know that your listeners can look up and find.

00:42:19.410 –> 00:42:19.980 Adam Bigelow: cool.

00:42:20.370 –> 00:42:24.600 Joseph McElroy: yeah oh and you’re a vocalist with that’s pretty cool right, you can sing.

00:42:25.140 –> 00:42:34.560 Adam Bigelow: I sing a little bashing the base backups I think sometimes, but my bandmates usually just try to turn my microphone off.

00:42:35.820 –> 00:42:38.250 Joseph McElroy: and whoever you want to give a shout out to the other band members.

00:42:38.580 –> 00:42:54.630 Adam Bigelow: Oh yeah they’re great guys all and we’re really good friends too and have a lot of fun hanging out as well as making music and I think that makes the music better so I’m all dirty bathtub is made up of brad Boulay who is ours.

00:42:55.860 –> 00:43:00.900 Adam Bigelow: vein harmony vocalist and plays a rhythm mandolin we have.

00:43:02.130 –> 00:43:09.570 Adam Bigelow: Two really incredible flat-taking lead guitar players Jared Davis and Neil leopard.

00:43:10.650 –> 00:43:11.550 Adam Bigelow: And then, our.

00:43:12.630 –> 00:43:16.500 Adam Bigelow: dough bro player our slides resonating guitar player.

00:43:17.550 –> 00:43:25.380 Adam Bigelow: Carter Gingrich is just an amazing player and they all are just really good at what they do and we have a lot of fun on stage.

00:43:26.280 –> 00:43:26.880 cool.

00:43:28.170 –> 00:43:28.710 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:43:29.910 –> 00:43:39.960 Joseph McElroy: So when we get back, I want to, I want to explore a little bit about the music and places to go for that you, you know about music and then your ideal itinerary and where you live.

00:43:40.320 –> 00:43:40.860 sure.

00:46:14.490 –> 00:46:28.290 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and My guest Adam Bigelow so Adam I forgot to ask them to interest me why did you call it the old dirty bathtub.

00:46:29.370 –> 00:46:31.830 Adam Bigelow: Well, so Joseph.

00:46:33.600 –> 00:46:46.500 Adam Bigelow: That band name has some different layers of meaning like a lot of things on its surface level old dirty bathtub and there’s no D and all its just Oh well, with an apostrophe.

00:46:47.130 –> 00:46:56.790 Adam Bigelow: On the surface, it’s just a kitschy little country name, you know you could probably picture a cloth foot porcelain talk about in a field rusting away but.

00:46:57.900 –> 00:47:14.520 Adam Bigelow: If you are a fan of or know anything about 19 1990s hip hop music, you might be a fan of the Wu-Tang clan Wu-Tang for life, and one of their members was an old dirty bastard so it’s actually a play on the old dirty bastard name.

00:47:14.850 –> 00:47:19.980 Joseph McElroy: There you supercop combining old country to new hip hop that’s kind of cool.

00:47:20.400 –> 00:47:33.480 Adam Bigelow: It is and it’s and it’s really interesting we’ve had lots of conversations about untag going cultural appropriation and to look at the history of music in the United States of America is a look at.

00:47:34.920 –> 00:47:56.400 Adam Bigelow: African culture and black culture of being expanded on or even stolen or taken even bluegrass music from bill Monroe and Kentucky is a combination of traditional folk music from England and the British Isles and African blues and roots music that way so.

00:47:56.730 –> 00:48:10.200 Joseph McElroy: Well, but you know bluegrass itself as you know and a lot of ways evolved from you know older Scotch Irish ballads but then you introduce the banjo, which was a West African that’s right that brought a percussion Ella some element to it so.

00:48:10.440 –> 00:48:11.460 Adam Bigelow: that’s I am the.

00:48:12.660 –> 00:48:18.660 Adam Bigelow: musical patterns are based on blues which are also based on African rhythmic patterns for sure.

00:48:19.170 –> 00:48:24.690 Joseph McElroy: So, what is your something for something visiting the area to see some great music Where would you recommend them?

00:48:25.260 –> 00:48:40.020 Adam Bigelow: You know, in the general area, of course, you can’t talk about music in western North Carolina which, without talking about the incredible music scene based around Asheville North Carolina there’s so many.

00:48:40.890 –> 00:48:53.880 Adam Bigelow: Wonderful bands of all styles of music there are different venues and clubs and bars and folk music out the parks pre covid and hopefully post covid if we can make it to that.

00:48:55.380 –> 00:48:58.140 Adam Bigelow: There are all kinds of great music.

00:48:59.400 –> 00:49:19.770 Adam Bigelow: But keeping it local like I like to do SOFA The SOFA area has a real and for the whole time I’ve lived up here has had very interesting art and music scene with lots of bands lots of creativity and so on, any given night, you can go into downtown silver.

00:49:21.390 –> 00:49:44.370 Adam Bigelow: In here in Jackson County North Carolina and see live music at one of the many breweries, including innovation brewing the lazy hiker has music there are old-time circles and jams that happen in the past, at city lights CAFE and also other places there’s weekly.

00:49:45.390 –> 00:49:56.910 Adam Bigelow: produced music events at the Bridge Park, which is an outdoor pavilion and park and downtown and there’s just always has been a large number of bands and different styles of music.

00:49:57.600 –> 00:50:13.440 Adam Bigelow: rock and roll reggae bluegrass jam band and everything in between the university really brings in a lot of cultural and a little bit ethnic diversity that lends itself to the artistic nature of our Community.

00:50:14.100 –> 00:50:16.680 Joseph McElroy: So I asked you to think about the itinerary.

00:50:17.760 –> 00:50:18.150 Adam Bigelow: But.

00:50:18.420 –> 00:50:19.710 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know you live in so.

00:50:21.180 –> 00:50:27.060 Joseph McElroy: What would be a great itinerary for somebody coming to discover some things there, what would you do for breakfast?

00:50:28.260 –> 00:50:42.510 Adam Bigelow: lunch and dinner that evening sure yeah I do recommend people come to visit here and really just embrace the wonderful different offerings that we have.

00:50:43.680 –> 00:51:02.100 Adam Bigelow: I would start with a visit for coffee and breakfast at that white moon CAFE which is on what we refer to as backstreet, but if you type backstreet into your Google maps that’s not going to take you there it’s on mill street they’re really great.

00:51:04.110 –> 00:51:06.510 Adam Bigelow: Small CAFE with a really.

00:51:07.530 –> 00:51:25.590 Adam Bigelow: Very hip vibe they do really good coffee drinks, they are very focused on local sourcing of their food, and so they make great bagels they buy bagels from one of the local bakery places they just do a really good job real friendly people in that place.

00:51:25.710 –> 00:51:27.600 Joseph McElroy: And then, what you do after that, where would you go.

00:51:28.080 –> 00:51:40.410 Adam Bigelow: I would if it was Saturday I would walk from there to the glorious Jackson county farmers market and go visit our very thriving farmers market and downtown silver every Saturday morning.

00:51:40.920 –> 00:51:51.780 Adam Bigelow: and buy some wonderful produce and bread and also a limited amount of crafts, but it is truly a farmers market I would look at.

00:51:54.360 –> 00:51:59.730 Adam Bigelow: Taking a trip down to Hillsborough for lunch and visiting.

00:52:00.960 –> 00:52:09.570 Adam Bigelow: The innovation station, or what my favorite brewery and all of Western North Carolina and that’s saying a lot because we have a lot of great breweries and was.

00:52:10.470 –> 00:52:12.060 Joseph McElroy: Great food I’m telling you.

00:52:12.420 –> 00:52:26.790 Adam Bigelow: yeah it’s great food and there are food trucks and Hillsborough is a very cute and touristy town with lots of shops, the great smoky mountain railroad comes through there, you can see the train, but you can also go and.

00:52:27.900 –> 00:52:33.180 Adam Bigelow: Take an afternoon float on the River with the Hillsborough wrapping company or one of the others.

00:52:33.510 –> 00:52:34.890 Adam Bigelow: Small wrapping companies.

00:52:35.160 –> 00:52:49.560 Adam Bigelow: And the Texas ag river, which is the main river that flows through our Community is very gentle it’s not a major excuse for me it’s not major class rapids it’s very gentle very family-friendly.

00:52:50.010 –> 00:52:50.280 And then.

00:52:51.690 –> 00:53:06.090 Adam Bigelow: yeah after that you’re going to want to relax and there are a lot of great offerings in downtown silver for food, but there is none better, in my opinion than the Guadalupe CAFE.

00:53:06.180 –> 00:53:07.860 Joseph McElroy: yeah I love.

00:53:08.190 –> 00:53:22.050 Adam Bigelow: Love Guadalupe CAFE owner Jen Pearson has been really pushing the envelope on what I believe she calls Appalachian and Caribbean and South American fusion it’s like a hippie talk area.

00:53:23.010 –> 00:53:31.740 Adam Bigelow: It is locally sourcing and environmental sustainability or a factor in every single decision they make at that place.

00:53:32.070 –> 00:53:35.610 Joseph McElroy: it’s really amazing and the salsa platters to die for.

00:53:35.610 –> 00:53:36.240 So.

00:53:37.260 –> 00:53:38.400 Adam Bigelow: This is also platter.

00:53:38.670 –> 00:53:41.850 Adam Bigelow: fried plantains and the best okra you could ever eat.

00:53:43.980 –> 00:53:46.440 Joseph McElroy: We didn’t really have time to finish at the end with.

00:53:46.830 –> 00:53:58.950 Adam Bigelow: An evening I would walk around downtown Silva and take the character of the town I would pop into the lazy hiker innovation in Silva, to see if there’s live music and I will.

00:54:00.000 –> 00:54:11.580 Adam Bigelow: finish off the evening sitting on the porch of your Airbnb or whatever rental you’re sitting on in a rocking chair, with the cool mountain air and just really soak up.

00:54:11.790 –> 00:54:13.620 Adam Bigelow: The atmosphere of southern Appalachian.

00:54:14.160 –> 00:54:25.890 Joseph McElroy: Well, thank you, I look forward to seeing you at the Meadowlark at Meadowlark smoky mountain the traditionalist weekend and August 27 and you’re going to be talking about what.

00:54:26.370 –> 00:54:29.820 Adam Bigelow: I’m going to be talking about wildflowers of southern Appalachian.

00:54:30.270 –> 00:54:32.640 Adam Bigelow: And I want to do a presentation, with some.

00:54:32.640 –> 00:54:35.040 Adam Bigelow: Really pretty pictures good I can’t wait.

00:54:35.250 –> 00:54:37.470 Joseph McElroy: I look forward to seeing you there I’ll be there.

00:54:38.760 –> 00:54:42.330 Joseph McElroy: Any other ways that you want people to contact you or look you up?

00:54:43.020 –> 00:55:00.000 Adam Bigelow: I really primarily right now I’m working on a website and working on some of those more social promotions, but I invite people to connect with me through Facebook oh My big was botanical excursions page or to send me an email at [email protected]

00:55:00.450 –> 00:55:02.280 Adam Bigelow: to inquire about.

00:55:02.490 –> 00:55:03.420 Adam Bigelow: wildfire walks.

00:55:03.510 –> 00:55:06.720 Joseph McElroy: And is your brand have a Facebook page?

00:55:07.080 –> 00:55:13.350 Adam Bigelow: yeah we’re on Facebook and Instagram and also you can find us on your streaming music services.

00:55:13.350 –> 00:55:14.760 Joseph McElroy: Well dirty bathtub.

00:55:14.760 –> 00:55:16.230 Adam Bigelow: So dirty bathtub.

00:55:16.530 –> 00:55:17.130 Joseph McElroy: I look at you.

00:55:18.180 –> 00:55:20.100 Joseph McElroy: See you on the 27th year.

00:55:21.510 –> 00:55:28.020 Joseph McElroy: You can find out more about this podcast and gateway to the smokies fun and we’re also on Facebook.

00:55:28.920 –> 00:55:40.590 Joseph McElroy: gateway to the smokies podcast I am part of the talk radio. NYC network, which is a great live podcast network with lots of great shows this is the one about New York that I advise you to.

00:55:40.890 –> 00:55:51.330 Joseph McElroy: Take a look and don’t forget next week next we have another show from six to seven on Tuesday night and then I promise you, it will be very interesting until then I’ll.

00:55:52.530 –> 00:55:54.060 Joseph McElroy: Until then, I look forward to seeing you.

Today's guest of Gateway to the Smokies Podcast is Jim Buchanan, Award-winning Journalist, and Author, now living in Clyde, North Carolina. He has worked for the Asheville Citizen-Times and currently is a journalist for the Sylva Herald in Sylva, N.C. Jim also had a wonderful book published by the History Press earlier this year. We will talk about his book.

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

SHOW NOTES:

Segment 1

Today’s show starts off with a great introduction to tonight’s special guest: Jim Buchanan. Jim introduces himself, explaining his family roots in the Carolinas and the Great Smoky Mountains. Jim and host Joseph Franklyn McElroy, share fun facts and tidbits about history relating to their families and their shared commonalities. We get to learn more about Jim when he was young in college and what he was involved in that got him to where he is now, including when he worked for an afternoon newspaper that worked hard to expose the truth and tell people's stories.

Segment 2

 Coming back from the break, Jim shares how he transitioned from a corporate industry to a smaller more local newspaper. The conversation turns to journalism as a whole. Although journalism is a diminishing industry, Jim believes that newspapers and journalism is an important part of keeping citizens informed and therefore, keeping the government running and the nation together. The two then start talking about Jim’s book. They discuss the reaction that came from Jim’s book from close friends and a wider audience. Jim then explains his origins and inspiration for his book.

Segment 3

Jim tells stories that he drew inspiration from for his book. He was once lost with someone while going bear hunting years ago and this story ended up having a funny ending. The story gave insight on what the hunting culture was like back in the day and how Jim would often get lost. Joseph asked Jim about any future plans for a sequel of the book and what people can expect. Jim leaves an ambiguous answer that leaves the audience wondering if he will continue to tell all the stories that are left to tell. The two share their opinions on Silver City and how it is a growing city now that people are starting to move there. They share what they found is changing for the better and how it is a spiritual place to be. 

Segment 4

For the last segment of tonight’s show, Joseph asks Jim how he ended up in Clyde, North Carolina. They trade local seafood hotspots and other great places to check out there. Jim shares his recommendations in and near his hometown, including places to eat, entertainment, and other sights to see.

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00:00:32.940 –> 00:00:44.130 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.

00:00:44.490 –> 00:00:57.240 Joseph McElroy: This area is filled with ancient natural beauty a deep storied history and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes I am Joseph Franklyn McElroy a man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains

00:01:00.960 –> 00:01:12.300 Joseph McElroy: my family’s lived in the great smokies for over 200 years my business is in travel, but my heart is in culture today’s topic is historic tales of the Western North Carolina area.

00:01:13.020 –> 00:01:24.000 Joseph McElroy: But first sponsor message imagine a place evocative of motor courts of the past, yet modern environments, with a Chic Appalachian, feel.

00:01:24.480 –> 00:01:32.070 Joseph McElroy: a place for adventure and for relaxation imagine a place where you can fish and a mountain heritage trout stream.

00:01:32.580 –> 00:01:51.960 Joseph McElroy: grill to catch on fire eat accompanied by fine wine or craft beers imagine a place that 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.

00:01:53.310 –> 00:01:57.240 Joseph McElroy: Another sponsor smokiesadventure.com

00:02:01.860 –> 00:02:18.030 Joseph McElroy: the surrounding area is a vacation destination for all seasons, some of the nation’s best hiking trails waterfalls outdoor ventures and ventures, and family entertainment can be found, right here in the smokies it’s also a great place for rustic weddings.

00:02:19.830 –> 00:02:31.680 Joseph McElroy: And honeymoons and cabins in the mountains, you should start your adventure by using smokiesadventure.com explore all the wonderful features of the great smoky mountains National Park.

00:02:32.100 –> 00:02:50.130 Joseph McElroy: trails waterfalls cades cove and more the check out the awesome family attractions and entertainment, you and your entire family can enjoy the goal are smokies adventure.com is to become the leading information portal for adventures and experiences in the great smoky mountains.

00:02:51.270 –> 00:02:54.030 Joseph McElroy: I have a few events to tell you about and then we’ll get to our guests.

00:02:55.200 –> 00:02:58.380 Joseph McElroy: Coming this weekend you got the Meadowlark

00:03:02.820 –> 00:03:07.830 Joseph McElroy: Deep in the band was in practice, many survival skills to create a life in the smoky mountains.

00:03:08.340 –> 00:03:21.660 Joseph McElroy: This festival will celebrate an educator moose skills with live demonstrations and historic presentations learn how animal hides are tagged with actual demonstrations see a frontier CAP.

00:03:22.170 –> 00:03:29.190 Joseph McElroy: learn about handicrafts like pottery and quilting experience Cherokee mastercraftsman and storytelling.

00:03:29.610 –> 00:03:40.920 Joseph McElroy: blacksmith the old-time firearms and 4G are all on the agenda, there will be entertainment as well with traditional music and even exploration of Scott Scott is Irish heritage music.

00:03:41.220 –> 00:03:48.120 Joseph McElroy: Of the mountain southern settlers don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience local mountain culture is most original.

00:03:49.500 –> 00:03:57.960 Joseph McElroy: You can go to the Meadowlarkmotel.com and look under smokey hair smoky mountain heritage events to find out more.

00:04:02.460 –> 00:04:12.900 Joseph McElroy: Campfire Kephart celebration weekend Horrace Kephart has been dead for 88 years but his name His story pulled under court undercurrent the Western North Carolina.

00:04:14.010 –> 00:04:19.320 Joseph McElroy:Kephart is aclaim as the father of the great smoky mountains National Park.

00:04:19.800 –> 00:04:30.690 Joseph McElroy: And outdoors means gifted with an adventurous so and the author of substate such staples a regional of literature as our southern highlanders and camping and look off.

00:04:31.620 –> 00:04:41.790 Joseph McElroy: woodcraft joins us at the Meadowlark Smoky mountain Heritage Center to celebrate his life and work with ceremonies pikes stories music and historical place displays.

00:04:43.110 –> 00:04:58.290 Joseph McElroy: And then, in three weeks traditional skills and naturalist weekend where you can explore ginseng granny medicine and herbs, the lower the mountain is explored and this weekend of lectures wanderings and entertainment.

00:05:02.790 –> 00:05:19.020 Joseph McElroy: COM, the smoky or events listings our guest today is Jim Buchanan ,Jim is a native of Jackson county and an award-winning journalist and author now living in Clyde North Carolina.

00:05:19.620 –> 00:05:33.420 Joseph McElroy: he’s worked for the Asheville citizen times and currently as a journalist for the silver Harrell and so in North Carolina, Jim’s most recent book was a nominee for the 2020 Thomas Wolfe memorial literary award hello, Jim.

00:05:33.720 –> 00:05:35.250 Jim Buchanan: hey Joseph Thank you so much.

00:05:35.730 –> 00:05:44.580 Joseph McElroy: Sure, thank you for coming on it’s an honor so like me your family has been having a long history in Western North Carolina how did your family end up here.

00:05:46.410 –> 00:05:49.320 Jim Buchanan: Well, as here I’m sure well aware.

00:05:51.060 –> 00:06:05.460 Jim Buchanan: The history becomes more afraid the further back you go, yes, I can say mom side they came from Germany in the 1833 brothers bad side, he was across the.

00:06:07.770 –> 00:06:25.110 Jim Buchanan: Well, there was no state of North Carolina because there was no United States, and he was cross the border in Jackson county which was Cherokee country, and these as far back as we can price here and beyond that, we can try spot to your command one.

00:06:26.130 –> 00:06:40.230 Joseph McElroy: I have, I have various answer tell me like oh we’re related to William the conqueror are related to the bonnie Prince Charles are related to any number of people you start going back to tie with it becomes everybody becomes Royal.

00:06:40.410 –> 00:06:40.770 Right.

00:06:42.270 –> 00:06:43.980 Jim Buchanan: And everyone has a Cherokee grandmother.

00:06:44.220 –> 00:06:55.890 Joseph McElroy: And everyone has a Cherokee grandmother exactly so so how did you get started as a journalist, did you write for the school newspaper, or I feel or did it come later.

00:06:56.100 –> 00:07:01.590 Jim Buchanan: I went a little bit for the school newspaper, to be honest, I think how I fell into journalism.

00:07:03.840 –> 00:07:13.890 Jim Buchanan: I lived about nine miles from the high school, but it was an hour bus ride, so I started doing my homework on the bus going to school deadlines do not frighten me.

00:07:17.880 –> 00:07:20.700 Jim Buchanan: A little bit of history, do you know where the word deadline comes from.

00:07:23.430 –> 00:07:27.810 Jim Buchanan: From the Andersonville prison camp and the civil war in Georgia.

00:07:29.610 –> 00:07:37.470 Jim Buchanan: The federal troops, they didn’t have a stockade they will go out and drop a stake in the ground and all that that was the deadline.

00:07:39.420 –> 00:07:41.640 Joseph McElroy: And then, how did that become part of journalism.

00:07:46.170 –> 00:07:47.430 Jim Buchanan: Managing editor have you.

00:07:50.790 –> 00:07:56.040 Joseph McElroy: Who was in that picture the Community soldier or the guy phases, the deadline.

00:07:58.020 –> 00:07:59.760 Joseph McElroy: yeah so.

00:08:03.540 –> 00:08:07.350 Joseph McElroy: On university and then went in did you major in journalism there.

00:08:08.250 –> 00:08:13.320 Jim Buchanan: They didn’t have a major I majored in communications modern journalism and I was editor of the school paper.

00:08:13.920 –> 00:08:20.580 Joseph McElroy: hmm cool when did that, not to to settle your age, but when did together.

00:08:22.200 –> 00:08:27.510 Jim Buchanan: I was there 78 to 83 so October one my junior year Western was the best three years of my life.

00:08:30.030 –> 00:08:35.010 Joseph McElroy: That was alone right yeah I mean you were contemporaries I was in Haywood county you know.

00:08:36.480 –> 00:08:40.890 Joseph McElroy: And then went off to College and the same time, you were in college so yeah We probably have.

00:08:42.030 –> 00:08:46.500 Joseph McElroy: Similar recollections of what growing up in the Western North Carolina bed.

00:08:48.720 –> 00:08:56.730 Joseph McElroy: So you know people mentioned that Western North Carolina has changed, but I don’t see that much how, what do you think, do you think it’s changed since then.

00:08:57.240 –> 00:09:00.960 Jim Buchanan: I think it’s changed a lot, you can probably remember when.

00:09:03.390 –> 00:09:06.540 Jim Buchanan: Okay, I can remember when there were no four-lane highways in Jackson county.

00:09:07.230 –> 00:09:08.100 Joseph McElroy: You know, and it was.

00:09:08.790 –> 00:09:11.940 Jim Buchanan: It was a two-hour trip from silver to Asheville.

00:09:13.200 –> 00:09:21.390 Jim Buchanan: or science or construction it’s still a two-hour trip, but you know you’re not stuck behind a logging drug going up and down balsam both ways and.

00:09:23.430 –> 00:09:25.770 Jim Buchanan: saying of course obviously there are a lot more people.

00:09:27.450 –> 00:09:37.800 Jim Buchanan: And the environment has changed over the years, honestly, I remember cutting Christmas trees down during the moment of snow every year, being able to do that for 10 years or so.

00:09:39.810 –> 00:09:51.510 Joseph McElroy: now I remember yeah I remember you know you’re going up in the mountains and getting those Christmas trees, but yeah we always meant to plant that we never did.

00:09:53.490 –> 00:09:58.950 Joseph McElroy: The you know I know that I saw the other day, you know I’m interested in.

00:10:00.330 –> 00:10:00.930 Joseph McElroy: You know.

00:10:03.300 –> 00:10:03.420 Joseph McElroy: What.

00:10:04.590 –> 00:10:17.460 Joseph McElroy: To do with this gateway is to go around the country, not only in the beauty in anesthetics, and the opportunities for fun in the mountains, but also the rich cultural history and and and the real and.

00:10:17.940 –> 00:10:32.220 Joseph McElroy: Real intelligence here, you know and sophistication of thought you know, and I just saw recently is a representative that the Southwestern Community college I think that’s in Jackson county was rated the number one Community colleges in the country that’s right.

00:10:34.590 –> 00:10:41.340 Jim Buchanan: I know a few years ago they were ready number four and it’s just a very good college it’s growing a lot of great programs.

00:10:41.760 –> 00:10:53.850 Joseph McElroy: yeah well Western being such a great university now and Southwestern I think we can say that a little bit of stereotype in the mountains is is not as on its way out, I think right.

00:10:53.910 –> 00:10:55.020 Jim Buchanan: I would, I would say so.

00:10:57.840 –> 00:11:01.140 Joseph McElroy: yeah so after Western Carolina he went on to the work.

00:11:04.680 –> 00:11:06.420 Jim Buchanan: Well, my first job was advertising.

00:11:07.830 –> 00:11:10.230 Jim Buchanan: For oh I’m sorry you broke up a little bit then a medical child.

00:11:12.510 –> 00:11:13.320 that’s going.

00:11:14.490 –> 00:11:32.010 Jim Buchanan: Okay, an advertising salesman for 60 bucks a week and cashers then it became sports editor managing editor and went from there to the asheville times the afternoon newspaper and actually there were such things as papers that came out in the afternoon.

00:11:34.530 –> 00:11:35.940 Jim Buchanan: It was a great job and I.

00:11:37.050 –> 00:11:53.850 Jim Buchanan: went from there, the times merge with the citizen, the morning paper and I worked there for 29 years I was a copy editor columnist in a pro football column for a while, was on the editorial board for 20 years and I was editorial page editor for eight.

00:11:55.620 –> 00:11:59.340 Joseph McElroy: What was your proudest moment at the paper.

00:12:03.000 –> 00:12:04.080 Jim Buchanan: You know, we.

00:12:05.430 –> 00:12:07.290 Jim Buchanan: We were involved with some.

00:12:09.450 –> 00:12:13.110 Jim Buchanan: Law enforcement authorities who were doing the right thing, one of the.

00:12:14.520 –> 00:12:23.070 Jim Buchanan: was running a gaming operation and running the other gaming operators out of business and he wound up in federal prison.

00:12:27.540 –> 00:12:30.870 Jim Buchanan: And, being an advocate for the area.

00:12:32.070 –> 00:12:39.690 Jim Buchanan: There was a time the local National Guard unit, they were going to take away their humvees and we raised hell about that.

00:12:42.480 –> 00:12:42.840 Jim Buchanan: got.

00:12:44.580 –> 00:12:49.020 Jim Buchanan: Governor Mark Easley real mad at me the cold a special session to bring a.

00:12:50.280 –> 00:13:06.600 Jim Buchanan: business to North Carolina I think it was like 2.5 billion and incentives and we’ve just been hit with two hurricanes in 2004 up here in the mountains and we’re just devastated and they didn’t call a special session for that and we took the mark off of him.

00:13:09.120 –> 00:13:09.570 Jim Buchanan: Some good.

00:13:10.320 –> 00:13:15.360 Joseph McElroy: That sounds like it was good, a good thing to do, yeah it was tough.

00:13:15.630 –> 00:13:19.050 Jim Buchanan: You know people tell their own stories and we just report on.

00:13:19.590 –> 00:13:22.290 Joseph McElroy: And there’s strong journalism in the smoky mountains and.

00:13:22.290 –> 00:13:23.010 Jim Buchanan: I really.

00:13:23.310 –> 00:13:24.660 Joseph McElroy: I really appreciate that.

00:13:26.850 –> 00:13:35.430 Joseph McElroy: Well, we will take a break down when we come back we’ll talk about some other things, and in your career and then we’ll get into your book all right.

00:13:35.730 –> 00:13:36.270 Jim Buchanan: Very good.

00:15:54.150 –> 00:16:02.820 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast and my guest Jim Buchanan.

00:16:06.810 –> 00:16:07.140 Joseph McElroy: four.

00:16:08.400 –> 00:16:16.890 Joseph McElroy: Times, and then you decided to move off into small-town world what makes what caused that to happen, you end up with it Silva, the newspaper.

00:16:19.080 –> 00:16:19.980 Joseph McElroy: Hope so you’re muted.

00:16:23.100 –> 00:16:23.730 Joseph McElroy: you’re muted.

00:16:25.050 –> 00:16:25.440 Joseph McElroy: unmute.

00:16:27.840 –> 00:16:29.190 Jim Buchanan: Okay i’m now unmuted

00:16:32.160 –> 00:16:35.490 Jim Buchanan: I was, I was downsized RON says and surprised.

00:16:37.290 –> 00:16:45.540 Jim Buchanan: The corporate parents of the citizen times lesson were eliminated so wound up over and Silva I’ll do the editorial page.

00:16:46.650 –> 00:17:05.340 Jim Buchanan: I do the history page, you know just whatever needs to be done it’s a family own newspaper been there 94 years I believe and we’ve been through Coleman we’re still going strong and Tom I’m a very rapidly there they let me play and I love it.

00:17:06.240 –> 00:17:06.630 So.

00:17:08.730 –> 00:17:12.270 Joseph McElroy: And you also have the history-themed article lets you do is that right.

00:17:12.780 –> 00:17:13.260 Jim Buchanan: yep yep.

00:17:13.890 –> 00:17:14.700 Joseph McElroy: Okay cool.

00:17:15.810 –> 00:17:16.920 Joseph McElroy: How did you get into history.

00:17:18.600 –> 00:17:22.980 Jim Buchanan: Here, honestly, probably by growing up and sitting on Porches and listening to the old-timers.

00:17:24.570 –> 00:17:30.300 Jim Buchanan: Just just got fascinated in it and I took every history class I could in college.

00:17:31.320 –> 00:17:36.000 Jim Buchanan: I’ve read every book I could read about a variety of topics and.

00:17:37.050 –> 00:17:42.720 Jim Buchanan: it’s like so many other things, the more you learn the more you realize you don’t know.

00:17:43.260 –> 00:17:51.960 Joseph McElroy: yeah I love those old-timers telling those history and a lot of times it’s a tall tale they do a little bit of exaggeration here the mountains right.

00:17:53.430 –> 00:17:53.940 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:17:54.090 –> 00:17:55.230 Jim Buchanan: Sometimes they don’t have to.

00:17:56.310 –> 00:18:03.870 Joseph McElroy: No, sometimes they don’t but you know when they talk about falling into the water and not like the pants because it came up.

00:18:07.020 –> 00:18:07.740 Joseph McElroy: In the Cup.

00:18:08.820 –> 00:18:11.910 Joseph McElroy: Is you sort of figure out maybe that’s a little bit of exaggeration.

00:18:15.000 –> 00:18:17.280 Joseph McElroy: A little bit so so.

00:18:18.330 –> 00:18:22.290 Joseph McElroy: You know the final question I just think this is sort of a.

00:18:23.820 –> 00:18:33.090 Joseph McElroy: You know the question about just the United States in general and I don’t know how far you want to go into it, but us we’ve all seen you’ve seen especially massive changes in journalism.

00:18:33.570 –> 00:18:49.860 Joseph McElroy: World during the course of your career and with the advent of online news and the demise the yeah the I don’t know if its demise the right word, but the diminishment of the hardcopy industry, what do you think is the future.

00:18:52.110 –> 00:18:56.820 Jim Buchanan: No, I do know that a democracy depends upon an informed citizenry.

00:18:57.930 –> 00:18:59.640 Jim Buchanan: does not work without it and.

00:19:01.710 –> 00:19:07.350 Jim Buchanan: I think the past year or so has been pretty good evidence that we are not all reading from the same playbook.

00:19:08.730 –> 00:19:16.050 Jim Buchanan: there’s not an agreed-on a base set of facts that everyone can work from you got problems.

00:19:16.800 –> 00:19:29.190 Joseph McElroy: yeah I mean, I think the challenge of our times as to how do we control and channel misinformation without becoming.

00:19:29.700 –> 00:19:44.850 Joseph McElroy: You know, a suppression of free speech that’s a really difficult puzzle to solve right yeah alright, so we loved your book historic tales of Silva and Jackson county I got the peek at a little bit I’m going to read the whole thing.

00:19:46.230 –> 00:19:49.440 Joseph McElroy: So, how did you decide to write that book and get it published.

00:19:51.810 –> 00:19:53.010 Jim Buchanan: Okay i’ll tell you a story.

00:19:53.430 –> 00:19:54.030 Joseph McElroy: All right.

00:19:55.200 –> 00:20:05.760 Jim Buchanan: gentlemen who grew up above me was named Early Deeds Early at about a half an acre garden down by the creek and plot it with a meal every year till he was 92 years old.

00:20:07.710 –> 00:20:14.580 Jim Buchanan: growing up and hey we’re county I’m sure you’re aware of the connection mountain folks have other boards, he was down every day.

00:20:15.720 –> 00:20:18.060 Jim Buchanan: As corn was starting to hit crows came in.

00:20:19.410 –> 00:20:29.730 Jim Buchanan: So he started a scarecrow and he goes down everyday mess with that stuff the body put bands on it, but I had on it send it in a lawn chair.

00:20:31.020 –> 00:20:33.930 Jim Buchanan: This other old fellow lived up the road.

00:20:35.370 –> 00:20:39.060 Jim Buchanan: He stood out with him and dad when I was young, I thought he’s the sweetest guy in the world.

00:20:40.140 –> 00:20:44.280 Jim Buchanan: turns out he had a temper and he was going around saying he’s gonna whip early.

00:20:45.540 –> 00:20:46.230 Jim Buchanan: Because but.

00:20:47.310 –> 00:20:52.590 Jim Buchanan: And somebody said well why does every time I go by the garden or throw my hand up some best number waves.

00:20:56.190 –> 00:20:56.610 Jim Buchanan: and

00:20:58.110 –> 00:21:03.150 Jim Buchanan: I kept hearing these stories in places like hospice and nursing homes.

00:21:04.470 –> 00:21:09.030 Jim Buchanan: And people die that mortality rate is pegged at 100%.

00:21:10.200 –> 00:21:12.840 Jim Buchanan: That stories don’t have to and stories can tell us a lot.

00:21:13.440 –> 00:21:26.700 Jim Buchanan: Right yeah it’s this isn’t a straight-up history book The history kind of rubs off on me of that you know tells her that you know the importance of the connection to the land, you know the importance of manners.

00:21:28.080 –> 00:21:28.620 So.

00:21:30.870 –> 00:21:31.920 Jim Buchanan: I felt the duty.

00:21:32.610 –> 00:21:33.300 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:21:33.540 –> 00:21:36.540 Jim Buchanan: I had enough talent, but the stories down and.

00:21:37.710 –> 00:21:44.400 Jim Buchanan: So it became sort of a bucket list thing I did I was fortunate enough to get folks from are history press said yeah we’ll publish it.

00:21:45.450 –> 00:21:48.570 Jim Buchanan: started as a series of columns and the soul, Harold.

00:21:49.590 –> 00:21:53.820 Jim Buchanan: And wrap those together into the book and they helped me and.

00:21:54.900 –> 00:22:06.420 Jim Buchanan: folks at Western Carolina university library digital collections they helped me, along with finding some artwork to go with it and son of a gun they published it, what do you know.

00:22:08.130 –> 00:22:09.540 Jim Buchanan: And so the stories are saying.

00:22:10.020 –> 00:22:11.610 Joseph McElroy: If I see, I saw them.

00:22:12.630 –> 00:22:14.970 Joseph McElroy: But that’s that means it’s gonna be around forever now.

00:22:16.440 –> 00:22:25.320 Joseph McElroy: So we’re good so um you know it’s on Amazon now right and I was looking at it and you know being it being I might my.

00:22:26.010 –> 00:22:43.200 Joseph McElroy: Businesses Internet I saw you there one of the featured snippets was is that you know the stories about the coral and about the Internet is not much different than the coral and they had about electric lines you have a story about that was their story in a book about that.

00:22:43.260 –> 00:22:54.120 Jim Buchanan: yeah when I was very young, there was a gentleman up at the end of the creek who didn’t have electricity and my father stopped by with me until one day.

00:22:55.440 –> 00:23:04.380 Jim Buchanan: He decided to try to talk them into it and you could tell he was not going to win the argument, the guy had never had it, therefore, felt he did not need it to him.

00:23:05.850 –> 00:23:18.690 Jim Buchanan: Why would you want it to be live at 85 years I would say, by that time without it, and so it was just an encumbrance to him don’t have a modern miracle I like it, I don’t understand it.

00:23:19.680 –> 00:23:20.070 Joseph McElroy: But I.

00:23:20.490 –> 00:23:23.190 Jim Buchanan: I favor electricity I’m pro electricity.

00:23:25.980 –> 00:23:37.440 Joseph McElroy: I’m sort of pro electricity there, but I, you know I guess the back, then the slight differences is that he didn’t make up a conspiracy or believe in a conspiracy was just based upon he was honest about his personal preferences right.

00:23:37.530 –> 00:23:38.190 Jim Buchanan: No, no.

00:23:38.670 –> 00:23:40.830 Joseph McElroy: yeah, whereas the Internet now.

00:23:42.090 –> 00:23:48.450 Joseph McElroy: It might be well and that’s going to bring in you know dangerous things into this area we don’t want it yeah.

00:23:49.680 –> 00:23:52.980 Joseph McElroy: or go radio waves, the radio waves will cause cancer.

00:23:53.550 –> 00:23:56.520 Jim Buchanan: Well, again you’re familiar with this area, we would love international.

00:23:59.580 –> 00:24:00.900 Joseph McElroy: yeah you know I.

00:24:02.400 –> 00:24:06.630 Joseph McElroy: You know I, I get the motel and I try to you know.

00:24:09.300 –> 00:24:16.470 Joseph McElroy: In both the place does, but you know still you know there’s got to know that I have to that is just dead right.

00:24:16.560 –> 00:24:21.990 Joseph McElroy: And now it’s like in the search have great Internet in the mountains, is a little bit of a challenge.

00:24:23.040 –> 00:24:26.490 Joseph McElroy: that’s why you know just spend so much to try and get it.

00:24:27.630 –> 00:24:27.930 Joseph McElroy: But.

00:24:29.190 –> 00:24:36.480 Joseph McElroy: They still haven’t arguments about it little local companies against the government everything else so it’s a story that resonates well.

00:24:37.980 –> 00:24:39.090 Joseph McElroy: Was this your first book.

00:24:39.870 –> 00:24:40.770 Jim Buchanan: Good was.

00:24:41.160 –> 00:24:57.690 Jim Buchanan: yeah now I was a little surprised at the reaction that Oh, he wrote a book because you know I’ve been a column us in a router for 40 years so I’ve seen my name in print and the thrill is gone the new has worn off, but.

00:24:58.920 –> 00:25:05.190 Jim Buchanan: I didn’t think there was that much of a difference in the format of a newspaper and a book, but you have to leave the rest.

00:25:07.710 –> 00:25:09.270 Jim Buchanan: So yeah that’s my first.

00:25:09.270 –> 00:25:09.630 and

00:25:10.860 –> 00:25:11.340 Joseph McElroy: He.

00:25:13.980 –> 00:25:18.780 Joseph McElroy: Did you have never had the urge to write a book before or the idea is that everything your head and.

00:25:19.770 –> 00:25:20.940 Jim Buchanan: I toyed with it, but.

00:25:20.970 –> 00:25:22.950 Jim Buchanan: You know I’m I’m a short form guy.

00:25:23.310 –> 00:25:24.690 Jim Buchanan: yeah and.

00:25:26.580 –> 00:25:31.800 Jim Buchanan: yeah I don’t think I could write a novel you know that this is sort of a bathroom, but the real short stories.

00:25:32.130 –> 00:25:33.180 Jim Buchanan: So, again.

00:25:34.470 –> 00:25:37.380 Jim Buchanan: Not not in serial whether kind of its original format.

00:25:39.030 –> 00:25:43.350 Joseph McElroy: That means it’s perfect for the Internet age, you know, and do a kindle read.

00:25:43.920 –> 00:25:45.510 Jim Buchanan: A short attention span theater.

00:25:45.510 –> 00:25:49.530 Joseph McElroy: brother yeah yeah the micro chunk method of reading books.

00:25:52.410 –> 00:25:56.880 Joseph McElroy: So that’s cool so you wrote, I understand you wrote.

00:25:57.900 –> 00:26:00.690 Joseph McElroy: A lot of stories about your dad his friends.

00:26:01.710 –> 00:26:04.470 Joseph McElroy: And things like do you have a favorite story about your dad in the book.

00:26:05.670 –> 00:26:21.570 Jim Buchanan: Well, the one that was told us his funeral I had never heard until he was in hospice at the VA in Asheville and friend, has been over there for treatment and I happened to go see him on the frame was visiting and it was the tale of the $20 bill.

00:26:22.710 –> 00:26:27.360 Jim Buchanan: So these guys are over near the Tennessee border bear hunting.

00:26:28.710 –> 00:26:32.700 Jim Buchanan: And back now, these days, if you want to see a bear but, at the bird feeder.

00:26:34.830 –> 00:26:37.980 Jim Buchanan: You will have one of those days they were pretty rare.

00:26:39.360 –> 00:26:46.920 Jim Buchanan: And tended to hang in very remote areas I’m talking normal Berra would be a couple of hours.

00:26:48.360 –> 00:27:03.150 Jim Buchanan: let’s say an hour driving hard surface rooms and hour and a half home logging roads and then walking for hours and hours and hours trying to track, so they had done this and they found tracks in terms of dollars list dogs and after it.

00:27:05.760 –> 00:27:12.000 Jim Buchanan: didn’t catch it and so it’s getting dark and they were supposed to rendezvous with some people to pick them up.

00:27:12.720 –> 00:27:26.370 Jim Buchanan: They have shown up later, these guys didn’t get the message right a lot of assumptions of the barony that somebody would find you that didn’t know what happened so it’s dark their miles from nowhere.

00:27:27.510 –> 00:27:30.510 Jim Buchanan: And they take off up this gravel road.

00:27:31.620 –> 00:27:34.200 Jim Buchanan: And late late late they pass a house.

00:27:35.340 –> 00:27:40.350 Jim Buchanan: A house with people and a porch light on and so.

00:27:42.210 –> 00:27:52.980 Jim Buchanan: Then he tells us gentlemen offer delegate says nine that they give him 20 bucks to knock on the door see they get around out there and then you know that was probably the equivalent of 100 $200 in those days.

00:27:56.370 –> 00:28:01.380 Jim Buchanan: In between, you and I and II probably would just as soon as the author get shot themselves.

00:28:02.610 –> 00:28:04.860 Jim Buchanan: play board, so the guy goes up knocks on the door.

00:28:05.970 –> 00:28:14.220 Jim Buchanan: Woman comes to the door and author says, I just said, the first thing that came out of my mouth have one thing that all is it, ma’am, how do you like, to make $20.

00:28:18.570 –> 00:28:20.160 Jim Buchanan: They did not get a ride.

00:28:24.240 –> 00:28:29.790 Jim Buchanan: Here I think I think that was the story that really pushed me over the edge and I’ve got to do this, I gotta write these down.

00:28:30.120 –> 00:28:39.540 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah it goes great story so when we come back, I want you to tell me a few more give me a few more you have created the demand for the book.

00:28:40.860 –> 00:28:41.610 Jim Buchanan: Very good talking.

00:31:16.950 –> 00:31:29.520 Joseph McElroy: Howdy, this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast and my guest Jimmy Buchanan who’s written award-nominated book called historic tales of silver in Jackson county.

00:31:30.270 –> 00:31:38.400 Joseph McElroy: Now this book is the entire book is superb and he’s a great storyteller with a wonderfully dry a conversational style.

00:31:39.780 –> 00:31:44.130 Joseph McElroy: But we’re talking about, I think that some of the best stories are about your dad what was his name, Jim.

00:31:44.880 –> 00:31:46.590 Jim Buchanan: Howard Tatum Buchanan.

00:31:47.070 –> 00:31:50.100 Joseph McElroy: Our take the new kid and that sounds like a real name.

00:31:53.700 –> 00:31:55.320 Jim Buchanan: He grew up on tatum’s creek.

00:31:55.560 –> 00:31:56.340 Video.

00:31:57.960 –> 00:32:06.930 Joseph McElroy: So there was a story about him and you’re in history and honey and try it, oh no we just read we just did that one I was that was my notes, but we just did that one.

00:32:07.980 –> 00:32:09.900 Joseph McElroy: But you, you have a story about him.

00:32:13.890 –> 00:32:19.470 Joseph McElroy: position interesting Bob Honey oh that was pretty funny, but do you remember that one.

00:32:21.900 –> 00:32:27.390 Jim Buchanan: dad was a very energetic man and when he was after a bear he would not he wouldn’t stop.

00:32:31.170 –> 00:32:31.770 Jim Buchanan: and

00:32:33.390 –> 00:32:43.950 Jim Buchanan: I think the phrase, for it was doing a breaking is wearing somebody out and proven, you can outwork them outshoot and whatever and he did that, to a lot of people.

00:32:45.300 –> 00:32:52.350 Jim Buchanan: And I came to the conclusion that, in the long run, you know there’s the immovable force.

00:32:54.390 –> 00:32:58.260 Jim Buchanan: And the immovable object to the unstoppable force.

00:33:01.110 –> 00:33:12.150 Jim Buchanan: I just lay down because I knew it was not a patient man, I mean back in the day, we would go on trips to visit somebody that will take three hours and.

00:33:12.810 –> 00:33:25.860 Jim Buchanan: he’d be there 10 minutes, and you can tell, he starts to fidget and I’m the same way, so I figured in the long run, that slackness beats stubbornness and Sure enough, he gave up and he went on to get a better just.

00:33:27.000 –> 00:33:27.570 Jim Buchanan: me alone.

00:33:29.070 –> 00:33:31.740 Jim Buchanan: But you know he wouldn’t leave me he would always come back.

00:33:33.060 –> 00:33:33.780 Joseph McElroy: That.

00:33:34.140 –> 00:33:40.140 Joseph McElroy: leader to the these are these old hunters always had their idiosyncrasies right.

00:33:40.410 –> 00:33:42.690 Joseph McElroy: yeah my my.

00:33:43.980 –> 00:33:50.550 Joseph McElroy: My father tells me to tell about my grandfather he had this old model T and he would show dogs right.

00:33:51.270 –> 00:34:04.320 Joseph McElroy: And so, he put the dogs in the model to say you go to show in Florida right, but he always insistent upon saving gas, so he would use the gas to get up the top of the Hill, but then he returned a car off.

00:34:08.040 –> 00:34:11.220 Joseph McElroy: And then you do the same thing it all the way to flow.

00:34:17.160 –> 00:34:24.390 Joseph McElroy: So that the other ladies secrecy So is there is, can you tell us about some of your dance technical friends.

00:34:25.860 –> 00:34:30.930 Jim Buchanan: Other there was 100 and he’s still around, so I won’t name them, but we were.

00:34:32.460 –> 00:34:33.150 Jim Buchanan: way anyway.

00:34:34.920 –> 00:34:37.260 Jim Buchanan: You have to understand, I was perpetually lost.

00:34:38.340 –> 00:34:40.770 Jim Buchanan: And a lot of the places we were at.

00:34:42.720 –> 00:34:50.280 Jim Buchanan: People had not been too much, it was the phrase Horrace Kephart back and beyond.

00:34:50.820 –> 00:34:54.240 Jim Buchanan: A lot of these places, and we were crossing a little branch.

00:34:55.410 –> 00:35:01.920 Jim Buchanan: And he was trying to catch air and listen to, or the dogs were which way they were going.

00:35:03.120 –> 00:35:15.360 Jim Buchanan: And he went into this kind of dream state and he put his hand down they started making impressions in the mud around the branch, and I could tell that he was trying to imitate a bear track.

00:35:16.890 –> 00:35:19.200 Jim Buchanan: And I thought he was doing that.

00:35:20.280 –> 00:35:21.660 Jim Buchanan: Just so he could show.

00:35:22.920 –> 00:35:33.060 Jim Buchanan: You know, young ones like me what a bear trap looks like it hit me years later, he was going out and putting fake bear tracks to throw other hunters all.

00:35:35.370 –> 00:35:35.820 Jim Buchanan: there.

00:35:38.370 –> 00:35:42.360 Jim Buchanan: And you know they’re there were all types are there was a lot of big talkers.

00:35:45.360 –> 00:35:50.160 Jim Buchanan: But all of the magnitude tales, but they there was good bounce they were not.

00:35:51.690 –> 00:35:56.340 Jim Buchanan: There what you would call a violent man or anything and that was just the culture of the day.

00:35:57.000 –> 00:36:11.070 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah yeah that played out yet that I like that doing a fake it out the other hunters, so you had a best friend growing up, I understand and his father was a game board right.

00:36:11.700 –> 00:36:17.490 Jim Buchanan: yeah he was Jeff’s control and control the game warden and but, but so around living on balsam.

00:36:19.500 –> 00:36:26.010 Joseph McElroy: And you mentioned that his Defense father was likely to rest your that the time.

00:36:26.040 –> 00:36:29.550 Jim Buchanan: Was that that was our running joke is dead right arrest my dad.

00:36:30.570 –> 00:36:32.040 Jim Buchanan: Go bare bears are smart.

00:36:33.210 –> 00:36:40.590 Jim Buchanan: And you know you get over down Circo and Hornbuckle That was a legal area bear.

00:36:41.610 –> 00:36:58.590 Jim Buchanan: This out of the range, that was a legal area to have bears in between was the blue Ridge parkway where it was not a legal bear so bears habitually across that area and dogs have no sense of boundaries or anything so they would chase them and.

00:37:00.120 –> 00:37:07.560 Jim Buchanan: A bear honey was much more dog honey, you can the end I’m trying to find the dollars and again wall so.

00:37:09.300 –> 00:37:14.640 Jim Buchanan: damn would not have good respect for boundaries either once those dogs costume and he goes.

00:37:14.880 –> 00:37:16.680 Jim Buchanan: Around his dogs up until that.

00:37:17.130 –> 00:37:18.810 Jim Buchanan: That was are running gag the thief.

00:37:19.980 –> 00:37:22.560 Jim Buchanan: I don’t think that ever arrested Howard.

00:37:24.750 –> 00:37:28.680 Joseph McElroy: Did you ever go on that you mentioned, you, you did go a.

00:37:29.820 –> 00:37:30.240 Joseph McElroy: little bit.

00:37:30.690 –> 00:37:31.230 Jim Buchanan: yeah yeah.

00:37:33.960 –> 00:37:34.410 Jim Buchanan: i’m sorry.

00:37:34.770 –> 00:37:35.880 Joseph McElroy: Did you have anything else.

00:37:37.110 –> 00:37:47.670 Jim Buchanan: Well, you know what deer hunting two times and he didn’t move, and it was cold and there was the chance of getting a shot lot more deer hunters in the woods and bears.

00:37:50.250 –> 00:37:57.090 Jim Buchanan: The yeah I never considered myself a skilled bear hunter he was yes, I was a journalist for me on.

00:37:58.200 –> 00:38:05.160 Jim Buchanan: A lot to observe and watching to soak it all in and I got to go into a lot of places that do a lot of people will never say.

00:38:06.150 –> 00:38:13.050 Joseph McElroy: yeah and a lifestyle frankly that knows that yeah maybe he’s changed.

00:38:16.800 –> 00:38:18.810 Joseph McElroy: And more, but you hear the stories about.

00:38:19.980 –> 00:38:20.490 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:38:21.990 –> 00:38:22.590 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:38:23.940 –> 00:38:25.320 Joseph McElroy: Do you have plans for a sequel.

00:38:26.880 –> 00:38:28.620 Jim Buchanan: A lot of people have asked me to.

00:38:30.030 –> 00:38:32.730 Jim Buchanan: Do one and I’m toying with the idea.

00:38:35.070 –> 00:38:43.920 Jim Buchanan: of covid put a real cramp and face to face conversations, which is where are you oh God I got all those stories.

00:38:45.660 –> 00:38:50.370 Jim Buchanan: But I might there’s a lot of good stories out there.

00:38:51.390 –> 00:38:54.390 Jim Buchanan: And I’m sure you’re well aware, there are a lot of stories out there that.

00:38:55.830 –> 00:38:57.690 Jim Buchanan: can only be published, posthumously.

00:38:59.970 –> 00:39:13.500 Joseph McElroy: Well yeah some of the stories only work really well and by the person that’s telling them for who experienced them, you know it’s like I try to tell them something my dad story, so the time and I just can’t get the young.

00:39:16.980 –> 00:39:23.490 Joseph McElroy: the boy he remembers this girl here risk early right so it’s like the story right and.

00:39:24.510 –> 00:39:29.190 Joseph McElroy: It makes it much more rockets and interesting yes yeah.

00:39:32.730 –> 00:39:33.240 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:39:36.210 –> 00:39:36.570 Joseph McElroy: Do.

00:39:38.610 –> 00:39:48.120 Joseph McElroy: That was good to see you know I want to talk about some of the things that you might know you live in you’ve lived in several parts of the area right.

00:39:49.470 –> 00:39:50.910 Joseph McElroy: Around Silva around.

00:39:52.710 –> 00:40:08.970 Joseph McElroy: Asheville from you know from what do you think are some of the growing areas in the area where a lot of people going, and I know Asheville one of them, but you must have seen the Silva growing town is it becoming active.

00:40:09.270 –> 00:40:11.220 Jim Buchanan: I think solar has been discovered.

00:40:11.610 –> 00:40:14.370 Jim Buchanan: yeah combination of Covid and.

00:40:14.670 –> 00:40:16.530 Jim Buchanan: Frankly, people living in use and who are.

00:40:16.530 –> 00:40:18.960 Jim Buchanan: tired of hurricanes and.

00:40:19.140 –> 00:40:21.390 Jim Buchanan: are nearly tired of not an hour in the winter.

00:40:22.680 –> 00:40:24.360 Jim Buchanan: Texans are coming this way.

00:40:25.620 –> 00:40:26.880 Jim Buchanan: And Ashville

00:40:28.200 –> 00:40:31.230 Jim Buchanan: As explosion it’s reaching its carrion point I do.

00:40:31.230 –> 00:40:31.800 Believe.

00:40:32.880 –> 00:40:33.330 Joseph McElroy: I mean.

00:40:35.220 –> 00:40:37.860 Joseph McElroy: growing up, I don’t remember traffic jams, do you.

00:40:40.020 –> 00:40:42.270 Jim Buchanan: know that didn’t involve logging drugs.

00:40:42.300 –> 00:40:45.360 Joseph McElroy: yeah or boulders falling off the side of the.

00:40:45.360 –> 00:40:46.050 Jim Buchanan: ball yeah.

00:40:49.320 –> 00:40:54.840 Joseph McElroy: yeah I know I enjoy you know the silvers that got that nice little.

00:40:55.860 –> 00:41:03.660 Joseph McElroy: Now they would impress me about films you on Main Street you got three bookstores and it’s a small town right.

00:41:03.900 –> 00:41:09.000 Joseph McElroy: yeah I’ve got plenty of bookstores and great little restaurants they’re.

00:41:09.000 –> 00:41:11.820 Jim Buchanan: Doing the most gorgeous library in the country.

00:41:11.940 –> 00:41:14.880 Jim Buchanan: yeah Oh, have you been in there and they’ll courthouse.

00:41:14.910 –> 00:41:16.500 Jim Buchanan: They did such a wonderful job.

00:41:16.500 –> 00:41:16.860 there.

00:41:19.200 –> 00:41:28.050 Joseph McElroy: The architecture, there really is it’s picturesque so you know I went there I brought a whole bunch of people down from New York.

00:41:29.460 –> 00:41:32.970 Joseph McElroy: And then you know they had that the clips right.

00:41:33.330 –> 00:41:34.110 Jim Buchanan: And they yeah.

00:41:34.380 –> 00:41:36.060 Joseph McElroy: they.

00:41:36.660 –> 00:41:43.710 Joseph McElroy: They shut down, you know, the main street and some of the side streets and you could come there, and you could lay down the streets.

00:41:43.980 –> 00:41:57.750 Joseph McElroy: And you can you know they made a big deal of you sit back and watch the eclipse and then they had a university professor doing you know doing talking about it until loudspeakers along with entertainment stuff they really did it right.

00:41:57.840 –> 00:41:58.500 Jim Buchanan: Right and.

00:41:58.590 –> 00:41:59.220 Joseph McElroy: It was like.

00:41:59.310 –> 00:42:15.090 Joseph McElroy: A most combination of you know, this girl I’m saying this girl too much experience in life, you know, at the same time, you get really well educated, the same time, so I’m highly impressed still it so.

00:42:16.170 –> 00:42:17.490 Jim Buchanan: Well, and I don’t know about you know.

00:42:17.760 –> 00:42:18.840 Joseph McElroy: The various.

00:42:19.200 –> 00:42:22.830 Jim Buchanan: Honeywell about the eclipse, but that was such an experience.

00:42:24.150 –> 00:42:25.680 Jim Buchanan: I mean that was spiritual.

00:42:26.160 –> 00:42:35.490 Joseph McElroy: And was you know everything going dark you know you don’t believe it but boom there where it did it now, is it was totally

00:42:36.150 –> 00:42:44.370 Joseph McElroy: And then being in the mountains, there you know the bird started going to sleep or whatever it was everybody was confused, but it was good.

00:42:46.680 –> 00:42:48.300 Joseph McElroy: So we’re gonna come back.

00:42:49.740 –> 00:43:01.110 Joseph McElroy: you’re going to tell you to have to tell me some of your favorite things to do where you’ve been now in the area where you live now and yeah what visitors might enjoy in Western North Carolina they would.

00:43:01.770 –> 00:43:02.310 Jim Buchanan: You got it.

00:45:35.490 –> 00:45:45.090 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back for the gateway to the smokies podcast and my guest Jim Buchanan so Jim you know.

00:45:45.780 –> 00:45:53.910 Joseph McElroy: you’ve had you’ve lived in Ashville and working Silva and you’ve been or you grew up in Jackson County and you’ve been a lot of different places.

00:45:54.870 –> 00:46:07.050 Joseph McElroy: How are you are now live in a small little town called Clyde and Haywood County, which is about a hop skip and a jump to where I’m sitting right now and Maggie Valley, how did you end up moving there.

00:46:08.250 –> 00:46:13.350 Jim Buchanan: I was working in Ashville and my wife was teaching in Jackson county so we split the difference.

00:46:13.650 –> 00:46:15.600 Joseph McElroy: haha, what do you like about it

00:46:16.800 –> 00:46:20.220 Jim Buchanan: a good family Community quiet.

00:46:21.660 –> 00:46:22.830 Jim Buchanan: But it’s close to everything.

00:46:26.280 –> 00:46:37.620 Joseph McElroy: yeah it’s got a nice little squirt very little Pinterest that tiny little downtown yeah yeah you know I don’t know if you know is famous for a back like 40 years ago.

00:46:38.460 –> 00:46:45.000 Joseph McElroy: wow This is a long time if ever used to be the only seafood restaurant, on top of the hill right before you go onto the highway.

00:46:45.060 –> 00:46:46.650 Jim Buchanan: Going I remember that it burned down.

00:46:46.830 –> 00:46:54.840 Joseph McElroy: yeah everybody went there to get seafood it was really good I can remember that I don’t know what happened that, but that was I love going to that.

00:46:54.900 –> 00:46:56.400 Jim Buchanan: It was also in a fire but.

00:46:56.430 –> 00:47:02.220 Jim Buchanan: You know, for a small town that say, we have a great seafood assignment and tells.

00:47:02.550 –> 00:47:05.040 Joseph McElroy: You do you have like you have an old.

00:47:06.120 –> 00:47:08.310 Joseph McElroy: seafood we go by seafood right.

00:47:08.340 –> 00:47:10.920 Jim Buchanan: Now they’ve been there 51 years, I think.

00:47:11.670 –> 00:47:14.340 Joseph McElroy: They probably had something to do with that seafood restaurant probably.

00:47:14.460 –> 00:47:18.330 Jim Buchanan: yeah did the guy who founded it he would go down and shrimp on the goal.

00:47:18.420 –> 00:47:19.080 And whatnot.

00:47:20.250 –> 00:47:23.190 Jim Buchanan: So they still get all the connections, you know they don’t have it then good.

00:47:24.270 –> 00:47:26.400 Joseph McElroy: yeah they got good stuff I remember that.

00:47:27.660 –> 00:47:28.350 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:47:29.460 –> 00:47:36.270 Joseph McElroy: If somebody wanted to you know I like to get people to talk about an itinerary so you know.

00:47:37.260 –> 00:47:46.500 Joseph McElroy: For the gateway smokies we’re talking to a large audience, I want to give them some things to do that they might not just find from a traditional travelogue I like talking to.

00:47:46.860 –> 00:47:52.110 Joseph McElroy: You know people from the area and get a nice idea itinerary that they would do.

00:47:52.740 –> 00:48:04.950 Joseph McElroy: In or near their hometown so if, and that would be like what to do, have for breakfast What do you do in the morning, what do you have for lunch, what do you do in the afternoon, what do you do for dinner what you do for interest payment in the evening so.

00:48:06.000 –> 00:48:14.280 Joseph McElroy: So I’ll walk you through this day in the Clyde Haywood county or surrounding areas, so what would you do for breakfast waking up and Clyde.

00:48:16.560 –> 00:48:19.020 Jim Buchanan: Bull okay I’ll give me a couple of different itineraries.

00:48:20.130 –> 00:48:21.570 Jim Buchanan: That I’ve done with people who.

00:48:21.900 –> 00:48:22.980 Jim Buchanan: are new to that all.

00:48:22.980 –> 00:48:23.370 Right.

00:48:25.140 –> 00:48:36.240 Jim Buchanan: yeah just grab some fast food head out we’ll start at the West shareholder skyway gorgeous Dr. Lewis Kilmer national forest.

00:48:37.320 –> 00:48:42.870 Jim Buchanan: Some of the biggest trees you’ll ever see and that was that was very common back in the day, but.

00:48:44.340 –> 00:48:47.430 Jim Buchanan: They were cutting the chest up like taking care of the other ones.

00:48:48.870 –> 00:48:56.100 Jim Buchanan: Fontana damn largest damn and the East very imposing structure that way coming back this way.

00:48:57.540 –> 00:48:59.610 Jim Buchanan: Nana HALO is gorgeous.

00:49:01.950 –> 00:49:13.020 Jim Buchanan: there’s a little road I won’t I won’t name the name of because I would like, for it to be kind of hidden sell at 14 miles a mostly paved logging road that goes my

00:49:16.020 –> 00:49:24.780 Jim Buchanan: Oh shoot, who was at the bar trick trail goes by the bar control which comes out in their Nana hey will leg and then come about this way further.

00:49:25.500 –> 00:49:43.080 Jim Buchanan: Nebraska City and go to deep creek go to urban there are the waters, of course, it’s kind of pack for lunch I would enter neighbors drive-in a B E RS Ross and city it’s an old fashioned diamond you pull up you hit the button the order, and so my brings food out to you.

00:49:45.030 –> 00:49:51.390 Jim Buchanan: And coming back this way of course Cataloochee you remember when Cataloochee was you can almost have it to yourself.

00:49:51.870 –> 00:49:57.000 Jim Buchanan: Right and the elk a man and it’s kind of like Disney world but it’s still a cool place to get into.

00:49:58.080 –> 00:50:03.930 Jim Buchanan: You know I used to recommend Max patch my experience has been loved to death right now.

00:50:04.770 –> 00:50:06.360 Joseph McElroy: it’s temporary close right.

00:50:06.480 –> 00:50:07.290 Jim Buchanan: Yes, it is.

00:50:09.270 –> 00:50:09.630 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:50:09.750 –> 00:50:16.200 Jim Buchanan: Not longer than five years ago, you can go up there, and almost be by yourself, but it was discovered rapidly.

00:50:17.640 –> 00:50:22.050 Jim Buchanan: I know sounds trite but if you’ve never been to the Biltmore house go to the Biltmore house.

00:50:23.250 –> 00:50:24.120 Jim Buchanan: History their.

00:50:24.540 –> 00:50:25.740 Jim Buchanan: a brand with a one-time.

00:50:27.450 –> 00:50:33.630 Jim Buchanan: Ground the rounds are beautiful I got some good restaurants there Hello 12 bones restaurant.

00:50:34.680 –> 00:50:36.360 Jim Buchanan: In the Asheville, that’s where I.

00:50:37.920 –> 00:50:41.940 Jim Buchanan: Think Obama made two trips actual That was the first place, he went both times.

00:50:42.150 –> 00:50:43.710 Joseph McElroy: Great Barbecue great barbeque

00:50:43.980 –> 00:50:46.080 Jim Buchanan: Wonderful world with you and that.

00:50:47.430 –> 00:50:51.120 Jim Buchanan: Neither nor I would come back going to watermark knob watch the sunset.

00:50:51.720 –> 00:50:52.500 Joseph McElroy: There yo.

00:50:52.650 –> 00:50:55.230 Jim Buchanan: get up the next day walk around late June Alaska.

00:50:57.090 –> 00:50:58.980 Jim Buchanan: And just enjoy the little things.

00:50:59.790 –> 00:51:02.370 Joseph McElroy: yeah I sound like.

00:51:03.390 –> 00:51:04.380 Joseph McElroy: ideal.

00:51:05.490 –> 00:51:08.400 Joseph McElroy: adventure now, what do you think is the.

00:51:09.930 –> 00:51:18.600 Joseph McElroy: I mean there’s a number of amusements that run in the area I’m sure you’ve seen him over the years from the Asheville area and.

00:51:22.440 –> 00:51:32.910 Joseph McElroy: What do you think is the best one or the one that’s yeah that maybe kids would like the most and it’s most well taken care of and it’s really worthwhile experience.

00:51:33.630 –> 00:51:36.720 Jim Buchanan: Okay, you broke up a little bit, could you quickly rephrase the question.

00:51:36.750 –> 00:51:39.300 Joseph McElroy: What would you think is the best amusement park in the area.

00:51:41.010 –> 00:51:43.110 Jim Buchanan: Well, you go Sam was open again in it.

00:51:43.680 –> 00:51:45.570 Joseph McElroy: No, not yet nope okay.

00:51:46.920 –> 00:51:48.330 Jim Buchanan: Oh boy amusement park.

00:51:49.380 –> 00:52:00.540 Joseph McElroy: Oh there’s the railroads there’s you know you got away the Dollywood I mean those are big commercial ones, are you go to I think they’re saying island still out Cherokee there’s.

00:52:00.960 –> 00:52:02.460 Jim Buchanan: I think I think that’s still open.

00:52:04.470 –> 00:52:07.320 Jim Buchanan: For Mrs so cozy that was wrong.

00:52:08.580 –> 00:52:11.910 Joseph McElroy: And Maggie Valley to soak I know there’s no zoom down, it was.

00:52:12.150 –> 00:52:12.450 Jim Buchanan: It was.

00:52:13.260 –> 00:52:15.420 Jim Buchanan: US care found a good rattlesnake that.

00:52:17.760 –> 00:52:19.350 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know charity they.

00:52:21.000 –> 00:52:22.170 Joseph McElroy: Bear wrestling.

00:52:23.220 –> 00:52:25.140 Joseph McElroy: I don’t think they even allow that kind of stuff.

00:52:26.520 –> 00:52:33.990 Jim Buchanan: But it was like a theme park, I will do some rafting I know that’s not a theme park per se.

00:52:35.040 –> 00:52:48.090 Joseph McElroy: Now banana halos got some great rafting places to you know, like centers to go rafting and sodas a pitch river in Gatlinburg area right, I think.

00:52:48.450 –> 00:52:51.000 Jim Buchanan: I mean I love, I would take the kids and the arboretum.

00:52:51.600 –> 00:52:52.200 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:52:52.380 –> 00:52:56.460 Jim Buchanan: an actual you know you can read to segue around there, but then creek and.

00:52:57.690 –> 00:52:59.340 Jim Buchanan: We will see some wildlife.

00:52:59.910 –> 00:53:00.600 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah.

00:53:00.690 –> 00:53:03.630 Jim Buchanan: You might be a copperhead, but you will see some model, I felt that way.

00:53:05.100 –> 00:53:07.860 Jim Buchanan: The arboretum itself is a good facility.

00:53:09.150 –> 00:53:10.740 Jim Buchanan: wow that’s great guns.

00:53:12.720 –> 00:53:14.400 Jim Buchanan: And boy was to take a kid.

00:53:14.550 –> 00:53:16.680 Jim Buchanan: yeah just take him to the smokies repeat.

00:53:16.680 –> 00:53:18.270 Joseph McElroy: A managed by.

00:53:19.080 –> 00:53:19.530 So.

00:53:22.710 –> 00:53:25.620 Joseph McElroy: quick question best fly fishing spot.

00:53:27.540 –> 00:53:30.120 Jim Buchanan: You know I wasn’t always a warm fisherman.

00:53:30.330 –> 00:53:30.930 Okay.

00:53:32.550 –> 00:53:33.630 Joseph McElroy: One fishing spot.

00:53:35.760 –> 00:53:37.470 Jim Buchanan: But I have observed a fly fisherman.

00:53:38.370 –> 00:53:39.630 Jim Buchanan: The talk of CG.

00:53:40.770 –> 00:53:44.580 Jim Buchanan: Between Callaway and bills bro you just can’t be that.

00:53:45.180 –> 00:53:57.240 Joseph McElroy: Good all right So how do people follow you read more about you that sort of thing gets your book any shout outs, you want to give to where people connect with you.

00:53:58.320 –> 00:54:00.600 Jim Buchanan: First of all, the city lights the bookstore and so.

00:54:01.890 –> 00:54:06.630 Jim Buchanan: how’s the book to connect to this in the summer websites, I mean email.

00:54:08.130 –> 00:54:10.800 Jim Buchanan: I am on Facebook, and I rarely post.

00:54:12.840 –> 00:54:13.740 Joseph McElroy: what’s your website.

00:54:14.370 –> 00:54:17.220 Jim Buchanan: Oh, I don’t have a website, I am on Facebook, but.

00:54:17.310 –> 00:54:21.630 Jim Buchanan: Okay, I almost never actually made my first post in about three years.

00:54:22.920 –> 00:54:23.610 Jim Buchanan: Sunday.

00:54:24.660 –> 00:54:27.030 Jim Buchanan: Somebody put up a map of the national parks.

00:54:28.080 –> 00:54:30.060 Jim Buchanan: and which ones, have you visited and what state.

00:54:31.830 –> 00:54:34.650 Jim Buchanan: They located the smokies entirely in Tennessee.

00:54:35.820 –> 00:54:37.410 Joseph McElroy: So that’s not right, yes.

00:54:37.410 –> 00:54:41.220 Jim Buchanan: I’m a little touchy about our half in North Carolina you’re.

00:54:41.220 –> 00:54:46.260 Joseph McElroy: Over 51% so we were the original gateway to the smokies.

00:54:46.290 –> 00:54:48.030 Jim Buchanan: And we got out market and buy.

00:54:49.350 –> 00:54:50.490 Jim Buchanan: all there is to it.

00:54:50.760 –> 00:54:54.210 Joseph McElroy: Exactly, so I want to thank you very much.

00:54:55.770 –> 00:54:58.020 Joseph McElroy: I want to thank you very much for being on the show.

00:54:59.760 –> 00:55:10.050 Joseph McElroy: I’m a read more of your book and I highly recommend what I, from what I read I highly recommended, and you know Bob Plot asked you to be on the show because he was really impressed with you, but you had written so.

00:55:11.250 –> 00:55:12.480 Jim Buchanan: Tom price yeah.

00:55:12.540 –> 00:55:13.050 cool.

00:55:14.070 –> 00:55:20.220 Joseph McElroy: This is the gateway to smoke these podcasts you can find out more about us at the gatewaytothesmokies.fun

00:55:23.880 –> 00:55:30.180 Joseph McElroy: facebook.com/gatewaytothesmokiespodcast.

00:55:31.230 –> 00:55:45.360 Joseph McElroy: This is part of the talkradio.NYC network, where you will see a lot of shows live podcast about multiple subjects, right after this shows one about exploring New York, so you can go right from.

00:55:45.990 –> 00:55:51.600 Joseph McElroy: You know, Rural North Carolina to the most urban city on the planet and I have lived in both places.

00:55:53.040 –> 00:56:03.180 Joseph McElroy: And I can recommend highly both of these I’m always here every week from six to seven on Tuesdays to talk about the smokies.

00:56:04.200 –> 00:56:19.170 Joseph McElroy: To promote you know the culture of the area and opportunities for visiting in a meaningful and in-depth manner to create memorable experiences and I thank you for listening and I’ll see you next week.

Today's guest of Gateway to the Smokies Podcast is Wayne Ebinger, an Award-Winning Photographer well known for his photos of local musicians, concerts, artists, and festivals, as well as the natural beauty of the Great Smokies.

He was a former professional musician and a veterinarian tech. Currently, he owns and operates a successful photography business in Maggie Valley, N.C.

Our host Joseph McElroy wand Wayne and will talk about his career, passion, and photographing the Smokies.

‍

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

Today’s episode starts off with host Joseph Franklyn McElroy announcing special events and announcements in the Maggie Valley area, including wonderful festivals, eateries, and great gatherings for people to go to. Then the special guest, photographer, and former musician Wayne Ebinger gets introduced. Right away, he gives a short explanation of how he came to the career path he is in today, from high school back in the 1960s to now, he talks about how he engulfed himself into the love he had for the veterinarian career to his career as a professional rock drummer.

Coming back from the break, Wayne talks about how he transitioned into his photography career. He started off with a cheaper kodak camera and started taking photos wherever he could. He first was asked to be a photographer at a wedding, and eventually was asked to photograph weddings, musicals, music festivals, and concerts. He continued his photography business for nearly thirty years before moving to the Smoky Mountains and shifting his business into more intimate and local weddings and events. Wayne explains a personal rule he has when he’s taking photographs, which is to be stealthy. Whether he is at a wedding or out in the wild, he tries to stay as stealthy as possible to avoid disturbing the photo subjects. He also adds that it’s pretty important to dress accordingly, for him that means a black T-shirt. He talks about the cameras he has used throughout the years, especially during the shift to digital photography, and which lenses he prefers to use for certain situations. He also says that he tries not to edit the photos too much. Wayne talks about his favorite band to photograph and other memorable photographs that he has taken.

This segment starts off with the story of how Wayne ended up at Maggie Valley and why he chose to do so. Joseph asks Wayne for photography location recommendations. Immediately Wayne mentions a field where you can see a beautiful landscape and sunset. He also mentioned Waterrock Knob for wonderful evening photos where you can photograph the stars and see beautiful scenery. He talks about how in the wintertime, the snow is so beautiful that it will always make great photos. He explains how because of the snow, it can be difficult to travel around so often he looks around where he is and finds a quiet place in nature to photograph. He gives tips on how to photograph elks. The biggest one is, to respect them.

For the last segment of this episode, Joseph starts off by asking Wayne for some of his favorite local spots in Maggie Valley. He gives a huge variety of places to go for nightlife, eating out, or just hanging out and dancing. They share stories about their experience at these different hotspots in Maggie Valley till the end of the show.

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00:00:32.460 –> 00:00:35.640 Joseph McElroy: Thanks for joining us on this week’s episode of

00:00:35.910 –> 00:00:48.270 Joseph McElroy: gateway to the smokies this podcast is about America’s most visited National Park great smoky mountains national park and surrounding towns.

00:00:48.750 –> 00:00:59.790 Joseph McElroy: This area is filled with ancient natural beauty a deep storied history and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes I am Joseph Franklyn McElroy a man of the world.

00:01:00.330 –> 00:01:09.780 Joseph McElroy: with deep roots in these mountains, my families live in the great smoky mountain over 200 years my business is in travel but my heart is in culture.

00:01:10.590 –> 00:01:16.290 Joseph McElroy: today’s podcast we will talk about photography in the smokies, but first, i’ll give you a little bit of

00:01:16.830 –> 00:01:26.820 Joseph McElroy: opportunities to experience mountain heritage, so, as you know, when we started this smoky mountain the Meadowlark mountain heritage Center Maggie Valley.

00:01:27.420 –> 00:01:38.400 Joseph McElroy: The Meadowlark motels and on July 31st we have a great example of a mountain heritage of this that we’re having over the next few years.

00:01:39.810 –> 00:01:47.070 Joseph McElroy: we’re going to introduce people who have done is they’ve been around for a long time, or where did you sing to you our podcast audience.

00:01:47.580 –> 00:01:55.290 Joseph McElroy: And would count as Charles Miller and are landing, who have roots firmly believe in them and I’m soaking the soil.

00:01:55.890 –> 00:02:08.550 Joseph McElroy: But women can trace their family tree and Western North Carolina back to the revolutionary war error and both of the ancestors who fought in 1776 rutherford campaign a battle of cliff king’s men.

00:02:09.570 –> 00:02:20.130 Joseph McElroy: Mostly these 21st century Renaissance men are passionate about story and art and have led extremely interested in colorful lives.

00:02:20.730 –> 00:02:39.150 Joseph McElroy: They there were why liberty recognized for their expertise and 18th-century history firearms at a cuckoo as well as low genealogy middle work and wouldn’t and brawn sculptures and creating a life cycle of a mountain man to man, created by landing at the Haywood county courthouse.

00:02:40.200 –> 00:02:55.170 Joseph McElroy: Both artists are renowned storytellers, which is a tradition in the mountains and have been featured to turn it into a magazine newspapers verse and the book colorful colorful characters of the growth, the mountains, I bought.

00:02:56.250 –> 00:03:06.300 Joseph McElroy: The Meadowlark smoky mountain heritage Center in the Meadowlark motel or on this two grid Haywood county Artist historians, with an entire day on July 31.

00:03:07.650 –> 00:03:19.800 Joseph McElroy: Sub celebrating life by featuring traditional ballad singing and hundreds by Will Ritter and I saw I saw him a few weeks ago, and he is fantastic and then he’s playing one of those.

00:03:20.850 –> 00:03:34.890 Joseph McElroy: are made by Orlando, there will be hand handcrafted moonshine still by Charles Miller another word, he is done and there’ll be a display of frontier dress and accouterment join with a talk by the hank.

00:03:35.610 –> 00:03:47.010 Joseph McElroy: They will display classic guns and sculptures created by URL and it will come in with an award presentation for lifetime achievement by the mountain meadowlark smoky mountain heritage here.

00:03:47.700 –> 00:04:03.330 Joseph McElroy: Afterwards, there will be a dinner and world-famous Dr steakhouses spaces, with women to go to the Meadowlark motel.COM. and for reservations and then the rsvp for the dinner, which is two different things you gotta you gotta make it to the event at a fee for the year.

00:04:04.770 –> 00:04:09.870 Joseph McElroy: So it’ll be fun there’ll be seminars to say store storytelling books available.

00:04:10.920 –> 00:04:16.470 Joseph McElroy: fun things to do, guarantee it’s a great major event that I’m.

00:04:17.490 –> 00:04:29.010 Joseph McElroy: I want to tell you that you can find more about this podcast and get a game of smokies fun, most importantly, you can sign up for a newsletter there are we letting know about these kinds of events and so on an ongoing basis.

00:04:30.150 –> 00:04:37.530 Joseph McElroy: I’m going to totally it’s about our sponsors, I want you to imagine a place evocative motor court sorts of the past year, modern environment.

00:04:37.860 –> 00:04:46.890 Joseph McElroy: With a Chic Appalachian feel a place for relaxation imagine a place where you can catch fish and a mountain heritage trash out.

00:04:47.220 –> 00:05:00.060 Joseph McElroy: grill catch a fire and unique company fine wine or craft beers imagine ups with old-time music and old work with cultural sounds, there is no other place like the.

00:05:00.510 –> 00:05:08.370 Joseph McElroy: Meadowlark motel in Maggie Valley North Carolina your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay.

00:05:08.850 –> 00:05:26.730 Joseph McElroy: we’re also sponsored smokies adventure that smokies plural adventure singular COM information and listing about the smokies it features hiking wedding and been venues books and crumb trail Max and resources for experiencing the smoke outcomes.

00:05:28.830 –> 00:05:40.440 Joseph McElroy: And the emphasis of smokies adventurous outdoor recreation life events like wedding adventures last long provide information on the lodging family entertainment events conventions honeymoon we’re.

00:05:40.860 –> 00:05:54.000 Joseph McElroy: going to go is has been to be the meeting information portal on the smoky mountains, I remind my nice weekend and I give hillbilly jam right my cousin and Betsy Randy and it’s a beautiful to day to day it.

00:05:55.170 –> 00:06:05.040 Joseph McElroy: Is features glorious music crafts food vendors that have moved moved from the Disney channel discovery channel card bike show and more.

00:06:05.460 –> 00:06:14.730 Joseph McElroy: And you go to the hillbilly billy jack.com to find out more now my guest today is Wayne Ebinger, who is a photographer

00:06:15.180 –> 00:06:22.800 Joseph McElroy: And here’s a Florida native hours, writing and Maggie Valley North Carolina where he owns and operates as a successful but photography does.

00:06:23.250 –> 00:06:28.110 Joseph McElroy: Wayne is that very diverse and interesting career as a former veterinarian and then.

00:06:28.860 –> 00:06:43.470 Joseph McElroy: technician a professional musician and currently an award winning photographer well and for his photo local musicians concerts artists and festivals, as well as those the true beauty beauty of the great smoky mountain

00:06:44.490 –> 00:06:45.840 Wayne Ebinger: Hello there, glad to be here.

00:06:47.010 –> 00:06:48.690 Joseph McElroy: i’m so i’m.

00:06:49.920 –> 00:06:58.410 Joseph McElroy: Orlando Florida and we’re educated, the University of Florida original to be written to veterinarian Is this something you got into.

00:06:59.250 –> 00:07:09.600 Wayne Ebinger: Well that’s yes, I noticed from a young age, that I was kind of always leading I didn’t notice it at that time, but i’ve always kind of gravitated to analyze any kind.

00:07:10.140 –> 00:07:16.890 Wayne Ebinger: But after I got into my more of a teens and adult thing I kind of said, this might be something to look into so I.

00:07:17.460 –> 00:07:25.410 Wayne Ebinger: I wanted to do that after high school and started working with a local veterinarian in Orlando and that’s where I started back in.

00:07:26.280 –> 00:07:39.780 Wayne Ebinger: 68 I guess it was right after I graduated from high school stayed with that program and stayed with him and you kind of mentored me, I appreciate it everything he did for me on those and then things just kind of evolved I’ve been very blessed for.

00:07:41.250 –> 00:07:43.320 Wayne Ebinger: Multiple things that I’ve been involved with.

00:07:44.700 –> 00:07:49.500 Joseph McElroy: Well, that kind of career obviously takes a lot, a lot of a sudden, so when did it out of that field.

00:07:50.730 –> 00:07:51.510 Wayne Ebinger: i’m sorry what was that.

00:07:52.200 –> 00:07:52.380 well.

00:07:53.580 –> 00:07:58.740 Joseph McElroy: You obviously had to be very, very committed be you know in any kind of dealing with medicine, whether it’s personal.

00:07:58.830 –> 00:07:59.100 Oh.

00:08:00.120 –> 00:08:00.630 Wayne Ebinger: Absolutely.

00:08:00.780 –> 00:08:03.060 Joseph McElroy: You do have you ever I missed that.

00:08:03.840 –> 00:08:20.910 Wayne Ebinger: The absolutely the one when your your your hearts into what you want to do and you’re in one of your dreams I just kind of engulfed in it was I was working something like anywhere from 50 to 70 hours a week at this clinic with this this this veterinarian.

00:08:21.330 –> 00:08:22.020 Joseph McElroy: And just do.

00:08:22.470 –> 00:08:31.530 Wayne Ebinger: lab stuff and doing helping the surgeries and all that and I just loved every minute of it, so I just engulf myself and saturated with my life with that.

00:08:32.850 –> 00:08:33.030 Wayne Ebinger: and

00:08:34.530 –> 00:08:34.830 Go ahead.

00:08:35.910 –> 00:08:37.560 Joseph McElroy: and choose a different career path.

00:08:40.320 –> 00:09:00.300 Wayne Ebinger: Because I started actually playing in drums when I was in 1963 and so that was going backward retro from that so I was 13 years old and actually I was playing in bands and through the younger days and, of course, back in the 60s, you were you know, I was actually.

00:09:02.130 –> 00:09:11.340 Wayne Ebinger: playing in local lounges and log in and plus you centers and things like that, but I mean I was under the cloak of darkness, I guess when I was doing that, underage.

00:09:11.820 –> 00:09:27.810 Wayne Ebinger: But I just music was another thing that just I just love doing it and so that’s part of what I tried to do for the what all my life and that’s what I’ve been able to do for the last 40 or 50 years all three of them that photography the music and the veterinary field.

00:09:27.900 –> 00:09:32.460 Joseph McElroy: yeah so you, you are you, you are drummer, right yeah.

00:09:37.740 –> 00:09:38.340 Wayne Ebinger: I do.

00:09:39.420 –> 00:09:54.750 Wayne Ebinger: I’ve changed a little bit over the years, with I switched from a drum set about nine years ago when I came up here to permanently leave at our place and I’ve been doing the homes and the percussion stuff for about six years and.

00:09:54.780 –> 00:10:08.190 Wayne Ebinger: So I couldn’t get out of it, but now I’m back at some some some issues that I couldn’t use my hands and things so they’re coming back so now I’m going back and do a drum set so I’m going to do that and play guitar and piano whenever I can get Ahold of.

00:10:10.980 –> 00:10:12.300 Joseph McElroy: musicians or band

00:10:14.190 –> 00:10:22.770 Wayne Ebinger: What we’re doing currently with one of our businesses here in town just down the road the elevated mountain distillery has we created a.

00:10:23.220 –> 00:10:33.330 Wayne Ebinger: Open jam night on Wednesdays, and we have brought in it’s been going for almost three months now, and every week, we have different people coming in with their instruments to come in and plugin there’s no.

00:10:34.770 –> 00:10:36.060 Wayne Ebinger: fee or anything like that just.

00:10:36.180 –> 00:10:38.370 Wayne Ebinger: The camaraderie of the Community.

00:10:39.720 –> 00:10:40.170 Wayne Ebinger: And it said.

00:10:40.290 –> 00:10:44.730 Wayne Ebinger: Good results and it’s good for the distillery to for Dave Angel owns it.

00:10:47.460 –> 00:10:53.490 Joseph McElroy: we’re gonna take a break right and when we come back I get into your photography career find out more about photographing.

00:10:55.230 –> 00:10:55.500 Okay.

00:11:33.930 –> 00:11:35.550 Joseph McElroy: in having a better relationship.

00:13:14.280 –> 00:13:23.280 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the Gateway to the Smokies podcast with my guest Wayne Ebinger, so Wayne,

00:13:24.330 –> 00:13:27.450 Joseph McElroy: Today, you were then for your food photography.

00:13:28.650 –> 00:13:37.050 Joseph McElroy: And then that particular your shots of artists in concerts and festivals, so the smokies itself, how did you get started with here

00:13:38.190 –> 00:13:39.990 Wayne Ebinger: There again, I kind of stumbled into.

00:13:40.110 –> 00:13:41.460 Wayne Ebinger: It back in the 60s, with the.

00:13:41.490 –> 00:13:50.100 Wayne Ebinger: codec Instamatic 110 camera because that’s all I could afford back then, in my early teens and there was back in the day.

00:13:50.790 –> 00:13:57.930 Wayne Ebinger: Dick Clark used to have a traveling show called the Dick Clark Caravan of stars and

00:13:58.410 –> 00:14:07.440 Wayne Ebinger: He would bring them into Orlando and it’d be outdoor concerts and things like that, and I would just take photos with that and plus the music was a big interest at the same time with me.

00:14:08.070 –> 00:14:15.450 Wayne Ebinger: And so it kind of tied in together, and so I was taking photos of like Paul Revere and the raiders and you know Debbie billing.

00:14:17.280 –> 00:14:18.390 Wayne Ebinger: Finally, evolved into like.

00:14:20.520 –> 00:14:26.460 Wayne Ebinger: Alice Cooper and things like that, but that kind of grew into that and then, when I went to college I.

00:14:26.940 –> 00:14:31.140 Wayne Ebinger: was doing landscapes up in the University of Florida area.

00:14:32.370 –> 00:14:43.590 Wayne Ebinger: And up there, they had in Florida, have a lot of sinkholes and there’s one called the mill hub, which is right outside of the university, and so I would go there with my camera shooting like black and white, back then, and on film.

00:14:44.760 –> 00:14:47.040 Wayne Ebinger: Film days and so that’s.

00:14:47.070 –> 00:14:47.970 Wayne Ebinger: kind of got me going.

00:14:48.720 –> 00:14:51.270 Wayne Ebinger: I had someone ask about what do I do.

00:14:51.300 –> 00:14:56.850 Wayne Ebinger: weddings or something like that, and I said no, but I do the camera so I did my actually my first wedding.

00:14:58.680 –> 00:15:00.570 Wayne Ebinger: From a request from college.

00:15:01.320 –> 00:15:01.920 Wayne Ebinger: But then.

00:15:03.840 –> 00:15:07.680 Wayne Ebinger: That worked into it that’s another part of the photographer is I’ll talk about too.

00:15:08.820 –> 00:15:09.120 Wayne Ebinger: But.

00:15:09.570 –> 00:15:11.010 Wayne Ebinger: The music in the.

00:15:11.040 –> 00:15:12.600 Wayne Ebinger: entertainers that I watched the.

00:15:12.930 –> 00:15:25.350 Wayne Ebinger: the photograph was really planted in my mind that something that I wanted to do and I wanted to pursue that so that and I’ll fast forward a little bit on some of the music and the photography thing.

00:15:26.820 –> 00:15:29.160 Wayne Ebinger: Back in the late 90s.

00:15:30.180 –> 00:15:31.230Wayne Ebinger: middle 90s and late night.

00:15:31.530 –> 00:15:41.640 Wayne Ebinger: There was a place in Orlando called the Plaza live Orlando, it was a movie theater a huge to theater store movie theater but they close it down and they opened it up.

00:15:42.210 –> 00:15:59.220 Wayne Ebinger: To stages and large stage it can hold about 1500 people in one would hold 400 people next door, and so I was a house, for they got this photographer, and I know we’re about four or five years, I did almost 400.

00:16:00.360 –> 00:16:02.580 Wayne Ebinger: shows concerts There we have people like.

00:16:03.720 –> 00:16:07.950 Wayne Ebinger: Our bands like Kev mo we had Asia Kansas.

00:16:09.420 –> 00:16:10.710 Wayne Ebinger: Some some of the world, some.

00:16:13.980 –> 00:16:20.610 Wayne Ebinger: musicals get came in narrow do-through but mostly it was all music John Oates was there with Paul notes and.

00:16:21.000 –> 00:16:23.370 Wayne Ebinger: It was a blast doing that and being there for those.

00:16:23.400 –> 00:16:28.140 Wayne Ebinger: That many years and meeting these people they’re so generous music and having that connection with music and my background.

00:16:28.740 –> 00:16:39.120 Wayne Ebinger: Open Doors for me to get into with the players that are there and just like Tommy Emmanuel those are several times and as more current people if I mentioned the other ones.

00:16:39.180 –> 00:16:42.480 Wayne Ebinger: Most people will know who they are, but that was a.

00:16:44.550 –> 00:16:45.900 Wayne Ebinger: solidify that part of it.

00:16:47.070 –> 00:16:47.340 Wayne Ebinger: and

00:16:49.470 –> 00:16:50.040 Joseph McElroy: So so.

00:16:51.180 –> 00:16:51.660 Joseph McElroy: Essentially.

00:16:56.040 –> 00:17:00.300 Wayne Ebinger: Well, actually well yeah initially I think probably most people are.

00:17:00.900 –> 00:17:03.450 Wayne Ebinger: Especially ah like the guy was, but I did.

00:17:03.810 –> 00:17:04.980 Wayne Ebinger: When I went to the.

00:17:05.040 –> 00:17:13.800 Wayne Ebinger: photography wouldn’t let into the wedding’s kinda I like doing that because it was an I had fun doing it the most people most.

00:17:14.100 –> 00:17:15.930 Wayne Ebinger: People say are your garden do weddings you.

00:17:15.990 –> 00:17:21.150 Wayne Ebinger: Most Darren’s I know get near that and I said well my wife and I.

00:17:22.650 –> 00:17:27.570 Wayne Ebinger: Say let’s try this so we did, but I went to conferences and I was going to.

00:17:29.190 –> 00:17:37.680 Wayne Ebinger: and listen to the main wedding photographers back then, when I was Dennis Reggie who did John Junior Kennedy Kennedy Juniors wedding.

00:17:38.730 –> 00:17:54.870 Wayne Ebinger: Another fella named David sizer and also earn as well the, who was a Hasselblad Hasselblad book and I was shooting Hasselblad wives doing weddings, and so we just had a great time that in that business, we had for like 30 years we had a studio as well, but.

00:17:56.010 –> 00:17:59.340 Wayne Ebinger: The weddings were a lot of fun we just made it fun made it.

00:18:00.900 –> 00:18:06.120 Wayne Ebinger: enjoyable news that we did that, which helped me to when we moved permanently up here in the mountains.

00:18:07.380 –> 00:18:19.620 Wayne Ebinger: We did the small weddings that are located here with the Appalachian farm weddings and some other country clubs around here and in that kind of venues were fun too because they were small quaint and intimate if you will.

00:18:23.670 –> 00:18:23.970 Joseph McElroy: i’ve seen.

00:18:25.380 –> 00:18:25.890 Joseph McElroy: recently.

00:18:29.610 –> 00:18:31.530 Joseph McElroy: I just saw the photos.

00:18:42.600 –> 00:18:42.840 Joseph McElroy: say.

00:18:46.170 –> 00:18:47.880 Joseph McElroy: things about your.

00:18:51.240 –> 00:18:51.930 Joseph McElroy: best.

00:18:55.980 –> 00:18:56.730 Joseph McElroy: You already.

00:18:58.380 –> 00:18:58.800 Joseph McElroy: there.

00:18:59.910 –> 00:19:07.320 Joseph McElroy: So very intimate invisible how people are two things either approve your car promised.

00:19:08.520 –> 00:19:12.090 Joseph McElroy: To be, how do you get to them to be in a life like that.

00:19:15.990 –> 00:19:16.620 Wayne Ebinger: From what I can.

00:19:16.740 –> 00:19:21.660 Wayne Ebinger: hear from you about being in the background that we’re saying is with photography.

00:19:39.960 –> 00:19:41.820 Wayne Ebinger: that’s a little bit better right there.

00:19:43.830 –> 00:19:45.810 Wayne Ebinger: let’s go with that, I think.

00:19:47.940 –> 00:19:48.240 Joseph McElroy: Okay.

00:19:48.930 –> 00:20:01.620 Wayne Ebinger: Well, what am I rules in my personal roses, to be like all being very stealthy I’m going to be on notice at any function, whether it’s a concert or or or a wedding or whatever or.

00:20:02.760 –> 00:20:07.560 Wayne Ebinger: Especially if I’m doing landscapes and tracking the elk down a Cataloochee or something you gotta be quiet.

00:20:07.560 –> 00:20:13.710 Wayne Ebinger: Not healthy there, but because we have all that which reminds me a little bit of side the Cataloochee here.

00:20:14.730 –> 00:20:26.280 Wayne Ebinger: Valley, where the elk live comes right over into Maggie valley very regular basis, and they come up into our yards they hang out, you know and they’re just they’re part of the.

00:20:26.940 –> 00:20:38.670 Wayne Ebinger: Maggie Valley family, which is a great draw for people to come here and for things to do here and Maggie valley so plus with Maggie Valley, just an awesome little place because the.

00:20:40.260 –> 00:20:53.610 Wayne Ebinger: distillery with moonshine like a good mentioned earlier, with the moonshiners coming in from TV shows I do a lot of work with them when they’re in town, the hillbilly JAM is this weekend up the festival lobby they’re both things photographing that festival.

00:20:55.050 –> 00:20:55.740 Wayne Ebinger: it’s a.

00:20:56.970 –> 00:20:58.590 Wayne Ebinger: The just being.

00:21:00.150 –> 00:21:09.030 Wayne Ebinger: Quiet and not in not dress accordingly to that’s one of my bugaboos about what I’ve seen photographers in this shorts on and white church or T-shirts.

00:21:09.780 –> 00:21:10.140 Wayne Ebinger: I like.

00:21:10.440 –> 00:21:16.020 Wayne Ebinger: black, you know that helps you but that’s an interesting thing for me.

00:21:16.800 –> 00:21:17.370 cool.

00:21:21.540 –> 00:21:26.250 Joseph McElroy: Technology and software for stuff he has to do photography.

00:21:27.420 –> 00:21:28.020 Wayne Ebinger: I use.

00:21:29.550 –> 00:21:35.970 Wayne Ebinger: On the cameras will cover that for a little bit now get into the computers and what I’m doing with that, of course.

00:21:37.080 –> 00:21:51.870 Wayne Ebinger: What are you talking about I was doing Hasselblad but it’s once the digital age came in and when I switched into Nikon 35 millimeter or the digital 35 would call it digital modes and I’m shooting that.

00:21:53.550 –> 00:21:55.380 Wayne Ebinger: that’s me go to set up with a.

00:21:57.090 –> 00:22:05.550 Wayne Ebinger: Like normal lenses a 2.8 lens, which is a 17 to 55 millimeter which is for like or I could do close-ups and group photos and my other one is.

00:22:05.880 –> 00:22:08.130 Wayne Ebinger: 70 to 282.8 lens.

00:22:08.550 –> 00:22:13.440 Wayne Ebinger: Which is great for low light both lenses are good for low light for concerts and what I do.

00:22:13.980 –> 00:22:21.030 Wayne Ebinger: And you can, if I’m doing landscapes and wildlife in the long lens of 80 to 200 gets you closer and then.

00:22:21.720 –> 00:22:27.180 Wayne Ebinger: So you get some nice shots of the elk and wildlife for the eagles that we haven’t like Juneau Alaska nearby.

00:22:27.870 –> 00:22:49.320 Wayne Ebinger: And as for post-production what I like to use is, of course, computer by using photoshop and lightroom and I have my system of upgrading uploading those and I’m fortunate I don’t have to do much manipulation in the what I call the darkroom on the computers like.

00:22:50.670 –> 00:22:54.990 Wayne Ebinger: What what I shoot I tried to make it as best as possible, so I don’t have to go in and spend a lot of time on that.

00:22:56.220 –> 00:22:56.640 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:22:57.870 –> 00:23:00.900 Joseph McElroy: Every photographer, know and.

00:23:02.040 –> 00:23:06.210 Joseph McElroy: I see that in years is it will say something with their photos.

00:23:07.500 –> 00:23:10.050 Joseph McElroy: So Hello hit that into your photographs.

00:23:17.430 –> 00:23:20.910 Wayne Ebinger: Oh, the men wouldn’t be where I think the photograph.

00:23:21.780 –> 00:23:29.910 Wayne Ebinger: there’s no my I what I see he’s trying to say you’re saying yeah a lot of it’s there and I have a.

00:23:31.290 –> 00:23:40.650 Wayne Ebinger: Second sense I guess you will when I’m doing a concert, like the one we just did here with Darren Nicholson and his group for the smoky mountain heritage.

00:23:42.720 –> 00:23:43.050 Wayne Ebinger: Group.

00:23:44.670 –> 00:23:57.720 Wayne Ebinger: there are just certain angles, and you have to see what the lighting is and where the people are and other said so, all that is going on in my under they were stopped and thought about it, but these things are all going on simultaneously.

00:23:58.620 –> 00:24:04.620 Wayne Ebinger: And I pick an angle, or the MID upper left or right and zoom in or out it just those days.

00:24:05.190 –> 00:24:09.030 Wayne Ebinger: I can see that, and then when I see that capture that moment.

00:24:10.440 –> 00:24:13.950 Joseph McElroy: cool so some of your subjects.

00:24:17.130 –> 00:24:18.420 Joseph McElroy: That you’ve uploaded.

00:24:20.370 –> 00:24:22.530 Wayne Ebinger: Oh, the favorite oh gosh um.

00:24:23.700 –> 00:24:32.700 Wayne Ebinger: Well, I’ll do this first there’s actually my favorite group is because they’re the ones that when I moved up here they actually started me into the.

00:24:33.240 –> 00:24:39.150 Wayne Ebinger: Music and photography area with local musicians in Western North Carolina here.

00:24:39.840 –> 00:24:53.220 Wayne Ebinger: And that would be the balsam range, which is a some of the Members are Darren Nicholson and Mark pro tips or Hailed Smith and buddy melton and they kind of took me under their wing and brought me into their recording studio and I got to meet.

00:24:54.480 –> 00:24:55.560 Wayne Ebinger: musicians there.

00:24:56.790 –> 00:25:01.080 Wayne Ebinger: And it might list of people just grew exponentially just because.

00:25:02.610 –> 00:25:09.060 Wayne Ebinger: One group of people will see my work and then it would refer to other band members of other groups and so.

00:25:10.260 –> 00:25:13.980 Wayne Ebinger: I owe a lot to them and they’re always fun too.

00:25:14.430 –> 00:25:16.320 Wayne Ebinger: photographs I’ve been with it was nine years.

00:25:16.920 –> 00:25:20.580 Wayne Ebinger: After that, and then some other well as an individual.

00:25:21.750 –> 00:25:32.700 Wayne Ebinger: I know Tommy Emmanuel is very electric on stage with his guitar playing and but there’s there are so many and it’s hard to pinpoint on that, but.

00:25:34.830 –> 00:25:36.330 Wayne Ebinger: Any any musician is fun.

00:25:37.230 –> 00:25:37.860 Joseph McElroy: Never shot a.

00:25:39.600 –> 00:25:40.200 Joseph McElroy: musical.

00:25:42.000 –> 00:25:44.790 Joseph McElroy: tastes, have you got the time to take a few of them.

00:25:53.790 –> 00:25:55.230 Wayne Ebinger: I could I couldn’t hear.

00:25:56.220 –> 00:25:56.520 Joseph McElroy: Can you.

00:25:56.910 –> 00:25:57.840 Wayne Ebinger: hear me now.

00:25:58.170 –> 00:26:08.640 Wayne Ebinger: Okay yeah the musical heroes, yes, actually, when I was at the Plaza live in Orlando theater Steve Gadd now Dr. Steve Gadd the drummer.

00:26:09.780 –> 00:26:10.410 Wayne Ebinger: He was playing.

00:26:10.590 –> 00:26:11.760 Joseph McElroy: In there twice, he was with.

00:26:13.830 –> 00:26:20.430 Wayne Ebinger: Bob James and his group of the jazz things and so he was there that one night and I got him to be signed a.

00:26:21.270 –> 00:26:31.800 Wayne Ebinger: drum head for me again and he put it on there and I’ve got that on my wall but Steve Gadd is as far as a musician it’s just because it doesn’t mean being the drummer and kind of thing is just amazing.

00:26:32.580 –> 00:26:42.090 Wayne Ebinger: To have met him and he played there three or four times and every time was great to walk in and they know you when you walk in it’s very comfortable it’s like walking into a friend’s house yeah.

00:26:42.510 –> 00:26:43.500 Wayne Ebinger: Rosie Steve gadd.

00:26:44.580 –> 00:26:46.200 Joseph McElroy: All right, it’s good.

00:26:47.520 –> 00:26:55.320 Joseph McElroy: To find out more about what you do what you know what you’re sharing your experience in the smokies and the Maggie Valley and things like that.

00:26:56.370 –> 00:26:58.320 Joseph McElroy: Somebody relocations for photography.

00:26:59.790 –> 00:27:00.780 Wayne Ebinger: Similar locations.

00:27:06.810 –> 00:27:06.960 i’m.

00:29:32.520 –> 00:29:47.130 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast so my guest is Wayne Ebinger, so Wayne what caused us to relocate to Maggie Valley and better business here.

00:29:48.300 –> 00:29:59.310 Wayne Ebinger: And I’ll try to make it as short as possible, but when we were when I was doing the things back in Orlando, I was working two to three jobs, one of them was the veteran anything four days a week, and weekends were open.

00:29:59.880 –> 00:30:10.830 Wayne Ebinger: Because of starting way back because I was on the road, being a musician on weekends and so after I got off the road touring and stuff.

00:30:11.400 –> 00:30:20.190 Wayne Ebinger: I kind of had some with the photography and developed into the what is the weddings so we did that on the weekends and still do the veterinarian a week.

00:30:20.760 –> 00:30:30.510 Wayne Ebinger: But during that time we were coming up to Maggie Valley in the mid-80s, to my wife and I before we had our children and would stay up here and just.

00:30:31.140 –> 00:30:39.480 Wayne Ebinger: rent different places that lake Juneau Alaska, which is a Methodist headquarters at the time and which would come up twice a year just for that.

00:30:40.800 –> 00:30:50.220 Wayne Ebinger: And I just from there with the scenery the mountains, is it just fell in love with it because the in Florida you get nothing but flat land and.

00:30:50.790 –> 00:31:02.070 Wayne Ebinger: Hot and humid and things like that, but after why we decided to we bought some property and Maggie Valley then we paid that off, and then we build a house and then use it as a.

00:31:02.970 –> 00:31:12.540 Wayne Ebinger: short term rental here in just for the summer and it turned out to be a blessing, as far as having a rented and taking care of itself.

00:31:13.140 –> 00:31:21.840 Wayne Ebinger: So after about 15 years we had the crunch and all that and 80 and 80 90 was in 2008 so anyway, we figured well.

00:31:22.380 –> 00:31:32.190 Wayne Ebinger: Though we’re going to do so, I got the time where I could retire from the veterinary thing, so I said let’s my wife and I said, well, maybe we should go up to the House or something, but our kids said.

00:31:32.970 –> 00:31:35.940 Wayne Ebinger: Once you go up to the mountain house and live, so we do that full time now.

00:31:36.750 –> 00:31:45.900 Wayne Ebinger: 2013 but being here, in the meantime we come up to visit the Blue Ridge Parkway is just around the corner from us it’s like from Maggie Valley to five miles.

00:31:46.860 –> 00:32:00.960 Wayne Ebinger: West on Soco is so good roading they make a left in your another five minutes you’re up on top of the water-rock now and then you can take that take blue Ridge, all the way to Asheville and beyond, or he made a right-hand turn you end up in Tennessee.

00:32:01.350 –> 00:32:05.940 Wayne Ebinger: So there’s a lot of seeing so many CDs in the graveyard.

00:32:07.380 –> 00:32:14.940 Wayne Ebinger: area there are waterfalls through there and it’s just and it’s a great day to hike they’ve hiked up their bike riding.

00:32:16.380 –> 00:32:21.930 Wayne Ebinger: So the things to do up here are just unlimited, especially if you outdoors type.

00:32:23.670 –> 00:32:34.260 Wayne Ebinger: Of course, like, I mentioned in the Cataloochee Valley is always great to do with the history that’s there and the old churches Baptist churches that are up there from the 1800s and lot of.

00:32:35.940 –> 00:32:41.100 Wayne Ebinger: Beautiful mountain views from here to sunsets or just killer.

00:32:42.090 –> 00:32:52.770 Joseph McElroy: If somebody was coming through the mountains grabs Where would you recommend the best photographs to be.

00:32:53.910 –> 00:33:00.360 Wayne Ebinger: I prefer it because our House actually looks from the West, although we’re a North facing towards the Cataloochee mountain.

00:33:01.890 –> 00:33:07.320 Wayne Ebinger: The sunsets are just amazing kind of I’m looking at your background, right now, this is.

00:33:07.320 –> 00:33:08.070 Wayne Ebinger: What it looks like.

00:33:08.220 –> 00:33:18.060 Wayne Ebinger: Almost every night, especially in the fall when the cooler temperatures are in the clouds and I’ll come in, but that is just that’s my go-to place it then takes much time to get there.

00:33:18.660 –> 00:33:23.730 Wayne Ebinger: And you get great results, and also a friend of mine was into Nashville photography.

00:33:24.270 –> 00:33:37.770 Wayne Ebinger: And so I was going with him and I learned a lot with him with telescopes and just amazing stuff way beyond my capabilities of photography but up there, you get the stars and he would we would actually find the planets and photograph them but.

00:33:38.790 –> 00:33:47.040 Wayne Ebinger: it’s great for evening photography is a what a rock knob is great because you have the option of shooting towards can’t count Cherokee.

00:33:47.910 –> 00:34:00.870 Wayne Ebinger: which you can actually see from what a rotten where the Indian reservation is and Paris hotel and all that and gambling, but that’s a really nice place what recognize my favorite is nearby and a lot of things to do they’re.

00:34:01.920 –> 00:34:03.810 Wayne Ebinger: hiking biking and geography.

00:34:05.040 –> 00:34:07.110 Joseph McElroy: And what are the best winter what’s.

00:34:08.400 –> 00:34:09.390 Wayne Ebinger: The best winter months.

00:34:10.500 –> 00:34:12.240 Joseph McElroy: Winter spots, the best winter.

00:34:12.480 –> 00:34:13.560 Wayne Ebinger: spots well.

00:34:14.910 –> 00:34:22.320 Wayne Ebinger: The whole place changes because you don’t see leaves anymore it’s all empty branches and will every year we’ll look over the mountain and say.

00:34:22.950 –> 00:34:28.740 Wayne Ebinger: wow look at how many houses are there, we didn’t know where they’re you know we started up here 20 something years ago, you can.

00:34:29.310 –> 00:34:38.550 Wayne Ebinger: count on your hand kinda like, how many were across from the from you, but now it’s like and you can tell by the lights and Center on it, but it’s the people have come in here and there.

00:34:39.630 –> 00:34:41.130 Wayne Ebinger: But I would say that.

00:34:42.450 –> 00:34:44.640 Wayne Ebinger: In the wintertime that the snows are.

00:34:46.350 –> 00:34:46.590 Wayne Ebinger: aren’t.

00:34:46.650 –> 00:34:51.750 Wayne Ebinger: Really too bad we have maybe two or three weeks out of the whole season, that you have to, we have to walk down and.

00:34:52.320 –> 00:35:01.890 Wayne Ebinger: They get the car at the farmer, the Lewis farm to get our car, but we have to walk about three-quarters of a mile to get down to it, and go up to our place to get back, but.

00:35:03.540 –> 00:35:16.020 Wayne Ebinger: But the scenes, for that, get like you to Las Vegas is nice to go through when it’s in the winter in the snow because they have the Cross that’s there on the lake and as it’s lit up and with snow, it just makes a beautiful scene there.

00:35:18.210 –> 00:35:25.740 Wayne Ebinger: And even the places that well you can’t go on the parkway we when it’s snowing and I, so you can’t really say go to in parkway in the wintertime because you’re not.

00:35:26.160 –> 00:35:37.950 Wayne Ebinger: it’s not safe and they close it down so you’re limited there, so you just have to kind of look around and some of the streams are nice when he had the snow on the side on the Moss and the trees and you’ve got those running.

00:35:40.410 –> 00:35:51.510 Wayne Ebinger: waters in the streams of the rivers there Jonathan creek which is just grabbed behind the Meadowlark motel here is always moving here that water in the stream it’s just like put you in another.

00:35:54.360 –> 00:36:11.730 Wayne Ebinger: Quiet solid solitude place and it’s just it’s nice to do, but these streams are fun to do and experiment with you see photographs with the waterfalls or streams and it looks like they look like milk looking look to with all the water is kind of whiten and soft.

00:36:12.510 –> 00:36:29.610 Wayne Ebinger: Learning that technique is simple to do but doing that once you accomplish that it’s like look what I can do kind of thing is show people to be but it mixed up the photo look so much nicer simple technique, but it’s I don’t know how to do that just yet, maybe next time.

00:36:30.540 –> 00:36:38.820 Joseph McElroy: So I know you mentioned elk fest and so you voted for that, and it is for tips for elk?

00:36:40.170 –> 00:36:52.860 Wayne Ebinger: um well, the main thing is to respect them, you know they are they’re wild that although they come up here and they’ll like they’ll come right up you know within 10 feet of you if you just.

00:36:54.120 –> 00:36:59.370 Wayne Ebinger: Keep your distance willingness to be saved use your common sense don’t feed them don’t do anything like in which people do and then.

00:37:00.000 –> 00:37:06.570 Wayne Ebinger: You know that they’re huge animals, I mean they’re not they’re bigger than horses and they that you never know what they’re going to do we.

00:37:07.050 –> 00:37:15.360 Wayne Ebinger: And there’s usually a male one male about and he’s we have one quick story about it coming up our driveway actually cut a little video of it.

00:37:15.840 –> 00:37:26.790 Wayne Ebinger: He was coming up the driveway and he has beautiful antlers which they lose every year but they’re very lightweight because they’re just hollow basically but he was coming up drawn up in.

00:37:27.990 –> 00:37:33.780 Wayne Ebinger: Our driveway, which is about a 33-degree mountain thing is I’m watching their photograph.

00:37:34.290 –> 00:37:42.090 Wayne Ebinger: doing a video, and I say my wife when I saw her coming around the corner get ready to come up the MIC a little turn to go up the driveway and she sees your stop because.

00:37:42.570 –> 00:37:51.960 Wayne Ebinger: it’s not you know we see them all the time, so he came on up it walked on up through me after the driveway and walked around I named Elvis the elk.

00:37:52.020 –> 00:37:52.290 Joseph McElroy: Which is.

00:37:53.910 –> 00:38:00.180 Wayne Ebinger: Not original, but it was nice it’s a great video to view that and we’ve had some of the males come up.

00:38:00.960 –> 00:38:14.460 Wayne Ebinger: One day we were looking over our porch just say you’re on your porch and there are 15 feet down you look over the porch and there, it goes for females is walking right in front of us going around the back of the House and about three minutes later.

00:38:15.540 –> 00:38:26.400 Wayne Ebinger: Here comes the boy, you know it is a male the because they’re kind of like in the rut season stuff as it comes right by right in front of us and walks up there and they look at you, and they just keep walking through.

00:38:26.910 –> 00:38:36.150 Wayne Ebinger: But you know you get photos like that, but the best place is in the fall when they get into the right season, they start viewing.

00:38:37.200 –> 00:38:45.960 Wayne Ebinger: Which is a beautiful sound that they make the calling the near the females, and with a long telephoto lens you can go to the Cataloochee Valley that’s where they.

00:38:46.560 –> 00:39:03.150 Wayne Ebinger: hang out in the end for food and where they like to live and there that’s where you get your best photographs and in that area, because it’s good to a point, now that we’ve maxed out they’ve been here 27 years now 22 years.

00:39:04.710 –> 00:39:05.220 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:39:05.640 –> 00:39:12.990 Wayne Ebinger: When they move they used to be here, and then they brought him in from that MIT from out West, and this is the group and then keep going.

00:39:15.030 –> 00:39:15.270 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:39:15.990 –> 00:39:23.580 Wayne Ebinger: You can be driving I’m driving home here right on so go road here in front of the Meadowlark motel and here comes.

00:39:24.180 –> 00:39:32.400 Wayne Ebinger: You know anywhere from six to I’ve kind of 18 at one time the elk walking on the sidewalk coming up, they were crossing through the course.

00:39:32.850 –> 00:39:43.620 Wayne Ebinger: Where people stop you know they watch and look at it and just let them go let them, baby, so a lot of English, we have cell phones not unleashing the pictures on cell phones I drive a camera you can do that.

00:39:44.160 –> 00:39:44.910 Right.

00:39:46.230 –> 00:39:47.970 Wayne Ebinger: stealth, and just don’t get too close.

00:39:50.190 –> 00:39:51.870 Joseph McElroy: lets I mean I think it’s the society.

00:39:52.980 –> 00:40:05.280 Joseph McElroy: is coming back here but we’ll be back next year yeah yeah that’s I think that’s a great festival celebrating the meal and all the culture and all the things that you can do around here to grey sale.

00:40:05.760 –> 00:40:08.700 Wayne Ebinger: yeah That was a great festival they had there unfortunately because of.

00:40:09.180 –> 00:40:12.480 Wayne Ebinger: The Cobra Tang yellow couldn’t do that this year.

00:40:13.440 –> 00:40:18.540 Joseph McElroy: They couldn’t get it, but they couldn’t get skin scheduled for this year so we’ll be there next year.

00:40:19.890 –> 00:40:26.220 Joseph McElroy: They do I was wondering, do you have permits or fees and do photography and the snatch national.

00:40:27.720 –> 00:40:27.960 Joseph McElroy: Like.

00:40:28.170 –> 00:40:28.890 Wayne Ebinger: we’d be getting it.

00:40:29.790 –> 00:40:38.220 Joseph McElroy: You have to have to any permits or fee required to do say commercial photography in the mountains smoky mountain Park, the national park

00:40:39.090 –> 00:40:39.930 i’m.

00:40:40.950 –> 00:40:42.270 Wayne Ebinger: Not that i’m aware of.

00:40:43.770 –> 00:40:51.750 Wayne Ebinger: All, although I found out because I am in the senior group I was able to get a lifetime membership for national parks.

00:40:51.930 –> 00:40:57.210 Wayne Ebinger: For $10 okay that’s good, so my wife and I did that and fishing, too, but uh.

00:40:57.810 –> 00:40:58.170 Wayne Ebinger: Not.

00:40:58.770 –> 00:41:01.470 Wayne Ebinger: The photograph I don’t believe you need to have anything like.

00:41:02.460 –> 00:41:05.910 Wayne Ebinger: That I do real estate photography to when I’m asked to do that, but.

00:41:07.050 –> 00:41:07.470 Wayne Ebinger: Now.

00:41:08.490 –> 00:41:21.750 Joseph McElroy: Okay cool all right, when we come back, but yeah you’re well known for knowing about the venues and events and things like that some of your favorite places in different kinds.

00:41:22.890 –> 00:41:23.250 Joseph McElroy: I will be.

00:41:24.480 –> 00:41:25.890 Wayne Ebinger: Looking forward to it okay let’s do that.

00:44:00.210 –> 00:44:10.500 Joseph McElroy: Howdy, this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and my guest Wayne Ebinger and Wayne you’ve done so much.

00:44:11.370 –> 00:44:21.570 Joseph McElroy: photography of musicians and artists this in this era, been to a lot of places so imagine we got a tourist that’s coming here and we’re going to talk, talk to them and we’re going to.

00:44:22.440 –> 00:44:39.270 Joseph McElroy: pick some places that you have types and you can tell us which might be the best variety, for example, if somebody is looking for a regional music venue where you can like my acoustic music or an artist performing where we go.

00:44:40.770 –> 00:44:41.730 Wayne Ebinger: To Actually, I would say.

00:44:42.750 –> 00:44:49.380 Wayne Ebinger: Especially if there were coming into this area of the Maggie Valley area if I had mentioned the elevated mountain distillery which is just.

00:44:50.520 –> 00:44:53.040 Wayne Ebinger: down the road from Meadowlark motel.

00:44:54.180 –> 00:44:58.740 Wayne Ebinger: With Dave angel, he has entertainment, there are five nights a week now.

00:44:59.760 –> 00:45:03.420 Wayne Ebinger: different things Wednesday night we opened up the.

00:45:04.710 –> 00:45:14.490 Wayne Ebinger: We started an open jam for musicians on Wednesday nights Thursday night, they have karaoke and there’s some great local talent and people coming in here with karaoke I was.

00:45:14.970 –> 00:45:25.260 Wayne Ebinger: Always worried about what karaoke but there are some great voices out there, that are not in groups days, then Friday or Saturday, they have bands and it could be anywhere from.

00:45:27.180 –> 00:45:29.070 Wayne Ebinger: bluegrass to jazz to.

00:45:31.980 –> 00:45:40.950 Wayne Ebinger: Just rock band to there’s a lot of that going on, too, but that’s on Friday Saturday, and sometimes on Sundays you’ll have other events too with music-related there that’s right here in the Valley.

00:45:42.000 –> 00:45:54.510 Wayne Ebinger: The other place was placed would be closest would be in Asheville I do a lot of photography at a place called ISIS musical, which is on the West side of Asheville and they have.

00:45:55.560 –> 00:46:03.570 Wayne Ebinger: A stage area where I had we can have dining the great food there and then they also have a lounge upstairs and they can have.

00:46:04.680 –> 00:46:15.450 Wayne Ebinger: lounge shows first like from six to eight and downstairs that with the dinners eight to 11 or so so two things can be going on there, and they have big band stuff they have.

00:46:16.770 –> 00:46:17.910 Wayne Ebinger: bluegrass they’ve had.

00:46:18.960 –> 00:46:19.380 Wayne Ebinger: Any.

00:46:21.150 –> 00:46:31.290 Wayne Ebinger: Any of the events and what I like about ISIS because he does a great genre of different types of music there the other ones that are around.

00:46:33.120 –> 00:46:38.670 Wayne Ebinger: would be they trying to get the name they just changed the name of it least open one up it’s called the.

00:46:41.040 –> 00:46:45.780 Wayne Ebinger: Hazel Robinson amphitheater what you said Ashville, which is an open theater which is normally.

00:46:46.080 –> 00:46:47.430 Joseph McElroy: was for Stage productions like.

00:46:47.430 –> 00:47:00.840 Wayne Ebinger: Shakespeare and they have anally bed balsam range opened up this year in April, when when the first thing that the coven opened up, so we did the first concert down there out there and outside perfect stadium seating the outside.

00:47:01.740 –> 00:47:05.370 Joseph McElroy: they’re doing outside of there so I’ve been concert now are.

00:47:06.450 –> 00:47:10.290 Joseph McElroy: The pandemic this concert t right.

00:47:10.350 –> 00:47:13.230 Wayne Ebinger: Yes, right right here at the festival ground where they have.

00:47:14.460 –> 00:47:14.760 Wayne Ebinger: Where the.

00:47:16.200 –> 00:47:23.550 Wayne Ebinger: Hillbilly jams, going to be this weekend in the winter clothes, like in the 20s and 30s but they have they invented the thing where they had the.

00:47:23.940 –> 00:47:31.800 Wayne Ebinger: drive in concerts when you come into your car you stay in your car you don’t get out in the bands, playing on stage, and you can.

00:47:32.400 –> 00:47:40.560 Wayne Ebinger: You know X amount of dollars to get in with a carload of people and you bring your own food, but it was our House sets right above.

00:47:41.040 –> 00:47:46.680 Wayne Ebinger: The festival grounds and I can see the stage from my house were 3500 feet up and we can hear it was.

00:47:47.610 –> 00:47:54.900 Wayne Ebinger: It was too cold to go there do one of the shows guys I’m not going down there, but we sat out on our port on our own thing with the.

00:47:55.350 –> 00:48:03.450 Wayne Ebinger: Fire pit and that and just listen to the music, it was grace potter was the plan and they’ve had Sam Bush there this year grace potter and.

00:48:04.440 –> 00:48:20.880 Wayne Ebinger: Young career has been there and Keller Williams and just like five of those concert servants, but the concert thing was a great invention I don’t know if it’s going to work when we get back to normal, things are not because people want to get out and.

00:48:21.510 –> 00:48:21.840 That.

00:48:24.270 –> 00:48:28.560 Joseph McElroy: sounds like it might have a remote chance to live to see that’s kind of quick coffee.

00:48:29.760 –> 00:48:38.160 Joseph McElroy: hey What about the truck traditional thing I know that there’s something ground has been a long, long time but yes, yes Saturday satellites.

00:48:39.330 –> 00:48:41.670 Joseph McElroy: places that are good around the area.

00:48:44.070 –> 00:48:51.990 Wayne Ebinger: yeah the stomping grounds, been a mainstay here for you, for clogging that’s what it’s all about there and they’re yeah they’re open just in the fall.

00:48:52.590 –> 00:49:09.510 Wayne Ebinger: The summer and fall and it’s a Saturday night at eight o’clock and the great a lot of room for parking and clogging if you’ve not seen it or into it it’s a wonderful place there’s a huge like an antique-looking barn but huge huge place.

00:49:10.740 –> 00:49:18.390 Wayne Ebinger: For entertainment but stomping grounds Greg until, of course, one of the legends was here is hometown was.

00:49:19.260 –> 00:49:25.680 Wayne Ebinger: Raymond Fairchild and he had a place right across from the distillery and called the Maggie Valley Opry.

00:49:26.190 –> 00:49:38.400 Wayne Ebinger: And he would play every Friday and Saturday night and I’ll go down there and photograph them and sit with him and be talking but unfortunately lost him two years ago coming up this year, and what a character, David.

00:49:39.480 –> 00:49:48.750 Wayne Ebinger: David Fairchild was um but so you get you to know that kind of desert there’s I think they’re starting now to have dance clubs or something like that.

00:49:49.290 –> 00:50:01.620 Wayne Ebinger: In Waynesville which is just around the corner from Maggie Valley and but I haven’t looked I just heard about that, so I think that’s a place where people get out which, I might have ballroom dancing I think we’re going to do that waltz.

00:50:02.790 –> 00:50:03.180 Wayne Ebinger: Whatever.

00:50:03.570 –> 00:50:08.610 Joseph McElroy: method, they have the streets as a part of the nights do angel.

00:50:09.030 –> 00:50:16.860 Wayne Ebinger: They do yep that the Chatelet Wayne’s will kind of shuts down after five o’clock that’s one of the reasons we like to move up here but.

00:50:17.580 –> 00:50:23.400 Wayne Ebinger: They have one coming out, I think I think Darren Nicholson and his band are going to be there in about a week or two with the Friday night.

00:50:23.970 –> 00:50:29.070 Wayne Ebinger: street dance and they’ve really incorporated this year with the focal mood coming to town.

00:50:29.910 –> 00:50:44.430 Wayne Ebinger: that’s been on hiatus too, and that, but they close the street down, and you have live bands and entertainment vendors and local entertainment local music and it’s a great thing it’s free you know people who go down there and just have fun with that.

00:50:45.000 –> 00:50:50.340 Joseph McElroy: So, so you know I bet you never thought about tools which, which are the best from the area for suffering some become.

00:50:51.510 –> 00:50:52.290 Wayne Ebinger: The festivals.

00:50:53.190 –> 00:50:58.440 Joseph McElroy: festivals Western North Carolina that are at our annual the best ones to come down.

00:50:59.220 –> 00:51:05.790 Wayne Ebinger: Of course, well, the hillbilly jams, have been a mainstay this is the 10th year I’ve been involved with them for nine.

00:51:07.590 –> 00:51:19.110 Wayne Ebinger: The lake Logan, which is an Episcopal church owns that which is a beautiful place there for recreation, a big for boating and camp camp camp I’m not sure what.

00:51:20.970 –> 00:51:26.850 Wayne Ebinger: That is, they have the outside concerts as well in the summer, usually around July.

00:51:29.340 –> 00:51:40.080 Wayne Ebinger: The festivals there’s the in Hendersonville or down South in regard they have the white squirrel festival and there are all kinds of festivals just.

00:51:41.160 –> 00:51:45.300 Wayne Ebinger: You know there if you have an idea, it could be an acorn festival if you have a.

00:51:46.830 –> 00:52:00.540 Wayne Ebinger: doesn’t matter people going to go because it’s fun and music but there’s around the Asheville area oh there’s another place a new venue that’s been out it’s called the Barnett paint fork which is nearby here up above Weaver bill and they’re.

00:52:02.220 –> 00:52:05.100 Wayne Ebinger: they’re having the group called the Outlaw, which is a.

00:52:06.210 –> 00:52:11.220 Wayne Ebinger: well-known rock group, if you will, and balsam range and they bring people in there, but there.

00:52:11.970 –> 00:52:25.980 Wayne Ebinger: it’s a beautiful place and venue for live entertainment and that’s about a 45-minute drive from Orlando from Maggie valley and but that’s a that’s one of the newer venues but music, you can find it up here and that’s.

00:52:28.140 –> 00:52:30.330 Wayne Ebinger: When I got here, it was like oh, my goodness.

00:52:30.720 –> 00:52:32.640 Wayne Ebinger: All these young kids and their.

00:52:32.790 –> 00:52:36.510 Wayne Ebinger: They learn to play musical instruments wonder five years old.

00:52:38.190 –> 00:52:40.590 Joseph McElroy: Oh, we got to come to in here so so.

00:52:41.610 –> 00:52:46.170 Joseph McElroy: I want you to tell people how they get Ahold of you and how they see your work.

00:52:46.560 –> 00:52:52.230 Wayne Ebinger: Okay, what right now I don’t have the web page, excuse me anymore.

00:52:53.370 –> 00:53:03.060 Wayne Ebinger: When I moved up here, I just want Facebook to be doing well, so I just kept you can catch me on Facebook Wayne Ebinger that’s the name and then you’ll see what my recent.

00:53:03.810 –> 00:53:12.930 Wayne Ebinger: photographs are and the people I’ve been photographing and actually the what the concert I did here just last this past weekend will be on there starting tomorrow.

00:53:14.130 –> 00:53:17.340 Joseph McElroy: They want to do work with you know to hire you for some work, what would they do.

00:53:17.700 –> 00:53:20.100 Wayne Ebinger: They can contact me through the messenger on there it’d be fine.

00:53:20.760 –> 00:53:22.380 Joseph McElroy: Okay, you have messenger.

00:53:24.870 –> 00:53:36.570 Joseph McElroy: Well, thank you for being on the show, at the end of it, I want to talk, talk radio.NYC network it’s a fabulous network for all sorts of blog cast we’re here every Tuesday night from six to seven pm.

00:53:37.860 –> 00:53:51.900 Joseph McElroy: records as one about it and exploring the city so I’d love for you the variants all that a New York and the Smoky Mountain and then the next week same time.

Our guest in this episode is Neil Hutcheson, an Award-winning Filmmaker, Photographer, and Author.

He resides in Raleigh, N.C. where he works as a producer and director of the Language and Life Project for N.C. State University, but spends a great deal of time in the Great Smokies, the location of several of his most popular projects.

His most well-known works include books and films about Maggie Valley moonshine legend Popcorn Sutton, as well as books and videos on Cherokee culture and language, along with documentaries and books pertaining to Appalachian and African American vernacular, climate change, and heritage fisheries of the Outer Banks on the N.C. coast.

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

SHOW NOTES:

Tonight’s show starts off with an introduction of what to expect from this episode. After announcements from the show’s sponsors, our host Joseph McElroy introduces tonight’s special guest: Neil Hutcheson. The two go through and lightly discuss Neil’s well-known projects, his background, and Neil explains how he unexpectedly came to be in this industry and where his interest in language and filmmaking came from. The two swap origin stories shortly before the break.

Coming back from the break, the discussion shifts into more of Neil’s works, such as his documentaries. One project that they go more into depth about was a play about Louis Redman. Neil explains who Louis Redman was and what he did and how his case and the history surrounding it reflected the media at the time. He emphasizes that the media can get distorted and how no one really knows the true Louis Redman. The conversation moves on to the topic of “mountain culture.” Neil wrote about this culture in his book and explains how it has changed in recent years since he last wrote about it in the early 2000s. The two discuss what mountain culture is and dismantle the negative stereotypes and perspectives that surround it.

Coming back from the break, Neil discusses how he got the local community to trust and accept him into their community. Additionally, Neil talks about how he got to get on a deeper level with Popcorn Sutton, especially since he often gave off the impression of always putting on a show. Neil explained how Popcorn Sutton could give off that impression, but he was a genuine performer and to an extent, was being himself. This leads to the conversation about how Neil was able to successfully capture who Popcorn Sutton is as a person in his movies and especially in his book. He goes on to talk about his more recent projects, many of which come from his own companies.

The final segment starts off with an introduction of one of Neil’s latest works, involving documenting another aspect of mountain culture: mountain music. The documentary can be found on YouTube and is called the Queen Family. Joseph and Neil talk about their favorite parts of the mountains and mountain culture in general. Neil explains why he loves nature in the mountains so much. They go further into their discussion by talking about more specific local spots at Maggie Valley and Neil tells what his itinerary would be like when visiting. The episode closes with special shoutouts where the audience can find more about Neil and his upcoming works.

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00:00:27.840 –> 00:00:32.310 Joseph McElroy: Thanks for joining us on this week’s episode of gateway to the smokies.

00:00:33.270 –> 00:00:41.970 Joseph McElroy: This podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the great smoky mountains national park, and the surrounding towns.

00:00:42.330 –> 00:00:51.390 Joseph McElroy: these areas are filled with ancient natural beauty a deep storied history and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes.

00:00:51.840 –> 00:01:04.770 Joseph McElroy: I am Joseph Franklyn 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.

00:01:05.340 –> 00:01:12.900 Joseph McElroy: today’s podcast is about outlaws and outliers in the smokies, but first a little sponsorship information.

00:01:13.530 –> 00:01:21.240 Joseph McElroy: I want you to imagine a place evocative motor courts of the past a modern and vibrant environment with a Chic Appalachian field.

00:01:21.810 –> 00:01:28.740 Joseph McElroy: a place for adventure and for relaxation imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain here and it’s a trout stream.

00:01:29.010 –> 00:01:47.820 Joseph McElroy: grill the catch on fire and eat accompanied by fine lines or craft beers imagine it plays 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.

00:01:48.840 –> 00:02:02.700 Joseph McElroy: smokies adventure.com that smokies plural adventure singular. COM has a site that features listings and information about the smoking’s hiking wedding venues books trail Max resources.

00:02:03.210 –> 00:02:21.150 Joseph McElroy: The emphasis on smoky adventures is outdoor recreation outdoor life events like weddings and adventures, along with providing information and lodging family and family entertainment events conventions and honeymoons and more it’s the leading information portal of the smoky mountain.

00:02:23.310 –> 00:02:28.740 Joseph McElroy: I want to mention some events coming up this is summertime in the smokies there are lots of events.

00:02:29.790 –> 00:02:40.650 Joseph McElroy: So you can sort of search for them and find them just about anywhere I pick some that I think are great and also you know, relative to the businesses, the business I run in the mountains.

00:02:42.360 –> 00:02:57.480 Joseph McElroy: And the first one is the Darren Nicholson bluegrass band camp and concert somebody that know anything about bluegrass know Darren Nicholson and he’s a member of balsam range he has his own band he’s a grammy award-nominated artists and.

00:02:58.710 –> 00:03:08.310 Joseph McElroy: It has won many of the bluegrass towards this event is for aspiring musicians to learn and interact with some of the best artists in the business.

00:03:08.700 –> 00:03:27.090 Joseph McElroy: And the venue culminate in an open to the public, all Stuart star concert on July 17 that’s this Saturday this this this band camp will be repeated in future years so look forward if you’re listening in the future to this podcast but for now July 17, 201

00:03:29.130 –> 00:03:44.880 Joseph McElroy: Go to Meadwolarkmotel.com look under the mountain heritage smoky mountain heritage events and you’ll find this event, and you can purchase tickets to come to it, you can also with lodging you get a free concert and you get half price on the band camp.

00:03:45.990 –> 00:03:53.850 Joseph McElroy: They have him coming July 23 and 24th is hillbilly jam, the famous hillbilly Jam in Maggie Valley in North Carolina open the public.

00:03:54.120 –> 00:04:09.270 Joseph McElroy: Both days music festival with crafts and food, food vendors moonshiners of the discovery channel car and bike show, and more so, go to the hillbilly jam.com or 82845-079795.

00:04:10.560 –> 00:04:16.890 Joseph McElroy: This year is the 55th season of the shindig on the green presented by the folk heritage committee.

00:04:18.090 –> 00:04:18.750 Joseph McElroy: Along with.

00:04:19.800 –> 00:04:28.980 Joseph McElroy: headlining sponsor Allen’s jewelry and pawn Finkelstein’s loan office but it’s a free event in the heart of downtown Ashville it goes over several days during the summer.

00:04:30.090 –> 00:04:41.820 Joseph McElroy: And then the left to the left the days left in July or the 17th of 24th of the 31st as well as the August 14 and 20 21st and the heart.

00:04:42.090 –> 00:04:57.420 Joseph McElroy: Of downtown Asheville parks what pack squares park Roger part pack square park called Roger McGuire Green that’s pack square park Roger McQueen’s that Roger McGuire Green I gotta learn to say that.

00:04:59.400 –> 00:05:16.410 Joseph McElroy: it’s got lots of music lots of vendors it’s a great thing to go to has been going for 55 years I’m sure you’ll find it, this is also the of the 94th annual mountain dance and folk festival as a ticketed event at the Pinsky hall auditorium at unc Asheville which is.

00:05:18.450 –> 00:05:28.380 Joseph McElroy: 300 liberty lane Ashville it takes place every each of the nights Thursday through Saturday 6:30pm nightly.

00:05:29.730 –> 00:05:30.150 Joseph McElroy: and

00:05:31.170 –> 00:05:43.080 Joseph McElroy: I think the upcoming dates are August 5 Sixth and Seventh, so I advise you to go, that was a 94-year event, it has to be doing something else, and it showcases music dancers, and storytellers.

00:05:43.650 –> 00:05:55.110 Joseph McElroy: And today, I have great and fabulous guests he is Neil Hutcheson is an award-winning filmmaker photographer, and author, who has one, among other things, three.

00:05:55.770 –> 00:06:00.630 Joseph McElroy: One, among other things, three Emmy awards his work has been featured on.

00:06:01.410 –> 00:06:12.180 Joseph McElroy: PBS the history channel discovery others he resides in Raleigh North Carolina where he works as a producer and director of the language and LIFE project for nc State University.

00:06:12.540 –> 00:06:25.740 Joseph McElroy: But he also spent a great deal of time and the great smokies which have been the location of several of his most popular projects and famous subjects like popcorn suck Hello Neal,

00:06:26.190 –> 00:06:27.840 Neal Hutcheson: hi thanks for having me.

00:06:28.290 –> 00:06:32.520 Joseph McElroy: Oh I’m so glad, so you grew up in Chapel Hill right.

00:06:32.910 –> 00:06:34.170 Neal Hutcheson: I did that’s right yep.

00:06:34.620 –> 00:06:42.360 Joseph McElroy: cool and then you went to Boone translate in Spain, and then the Raleigh where you studied at NC state is that all correct.

00:06:42.510 –> 00:06:43.980 Neal Hutcheson: yeah you’ve got my whole rap sheet.

00:06:45.450 –> 00:06:46.230 Joseph McElroy: sheet right.

00:06:46.440 –> 00:06:48.480 Joseph McElroy: Well, I want to do so, I had to notice it.

00:06:49.230 –> 00:06:50.520 Neal Hutcheson: Okay okay all right.

00:06:51.360 –> 00:06:59.370 Joseph McElroy: So imagine you could have a pretty good conversation about basketball right yeah are you a fan of North Carolina sports.

00:06:59.700 –> 00:07:06.960 Neal Hutcheson: Well, you know you can’t really ignore them and growing up in Chapel hill like it was like you know it.

00:07:07.590 –> 00:07:08.610 Neal Hutcheson: was like you know you.

00:07:08.700 –> 00:07:13.920 Neal Hutcheson: got you your Carolina blue it’s you know you don’t even have a choice.

00:07:14.670 –> 00:07:17.700 Joseph McElroy: You don’t I mean and you would probably run a town if you didn’t.

00:07:19.680 –> 00:07:27.990 Joseph McElroy: It was a college town so but it’s a great college and I went there a few times you know to see Duke Carolina but.

00:07:29.460 –> 00:07:31.110 Joseph McElroy: I enjoyed it so.

00:07:31.350 –> 00:07:34.380 Joseph McElroy: I grew up in a very strong culture part of the state of North.

00:07:34.380 –> 00:07:35.010 Carolina.

00:07:36.090 –> 00:07:53.220 Joseph McElroy: But you obviously you’re a gifted art artist, with a passion for history and music and culture and colorful characters I understand to cut your teeth professionally by working with the NC State University linguist wall from and some other social scientist.

00:07:54.420 –> 00:07:55.230 Neal Hutcheson: yeah that’s it.

00:07:57.960 –> 00:08:05.520 Neal Hutcheson: I’m hit the ground with working with Walt and doing language programs, I mean that’s kind of what brought me to the mountains in the first place.

00:08:05.850 –> 00:08:13.560 Joseph McElroy: yeah it was that is that when you did your for your sort of first real big step for a career when you did a film called mountain talk.

00:08:14.190 –> 00:08:16.590 Neal Hutcheson: yeah that film was pivotal.

00:08:17.640 –> 00:08:32.250 Neal Hutcheson: For sure um and I’d say you know that was the first full-length documentary that I had done and, and it really allowed me to spend a lot of time up there, where you are right now man and to meet people and just to kind of.

00:08:33.420 –> 00:08:36.330 Neal Hutcheson: absorb the culture, the local culture.

00:08:36.630 –> 00:08:41.580 Joseph McElroy: Is do you feel I mean, since you came through linguist do you think the sound of language is a.

00:08:42.720 –> 00:08:43.890 Joseph McElroy: entree into your art.

00:08:45.660 –> 00:08:54.960 Neal Hutcheson: I think um I always looked at language as an entree into the culture, you know so it’s a different direction into looking at culture in it and it and it uh.

00:08:55.560 –> 00:09:10.200 Neal Hutcheson: it’s incredibly illuminating to look at the culture that way, instead of kind of you know, as opposed to whatever head-on, you know it’s kind of a backdoor to looking at culture and the more you look at it it’s incredibly fascinating.

00:09:11.100 –> 00:09:15.780 Joseph McElroy: When you were young are you interested in language, are you addressing.

00:09:16.020 –> 00:09:16.500 No.

00:09:18.090 –> 00:09:19.440 Neal Hutcheson: totally unexpected yeah.

00:09:20.880 –> 00:09:25.950 Neal Hutcheson: yeah I know, I find it interesting, but you know anything that you study becomes interesting.

00:09:27.150 –> 00:09:30.030 Neal Hutcheson: The more you know about it um but.

00:09:31.140 –> 00:09:39.720 Neal Hutcheson: No it’s just that I happened to be at nc state, I was doing educational programs people said that what will for me to a video dude this was in the 90s.

00:09:40.170 –> 00:09:50.520 Neal Hutcheson: And I stepped in his office and I said I you know if you have work, you know I can help you I’m freelancing and he said, are you any good, and I said, you know I think so so.

00:09:51.300 –> 00:09:57.480 Neal Hutcheson: And so we started working and then that that has turned out to be a very fruitful collaboration and I’m still working with them.

00:09:58.110 –> 00:09:59.190 Joseph McElroy: Is that how you been.

00:10:00.750 –> 00:10:03.300 Joseph McElroy: With the job is a third of that relationship.

00:10:03.480 –> 00:10:16.410 Neal Hutcheson: Yeah it wasn’t a full-time gig you know, I was reluctant to let go of free time to do my own projects, so it wasn’t a full-time gig for many years, but um I’ve still found time to do my own work as well on the side.

00:10:17.160 –> 00:10:18.930 Joseph McElroy: What do you do at the language of my project.

00:10:19.920 –> 00:10:21.300 Neal Hutcheson: Well, I produced documentaries.

00:10:21.540 –> 00:10:24.270 Neal Hutcheson: but it’s you know it’s I’m.

00:10:25.950 –> 00:10:31.980 Neal Hutcheson: Producing a documentary is do is wearing many, many hats, so I do a lot of things.

00:10:32.790 –> 00:10:42.600 Neal Hutcheson: Right now, and preparing for a trip to Ghana, in August production trip and so very little of what I do is would be what people think of as production right now it’s I’m not doing any editing or shooting.

00:10:43.290 –> 00:10:49.140 Neal Hutcheson: Which is what I prefer to be doing, but you also have to do a lot of planning prep from you know logistical.

00:10:51.330 –> 00:10:53.790 Neal Hutcheson: preparations and things like that too it’s part of the job.

00:10:55.530 –> 00:11:03.600 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know I’m interested I always like to know the origins of people’s craft and you know I’m also an artist and it always.

00:11:04.050 –> 00:11:08.460 Joseph McElroy: Had but I came at it, I had no clue I was going to be an artist, and so the.

00:11:08.910 –> 00:11:15.780 Joseph McElroy: Even analyzing myself trying to figure out where where where the where is the evolution and all of a sudden, you become an artist, yeah a lot of people grow up.

00:11:16.080 –> 00:11:23.400 Joseph McElroy: and consider themselves artists from the womb and other people just discovered along the way, where are you from the womb, or it is covered along the way.

00:11:23.820 –> 00:11:28.650 Neal Hutcheson: Definitely along the way, and you know it’d be interesting, I don’t know if you want to talk more about that, in particular, right now.

00:11:29.070 –> 00:11:37.770 Neal Hutcheson: With limited time but you know to be interesting to know how you got started because for me it was kind of a lifeline that came to me unexpectedly in my college years.

00:11:39.000 –> 00:11:49.800 Neal Hutcheson: I was kind of an intense young person with a lot going on, but I didn’t have any means of self-expression, you know, and one way or another it’s got to come out.

00:11:50.400 –> 00:12:02.730 Neal Hutcheson: And I didn’t have the discipline to develop skills that at writing at that time or at painting or some other craft to kind of get it out so I’m filmmaking kind of landed in my lap.

00:12:04.410 –> 00:12:22.380 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know my story is actually fairly quick yeah I was arrogant a technology guy and somebody showed me some art and I looked at it and I didn’t understand it, and I said, well, I can do that, and they said, well then do it and that started me on a journey of.

00:12:22.740 –> 00:12:24.180 Joseph McElroy: Personal that I couldn’t do it.

00:12:26.070 –> 00:12:37.200 Joseph McElroy: yeah and a lot more depth and meaning and that journey led me along the way, but it was me being an arrogant ignorant cus that started my journey.

00:12:39.090 –> 00:12:39.780 Neal Hutcheson: I love to hear.

00:12:40.410 –> 00:12:40.830 yeah.

00:12:41.910 –> 00:12:49.530 Joseph McElroy: Well we’ll come back we’ll jump into some of the stuff that you’ve done and dig deeper into your art and this way rooms.

00:12:49.740 –> 00:12:50.100 Neal Hutcheson: Thank you.

00:15:15.270 –> 00:15:26.340 Joseph McElroy: Oh sorry I was muted, so this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast and my guest Neal Hutcheson, Neal has an idea how you doing.

00:15:26.970 –> 00:15:30.150 Joseph McElroy: Great Yes, that was my awkward entry.

00:15:31.320 –> 00:15:33.180 Joseph McElroy: So I do that occasionally.

00:15:34.980 –> 00:15:40.860 Joseph McElroy: So you know I mentioned mountain talk, but that wasn’t your first documentary right.

00:15:42.960 –> 00:15:46.410 Neal Hutcheson: It was probably the first one that I recognize is actually being a documentary.

00:15:46.440 –> 00:15:49.920 Joseph McElroy: That was your first one that’s your art okay cool.

00:15:51.090 –> 00:15:51.750 Joseph McElroy: You know the.

00:15:52.860 –> 00:16:01.260 Joseph McElroy: I yeah I entitled this episode outlaws and outliers because you’ve done some outliers and the most famous being popcorn sudden.

00:16:01.680 –> 00:16:14.280 Joseph McElroy: But you’ve got some other you’ve done some documentaries and work about another you understand you had you have collaborated with a gifted writer and storyteller and play right there named Gary Carden of Cillo.

00:16:15.780 –> 00:16:19.260 Joseph McElroy: And he’s a colorful talented person, how did you two meet.

00:16:20.430 –> 00:16:24.750 Neal Hutcheson: Well, I met him like I met so many other people when I came up here working on mountain talk.

00:16:25.200 –> 00:16:34.860 Neal Hutcheson: um I spent about two years you know back and forth from Raleigh working on that particular film but I’m Gary was one of the people that I really connected with.

00:16:35.340 –> 00:16:53.430 Neal Hutcheson: And of course, we’ve been working together, ever since um but somebody pointed him putting me in his direction, basically, they said they said he’s you should talk to him, he talks about language, a little bit so that’s how it started, I went and found him and I interviewed him and.

00:16:55.140 –> 00:17:01.140 Neal Hutcheson: I just kept visiting him and in fact, I started working on a documentary about him in

00:17:01.140 –> 00:17:03.930 Neal Hutcheson: Particular, and this is in maybe.

00:17:05.460 –> 00:17:08.220 Neal Hutcheson: Alright, so I’m still hoping I’m hoping to finish it this year.

00:17:09.840 –> 00:17:13.470 Joseph McElroy: Do you tell you to take your time with your subjects right.

00:17:13.860 –> 00:17:17.040 Neal Hutcheson: I don’t like I have any control over it sometimes they kind of work out.

00:17:18.660 –> 00:17:22.530 Neal Hutcheson: process that uses me and I just think they’re done when they’re done, you know.

00:17:23.070 –> 00:17:38.520 Joseph McElroy: So you’d Have you had him collaborate, and this is what was interesting to me the outlaw Lewis Redmond who was I guess the first king of the moonshiners, can you tell us a little bit about that project and him and it didn’t he kill a man and get away with it.

00:17:39.540 –> 00:17:58.800 Neal Hutcheson: yeah well, in the end, he didn’t get away with that, but um yeah that’s right it’s a great story Lewis Redmond was, first of all, let me mention about Gary cartons also play right and the way I got onto this particular topic was Gary pardons play called the Prince of dark corners and.

00:18:00.660 –> 00:18:08.970 Neal Hutcheson: And so I produced with Gary and with an actor named Milton Higgins, a really brilliant guy who, sadly, died last month, but.

00:18:09.600 –> 00:18:12.510 Neal Hutcheson: So the three of us put you know did a production of that play.

00:18:13.380 –> 00:18:18.810 Neal Hutcheson: that’s how I got to know the story of Lewis Redmond because that’s what the play was about, and then I did a follow-up documentary.

00:18:19.230 –> 00:18:40.710 Neal Hutcheson: But Lewis Redmond was an outlaw active in were up where you are in southern Appalachian at the end of the 19th century, and he was active at the same time is billy the kid and Jesse James names that everybody knows, and he was actually more famous than either one of them.

00:18:41.790 –> 00:18:43.740 Neal Hutcheson: Is paper articles about Lewis Redmond.

00:18:44.250 –> 00:18:45.180 Neal Hutcheson: And even one of those.

00:18:45.240 –> 00:18:51.180 Neal Hutcheson: Does too so that’s amazing when you think about the fact that, obviously, most of your listeners have probably never heard of him.

00:18:51.570 –> 00:18:55.440 Joseph McElroy: No, I didn’t know until I started researching you I had never heard of them.

00:18:56.460 –> 00:19:03.750 Joseph McElroy: So it’s interesting, but he was quite a character, he killed the what was the Sheriff or something like that was trying to rescue.

00:19:04.410 –> 00:19:06.030 Neal Hutcheson: yeah that’s right.

00:19:06.300 –> 00:19:07.890 Neal Hutcheson: He may have killed another man there’s.

00:19:08.040 –> 00:19:13.170 Neal Hutcheson: You know that that’s one thing that’s interesting about his story is that the historical record is very muddied.

00:19:13.830 –> 00:19:15.930 Neal Hutcheson: kind of his money in a way that it’s.

00:19:16.110 –> 00:19:35.040 Neal Hutcheson: Interesting really reflects the kind of public media about Appalachia through a lot of America’s history, which is, which is to say that in southern in mountain papers and regional papers, he was regarded as he was talked about in these very noble terms.

00:19:35.430 –> 00:19:36.840 Neal Hutcheson: And in the northern papers.

00:19:37.050 –> 00:19:38.550 Neal Hutcheson: He was.

00:19:39.570 –> 00:19:49.110 Neal Hutcheson: talked about as a degenerate and it’s outlawed and stuff like that you know and there was this very exaggerated kind of depictions of him so it’s a really interesting subject.

00:19:49.440 –> 00:19:54.120 Neal Hutcheson: And the truth is somewhere in the middle and nobody you know, has really sorted it all out but.

00:19:54.390 –> 00:20:06.990 Joseph McElroy: Well, I mean yeah I mean you know you understand it because the moonshine was an important source of income for a lot of people, it helps save a lot of people’s families at the same time, have destroyed a lot of people’s families right so.

00:20:07.500 –> 00:20:11.220 Joseph McElroy: Absolutely it’s people used to worship the ones that could make a go of it.

00:20:12.810 –> 00:20:33.390 Joseph McElroy: You know I remember growing up, you know and that which would have been the 60s, there was an early 70s, the that what people would say with it with a sort of a tongue in cheek but they would say you were more likely to get arrested for drunk driving, then you were for killing somebody.

00:20:34.620 –> 00:20:36.480 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah so.

00:20:38.250 –> 00:20:48.630 Joseph McElroy: It was, it was a little bit rough and sort of some ways, but you know I read this quote from you right, I thought it was really insightful, you said you wrote you.

00:20:49.260 –> 00:21:02.280 Joseph McElroy: told somebody if I forget who it was but mountain culture is surprisingly vigorous and surprisingly alive and will be until the current generation of 50 somethings dies out and it is dying out.

00:21:02.760 –> 00:21:07.800 Joseph McElroy: psychologically there’s a fundamental difference in the way they look at the world and treat each other.

00:21:08.400 –> 00:21:19.560 Joseph McElroy: They wear masks and assume roles which is not necessarily a bad thing, but mountain people are not capable of that, I think that was like 2003 years, do you think that’s still true what did you mean.

00:21:20.820 –> 00:21:32.760 Neal Hutcheson: yeah I think a lot has changed since I said that, and I think what I was witnessing and what other people witnessing is the real-time change has taken place and.

00:21:33.180 –> 00:21:46.110 Neal Hutcheson: um but no there’s still this pockets of real mountain culture and people who come into the area can still experience that and meet people and get any you know and get to experience a little bit of that.

00:21:46.650 –> 00:21:48.540 Joseph McElroy: um you know.

00:21:49.380 –> 00:21:56.460 Neal Hutcheson: There is a there’s a book that tends to be castigated called our southern highlanders by.

00:21:56.730 –> 00:22:07.050 Neal Hutcheson: A very famous right yeah and he was right in the area like he was probably you’re in Maggie Valley, right now, so he was camping you know, a couple of miles from where you’re talking right now.

00:22:07.410 –> 00:22:20.310 Neal Hutcheson: And when he was writing this book, so you know the people that he was writing about work if you’re talking about the long term residents that are still there, they were the very people that are still there, their grandparents.

00:22:20.550 –> 00:22:33.720 Neal Hutcheson: Right and um The funny thing is I got to because of my friendship with Popcorn Sutton and a few other people like I really got to see the inside of mountain culture and I’m.

00:22:34.350 –> 00:22:52.260 Neal Hutcheson: Even though that book our southern Highlands is problematic and people have attacked it for good reasons, I got to see that they were very real characteristics in as people that are described perfectly in that book that was written almost 100 years ago.

00:22:52.590 –> 00:22:54.930 Neal Hutcheson: mm hmm right so that shows you the strength of.

00:22:55.980 –> 00:23:06.210 Neal Hutcheson: Culture and the character of the culture that, with all the changes in the last hundred years you, you still can see that same the same tendencies they’re baked in.

00:23:07.410 –> 00:23:07.860 Neal Hutcheson: Now.

00:23:08.910 –> 00:23:14.070 Neal Hutcheson: I don’t know you know what I said the quote, that you gave you know I don’t know is the next generation inheriting those.

00:23:15.300 –> 00:23:31.050 Joseph McElroy: University, you know this this this weekend, we had storytellers and singers over at the Meadowlark Heritage Center right and we had a 70-year-old storyteller tell a story, but he was brought there by a 20 something-year-old.

00:23:32.040 –> 00:23:36.840 Joseph McElroy: Guy there who’s a previous person in this podcast, Will Ritter.

00:23:37.830 –> 00:23:38.580 Joseph McElroy: Yes, okay.

00:23:38.910 –> 00:23:51.240 Joseph McElroy: yeah and he learned from all these old-timers you know the culture and heritage, and it was really fabulous, so there are young people out there, learning it and you know my.

00:23:51.600 –> 00:24:04.020 Joseph McElroy: My family right there still people that live up in the hills and you know, are still very, very much in mountain culture, and you know it’s a there’s a beauty to it, I mean once you.

00:24:04.530 –> 00:24:15.270 Joseph McElroy: pick you to know get through the what some people perceive is sort of the hard exterior it’s a very loving culture and very funny yes yeah.

00:24:16.050 –> 00:24:29.520 Neal Hutcheson: Right, you know when I was working in Cherokee which is not far from where you are a there, there was a story in there that we interviewed who suggested that I’m.

00:24:30.390 –> 00:24:34.650 Neal Hutcheson: Mountain culture not only influences Cherokee culture but Cherokee called culture influence.

00:24:35.190 –> 00:24:40.770 Neal Hutcheson: Mountain culture, and so what you’re talking about this part of the exterior that you don’t quite know.

00:24:41.130 –> 00:24:49.350 Neal Hutcheson: What people are thinking you’re not seeing their emotions and stuff like that, and what you get behind it it’s very loving and very, very funny a lot of like.

00:24:49.680 –> 00:25:01.200 Neal Hutcheson: poking fun at each other in a very smart and say like don’t be fooled if you have not been to the mountains and you have the perception that you’re going to be dealing with some simple yokels because they haven’t necessarily been.

00:25:01.710 –> 00:25:13.050 Neal Hutcheson: Like that they’re going to be one step ahead of you, the whole time so like they may be making fun of you, and you never even catch it so now drop your attitude at the door, I say.

00:25:15.300 –> 00:25:21.270 Joseph McElroy: Well yeah there seems to be a common thread in your work, I looked at it and you know and it’s the, it is the.

00:25:21.660 –> 00:25:39.570 Joseph McElroy: Preservation of various kinds of nature, culture native cultures, like the Cherokee Indian language Appalachian culture, you know African American dialects as well, as you know, mount musing moon shining so and even heritage fisheries out in the east coast so.

00:25:39.840 –> 00:25:40.590 Joseph McElroy: Is that.

00:25:40.650 –> 00:25:46.980 Joseph McElroy: Where your passion lies in a sort of like understanding these cultures and maybe giving a little to help preserve them.

00:25:47.580 –> 00:25:59.760 Neal Hutcheson: Well, you know I would back up from preservation and say my passion really is in when I get on the scene and I find something that I’m really interested in, and I see how quickly it’s changing I feel like.

00:26:00.240 –> 00:26:10.770 Neal Hutcheson: You know, sometimes I feel like I am on the spot, with my experience and uh you know recording devices and I feel a duty to document things as they change.

00:26:11.070 –> 00:26:11.580 Joseph McElroy: mom.

00:26:12.030 –> 00:26:23.520 Neal Hutcheson: Can that lead to like preservation and specific instances, I think, so you know if people understand like fishermen like if you know.

00:26:24.240 –> 00:26:29.760 Neal Hutcheson: People who are not from the community, may come down there and find them to be a very rough bunch of people they may.

00:26:30.210 –> 00:26:38.220 Neal Hutcheson: have negative stereotypes about the way that they treat the resource and things like that, but then, as they get to know them that you know if they can understand their experiences a little more.

00:26:38.550 –> 00:26:43.950 Neal Hutcheson: They kind of understand that it’s much more nuanced than what they’ve been given to understand.

00:26:44.370 –> 00:26:47.730 Neal Hutcheson: And though they actually will wind up being in sympathy with.

00:26:47.820 –> 00:26:48.210 With.

00:26:49.380 –> 00:27:06.780 Neal Hutcheson: Certain people that they might not have expected to previously because they had misconceptions about them and so can understanding people lead to I’m not doing the things that change their culture as much I, I hope, so I think so.

00:27:08.160 –> 00:27:15.330 Joseph McElroy: I think, also, I think you know, yes, the world can be overwhelming at times and it can come in and try to force you to.

00:27:15.690 –> 00:27:25.320 Joseph McElroy: You know, think that your culture is not important or stupid or silly and it can cause, especially younger people to say abandon it right.

00:27:25.740 –> 00:27:35.250 Joseph McElroy: And I think that a lot of people can come to understand hey the culture, they grew up in was really important to who they are, and it was really beautiful and a lot of ways.

00:27:35.820 –> 00:27:43.680 Joseph McElroy: Right and I, you know I started this podcast you know sort of the business intent, but you know I’ve also discovered that I love.

00:27:44.520 –> 00:27:58.950 Joseph McElroy: You know, bringing this culture and the beauty of this culture to light, so you know I think what you’re doing is fabulous in that regard so we’re going to take a break and I guess we’ll talk about a little bit about your famous subject.

00:28:00.210 –> 00:28:00.540 Neal Hutcheson: Okay.

00:28:02.880 –> 00:28:03.150 Neal Hutcheson: Good.

00:30:33.480 –> 00:30:47.610 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast and my guest Neal Hutcheson so know you mentioned him and Maggie valid, but I’m actually sitting in New York City I split my time between Maggie Valley.

00:30:47.640 –> 00:30:58.200 Joseph McElroy: North cal okay so, but you know I when I left the mountains, you know I had to do sort of the reverse of you, I had to go outside the world and had to get people to.

00:30:58.950 –> 00:31:14.700 Joseph McElroy: You know, open up to me and accept me, you know, and you know penetrate yeah whatever cultural norms that that existed in a place like new york’s always sort of slightly testing you and you have to always you know to prove that you can handle it but.

00:31:15.240 –> 00:31:17.070 Joseph McElroy: You know, when you came to.

00:31:18.090 –> 00:31:20.130 Joseph McElroy: The mountains there’s obviously.

00:31:21.480 –> 00:31:30.660 Joseph McElroy: A big testing a barrier, you know dependent trading that you know, and so, how did you get your subjects to accept you and to warm up to you.

00:31:31.770 –> 00:31:42.870 Neal Hutcheson: A bit well I just spent time there and I gave them um you know I always kind of knew intuitively not to.

00:31:43.950 –> 00:32:02.910 Neal Hutcheson: Try to ingratiate myself or try as if, as if they wouldn’t like to see through my efforts to kind of win their trust or what you know, so I just was always mindful of just being myself and just spending enough time that I had they had a chance to assess me and.

00:32:04.350 –> 00:32:08.580 Neal Hutcheson: Consider, whatever it is, you know that I was after so that was basically it.

00:32:09.330 –> 00:32:17.370 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know I I knew popcorn Sutton not particularly well, but I knew I knew him and he knows, he was a real kg guy.

00:32:18.300 –> 00:32:21.900 Joseph McElroy: yeah he was he yeah he was smart and he’s always sort of.

00:32:21.960 –> 00:32:31.200 Joseph McElroy: I always felt he was putting on a little bit of her performance because it was you know I made his money, so how did, how did you break through and get to some real honest stuff from him.

00:32:32.730 –> 00:32:40.500 Neal Hutcheson: Well, it did you know it took a long time in a way to get like you know, beyond the performance but I’m.

00:32:42.330 –> 00:32:52.620 Neal Hutcheson: In a way, you know not that long because I would say, you may not agree with this, I don’t know, but I would say like there was always a performance in the play.

00:32:53.130 –> 00:33:06.630 Neal Hutcheson: When he was dealing with the public um, but it was kind of based on who he really was, and so is interestingly, it was like the performance was kind of close to who he actually was he was just giving.

00:33:07.980 –> 00:33:17.310 Neal Hutcheson: You know, certain portions of the public, maybe more more more the tourist a version of a moonshiner that they would that was what they expected.

00:33:17.520 –> 00:33:20.850 Neal Hutcheson: You know and but behind the scenes, he actually was that.

00:33:21.270 –> 00:33:21.750 Neal Hutcheson: So.

00:33:22.110 –> 00:33:30.000 Neal Hutcheson: You know, so I think he just kind of knew where to lean in and exaggerate and things like that sometimes he could lay it on a little thick.

00:33:31.740 –> 00:33:37.500 Joseph McElroy: though he was better in the mountains, we have somebody that can make a deal really well we call them a horse trader.

00:33:37.980 –> 00:33:45.120 Joseph McElroy: My dad’s a hell of a horse trader he’s from way back in the mountains finds creek and he input popcorn Sutton get along.

00:33:45.570 –> 00:34:01.740 Joseph McElroy: Along really well because my dad was a contractor and you know popcorn would need some things every once in Australia with him to get some construction done an exchange for some variables of moonshine so I ended up getting a drink some popcorn moonshine over the years.

00:34:03.150 –> 00:34:12.300 Joseph McElroy: So yeah so you would say, though, that he was a master promoting themselves right and making deals to get himself known against products out there.

00:34:13.710 –> 00:34:24.540 Neal Hutcheson: yeah I think he was but I, you know I just I didn’t want it it’s true but and but you know along the way, some people have written them off and said he wasn’t a real thing he was just playing a character.

00:34:25.140 –> 00:34:26.250 Joseph McElroy: It was the real thing.

00:34:27.390 –> 00:34:27.930 Neal Hutcheson: Right.

00:34:28.140 –> 00:34:31.650 Neal Hutcheson: Jackie I just want to emphasize that yeah there’s a performance all right, but.

00:34:32.010 –> 00:34:32.370 Joseph McElroy: It was.

00:34:33.240 –> 00:34:39.810 Joseph McElroy: To make moonshine you have to know it’s almost instinctual when the turn to when.

00:34:40.680 –> 00:34:47.550 Joseph McElroy: To cut it and when to stop you know when the what point in the distilling process to pull the liquor out and that’s what you’re going to drink.

00:34:47.940 –> 00:34:59.640 Joseph McElroy: Right and the right water and things like that, if you don’t do it exactly right and have so almost instinctual thing about it it’ll just taste horrible but he’s always tasted really good he had an art to it.

00:34:59.970 –> 00:35:06.810 Neal Hutcheson: yeah that’s true that’s right there’s the one aspect of it, which is the craftsman and that was all true, and that was there.

00:35:07.290 –> 00:35:16.470 Neal Hutcheson: And, but then you know the art of performance is something I talked about a little bit in the book that I did on popcorn and I speculate that.

00:35:17.190 –> 00:35:21.720 Neal Hutcheson: I don’t have any you know other sources for this, but I speculate that what you were talking about.

00:35:22.110 –> 00:35:31.140 Neal Hutcheson: About horse-trading and the talent for barter in the mountains, is that the talent for performance in the mountains, which is well known and incredible.

00:35:31.590 –> 00:35:40.860 Neal Hutcheson: That that developed out of the little bits that you do around trading things and the and the kind of like well you know devaluing things and just that you know.

00:35:41.190 –> 00:35:57.990 Neal Hutcheson: That skill that was honed over so much time and I think that when the park was founded and outsiders came in and stuff like that that I think that that led them naturally to some of them to find inner talent for performance.

00:35:58.620 –> 00:36:00.630 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know I think if you look at.

00:36:00.690 –> 00:36:13.590 Joseph McElroy: The traditional storytelling amount of storytelling is often an exaggeration right I caught 50 fish in the pant leg when I fell in the water or.

00:36:14.400 –> 00:36:21.120 Joseph McElroy: That sort of thing is sort of the reverse of the horse-trading, which says well these trousers are no good I couldn’t catch any fish.

00:36:23.160 –> 00:36:27.000 Joseph McElroy: right there like obviously opposite of the same coin.

00:36:28.050 –> 00:36:28.530 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:36:28.830 –> 00:36:35.790 Joseph McElroy: yeah so um so you’ve done three movies on popcorn right documentaries.

00:36:36.030 –> 00:36:42.270 Neal Hutcheson: yeah it’s a little bit of a complicated history but yeah technically three movies, we did a cult classic.

00:36:43.020 –> 00:36:51.210 Neal Hutcheson: Well, it would become a cult classic, the first thing that I made was really for the popcorn to sell out of his junk shop and something he wanted to do.

00:36:51.480 –> 00:36:59.760 Neal Hutcheson: And that one’s called that one’s always that one’s the most popular now 20 years later um it’s called this is the last time round of liquor I’ll ever make.

00:37:00.600 –> 00:37:02.340 Neal Hutcheson: sense yeah.

00:37:02.400 –> 00:37:11.850 Neal Hutcheson: we’re still it’s the whole thing on YouTube if anybody wants to check it out, but people are still discovering it and it’s lasted longer than anything else I’ve done but um.

00:37:12.540 –> 00:37:26.130 Neal Hutcheson: Then I did a TV version which came out at the tail end of 2008 called the last one, and that was a PBS family-friendly kind of version of that with cutaways for context and interviews and things like that it’s a.

00:37:26.430 –> 00:37:26.940 Neal Hutcheson: little different.

00:37:27.660 –> 00:37:31.200 Neal Hutcheson: And then I did a more biographical piece called a hell of a life.

00:37:32.430 –> 00:37:38.370 Neal Hutcheson: And that came out after he died in 2009 that came out in oh I forget, but maybe 2012.

00:37:39.240 –> 00:37:53.010 Joseph McElroy: yeah cool well and you’ve also I saw you recently you’ve done a book recently like it’s almost like a table talk book, but so more meaningful, I mean what was how did you come about doing that.

00:37:53.370 –> 00:38:01.890 Neal Hutcheson: yeah well thanks for describing it that way it’s it’s deliberately designed to be enjoyable if you want to flip through idly or if you want to dig in so.

00:38:03.150 –> 00:38:03.870 Neal Hutcheson: I.

00:38:05.580 –> 00:38:14.970 Neal Hutcheson: knew that people would want to have copies because popcorn is is well known and intriguing and so I felt a duty to make it as good as I possibly could um.

00:38:15.480 –> 00:38:18.600 Neal Hutcheson: You know, in a way, I feel like I was always working on that book and I just didn’t know it.

00:38:19.470 –> 00:38:35.910 Neal Hutcheson: While I was doing the documentaries, the real motivation was that you know nowadays popcorn is remembered as in some quarters as something akin to a folk hero and it’s a very simplified version and a very kind of.

00:38:37.230 –> 00:38:41.970 Neal Hutcheson: Noble you know version of who he was is a friend of mine, okay I’m not dragging down.

00:38:42.450 –> 00:38:50.160 Neal Hutcheson: And I think that folk hero is interesting, and I think that that phenomenon with him turning into a folk hero is fascinating and I talked about that in the book.

00:38:50.430 –> 00:38:54.840 Neal Hutcheson: But you know, the main purpose at the start of working on the book was to.

00:38:55.500 –> 00:39:06.810 Neal Hutcheson: Make sure that he’s remembered as I knew him as a person I knew he would want that that he did he really didn’t want to be the hero he wanted to be that law and he wanted to be who he was.

00:39:07.740 –> 00:39:19.590 Neal Hutcheson: And so I think that and so the book tries, and I think, to some extent, I would say if it’s okay for me to say about my own book like succeeds in capturing him, you know fairly.

00:39:20.700 –> 00:39:24.060 Joseph McElroy: cool what was the name of the book again what was the full title of it.

00:39:24.390 –> 00:39:26.220 Neal Hutcheson: it’s called the moonshiner popcorn sun.

00:39:26.460 –> 00:39:30.450 Joseph McElroy: The moon cheddar popcorn Sutton and it’s available on a lot of places you go to the.

00:39:31.530 –> 00:39:39.570 Joseph McElroy: I think we have it up on smokies adventure.com and the Meadowlark motel and you can probably get it on Amazon right it’s a great book and there’s a DVD with it right.

00:39:40.140 –> 00:39:56.610 Neal Hutcheson: If you get it on Amazon you’re going to pay him because I held back because I want people to buy it from local places like the meadowlark and the other places that are supporting the book and that support community and culture, so I hope people will buy local first.

00:39:57.690 –> 00:40:17.310 Joseph McElroy: Nice good local living economies it’s we can promote that that’s important you know that’s why I keep the small business I have in the mountains going is to support local economies, I think it’s important yeah so and you have a publishing company and a production company.

00:40:17.760 –> 00:40:20.430 Neal Hutcheson: Well I’ve got a publishing company, now that I’ve published a book.

00:40:22.260 –> 00:40:36.690 Neal Hutcheson: How many more books will publish we’ll see it’s a lot of work turns out um but yeah I’ve got a production company that’s basically has facilitated my own projects it’s more or fewer one-man-bands of still.

00:40:38.340 –> 00:40:43.500 Neal Hutcheson: In recent years, I’ve been collaborating with other people I’m an independent project but.

00:40:45.900 –> 00:40:46.140 Neal Hutcheson: yeah.

00:40:46.170 –> 00:40:52.980 Neal Hutcheson: Just I just kind of invented and improvised all along the way to make whatever it was I was doing next Hampton.

00:40:53.550 –> 00:40:56.340 Joseph McElroy: Why did you call it sucker punch productions.

00:40:58.110 –> 00:41:01.680 Neal Hutcheson: Well there’s triple entendre in that it’s.

00:41:03.090 –> 00:41:07.830 Neal Hutcheson: Nothing to be worried about, but mainly you know um.

00:41:09.270 –> 00:41:17.820 Neal Hutcheson: I was thinking about it sounds kind of punky and brash and I was kind of I felt as the upstart like who what right do I have to just make.

00:41:18.330 –> 00:41:34.380 Neal Hutcheson: Films without anybody’s permission and be the kind of like octopus character, you know supine on sucker Punch and just and you know all the different jobs that I have to have in order to make a film, you know it’s not just filming and editing.

00:41:35.880 –> 00:41:38.400 Neal Hutcheson: It was funny to me the different arms alright.

00:41:38.820 –> 00:41:39.300 city.

00:41:40.500 –> 00:41:48.720 Joseph McElroy: No, I mean it’s important to have something meaningful for your company, especially if you have an inside joke, I had a company called corporate performance artists.

00:41:49.080 –> 00:42:00.750 Joseph McElroy: One time because somebody asked me while I was doing art and others do raising I raised some money for a startup in the.com era and they said what the hell, are you and I said I guess I’m a corporate performance artist.

00:42:03.720 –> 00:42:08.040 Joseph McElroy: I named my company that I would tell people I’m performing my company.

00:42:08.220 –> 00:42:18.510 Joseph McElroy: And it was an engine, it was an inside joke, but yeah it makes it, it makes it fun, it makes it something that’s personal and the little secret that you can have.

00:42:19.050 –> 00:42:25.050 Neal Hutcheson: Exactly what you know if you’re going to do something for yourself, you should have fun and you know indulge a little bit and make it the way you want to.

00:42:25.950 –> 00:42:26.640 cool.

00:42:27.810 –> 00:42:35.040 Joseph McElroy: So I think you Bob are some you working on Bob Plott do introduce us right so yeah.

00:42:35.970 –> 00:42:48.600 Joseph McElroy: So you see we’re gonna need to take a break now, so I want to talk about a queen family that you’re working on and then we’re getting sent you know so much about the mountains now when I get your favorite things to go for people to go see.

00:42:49.110 –> 00:42:49.620 Neal Hutcheson: sounds good.

00:42:50.040 –> 00:42:50.550 All right.

00:45:23.730 –> 00:45:33.000 Joseph McElroy: Howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast with my guest Neal Hutcheson so Neil, you are working on.

00:45:33.960 –> 00:45:43.200 Joseph McElroy: Something that’s interesting to me, you know Maggie Valley calls itself the calling capital of the world right so we’re always proud of dancing in the mountains, especially you know.

00:45:44.070 –> 00:45:52.860 Joseph McElroy: square dancing and plugin so you’re working on a project on the iconic queen family, one of the foremost musical advancing clans and the great smokies what you doing.

00:45:54.150 –> 00:45:58.020 Neal Hutcheson: Oh well, you know that was actually a project that I did some years ago.

00:45:58.380 –> 00:45:58.890 Joseph McElroy: Oh, really.

00:45:59.070 –> 00:46:05.280 Neal Hutcheson: yeah it’s already done and it was about music and the group that queen it, as you know, for us, you know.

00:46:05.760 –> 00:46:15.690 Neal Hutcheson: yeah it’s a huge huge name up there, and so there, there are great dancers, but the ones that are working with weren’t really into dancing they were just in the music.

00:46:15.960 –> 00:46:22.590 Neal Hutcheson: Okay, so they were in Jackson County off of Johns creek Canny fork.

00:46:24.180 –> 00:46:24.960 Neal Hutcheson: You know that area.

00:46:25.320 –> 00:46:27.330 Neal Hutcheson: yeah okay so.

00:46:28.590 –> 00:46:37.020 Neal Hutcheson: And it was I started with Mary Jane Queen, who was the matriarch of the family and she knew balance that was hundreds of years old and so.

00:46:38.430 –> 00:46:49.020 Neal Hutcheson: But I gradually got to know more of her family and they’re all musical and when they get together, they would all play they’re literally on the back porch and make incredible mountain music and it wasn’t like it wasn’t.

00:46:50.160 –> 00:47:03.810 Neal Hutcheson: It was like the real thing you know it was like you just felt them expressing their love for each other by sharing that music with each other and so that’s basically what I was documenting is looking at mountain culture through another window, which was, which was music.

00:47:04.440 –> 00:47:08.730 Joseph McElroy: Well I’m very interested in seeing that what where do you have that documentary.

00:47:09.570 –> 00:47:11.430 Neal Hutcheson: I think the whole thing is on YouTube right now.

00:47:11.700 –> 00:47:12.600 Joseph McElroy: And what’s it called.

00:47:12.930 –> 00:47:14.070 Neal Hutcheson: it’s called the Queen family.

00:47:14.910 –> 00:47:15.510 Joseph McElroy: The Queen.

00:47:20.040 –> 00:47:26.940 Joseph McElroy: So you bet a lot of visiting the mountains Okay, so what is your, what is your favorite natural.

00:47:28.020 –> 00:47:29.340 Joseph McElroy: wonder in the mountains.

00:47:30.270 –> 00:47:38.190 Neal Hutcheson: Oh that’s a good question um you know I used to come up there backpacking a lot when I was a kid and I didn’t know anything about the culture, but I really enjoyed the.

00:47:38.790 –> 00:47:50.130 Neal Hutcheson: landscape and just interacting with the wild spaces and my favorite place was always Joyce Kilmer slick rock area, which is adjacent to Graham county.

00:47:50.640 –> 00:47:53.580 Joseph McElroy: yeah what was that, what do you find special about that.

00:47:54.540 –> 00:48:04.440 Neal Hutcheson: Well, I like to the trails you know for backpacking but then you know, one of the really special things about that spot is that they preserved, a small.

00:48:05.310 –> 00:48:20.940 Neal Hutcheson: selection and that that was never logged right, so all the mountains most a lot of people don’t even know this, that the great Appalachian wilderness was was absolutely incredible with these huge trees, there were 12 feet in diameter and those are all gone, they were all logged.

00:48:21.360 –> 00:48:32.640 Neal Hutcheson: And um what we see now is what runs back right and it’s beautiful but it’s not the wild place that was there before and so Joyce Kilmer you could see that and.

00:48:33.360 –> 00:48:39.300 Neal Hutcheson: You know the last time I went as the storm and taken out a lot of the big trees, unfortunately, it was kind of sad but it’s still there.

00:48:39.510 –> 00:48:46.050 Neal Hutcheson: And you can go there and park and there are short trails you can walk you don’t have to go backpacking anything like that you can walk half a mile or a mile.

00:48:46.320 –> 00:48:49.350 Neal Hutcheson: and get back in there cool and they create is just gorgeous.

00:48:49.950 –> 00:48:54.300 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah I haven’t actually visited there, so I need to do that, that sounds really like a wonderful time.

00:48:55.560 –> 00:49:05.070 Joseph McElroy: Now, your new popcorn sudden so you know a little bit about the distilleries I think you were involved with the moonshine or should they still have it right, it was inspired by your movie anyway.

00:49:05.850 –> 00:49:07.050 Neal Hutcheson: I believe that it was.

00:49:07.140 –> 00:49:20.310 Joseph McElroy: yeah so so you know local distillery So is there any of them doing anything any a quote-unquote moonshine it’s not real moonshine if it’s legal but moonshine that’s pretty good compared to popcorn to brew.

00:49:20.700 –> 00:49:23.340 Neal Hutcheson: Well, you know a lot of these things have sprung up fairly recently.

00:49:23.670 –> 00:49:30.420 Neal Hutcheson: yeah and there’s you know there’s a lot of good beer, you can get in the mountains Now I will not turn down a good hipster IPA.

00:49:32.430 –> 00:49:40.500 Neal Hutcheson: And you can find them whether you’re in silver or there’s a great place and Bryson city, but anyway and an inhaler brewing company I think they’re called.

00:49:40.800 –> 00:49:42.930 Joseph McElroy: I go to the gym in Waynesville yeah.

00:49:43.200 –> 00:49:46.530 Neal Hutcheson: there’s good beer around but it’s not you know that’s nothing traditional.

00:49:46.740 –> 00:49:47.250 Neal Hutcheson: yeah i’m.

00:49:47.730 –> 00:49:51.930 Neal Hutcheson: The only distillery that I know anything about is elevated mountain in.

00:49:52.650 –> 00:50:02.400 Neal Hutcheson: In Maggie valley and I think people should go check it out, and they should see that because I’m the proprietor Dave Angel he puts on a great tour, and you get to sample the stuff.

00:50:02.820 –> 00:50:12.150 Neal Hutcheson: And it’s good quality and he’s from there, and I think I’m not quite sure about his whole story, but I think he’s he’s like you in that he’s been elsewhere and comes back.

00:50:12.720 –> 00:50:15.600 Joseph McElroy: yeah he was actually in New York for a little while but he’s a cousin he’s my cousin.

00:50:18.630 –> 00:50:19.110 Joseph McElroy: Down there.

00:50:21.480 –> 00:50:36.450 Joseph McElroy: Let me do you go to sell a lot and that’s a wonderful town, what would you say is a great itinerary one to build visit silver, starting with breakfast you know and then where you might go in the morning, then lunch in the afternoon and dinner in the evening for entertainment.

00:50:37.110 –> 00:50:47.820 Neal Hutcheson: Well, silver has changed a lot, too, is it’s developed but um it always had a little bit of stuff going on because it’s its proximity to Western Carolina university um but.

00:50:48.930 –> 00:50:53.610 Neal Hutcheson: You know, and you can spend a day in Silva and you can find good food morning.

00:50:54.990 –> 00:51:05.760 Neal Hutcheson: morning, day and night but um if I was going up there and somebody was going up to explore the area, I would say, getting your current in or in motorcycle whatever drive a little bit and get around.

00:51:06.240 –> 00:51:06.570 Joseph McElroy: and

00:51:07.380 –> 00:51:14.280 Neal Hutcheson: I always like to in fact I just mentioned Joyce Kilmer well that’s close to robin’s bill and Robin so.

00:51:15.030 –> 00:51:28.590 Neal Hutcheson: The last time I was there doesn’t have a lot going on, but I always love going to Robin so you really feel like you’re getting back into a mountain Community um and there’s a place there, I think it’s called lose know it’s called.

00:51:30.090 –> 00:51:42.540 Neal Hutcheson: Lucy lens something like lens place it’s had different names of the rooms, but it’s top of the hill one and robin’s bill, and you won’t miss it because there’s not much else around and it’s just a diner you’re going to get breakfast there you’re going to get regular.

00:51:43.650 –> 00:51:48.270 Neal Hutcheson: You know diner kind of breakfast food, but what you’re also going to get is you’re going to be around local people.

00:51:48.720 –> 00:51:59.070 Neal Hutcheson: In there and they’re going to be friendly they’re probably curious about what you’re doing and it won’t be hard to strike up a conversation, which I highly recommend and start your morning out that way.

00:51:59.400 –> 00:52:07.350 Neal Hutcheson: that’s fabulous right Okay, and then you can take a nice drive, if you want to go by Joyce Kilmer you take the roadster curvy and beautiful motorcyclists love them.

00:52:07.650 –> 00:52:15.420 Neal Hutcheson: And you can take you can go I’ve never spent much time at Fontana village, but if you like, that kind of thing there’s a lot of stuff out there.

00:52:15.660 –> 00:52:17.070 Joseph McElroy: Historical stuff yeah.

00:52:17.460 –> 00:52:26.850 Neal Hutcheson: And, and then you can see Fontana damn which is impressive a piece of work, and circle back around and come back to silver for lunch.

00:52:27.330 –> 00:52:40.170 Neal Hutcheson: And you don’t want to miss the coffee shop because it’s just another place where real people gather it’s been there forever, my friend Gary Carden who’s now at six I think IQ as a kid he.

00:52:40.890 –> 00:52:43.830 Neal Hutcheson: What do you call it car hopped or whatever he brought the burgers out to people in the car.

00:52:44.880 –> 00:52:45.660 Joseph McElroy: coffee shop.

00:52:46.380 –> 00:52:49.110 Neal Hutcheson: coffee shop, the signing, and so on, the main road gold and silver.

00:52:51.030 –> 00:53:00.570 Neal Hutcheson: And they’re going to have country food it’s going to be hardy fair they’re gonna have a special of the day they’re going to cook a good meal, you probably need to take a walk afterward if you’re planning to have dinner because you’d be full.

00:53:00.960 –> 00:53:01.320 But.

00:53:02.370 –> 00:53:09.000 Neal Hutcheson: But again it’s also we’re working people look people are going to go to so that’s why I would give those answers.

00:53:10.590 –> 00:53:19.530 Neal Hutcheson: And then, because you had me thinking about this before, so I was there was a place this place in Bryson City, so if you want to go for a really fine meal after.

00:53:20.220 –> 00:53:31.710 Neal Hutcheson: All that um there’s a place called the pork and bean in Bryson city and they cook they’ve got a great Jeff there and they and they cook a lot of like fresh healthy.

00:53:34.020 –> 00:53:36.810 Neal Hutcheson: freshly sourced fair original.

00:53:38.130 –> 00:53:43.410 Neal Hutcheson: an original menu oftentimes you can get mountain trout which is my favorite So if you can.

00:53:43.440 –> 00:53:46.560 Joseph McElroy: Get that I would recommend getting it done well it’s, the best thing to get.

00:53:46.590 –> 00:53:55.230 Joseph McElroy: In the mountains yeah cool well, we have a few minutes left How do people get in touch with you or follow you and keep track of what you’re doing?

00:53:56.790 –> 00:54:00.750 Neal Hutcheson: Well um I’d say you know if you want to check out the work.

00:54:01.050 –> 00:54:13.860 Neal Hutcheson: there’s a lot of like extra clips and especially a lot with Popcorn Sutton on my YouTube channel and it’s sucker punch pictures just look up that on YouTube you’ll find a lot of clips and stuff like that and see what that’s about um and.

00:54:15.300 –> 00:54:32.700 Neal Hutcheson: If you let’s see I don’t know I’ve got a personal website Neil Hutchison.com, so you can see past projects and links to other things Oh, and also the language and languageinlife.org which is my work at nc state, which is a large part of what I’ve done over the last 30 years.

00:54:33.420 –> 00:54:48.840 Joseph McElroy: cool well, thank you very much for being on my podcast has been very enjoyable having a conversation with you and very illuminating I really appreciate the work that you do, and you know documenting the culture of the mountains.

00:54:50.010 –> 00:55:02.010 Joseph McElroy: You know I think there was a period of time that there was a unique culture is still there, but it is, it is disappearing somewhat so understanding and preserving and I think is great.

00:55:03.330 –> 00:55:15.360 Joseph McElroy: I want to remind everybody this podcast is on the talkradio.NYC network with there are lots of fabulous podcasts for you to listen to me for a few commercials if you’ve listened to it, live.

00:55:16.080 –> 00:55:25.710 Joseph McElroy: After this show is rediscovering New York on Tuesday nights from seven to eight or seven to eight.

00:55:26.280 –> 00:55:35.760 Joseph McElroy: it’s about visiting New York and there’s a lot of inside stuff and unique culture of New York to explore as part of why I love being here when I when I’m not in the mountains.

00:55:36.480 –> 00:55:43.800 Joseph McElroy: Is the uniqueness of culture in New York City and the multiple cultures that you can experience here, so this show is great to go visit you can.

00:55:44.550 –> 00:55:51.510 Joseph McElroy: You can also watch this podcast on Facebook.com/gateway to the smokies podcast where.

00:55:51.870 –> 00:55:57.720 Joseph McElroy: The live stream comes out with the zoom So you can see our faces, or you can go to the gatewaytothesmokies.fun.

00:55:58.050 –> 00:56:09.630 Joseph McElroy: To see this podcast and other previous podcasts as well as the signing up for the newsletter be informed about events and future episodes and other things that we will do to

00:56:10.050 –> 00:56:19.500 Joseph McElroy: illustrate and celebrate the culture of the smoky mountains and for things to do there and enjoy yourself that he much I’ll see you next week when we have.

00:56:20.430 –> 00:56:34.650 Joseph McElroy: For our show will be Wayne Ebinger, who is a well-known photographer in the smoky mountains and it has experienced a lot and we’ll talk about the beauty of the smoky mountains talk to you soon.

Special Guest: Darren Nicholson, a gifted singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist.

He is an Award-winning Charter Member of the legendary Bluegrass and Americana group, Balsam Range, and fronts his own Darren Nicholson Band on side projects, while also doing solo gigs and duo concerts with his wife Jennifer.

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

Tonight’s episode of Gateway to the Smokies starts off with host Joseph McElroy listing off a few notable upcoming events for the audience and for the local area to keep an eye out for. Next, comes the introduction of today’s guest, Darren Nicholson. Darren talks about who he is, what he has accomplished as a singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, and the journey to becoming who he is today.

Coming back from the break, Darren talks more about his music career. He tells the story of how his friends and bandmates formed the band he has now. They started jamming out in his kitchen and how it felt meant to be. They’re releasing music now and a new album is coming out. They’re looking forward to playing more live performances with their passion for music.

Coming back from the break, Darren keeps the conversation going by talking about what he did in his spare time as a child. His Friday and Saturday nights were often occupied with music and jamming out. Darren also begins to talk about bluegrass music. He mentions how it has a large population of fans in unexpected places, such as Japan. Darren explains how his own performing group had begun to push to grow for a larger audience, playing for festivals and bigger venues.

The final segment starts off with the introduction of Darren Nicholson All-Star Band Camp, an event at a music festival. Darren explains how a lot of people, fans, and local musicians gather out of fascination and curiosity. They want to know more about the music and the artists, regardless of their musical background. Darren gives hints about who to expect to play at the event, including some big bluegrass stars. The episode finishes off with how to follow up with Darren Nicholson on social media, website, and other upcoming events.

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0:00:37.980 –> 00:00:50.490 Joseph McElroy: Thanks for joining us on 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 in the surrounding towns.

00:00:50.970 –> 00:01:00.030 Joseph McElroy: This area is filled with great natural beauty deep storied history and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes.

00:01:00.480 –> 00:01:12.120 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 the great smoky for over 200 years my business is in travel, but my heart is in culture.

00:01:12.720 –> 00:01:22.620 Joseph McElroy: today’s podcast is about bluegrass band camps in the smoky mountains first time or give me a got a few upcoming events, the deal with bluegrass.

00:01:23.580 –> 00:01:32.040 Joseph McElroy: Coming up in two weeks on July 17 is Darren Nicholson, our guests today as bluegrass band camp and concert.

00:01:32.430 –> 00:01:40.980 Joseph McElroy: it’s an exclusive event for aspiring musicians to learn to interact with some of the best artists in the business, culminating in all-star content.

00:01:41.490 –> 00:01:55.950 Joseph McElroy: People who stay at the venue, which is the Meadowlark motel Maggie valley can attend the concert for free in the camp for half price but anybody can attend and you go to Meadowlarkmotel.com to buy tickets.

00:01:57.270 –> 00:02:07.500 Joseph McElroy: A big event Maggie valley also July 23 and 20 23rd and 24th and it’s the famous hillbilly jam over the public it’s 10 am to 10 pm both days.

00:02:07.860 –> 00:02:20.460 Joseph McElroy: it’s a music festival with crafts and food vendors moonshiners of the discovery channel card bike show and more it’s only $10 per day you’re going to visit www.Ihaveajam.com.

00:02:21.180 –> 00:02:32.940 Joseph McElroy: And then we have an October the smoky mountain bluegrass festival October 23 from 1130 to 7 pm it’s for all the bluegrass lovers out there.

00:02:33.180 –> 00:02:51.000 Joseph McElroy: The smoky mountains bluegrass festival is a one-day outdoor festival, where you can enjoy live entertainment unique food, and juried arts and crafts boots award-winning bluegrass man balsam range crew your brother’s an unspoken tradition are all part of the talented and popular line.

00:02:52.110 –> 00:02:59.460 Joseph McElroy: go join that outdoor may go to many value festival grounds.com to find out more about this event.

00:03:00.840 –> 00:03:10.800 Joseph McElroy: Our sponsors as meadowlarkmotel.com imagine a place evocative of motorsports of the past, it modern and vibrant with a chic Appalachian field.

00:03:11.280 –> 00:03:22.890 Joseph McElroy: a place for adventure and for relaxation imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill or catch on fire and eat the company by a fine line or craft beer.

00:03:23.430 –> 00:03:31.410 Joseph McElroy: Imagine in place with old-time music and world cultural sounds, there is no place like the Meadowlark motel mag in Maggie Valley.

00:03:32.070 –> 00:03:46.860 Joseph McElroy: it’s your smoky mountain adventure that starts with where you stay also a sponsor smokies adventure.com information and listings about the smokies hiking wedding venues books trail maps or resources.

00:03:47.880 –> 00:03:56.280 Joseph McElroy: The emphasis is on smokies adventure is outdoor recreation outdoor life away events like rustic weddings and adventures, along with.

00:03:56.580 –> 00:04:07.080 Joseph McElroy: providing information lodging family entertainment events conventions honeymoons and more it is going to become the leading information portal of the smoky mountains.

00:04:08.280 –> 00:04:15.570 Joseph McElroy: So our guest today is Darren Nicholson, an award-winning charter member of the legendary bluegrass band America group.

00:04:15.870 –> 00:04:28.860 Joseph McElroy: balsam range and he also front his own Darren Nicholson band and had was also on side projects were also doing solo good and do a concert with his wife Jennifer. Hello Darren!

00:04:29.430 –> 00:04:31.890 Darren Nicholson: hey Joseph thanks for having me glad to be on today.

00:04:32.340 –> 00:04:42.240 Joseph McElroy: I’m really glad to have you it’s nice that we had to insert on this podcast a few a couple of months ago, so it’s good to have a member of the world-famous balsam range on here.

00:04:42.570 –> 00:04:45.720 Darren Nicholson: Great, I’m surprised, you have another one on if you had to.

00:04:47.580 –> 00:04:48.480 Darren Nicholson: record for you.

00:04:56.130 –> 00:05:01.470 Joseph McElroy: So I want to find out a little bit more about your native Jackson county right.

00:05:02.370 –> 00:05:12.300 Darren Nicholson: From Jackson county, I was raised in a little Community called tech a CG North Carolina tells people to take a CG as a chair keyword that means no cell service.

00:05:14.400 –> 00:05:14.670 Joseph McElroy: But.

00:05:15.660 –> 00:05:23.130 Darren Nicholson: My mother was from deals brother my dad was from a little Community called Kenny fork so it’s about rural as it gets.

00:05:23.550 –> 00:05:27.600 Joseph McElroy: cool What did you, what do you remember about Jackson county growing up.

00:05:28.230 –> 00:05:29.940 Darren Nicholson: i’m just.

00:05:31.200 –> 00:05:37.140 Darren Nicholson: The landscape over there, I live in Haywood county and, of course, all of Western North Carolina is beautiful but there’s.

00:05:38.310 –> 00:05:42.690 Darren Nicholson: Something magical about the mountain streams and.

00:05:43.710 –> 00:05:50.250 Darren Nicholson: there’s a lot of forest service land there’s a lot of lands that haven’t been developed in Jackson county which I really love.

00:05:50.730 –> 00:06:01.680 Darren Nicholson: And because of those you know Western North Carolina people as the great smoky mountain National Park is obviously we get a lot of visitors things like that, and people are moving here.

00:06:02.160 –> 00:06:22.500 Darren Nicholson: But there’s still a lot of places in Jackson County that are kind of you know, off the beaten path and I grew up hunting and fishing and hiking over there, my dad was an outdoorsman and so a lot of camping things like that and also remember my whole family played music and a lot of.

00:06:23.580 –> 00:06:32.790 Darren Nicholson: Our Saturday nights Fridays and Saturdays were spent on either the porch making music or inside the house with a big group of people.

00:06:33.210 –> 00:06:39.450 Darren Nicholson: or doing benefits cakewalks and dances and Friday and Saturday not dances and

00:06:40.320 –> 00:06:54.090 Darren Nicholson: you know people didn’t get out and travel and go to theaters and go out of town to see music, you know you basically in those rural areas growing up, you made your own entertainment and that’s kind of been the lifeblood of this culture, you know.

00:06:54.270 –> 00:07:05.130 Joseph McElroy: yeah I grew up in a word, count in you know, that was a way of life, you know every event somebody showed up with music yeah.

00:07:06.090 –> 00:07:16.380 Joseph McElroy: You know, we had, and we also had a Maggie valley play out that we’d all go through every Saturday night and do a little plugin and drink a little moonshine back when we got a little older.

00:07:17.910 –> 00:07:20.190 Darren Nicholson: out to the car and have a drink and then come back in.

00:07:21.510 –> 00:07:29.520 Joseph McElroy: exactly right, so you said you were from a musical family, I heard the rumors that you were on stage on here when you’re only 18 months old yeah.

00:07:30.240 –> 00:07:33.750 Darren Nicholson: yeah that’s right my mom has a bunch of pictures and everything have.

00:07:35.430 –> 00:07:41.370 Darren Nicholson: You know, but all just about everybody my family played music, and so my parents were both in the band and.

00:07:41.820 –> 00:07:57.270 Darren Nicholson: Instead of having a babysitter they just put me up there, you know I’d be on stage and I had a little plastic guitar obviously at 18 months old I wasn’t playing but I had a little cowboy hat and a cowboy shirt and I’d sit there and a little plastic guitar and make tip money.

00:07:58.800 –> 00:08:05.850 Joseph McElroy: Well, you don’t really like my two-and-a-half-year-old son and daughter got twins you thought you were making music.

00:08:08.340 –> 00:08:11.400 Darren Nicholson: People love me you can’t follow a kid or a dog act.

00:08:11.700 –> 00:08:11.910 Joseph McElroy: They.

00:08:12.630 –> 00:08:14.820 Darren Nicholson: don’t care how terrible they are people living.

00:08:15.870 –> 00:08:26.100 Joseph McElroy: They just think that the cutest thing that ever happened, they have babies little plastic guitars and drums and everything else, and we tell them oh you’re great.

00:08:28.050 –> 00:08:29.640 Joseph McElroy: So cool so.

00:08:30.780 –> 00:08:40.500 Joseph McElroy: When you started actually first paying attention to music, you know as more than just plastic guitar type thing, who were you some who your first musical influences beside fair.

00:08:41.250 –> 00:08:46.290 Darren Nicholson: Well, besides family I’m the ones I really started getting into early on.

00:08:48.060 –> 00:09:05.310 Darren Nicholson: They capture me there I like I really got into the old stuff that really old music Flatt and Scruggs the Leuven brothers I love that harmony of the Leuven brothers the Osborne brothers were a huge influence on me and that’s actually what brought me back to bluegrass but.

00:09:07.140 –> 00:09:10.800 Darren Nicholson: I loved Merle Haggard and George Jones even as a kid.

00:09:11.700 –> 00:09:12.600 Darren Nicholson: Even as an

00:09:12.690 –> 00:09:24.540 Darren Nicholson: eight/ nine-year-old kid I love that really sad country music and they were singing about very adult things and that I had no clue about.

00:09:24.930 –> 00:09:35.520 Darren Nicholson: But just the sound of the steel guitars and the fiddles and I knew I didn’t really understand the words and what you know the context.

00:09:36.000 –> 00:09:46.800 Darren Nicholson: of everything, but I knew it was emotional and I knew that it was powerful and I knew it was sad the sad or the better and I don’t know why I was drawn to that.

00:09:48.180 –> 00:09:55.950 Darren Nicholson: But a lot of people that I’ve talked to who really got into country and bluegrass music had that same experience and they like sad songs and.

00:09:57.390 –> 00:09:59.550 Joseph McElroy: What they call that high lonesome sound.

00:10:00.180 –> 00:10:01.410 Darren Nicholson: songs make me happy.

00:10:01.590 –> 00:10:02.640 yeah.

00:10:03.660 –> 00:10:21.240 Darren Nicholson: And there’s just something about this, you know songs about life and songs about hardship, even just songs about joy songs of hope and inspiration that’s The great thing about country music is, and when I say country music to me that encompasses bluegrass.

00:10:21.570 –> 00:10:37.080 Darren Nicholson: yeah call it Americana now when they can’t figure out which genre, to put it in the kind of call it Americana but really it’s country music and that’s basically you know talking about life songs about living in

00:10:39.450 –> 00:10:40.290 Joseph McElroy: Music yeah.

00:10:40.350 –> 00:10:54.960 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah I mean that was country music yeah we had a show on the Scottish Irish to influence song yeah well the immigrants coming in here yeah they’re a fun song,

00:10:55.470 –> 00:11:06.540 Joseph McElroy: Music and it was that highlands of sound and it was the balance and which are really exemplified by dulcimers what you play right?

00:11:06.870 –> 00:11:09.750 Darren Nicholson: I don’t play the dulcimer but I play mandolin and.

00:11:09.750 –> 00:11:11.100 Joseph McElroy: guitar yeah.

00:11:11.340 –> 00:11:12.270 Joseph McElroy: Similar yeah.

00:11:12.480 –> 00:11:12.660 Very.

00:11:13.950 –> 00:11:24.240 Joseph McElroy: Similar so, I can see that now the US there’s a musician named Steve Sutton that was a huge influence on you right.

00:11:25.860 –> 00:11:26.160 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:11:26.190 –> 00:11:35.190 Darren Nicholson: yeah Steve was from Haywood county here, he was another guy who had that same musical upbringing, he started to Maggie valley playhouse what you’re talking about.

00:11:36.480 –> 00:11:43.050 Darren Nicholson: And he’s another young man that started in his teens on the grand Ole opry and basically took this mountain style.

00:11:43.680 –> 00:11:55.950 Darren Nicholson: Music that we did it dances and barn raisings and every time there was an event cakewalk or church or whatever he took that music and travel the world with it and.

00:11:56.940 –> 00:12:10.140 Darren Nicholson: And that’s something a lot of these Western North Carolina musicians have done, and he got me my first job on the Grand Ole Opry when I was 18 my first real professional job I mean I made money playing music and local bands.

00:12:10.290 –> 00:12:23.070 Darren Nicholson: don’t get me wrong, but as far as having a professional gig in a national touring band he got me hired with a young lady named Alicia Nugent in 2004 and I was 18 maybe not teen just turned 19 and.

00:12:24.000 –> 00:12:32.430 Darren Nicholson: And we started playing the grand Ole opry and I was doing at least a couple of times a month, and we did the grand Ole opry we toured with merle haggard and went all over the.

00:12:33.090 –> 00:12:42.030 Darren Nicholson: the United States and we played in that band for the next three years, but until his death in 2017 we never stopped playing music together and he was kind of like my mentor.

00:12:43.230 –> 00:12:54.210 Darren Nicholson: Not only in the music, as far as learning to play music, but in the music business my mentors well and in life, he’s just a great friend.

00:12:54.900 –> 00:12:58.650 Joseph McElroy: we’ll see was it was he the reason you came to Erie county or is he.

00:12:59.790 –> 00:13:02.040 Joseph McElroy: Did you find him because of coming to Haywood county for

00:13:02.520 –> 00:13:11.100 Darren Nicholson: him because of coming to Haywood county yeah we moved to debunk them county my parents divorced when I was probably I was probably in fifth grade.

00:13:11.580 –> 00:13:21.120 Darren Nicholson: And we move my mom and I made the bunkum county which was big in my musical story because that’s where I got in the strings program I’ve played classical music.

00:13:22.770 –> 00:13:27.690 Darren Nicholson: And and went for people who I say bucks county that’s Asheville a lot of people know the Biltmore estate.

00:13:28.710 –> 00:13:37.290 Darren Nicholson: And Asheville has a huge music scene shindig on the green mountain dance and folk festival, which is the oldest running folk festival in the nation.

00:13:37.620 –> 00:13:55.020 Darren Nicholson: So, all of a sudden, I started playing with all these amazing musicians and that was just that opened a lot of doors for me and then, once I graduated high school I moved to Hayward county which is between where I was born and then were you know basically finishing school.

00:13:56.250 –> 00:14:05.010 Joseph McElroy: So did you move your favorite character reason, or is it just that was just what was their destination or just happenstance in life.

00:14:05.070 –> 00:14:22.110 Darren Nicholson: I think it was just happenstance it was just kind of in between the two places that I’m that I knew and it just kind of made sense I could be in Asheville in 20 minutes or I could be in Jackson county and 20 minutes so and I was close to my son, I had a son and.

00:14:23.310 –> 00:14:31.440 Darren Nicholson: I fell in love with Haywood county and, more importantly, the people I love the people of Haywood county there’s just a different spirit here.

00:14:31.770 –> 00:14:32.280 yeah.

00:14:33.780 –> 00:14:37.530 Joseph McElroy: So you’re welcome you started the stream programs that were using the mandolin.

00:14:38.850 –> 00:14:56.340 Darren Nicholson: That came later I was playing violin filled and classical music I dabbled in electric music rock and roll all that stuff and I still love that music I’m working on an electric record right now that’ll be out this fall but.

00:14:57.660 –> 00:14:58.920 Darren Nicholson: In that journey.

00:15:01.260 –> 00:15:15.900 Darren Nicholson: Insurance I’ve got back to my blue grassroots there’s something about you can go around all way around the world, but it’s hard to get away from the roots and ended up back in bluegrass and I got rid of the violin and got a mandolin.

00:15:18.270 –> 00:15:23.880 Joseph McElroy: Come back we’ll talk about your journey into balsam range.

00:15:24.450 –> 00:15:25.710 Darren Nicholson: awesome thanks for having me.

00:15:25.950 –> 00:15:26.550 hey.

00:17:44.610 –> 00:17:52.140 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast and I guess there and Nicholson.

00:17:53.400 –> 00:18:04.110 Joseph McElroy: balsam range, so there, and you are a charter member and one of the most iconic bluegrass America and country man’s in the world today.

00:18:04.830 –> 00:18:16.230 Joseph McElroy: The grammy-nominated balsam range, so I want to stir up a little controversy because I have it on tape of what TIM said so, how did the band come about and how did you come up with your day.

00:18:18.540 –> 00:18:28.560 Darren Nicholson: The band started in 2007 and buddy Melton and Mark Pruitt had been playing some shows in a local band.

00:18:29.220 –> 00:18:43.800 Darren Nicholson: A hot water bluegrass company some really good friends of ours I’ve been playing shows around here for years the band is still going you’re still doing a lot of great shows mark and buddy had been playing a lot of these local events around here and.

00:18:45.420 –> 00:19:02.250 Darren Nicholson: TIM and mark had both played in 2006 played on a solo record that buddy melton did, and that, and then I did want about the same time and mark and TIM both played on those records and.

00:19:03.690 –> 00:19:10.500 Darren Nicholson: So there was that kind of connection we’d had this we were kind of all in the circles we’re starting to cross.

00:19:10.950 –> 00:19:22.530 Darren Nicholson: I’ve been traveling on the road for three years, with Alicia Nugent and I hadn’t really played a lot around Haywood county or home, I did this record, but he did one and in early 2007.

00:19:23.580 –> 00:19:26.250 Darren Nicholson: buddy and mark kind of got the idea

00:19:27.390 –> 00:19:28.230 Darren Nicholson: to maybe.

00:19:29.370 –> 00:19:42.270 Darren Nicholson: put me in TIM, and in all of us in the same room to jam a little bit and I don’t know how I’m not sure how Caleb was called into it, I guess buddy had known him from doing some.

00:19:43.830 –> 00:20:02.700 Darren Nicholson: Some work with a Gospel band that Caleb had for a while and we ended up picking in my kitchen and we did two or three just kinds of jam sessions and a buddy came over one day and said, you know mark and I’ve been playing with water for a while, but.

00:20:04.080 –> 00:20:18.030 Darren Nicholson: Mark said that you know he’s getting in probably the last, this is probably the last stage of his career because marks getting older and he would like to have one more really good shot at playing bluegrass at.

00:20:19.200 –> 00:20:23.160 Darren Nicholson: Not just a regional level, but you know, a professional level.

00:20:23.700 –> 00:20:24.150 and

00:20:25.590 –> 00:20:39.120 Darren Nicholson: Without I be interested in doing some shows with them, and I said I don’t know I just came off the road you know I don’t and I didn’t want to travel and when the band started the idea was to do a lot of these things around home.

00:20:40.860 –> 00:20:50.790 Darren Nicholson: But just do it, you know with the band that that caliber band, you know and just kind of play shows around here and next thing you know.

00:20:51.510 –> 00:21:01.050 Darren Nicholson: We, we had a record deal before we had a name for the band, and we had all these shows on the books and then people were wanting us to come.

00:21:01.650 –> 00:21:15.300 Darren Nicholson: play in California and play in Seattle play in New York play in Florida, and with the goal was to kind of just keep it around here and play in western North Carolina but he got out of the bank’s pretty quick on us.

00:21:16.410 –> 00:21:18.600 Darren Nicholson: And that’s a good thing you.

00:21:18.600 –> 00:21:19.920 Joseph McElroy: know, a good problem to have.

00:21:20.100 –> 00:21:24.780 Darren Nicholson: We weren’t it’s was nothing that we designed it wasn’t my plan.

00:21:26.010 –> 00:21:36.780 Darren Nicholson: It was just meant to be and we didn’t really have a name for a band we kicked out around for a while and we’ve all finally decided we were going to give this a shot and.

00:21:38.130 –> 00:21:42.150 Darren Nicholson: And balsam range is that the range of mountains between.

00:21:42.660 –> 00:21:54.780 Darren Nicholson: Jackson county but he’s got roots in Jackson County and I’m from there and then all the rest of guys are Haywood county and so that ranger mountain is called the great balsam range and without that would be a little pretentious so we dropped the great.

00:21:56.010 –> 00:21:57.990 Darren Nicholson: And just went with mediocre balsam range.

00:22:00.180 –> 00:22:02.070 Joseph McElroy: Oh let’s go well, you gave great.

00:22:02.700 –> 00:22:07.020 Joseph McElroy: Fantastic so you’ve you know you’ve had some wonderful albums.

00:22:08.160 –> 00:22:12.720 Joseph McElroy: I think, though, that your latest one is rivers rains and runaway train all right.

00:22:12.930 –> 00:22:19.620 Darren Nicholson: Ladies single let’s go to be on an album which we’re trying to tablet right now we during the pandemic.

00:22:20.460 –> 00:22:25.380 Darren Nicholson: We couldn’t really play live shows, but, we did go in the studio and start working on a record.

00:22:25.830 –> 00:22:40.170 Darren Nicholson: And it’ll be out in the next month or two you know it’ll be out by early fall and late summer early fall and but that’s the second to the latest release that the newest release is called Santa Barbara and.

00:22:40.770 –> 00:22:43.170 Darren Nicholson: Number one it was number one for the month of June.

00:22:43.410 –> 00:22:48.870 Joseph McElroy: And I saw that on Facebook I forgot to put I forgot to mention I just saw that on Facebook I love this.

00:22:50.700 –> 00:22:53.130 Joseph McElroy: nice little video with it a sort of a cartoon video.

00:22:54.780 –> 00:22:55.890 Joseph McElroy: Yet it’s kind of cool.

00:22:57.570 –> 00:22:59.970 Joseph McElroy: I like that that was really good so.

00:23:00.810 –> 00:23:02.970 Darren Nicholson: For singles but the rest of the album’s coming out.

00:23:03.390 –> 00:23:14.670 Joseph McElroy: cool well, I think, in January, Tim predicted that there would be live performances and be like 2020 you know, we had three, then, are you looking better now you have a lot more performances.

00:23:15.030 –> 00:23:26.670 Darren Nicholson: Playing really, six, seven days a week, you know cuz I’m balsam range those guys want to do between 40 and 50 rope dates like really big the bigger dates.

00:23:27.060 –> 00:23:37.110 Darren Nicholson: And that’s about all they’re interested in doing and that’s fine you know that’s what they want to do, but I’m the youngest guy in the band I’m 37.

00:23:37.530 –> 00:23:41.880 Darren Nicholson: And so you know mark is 70 and I’m 37 and.

00:23:42.720 –> 00:23:48.420 Darren Nicholson: You know I still have this fire in my belly and I still have this interest to play music and play a lot.

00:23:48.840 –> 00:23:52.350 Darren Nicholson: yeah I love performing and when I’m not performing.

00:23:54.090 –> 00:23:57.390 Darren Nicholson: Oh no I just there’s it’s just Denton I.

00:23:57.840 –> 00:24:03.330 Joseph McElroy: Oh, this is the time for you to really get that whole musician experience, I mean that.

00:24:05.010 –> 00:24:08.160 Joseph McElroy: You chose, and I could understand that you got it.

00:24:08.250 –> 00:24:09.240 Darren Nicholson: This is my colleague.

00:24:09.480 –> 00:24:11.880 Joseph McElroy: You want it, you want to have that moment of.

00:24:11.970 –> 00:24:14.190 Joseph McElroy: Being this semester I get it.

00:24:14.670 –> 00:24:15.150 Darren Nicholson: I love it.

00:24:15.240 –> 00:24:16.470 Joseph McElroy: You know and I’ve missed it in.

00:24:16.470 –> 00:24:22.830 Darren Nicholson: The last year, of course, I’ve enjoyed being off Cup, because I have traveled since I was 1819 years old, there were some.

00:24:23.340 –> 00:24:36.360 Darren Nicholson: Some positives you know to you know being offered last year, we got to record more and do things that we wouldn’t normally take the time to do we were forced you know to do things differently, but.

00:24:37.560 –> 00:24:47.190 Darren Nicholson: that’s okay, sometimes that’s a good thing um you know I wish you know the other people hadn’t have struggled like they had you know, for us to do that, but.

00:24:47.670 –> 00:25:01.560 Darren Nicholson: This is the this the last year has been one of those situations where look this or there’s a lot of stuff that’s out of our hands, I can either focus on all the negative or I can look at the positives of this and make the best of this yeah and.

00:25:02.160 –> 00:25:02.910 Joseph McElroy: I guess.

00:25:04.020 –> 00:25:12.330 Joseph McElroy: I always wanted to do podcasts and I would have never done it without last year, I mean all I regret what the circumstances were I’m doing it and I’m loving it especially this one.

00:25:13.920 –> 00:25:25.140 Joseph McElroy: So you know we hear about the band, but you know I know I understand that you’re gifted songwriter what somewhat has you what have you written songs for balsam range and what are some of the favorite songs you’ve written.

00:25:27.030 –> 00:25:29.010 Darren Nicholson: Some of the favorite teams I’ve written.

00:25:30.660 –> 00:25:39.600 Darren Nicholson: Charles Humphrey and I write more songs with him than anybody else I’ve written with several other people, but Charles and I recently had one.

00:25:40.530 –> 00:25:51.450 Darren Nicholson: called lonesome is the price, I pay that went number one on an all-star bluegrass section that came out of the record label over there it’s called bluegrass at the crossroads lonesome is the price, I pay.

00:25:52.320 –> 00:26:00.600 Darren Nicholson: Number one in bluegrass is the first number one I had as a writer I think the balsam range has had about 43 or 44 number one songs.

00:26:01.500 –> 00:26:10.170 Darren Nicholson: 2007 and but I didn’t write any of them I recently I really haven’t got into songwriting until the last year.

00:26:10.770 –> 00:26:17.040 Darren Nicholson: I started about three years ago dabbling and last year really started pumping them out and.

00:26:17.910 –> 00:26:31.920 Darren Nicholson: there’s a song called all night long that’s on the new electric record that I’m really proud of I’m in the process of recording a Gospel song that Eric Gibson and I wrote together call them alive, when I die and.

00:26:32.910 –> 00:26:37.230 Darren Nicholson: there’s just depends on what mood I’m in there kind of like your children, you know.

00:26:39.510 –> 00:26:53.040 Joseph McElroy: Somebody asked me once I actually I do little art and somebody asked me what is my favorite painting and I’ll say the last one, and then they’ll say and once you look at you think you need to work on the most again I said, the last one.

00:26:55.680 –> 00:26:58.020 Darren Nicholson: Taking your kids had somebody asked me like

00:26:59.430 –> 00:27:17.640 Darren Nicholson: If you had a favorite child, would you let them know, would you tell them and I was like no I was like first of all, you know you if you have you you can’t have a favorite child but me because me I treat my main son and my other kids exactly the same.

00:27:20.640 –> 00:27:30.150 Joseph McElroy: So the balsam range has not been you’re only history right so you’ve done what with stuff a bunker turnpike and hazel creek and.

00:27:30.420 –> 00:27:31.260 Darren Nicholson: Local bands.

00:27:31.320 –> 00:27:32.400 Joseph McElroy: yeah and then.

00:27:32.910 –> 00:27:33.600 Darren Nicholson: All those guys.

00:27:34.110 –> 00:27:39.540 Joseph McElroy: And then you toured with Elysia Nugent and you played the grand Ole opry and the iconic right.

00:27:40.830 –> 00:27:42.900 Joseph McElroy: auditorium how was all bad for you.

00:27:43.770 –> 00:27:48.390 Darren Nicholson: That was great Alicia’s from Louisiana she’s from the great state of Louisiana and.

00:27:51.060 –> 00:27:52.110 Darren Nicholson: She was.

00:27:53.160 –> 00:27:58.920 Darren Nicholson: She was produced I learned a lot during that stretch because her record producer was a guy named Carl Jackson.

00:27:59.880 –> 00:28:11.550 Darren Nicholson: And Carl Jackson was the bandleader in Glen Campbell’s band for years he started with Jim and Jesse when he was 14 but he also produced and recorded Dolly Parton Emmylou Harris Linda Ronstadt.

00:28:13.410 –> 00:28:20.700 Darren Nicholson: a lot of heavy hitters Alison Krauss James Taylor he’s recorded and produced everybody in the business and so when.

00:28:22.170 –> 00:28:32.910 Darren Nicholson: I found out that he was producing delicious records I knew this was an opportunity for a young 19-year-old kid to learn a lot about music-making records singing.

00:28:33.480 –> 00:28:44.550 Darren Nicholson: And so I was just kind of like a sponge I was just kind of soaked it all up and so those three years are super important to me, you know playing around and altering the first time I did it.

00:28:44.970 –> 00:28:54.510 Darren Nicholson: Not 10 years old, we opened for Sam Bush the Ryman auditorium with Alicia new Japan went to Europe with that band toured with merle haggard with that band um.

00:28:55.650 –> 00:29:02.370 Darren Nicholson: gosh the crazy all the crazy things I’m one of those guys who peaked early in their career.

00:29:04.950 –> 00:29:11.760 Joseph McElroy: Well, I think, when we come back, I want to talk, I want to find out what you think is your proudest accomplishment so far alright.

00:29:12.210 –> 00:29:12.840 Darren Nicholson: sounds good.

00:31:46.050 –> 00:31:56.130 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and my gear my guests there Nicholson of balsam range so.

00:31:56.610 –> 00:32:05.520 Joseph McElroy: There you have toured with merle haggard zac brown George Jones and another holiday in calories musicians to build balsam range and been nominated.

00:32:05.820 –> 00:32:19.710 Joseph McElroy: For Grammys with them you’ve won some international bluegrass association award yourself and you’ve also done things like getting the order of the long lead pine award, which is the highest North Carolina civilian award and you were in a prestigious.

00:32:20.910 –> 00:32:37.650 Joseph McElroy: Traditional artist director of the Blue Ridge our heritage scandal and you been inducted in North Carolina folklife Institute in 2008 what is that’s a pretty big resume was already nearly 37, what do you, what is the hardest one so far.

00:32:39.840 –> 00:32:42.300 Darren Nicholson: Oh gosh um.

00:32:44.100 –> 00:32:49.680 Darren Nicholson: Man it’d be hard, I mean I guess the grand Ole opry is really all those things are very important to me.

00:32:50.700 –> 00:32:56.550 Darren Nicholson: The grand Ole opry kind of sticks out it’s probably not as important to people now as it used to be.

00:32:58.950 –> 00:33:10.020 Darren Nicholson: But you know I just grew up listening, the Grand Ole Opry as a kid you know that was we didn’t the area that we were in you know my parents.

00:33:11.370 –> 00:33:16.740 Darren Nicholson: They weren’t wealthy we didn’t have a lot, and so we didn’t have cable TV we didn’t have.

00:33:18.330 –> 00:33:32.880 Darren Nicholson: I didn’t have video games, you know, I was, I was born in 83 this the technology started coming out a lot of the kids I went to school with had video games they’re watching cable and my family didn’t have that but, but we had.

00:33:34.050 –> 00:33:35.550 Darren Nicholson: Experiences like.

00:33:36.660 –> 00:33:48.840 Darren Nicholson: You know, we camped the law we went we were out in nature, a lot, but we played music a lot, but the radio was Cadillac TV and theater of the mind.

00:33:49.470 –> 00:34:01.230 Darren Nicholson: And so you know when late on Friday and Saturday nights after we’d have a jam session at our house, you know I would sit up with my parents and they tune in the Grand Ole opry.

00:34:03.210 –> 00:34:12.900 Darren Nicholson: And took a CG North Carolina it would come in clear as a bell and I would hear all the great artists George Jones the Osborne brothers Jim and Jesse.

00:34:14.460 –> 00:34:21.210 Darren Nicholson: You know Tammy Wynette Dolly Parton merle haggard all those you know the greats and.

00:34:22.260 –> 00:34:33.780 Darren Nicholson: That impacted my life, probably as much and kind of shaped you know who, I am as much as anything but I’ll be honest with you the last year and a half being shut down.

00:34:34.530 –> 00:34:52.080 Darren Nicholson: um it’s changed my perspective on all those things and kinda getting older and kind of learning like who and what you really are every show is that important to me, every show is as important as the grand Ole opry to me because.

00:34:53.730 –> 00:35:01.350 Darren Nicholson: Even shows that for years I took for granted, and if you do enough performances, whether you’re in theater or music or whatever.

00:35:01.710 –> 00:35:08.940 Darren Nicholson: You know if you just do it for a hobby it’s always fun when you start doing something for living it can take the fun out of.

00:35:09.420 –> 00:35:14.400 Darren Nicholson: It can be like clocking in at the meal and you start playing five or six nights a week and all of a sudden.

00:35:14.970 –> 00:35:24.120 Darren Nicholson: Sometimes you dread going to play music, the thing that you love, more than anything, you’re like man I gotta I’m we’re out and I’ve got to pour all my energy into this again.

00:35:24.630 –> 00:35:33.300 Darren Nicholson: You know it’s not like being a clerk at a store where you can just kind of shut it off, or whatever you got to give all of yourself all your energy and so.

00:35:34.500 –> 00:35:43.590 Darren Nicholson: I would get burnout at times, and you know, then those things go away and you realize, you know I will I’m here to play music.

00:35:44.190 –> 00:35:56.280 Darren Nicholson: And I don’t care if it’s for five people in a bar in backstreet Haywood county if it’s for 100 people in Maggie Valley for a ticketed event or if it’s for 2000.

00:35:56.700 –> 00:36:18.570 Darren Nicholson: or 5000 on the grand Ole opry or if it’s an in an auditorium they’re all important to me, and there are stages that are nice and that make you feel good but I’ll just be honest with you the older I get every single performance is the performance of my life, you know.

00:36:18.630 –> 00:36:25.260 Joseph McElroy: that’s fantastic you know you’ve done you mentioned Europe but you’ve also taken bluegrass music to places.

00:36:25.710 –> 00:36:37.290 Joseph McElroy: That people wouldn’t normally think of it right you’ve got in the Bahamas in Jamaica and Haiti and Australia with Mexico, what, how is it how’s the reception for bluegrass Sarah yeah what, what do you feel about that.

00:36:37.920 –> 00:36:48.360 Darren Nicholson: it’s crazy and in 2006 I went to Australia, with the great already by lock who’s coming to the meadowlark lodge and July 17.

00:36:49.230 –> 00:36:59.850 Darren Nicholson: Already as a professional national touring bluegrass musician I got to do some shows, with him, and one of them was a trip to Australia.

00:37:00.270 –> 00:37:16.170 Darren Nicholson: And we went to Harriet Ville Australia, we flew into Sydney and then went to Harry Ville so I had a basically a six-hour flight to get to La a 16-hour flight to get to Sydney then a five-hour car ride to get to the festival.

00:37:18.420 –> 00:37:20.790 Darren Nicholson: that’s what you call passionate for bluegrass.

00:37:20.850 –> 00:37:21.840 Joseph McElroy: yeah I.

00:37:21.930 –> 00:37:27.630 Darren Nicholson: got there and man, they were hardcore traditional bluegrass.

00:37:27.810 –> 00:37:41.880 Darren Nicholson: Well, they weren’t into Alison Krauss in the new bluegrass bands they liked everything from the 1930s and 40s and 50s when you got into the 1960s, it was almost too progressive for them.

00:37:43.350 –> 00:37:46.380 Darren Nicholson: They love the older mute the older, the better.

00:37:46.770 –> 00:37:48.780 Darren Nicholson: And it just goes to show you.

00:37:49.080 –> 00:37:56.670 Darren Nicholson: How deep these roots the roots of this music run and they are just fanatical about it over there, the.

00:37:56.760 –> 00:38:00.180 Darren Nicholson: the moment I consider I consider bluegrass world music.

00:38:00.630 –> 00:38:01.590 Darren Nicholson: Right yeah.

00:38:02.400 –> 00:38:11.910 Joseph McElroy: Like you know you got things coming folk music coming from overseas and they talk about world music, but I think bluegrass fits well into that tradition of what is World music.

00:38:12.450 –> 00:38:17.400 Darren Nicholson: yeah for sure, a lot of the great a lot of the bluegrass.

00:38:18.930 –> 00:38:27.510 Darren Nicholson: Historical pieces, like the instruments, the big money instruments and the historical pieces that belonged to the stars of bluegrass are the.

00:38:27.930 –> 00:38:40.830 Darren Nicholson: founding fathers of bluegrass are in Japan there’s this huge Japanese bluegrass interest in it and they come here when we have the international bluegrass music association in Raleigh there’s the great.

00:38:42.270 –> 00:38:51.750 Darren Nicholson: bluegrass band from Italy called find one when we say it’s international bluegrass music association that’s it’s, not just for Kentucky and North Carolina.

00:38:53.040 –> 00:39:03.360 Darren Nicholson: And they’re so New York has all these crazy bluegrass festivals, the Gibson brothers who want entertainer of the year they’re from upstate New York, you know and.

00:39:04.890 –> 00:39:07.230 Joseph McElroy: More New York, and I have in North Carolina.

00:39:10.950 –> 00:39:22.020 Darren Nicholson: People all over the country love it, you know my dad and my mom met and got married out in Seattle and there’s a huge Western North Carolina.

00:39:24.180 –> 00:39:28.800 Darren Nicholson: population and around Seattle see Willie Denton.

00:39:30.000 –> 00:39:37.680 Darren Nicholson: Lyman concrete and there are so many tar heels that went out there in the 50s and 60s too long, they were part of the login.

00:39:38.370 –> 00:39:48.060 Darren Nicholson: Say Okay, then so when they went out there to work they took the music in the same way that’s how I got into Detroit and that’s how I got into Michigan when they went to work in the auto.

00:39:48.330 –> 00:39:49.140 Darren Nicholson: factories of.

00:39:49.470 –> 00:39:53.010 Darren Nicholson: Ford and General Motors took bluegrass with them.

00:39:53.280 –> 00:39:53.700 You know.

00:39:54.960 –> 00:40:00.360 Joseph McElroy: That was the manufacturing time of the United States and all these people from the Appalachian when all over the place yeah.

00:40:02.130 –> 00:40:14.910 Joseph McElroy: hillbilly Elegy they told you all about that that was cool so let’s bring it back to closer to home, so you guys have participated in our traditional religion or less how did that come about.

00:40:15.960 –> 00:40:28.710 Darren Nicholson: Well we’ve been doing a concert series at home for years, a winner concert series and we started, because we want to do something for a charity local charity and we play a lot of charitable events throughout the year.

00:40:30.000 –> 00:40:38.130 Darren Nicholson: We just wanted to do something to give back to the community it’s been so good, to us, we want to provide music in the winter that was during a slow time but also creates

00:40:39.720 –> 00:40:50.010 Darren Nicholson: to stimulate the economy, bring people into you know buy meals hotel rooms in the wintertime when it’s generally slow and we did that for years and years.

00:40:50.520 –> 00:41:07.380 Darren Nicholson: And it just got to a point where those shows were selling out in the same 300 people where they would buy tickets in advance, and we were just playing to the same 300 people every time you know and that’s fine, but you know if something’s not growing then it’s dying.

00:41:07.800 –> 00:41:14.430 Darren Nicholson: And so let’s grow this thing let’s do it in a bigger venue like Juneau Alaska was the perfect place for it.

00:41:14.850 –> 00:41:23.370 Darren Nicholson: Like for people who don’t know like journalists, because the world Methodist headquarters, but they’ve got this amazing venue that sits right on the lake in the heart of Western North Carolina.

00:41:24.990 –> 00:41:45.210 Darren Nicholson: And they have lodged there they do you know they’ve got all kinds of meals shuttles they’ve got it’s the perfect setup for a festival and it’s indoors so the weather can’t wreck it, you know festivals in the summer any other time yeah it could be rain, it could be.

00:41:45.600 –> 00:41:59.280 Darren Nicholson: yeah angry, you know, unless it just comes a major blizzard the weather can’t record and I’d like to Alaska and it stimulates the economy and it does something good for Western North Carolina and.

00:41:59.280 –> 00:42:01.890 Joseph McElroy: What was that, like what is it in December every year.

00:42:02.100 –> 00:42:03.690 Darren Nicholson: The first weekend of December we.

00:42:04.200 –> 00:42:12.480 Darren Nicholson: yeah we got with the tourism Board and the slowest economic weekend for tourism every year was the weekend after thanksgiving.

00:42:12.540 –> 00:42:13.080 Yes.

00:42:14.910 –> 00:42:22.500 Darren Nicholson: After thanksgiving before Christmas, and so we’re like hey let’s do it then and now it’s one of the biggest ones for the whole year for the hey we can.

00:42:22.860 –> 00:42:39.060 Joseph McElroy: cool so you do a lot of things like you said, besides balsam range you got your own band there and nickel so band, do you do solo shows, but you also perform with your wife janitor, who is a super talented musician, can you tell us what to do with her.

00:42:39.510 –> 00:42:44.460 Darren Nicholson: The audio blocks first cousin I can’t tell you everything I do with her.

00:42:47.790 –> 00:42:48.240 Joseph McElroy: for that.

00:42:49.590 –> 00:42:51.270 Darren Nicholson: hey you put it on a TEE I’m swinging.

00:42:53.430 –> 00:43:03.300 Darren Nicholson: yeah she’s an incredible musician she’s the vocal music director and director of choirs at Asheville high school and so she’s actually an educated musician

00:43:04.260 –> 00:43:15.060 Darren Nicholson: She teaches music theory piano incredible singer, and so we do shows like that something fun, for us, we don’t know why we haven’t done it in years past but.

00:43:15.660 –> 00:43:21.360 Darren Nicholson: We just kind of start doing it for fun and it’s taken off and people are wanting to see that do it, we do.

00:43:22.110 –> 00:43:36.840 Darren Nicholson: it’s totally different will do sitting on the dock of the bay, will do a wreath of Franklin tunes and so for someone who’s known for playing bluegrass and mostly original music people can come see me in a whole different you know, so I get to let my hair down.

00:43:37.170 –> 00:43:39.060 Joseph McElroy: And where’s the next picture good play with her.

00:43:39.990 –> 00:43:40.710 Darren Nicholson: Oh gosh.

00:43:42.150 –> 00:43:46.680 Darren Nicholson: I’d have to look on the calendar five or six nights a week go to dare nicholson.net.

00:43:47.910 –> 00:43:56.280 Joseph McElroy: Go to the website very good, so we come back let’s talk about the band camp, but who’s gonna be involved in that and that’s worth a.

00:43:57.000 –> 00:43:57.390 awesome.

00:46:31.980 –> 00:46:38.730 Joseph McElroy: Joseph Franklin McElroy back with a gateway to the smokies podcasts and my guest Darren Nicholson, so there.

00:46:39.690 –> 00:46:55.260 Joseph McElroy: You are I guess you and I got together with Bob plot we cooked up and really fantastic event that there where there is sort of almost the inaugural event of the new metal or smoky mountain hairdo Center makers commit the middle or motel.

00:46:56.580 –> 00:47:05.340 Joseph McElroy: And it’s called the dare Nicholson all-star bluegrass can’t band camp is kind of an all-star concert, can you tell us how you came up with that event, I think that was you to come up with it right.

00:47:06.000 –> 00:47:19.980 Darren Nicholson: Well, you know Bob is another guy who supports a lot of great events in western North Carolina and knows the culture here and the people and I play a lot of shows around here play with a damn Nicholson band play with balsam range people can see me.

00:47:21.690 –> 00:47:30.060 Darren Nicholson: Whenever about whenever they want to you know, so the idea for going to do something at this new place is to.

00:47:30.570 –> 00:47:39.480 Darren Nicholson: How can we do something that’s completely different and one of the things that we’ve done at the balsam range art of music festival that’s been wildly popular.

00:47:39.960 –> 00:47:53.880 Darren Nicholson: Are these workshops and even for people who don’t play they like to come to them, just to watch just to find out, I think more about the artist and be with the artist and an intimate setting so they can ask questions.

00:47:54.420 –> 00:48:10.440 Darren Nicholson: I think a lot of people as fans are just curious about the music sometimes or the musicians and whether they’re actually in there, wanting to study and learn an instrument, I think they’re just fascinated and curious you know.

00:48:11.640 –> 00:48:17.430 Darren Nicholson: Because when you buy a concert ticket, you know there’s kind of a wall there that’s it that’s as far as you’re going to get.

00:48:17.460 –> 00:48:22.680 Darren Nicholson: you’re going to enjoy the show, but you don’t really get to know the artist.

00:48:23.700 –> 00:48:29.280 Darren Nicholson: Personally, or ask questions or this and that even about the music or how it got started or.

00:48:29.880 –> 00:48:43.860 Darren Nicholson: Like you know what your influences are this or that or why do you play this certain style or why do you choose this answer homeowner you know or this PIC or whatever, and so it’s just this is a way to get behind the curtain a little bit you know.

00:48:44.400 –> 00:48:48.780 Joseph McElroy: and tell me about the all-star people that you’ve got involved with here.

00:48:48.900 –> 00:48:57.960 Darren Nicholson: Well we’ve got the great audible a lot who’s coming to a lot of people know his bluegrass history from playing with Jimmy Martin and Rhonda Vincent but he’s and Michael Cleveland he.

00:48:58.740 –> 00:49:12.720 Darren Nicholson: he’s just been a part of some of the most legendary bluegrass lineups of the last 40 years and incredible singer and guitar player and he doesn’t play in this area very much which is.

00:49:13.290 –> 00:49:23.250 Darren Nicholson: Really cool trick, for if you’re going to get a ticket or see an event, this is going to be a chance to see a rare bird right here in Western North Carolina.

00:49:24.210 –> 00:49:31.530 Darren Nicholson: Eric Ellis is going to be playing the five-string banjo and Eric is one of the greatest traditional bluegrass banjo players.

00:49:32.190 –> 00:49:43.470 Darren Nicholson: Ever he’s like a mark Pruitt or Steve Sutton at that level, you know and he’s a guy who he’s another one of these Western North Carolina he’s from around the Wilkes Barre area.

00:49:44.070 –> 00:50:00.210 Darren Nicholson: And he’s gonna be traveling down I don’t get to pick with him very much just because of our schedules, but what an honor to get to play with that man and then read Jones is gonna be playing bass great singer-songwriter he plays an oldies band.

00:50:01.620 –> 00:50:05.910 Darren Nicholson: If you like serious no.

00:50:07.050 –> 00:50:14.940 Darren Nicholson: No frills like take the gloves off serious bluegrass music, this will be the show to come to.

00:50:15.870 –> 00:50:17.550 Joseph McElroy: I mean chuck you haven’t.

00:50:18.480 –> 00:50:24.030 Darren Nicholson: yeah they’re doing the workshops if you want to do a base workshop banjo or band workshop.

00:50:25.740 –> 00:50:41.490 Darren Nicholson: I like the band workshops, you know how the all the parts work together, you know it’s just like if you go see a rock and roll band, why do the bass and the drums, why did they do this together, why did that you know how does this work like a machine, you know.

00:50:41.820 –> 00:50:47.700 Joseph McElroy: How to how to put a take the raw song and putting together as a band song is that.

00:50:48.060 –> 00:51:02.970 Darren Nicholson: Like a baseball team, you can take nine amazing talented players and they’re not a very good team, because they don’t know how to play together and you could take nine mediocre guys who know how to play together and they’ll be the best.

00:51:04.170 –> 00:51:07.710 Darren Nicholson: You can that they know how to make a band, you know.

00:51:09.360 –> 00:51:10.920 Darren Nicholson: totally different mindset yeah.

00:51:11.370 –> 00:51:18.720 Joseph McElroy: And there and the concert you guys are sort of going to be ad-libbing as you go right or do you ever did you put together some ideas.

00:51:18.780 –> 00:51:19.500 Darren Nicholson: gosh no.

00:51:21.300 –> 00:51:30.870 Darren Nicholson: I want you to know people who buy a ticket when you buy a ticket, this is your experience, if you want a song, if you want to hear if we know it we’re gonna do it.

00:51:31.020 –> 00:51:32.550 Joseph McElroy: You know, take requests.

00:51:33.510 –> 00:51:36.720 Darren Nicholson: I mean if we know them we do better on the ones we know, obviously we.

00:51:37.770 –> 00:51:40.380 Darren Nicholson: Probably won’t do heaven my baby by Paul Anka.

00:51:43.560 –> 00:51:44.220 Darren Nicholson: rocky top.

00:51:44.520 –> 00:51:48.330 Joseph McElroy: You can’t do that as a blue dress.

00:51:50.070 –> 00:51:51.270 Darren Nicholson: I wouldn’t do that period.

00:51:54.150 –> 00:51:58.800 Joseph McElroy: covers you know they got snoop dogg’s gin and juice as a.

00:52:02.280 –> 00:52:05.250 Darren Nicholson: a lot of crazy bluegrass lacking Egyptians were.

00:52:07.770 –> 00:52:11.490 Joseph McElroy: So, so how do people find out more about you and how they follow you.

00:52:12.900 –> 00:52:25.620 Darren Nicholson: I’ve got a Facebook page then Nicholson, music and Darren Nicholson band, of course, balsam range has a Twitter Instagram if you look up Darren Nicholson or balsam range.

00:52:26.070 –> 00:52:36.240 Darren Nicholson: And same way balsamrange.com is the band website there nicholson.net and .com was already taken I’m not a Nascar driver.

00:52:41.100 –> 00:52:42.630 Darren Nicholson: a hell of a lot of speeding tickets.

00:52:43.710 –> 00:52:44.910 Darren Nicholson: i’m almost qualified.

00:52:45.210 –> 00:52:48.270 Joseph McElroy: NASCAR came out of bounds in North Carolina did.

00:52:48.600 –> 00:52:50.970 Darren Nicholson: john in baby yeah running.

00:52:53.760 –> 00:52:54.690 Joseph McElroy: A couple paths.

00:52:55.020 –> 00:52:56.970 Darren Nicholson: Exactly illegal.

00:52:57.420 –> 00:52:58.410 Joseph McElroy: There so.

00:52:59.820 –> 00:53:03.630 Joseph McElroy: I know you’re good to fly fishermen where’s the best place to go fly fishing.

00:53:05.850 –> 00:53:10.560 Darren Nicholson: In Haywood county, I grew up in Jackson that’s where I grew up fishing I go over there.

00:53:10.710 –> 00:53:12.720 Joseph McElroy: Okay where’s the best place there that.

00:53:12.840 –> 00:53:27.090 Darren Nicholson: I love candy for can I love tech a CG tech-savvy river and I gotta brag on Jackson county I’m playing there this Friday for my buddy Kelly, who does the concert on the creek, but they also in their big tourism thing Jackson county is now the

00:53:29.160 –> 00:53:38.130 Darren Nicholson: trap capital of North Carolina so when you come to Haywood county and staff to meadowlark you’re only about 20 minutes away from the trout capital if you choose not to fish.

00:53:38.130 –> 00:53:38.760 Joseph McElroy: I actually.

00:53:40.050 –> 00:53:46.290 Joseph McElroy: mentioned that Jackson hey we’ve got to get together and I believe that they’ve made themselves together with the trout capital.

00:53:48.660 –> 00:53:49.560 Darren Nicholson: Joint custody.

00:53:49.770 –> 00:53:51.210 Joseph McElroy: is doing custody yeah I.

00:53:51.210 –> 00:53:52.320 Darren Nicholson: got joint custody.

00:53:53.610 –> 00:54:02.010 Joseph McElroy: ELISE I’ll say so, because we have a travel blog we’re going to the back of in the middle, like when you there we got to travel far we have I’m out here just traps true.

00:54:03.390 –> 00:54:03.840 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:54:04.440 –> 00:54:08.640 Darren Nicholson: Everywhere in western North Carolina but I mean come on this is this is.

00:54:08.670 –> 00:54:12.480 Joseph McElroy: it’s trapped country this chapter well, thank you for being on our show.

00:54:13.500 –> 00:54:14.430 Joseph McElroy: I love your shirt.

00:54:14.970 –> 00:54:16.140 Darren Nicholson: Oh, let me share it, dude.

00:54:16.140 –> 00:54:20.520 Joseph McElroy: live it up is technically called planets it’s camouflage plan.

00:54:21.240 –> 00:54:24.300 Darren Nicholson: You look like you’re about to invade Sherwin Williams.

00:54:26.580 –> 00:54:28.230 Joseph McElroy: Where can I be camouflage.

00:54:29.670 –> 00:54:31.380 Darren Nicholson: I really do like the shirt man, I like.

00:54:31.680 –> 00:54:33.000 Joseph McElroy: Maybe i’ll send you a.

00:54:34.860 –> 00:54:50.400 Joseph McElroy: So I got I want to mention that we’re on the top radio dot NYC network where there’s a lot of interesting shows, and I recommend you listen to a lot of podcasts every day and ranging in content from you know.

00:54:51.150 –> 00:54:59.160 Joseph McElroy: The self-help to travel shows so it’s got a lot of dynamic content everybody here is very serious about what they’re doing after.

00:54:59.700 –> 00:55:12.630 Joseph McElroy: After this shows is one on New York, so you can go from the mountains of North Carolina to New York City and find out places to go, maybe in that, but a skyscraper or the top of the mountain just by listening one evening.

00:55:14.430 –> 00:55:30.870 Joseph McElroy: yeah you can find out more about this podcast at the gateway to the smokies dot fun all right, or you can go to facebook.com slash faith a gateway to the smokies podcast.

00:55:31.980 –> 00:55:40.620 Joseph McElroy: and find out more about what’s happening next week we’re going to have Neil Hutchinson here, which should be very interesting.

00:55:42.000 –> 00:55:42.870 Joseph McElroy: podcast.

00:55:43.920 –> 00:55:59.130 Joseph McElroy: And I look forward to seeing you it’s every the same week every day, every time from one I mean from six until seven on Tuesdays and thank you for listening to the gateway to the smokies by there’s.

00:55:59.190 –> 00:56:00.990 Darren Nicholson: so much for having me really appreciate it.

Special Guest: Jim Hamilton, is an extension agent and county director at NC State Cooperative Extension and an adjunct professor at ASU, as well as a former instructor at Haywood Community College.

Jim has a Ph.D. in forestry and teaches workshops across the region including an upcoming date at the Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center on August 28th. They will be discussing the generations of ginseng in the Smoky Mountains.

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

Today’s episode starts off with our host Joseph McElroy announcing tons of exciting upcoming events that our audience can look forward to. From concerts to award programs, talk shows, and campfires, there are a plethora of events that people can enjoy in the Smoky Mountain and North Carolina region. After announcements, Joseph introduces the special guest of the day, Jim Hamilton. Jim talks about his journey to how he became a professor, county director, and so interested in ginseng in the local community.

Coming back from the break, the two talks more about turtles being the state reptile of North Carolina and bring up Jim’s nickname, Jimseng. Jim then talks about where that name came from and all the benefits and other facts about ginseng. He explains how he became interested in the local ginseng and where his passion originates from. They discuss how important ginseng is essential to the economy and go further into the different types of ginseng, their history, and their benefits. Jim tells stories of famous pioneers and explorers who came across ginseng, such as Daniel Boone, and how it served as a food source and for health purposes.

The next segment starts off with a discussion on stereotypes regarding ginseng hunting on television shows. Jim clarifies the negative stereotypes and misunderstandings of people illegally harvesting ginseng and that he works with people to specifically protect the ginseng in the local Smoky Mountains area. Next, Jim talks about where to buy ginseng and what he does with them. He explains how different countries, for example, Korea, and China, buy ginseng differently than how one might in North Carolina. Joseph then asks Jim about his book, The Last Entry, which is a fictional book that follows a young man in the mountain area.

For the last segment, Jim Hamilton and Joseph talk more about planting and growing ginseng in your own backyard. Jim talks about what he recommends people to do in the Smoky Mountain areas. He recommends taking a morning hike to watch the sunrise and local restaurants with great food for lunch and other fun activities that visitors can do throughout the day.

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00:00:34.710 –> 00:00:39.840 Joseph McElroy: hey thanks for joining us on this week’s episode of gateway to the smokies.

00:00:40.350 –> 00:00:47.940 Joseph McElroy: This podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the great smoky mountains National Park, and the surrounding towns.

00:00:48.330 –> 00:00:56.940 Joseph McElroy: This area is filled with ancient natural beauty and deep storied history and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes.

00:00:57.510 –> 00:01:06.480 Joseph McElroy: I am Joseph Franklyn McElroy, a man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains my family’s lived in the great smokies for over 200 years.

00:01:06.930 –> 00:01:15.450 Joseph McElroy: My business is in travel, but my heart is in culture today’s podcast is about generations of ginseng in the smoky mountains.

00:01:16.140 –> 00:01:27.690 Joseph McElroy: But first let me tell you about a little bit coming up, upcoming event smokies adventures sponsoring events at the Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center this summer at the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley.

00:01:28.140 –> 00:01:35.640 Joseph McElroy: There are four heritage-themed events already booked for July and August, including the plot this reunion weekend on July 9 or 10th.

00:01:36.030 –> 00:01:48.780 Joseph McElroy: With mechanical bear bait demos programs and music, then we have the dare Nicholson all-star band camp or concert with seminars, presented by iconic musicians on Saturday of.

00:01:50.160 –> 00:01:54.120 Joseph McElroy: July 17 along with a concert on Saturday night.

00:01:54.900 –> 00:02:03.480 Joseph McElroy: There are landing and Charles Miller lifetime achievement award program will be with the seminars, music, and talks will be on July 31.

00:02:03.750 –> 00:02:16.380 Joseph McElroy: And the Horrace Kephart festival weekend on August 13 and 14th two days, full of heights music programs with nationally known our author’s artists and filmmakers musicians and explorers will be.

00:02:17.010 –> 00:02:27.930 Joseph McElroy: There we’re also pleased to announce it, in addition to new big events in August, the mountain the Meadowlark mountain heritage festival on August 7 through he has to be.

00:02:28.230 –> 00:02:37.620 Joseph McElroy: This will be a fun-filled week weekend featuring Cherokee storytelling and mass carving from the incomparable David are Davey arch.

00:02:38.040 –> 00:02:49.800 Joseph McElroy: Traditional music with Tandon Silver and the meadowlark ramblers or frontier camp with period-correct demos pertaining to a variety of topics, including high tanning blacksmiths.

00:02:50.280 –> 00:03:06.360 Joseph McElroy: flintlock firearms Pottering wildcrafted hosted by renowned experts in their respective CEOs fields such as I a hatter Randall peers kin partner, Brian Nolan Charlie brown corey plot David Brown and much more.

00:03:06.810 –> 00:03:14.220 Joseph McElroy: And then the weekend of August 27 through 29th there’s a natural since traditional skills, we can.

00:03:14.700 –> 00:03:26.310 Joseph McElroy: for reaching a big featuring a variety of experts in their field, including ginseng expert Jim Hamilton is our guest today Abby Martin artemisia known owner and.

00:03:26.700 –> 00:03:36.450 Joseph McElroy: walk founder of the wonderful school award-winning Cherokee naturalist Tyson Samson Adam Bigelow of big a little bit technical excursions.

00:03:36.840 –> 00:03:48.630 Joseph McElroy: acclaimed author and naturalist Renae Winchester Harold health and hair loom seed expert author musician William Ritter was a previous guest on the show.

00:03:49.050 –> 00:03:58.830 Joseph McElroy: Plott hound program and book signing with Bob Plott and other guests and Jacob Morgan Plott Sunday morning traditional music and service with William Ritter.

00:03:59.130 –> 00:04:08.250 Joseph McElroy: And Sarah Ogletree along with additional music throughout the weekend, with Camden silver and the Meadowlark ramblers Michael Ogletree and William Ritter.

00:04:10.050 –> 00:04:16.590 Joseph McElroy: I also announced, we have the initiative may Maggie rainwater to the Meadowlark

00:04:17.700 –> 00:04:29.490 Joseph McElroy: Mountain heritage team who’s going to do PR and advertising for all events and podcasts and represent some of the top names in America and bluegrass music fields welcome Maggie.

00:04:29.910 –> 00:04:42.120 Joseph McElroy: Most events at the Meadowlark Smoky Heritage Centers smoking out here just centers is free from hotel guests and then there’s a mission fee for Non-guest call to 89261717.

00:04:42.540 –> 00:04:59.130 Joseph McElroy: To put book your rooms, or for further information, there’s any stuff going on, so do you listen to this podcast after the fact, and after the summer of 2021 reach out because there’s going to be stuff going on all year round and they’re all going to be quality events like this, so.

00:05:00.240 –> 00:05:15.270 Joseph McElroy: Our podcast today is about ginseng and culture ginseng in the smoky mountains and I wasn’t you know I look around for poetry sometimes and things related to what the guest is going to be talking about that’s meaningful to me.

00:05:16.620 –> 00:05:26.790 Joseph McElroy: And you know I didn’t find a poem at work, but I found a bluegrass song the original author was Norman Blake and I think he performed it as well, what I found one that was.

00:05:28.920 –> 00:05:36.690 Joseph McElroy: Something that involves the popular bluegrass legend Tim Rice, who has been mentioned several times on this show by

00:05:36.960 –> 00:05:51.300 Joseph McElroy: My Tim Cert and balsam range a couple of others and Darren Nicholson and also arrange will be here next week’s to talk about the bluegrass band camp and he’ll probably mention that maybe mentioned Tim Rice raw I will I prod them to anyway.

00:05:52.410 –> 00:06:02.100 Joseph McElroy: Anyway, the lyrics of this song are relevant, I think, to today’s show and so I’m going to read this army as I’m not a singer and I don’t want to violate copyright law so.

00:06:03.600 –> 00:06:14.130 Joseph McElroy: So about three miles from the bed to a yard from the reverse curve on down not far south of the town depot Sullivan Shack was found.

00:06:14.880 –> 00:06:27.360 Joseph McElroy: Back on the higher ground, you can see him every day walking down the line, with an old brown sack or crosses back and as long hair down behind speaking is worried mine.

00:06:28.590 –> 00:06:36.720 Joseph McElroy: it’s a long way to the delta from the north Georgia hills a tote sack full of urgency will pay no traveling bill.

00:06:37.860 –> 00:06:44.640 Joseph McElroy: Now I’m too old to ride the rails or thumb the road alone, so I guess I’ll never make it back home.

00:06:45.660 –> 00:06:48.420 Joseph McElroy: My muddy waters Mississippi delta on.

00:06:49.890 –> 00:07:01.050 Joseph McElroy: What is here the winters here they get too cold the damp and makes me ill can dig their roots in the mountainside of the frozen ground froze hard and still.

00:07:01.770 –> 00:07:13.350 Joseph McElroy: gotta stay on the foot of the Hill, but I make summer when things turn right the companies will pay high I’ll make enough money to pay my bills and bid these mountains goodbye.

00:07:14.280 –> 00:07:24.390 Joseph McElroy: Then he said, where the side it’s a long way to the delta from the north Georgia hills attempts at full of June saying will pay no traveling bills.

00:07:24.720 –> 00:07:35.190 Joseph McElroy: No I’m too old to ride the rails or thumb the road alone so I’ll guess I’ll never make it back to home, my muddy water Mississippi delta home.

00:07:36.210 –> 00:07:52.170 Joseph McElroy: Alright, so my guest today is Jim Hamilton who’s an acclaimed novelist who has a Ph.D. in forestry is a country as a county director for the nc state cooperative extension and as an adjunct professor at Appalachian State University, how are you doing Jim.

00:07:52.890 –> 00:07:56.940 Jim Hamilton: Great Joseph thanks for having me on your show on your podcasts great.

00:07:57.540 –> 00:08:02.730 Joseph McElroy: I’m so glad you’re here, so are you originally in North Carolina right.

00:08:03.030 –> 00:08:04.290 Jim Hamilton: I am not.

00:08:05.430 –> 00:08:22.830 Jim Hamilton: Originally yeah I hail from a little small town in Alabama southeast to Birmingham, where you can see, the last hanging toenail of the Appalachians from the highest point you know, on on the home property but I’ve lived in North Carolina now for about 20 years and.

00:08:23.580 –> 00:08:24.330 Jim Hamilton: You know it’s a.

00:08:24.570 –> 00:08:29.910 Jim Hamilton: Even though my kids were born here they’ll never be local you know takes like eight generations in a good killing.

00:08:31.410 –> 00:08:33.690 Jim Hamilton: The data to really qualify but uh.

00:08:33.780 –> 00:08:39.150 Joseph McElroy: yeah about 20 years ago people start accepting the Community, it might not call you can call your friend.

00:08:39.450 –> 00:08:39.750 Right.

00:08:42.780 –> 00:08:45.720 Joseph McElroy: So I was brought to your school or was that when.

00:08:46.230 –> 00:08:48.780 Jim Hamilton: I came to North came to nc state for.

00:08:49.020 –> 00:08:58.680 Jim Hamilton: For Grad school in forestry and wound up in in the mountains of looking at working with the Christmas tree industry, so I started.

00:08:59.790 –> 00:09:09.300 Jim Hamilton: started with cooperative extension and drifted back to hey over to Haywood county where I was and I taught a hey what Community college and then.

00:09:10.020 –> 00:09:19.020 Jim Hamilton: Then back up to Boone to sort of lead the shop here at the county extension office, so you know by I’m a couple of hours from the Meadowlark down there.

00:09:19.980 –> 00:09:21.720 Joseph McElroy: nc state, you know I went to do.

00:09:22.980 –> 00:09:23.520 Joseph McElroy: The.

00:09:25.320 –> 00:09:26.640 Joseph McElroy: nice little rivalry, I remember.

00:09:27.300 –> 00:09:28.620 Jim Hamilton: I took a class at Duke.

00:09:30.060 –> 00:09:30.810 Jim Hamilton: nc state.

00:09:32.010 –> 00:09:37.650 Jim Hamilton: The folks studying forestry at Duke would come over to nc state to take real for St.

00:09:39.270 –> 00:09:43.620 Jim Hamilton: Jude is the forestry student from the state we go to do to take the policy classes.

00:09:44.940 –> 00:09:54.870 Joseph McElroy: Well, I remember once going over to nc state or some fraternity brothers and we took cool so we covered a bunch of statues, is that something that they do now or did I don’t remember what it was.

00:09:56.100 –> 00:09:56.640 Jim Hamilton: Oh man.

00:09:57.000 –> 00:10:02.520 Joseph McElroy: All right, so you’re naturally to say that we just say, what do you do up there now.

00:10:02.550 –> 00:10:06.360 Jim Hamilton: What do you do, I just teach one class a year at

00:10:06.420 –> 00:10:20.760 Jim Hamilton: Appalachian state I’m an adjunct instructor but my day job is is with the cooperative extension and we’re the outreach arm for the university so we’re we provide you know research reach research-based and technical information.

00:10:21.210 –> 00:10:30.330 Jim Hamilton: To farmers, landowners master gardeners cattle producers Christmas tree growers, you name it we’re sort of the one-stop-shop for.

00:10:31.080 –> 00:10:43.170 Jim Hamilton: Agricultural information and property information in each of the counties every county in North Carolina has an extension office and I wound up here in Boone.

00:10:43.710 –> 00:10:52.050 Joseph McElroy: wow So if I wanted to start a BlackBerry farm and an iron Haywood county I’d be dealing with somebody like you.

00:10:52.110 –> 00:10:56.700 Jim Hamilton: Right that’s right you, you would call a bill Skelton is yours is the.

00:10:58.080 –> 00:10:58.980 Jim Hamilton: director yep.

00:10:59.070 –> 00:10:59.520 Joseph McElroy: I was.

00:11:00.540 –> 00:11:12.180 Joseph McElroy: I was sitting around at a party in New York City and some guy from St Louis said, you know we would buy you know talking about farm to table, he said we buy so many blackberries and we get hold of.

00:11:12.480 –> 00:11:18.300 Joseph McElroy: The we said, well, we got plays Landon and Haywood county that grows by a various real well so yeah.

00:11:18.330 –> 00:11:18.900 Jim Hamilton: Plenty of them.

00:11:19.980 –> 00:11:22.620 Joseph McElroy: Is it made me will ever come to fruition.

00:11:23.280 –> 00:11:23.850 Joseph McElroy: And certainly.

00:11:24.210 –> 00:11:26.100 Joseph McElroy: A party talk, but you know.

00:11:27.000 –> 00:11:28.230 Jim Hamilton: that’s right that’s right.

00:11:28.620 –> 00:11:30.960 Joseph McElroy: So every county Community college.

00:11:31.590 –> 00:11:42.780 Jim Hamilton: So I taught forestry for four years and Haywood Community college I taught soils introduction to forestry I taught dendrology, which is the.

00:11:43.260 –> 00:11:54.210 Jim Hamilton: Which is the identification of trees, and you know the most enjoyable thing, while I did there, I was the over the forestry club and I don’t know if you’ve seen the lumberjack competitions or.

00:11:54.660 –> 00:12:02.520 Jim Hamilton: You know I guess the ESPNC or D or one of the lower-level ESPN channels will show the steel still timber sports.

00:12:02.970 –> 00:12:15.870 Jim Hamilton: team so and Haywood still has a very active and very super competitive timber sports team, and you know learn how to how to throw an ax and run a run across cat saw and.

00:12:16.980 –> 00:12:23.010 Jim Hamilton: do a little single book chopping but that’s um it’s a true sport and it’s competitive.

00:12:23.370 –> 00:12:38.070 Jim Hamilton: it’s a competitive collegiate sport, with the schools that have to foresee programs, and it was always great to take you to know the two year Community college kids to a state, competition and have a whip up on the four-year colleges, you know timber sports team.

00:12:39.330 –> 00:12:45.210 Joseph McElroy: we’re glad to see that competitive North Carolina spirit exists still even at the College of Community college level.

00:12:45.300 –> 00:12:47.190 Jim Hamilton: Oh yeah yeah it was a lot of fun.

00:12:47.220 –> 00:12:56.130 Joseph McElroy: A lot of fun well we’re gonna take a break now, and when we come back a couple of questions I want us to lessen venture past, but then we’ll get into June say alright.

00:12:56.460 –> 00:12:57.060 Jim Hamilton: sounds great.

00:15:27.570 –> 00:15:33.840 Joseph McElroy: Howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with a gateway to the smokies podcasts and my guest Jim Hamilton.

00:15:34.350 –> 00:15:47.010 Joseph McElroy: So, Jim I know we want to give the ginseng but I noticed a couple of things I was reading your profile and you speak fluent Spanish and I didn’t see anything other than you went to Paraguay, with the peace corps is that we learn Spanish.

00:15:47.820 –> 00:15:56.520 Jim Hamilton: I did I learned, Spanish and Guarani which is which I spoke more guarani when I was was when I was in rural Paraguay, but.

00:15:56.940 –> 00:16:02.430 Jim Hamilton: My wife is from Argentina so with a lot of help from from from her and.

00:16:03.000 –> 00:16:17.910 Jim Hamilton: And and regular visits with the family, my my my Spanish drastically improved because Spanish and Paraguay’s is sort of the second language so so yeah we speak a good deal Spanish at home, especially when I’m being chastised for something.

00:16:19.710 –> 00:16:26.610 Joseph McElroy: But it’s good, though I just thought that was an interesting thing I didn’t see where I learned, other than that what two years you’re very right yes.

00:16:26.610 –> 00:16:28.530 Jim Hamilton: yeah I’m a renaissance redneck.

00:16:30.030 –> 00:16:31.320 Joseph McElroy: that’s exactly what I am.

00:16:33.120 –> 00:16:41.850 Joseph McElroy: So, before we begin in the ginseng I had to say, I saw this you wrote you wrote an article called the turtles of the high country right.

00:16:43.080 –> 00:16:57.720 Joseph McElroy: And you’re already there the eastern box turtles, the only terrorist terrestrial turtle founder of the state in 1979 it was chosen to be the North Carolina state reptile I have to know why do we have a state reptile.

00:16:59.490 –> 00:17:09.630 Jim Hamilton: You know I I thought the same thing I know we you know, we have the state, the state flower in this in the state tree, the state reptile that’s a new one, to me, but.

00:17:10.050 –> 00:17:23.640 Jim Hamilton: Here here at the extension office out, you know, during the summer, we have people bring in turtles for identification we bring it to get snakes sometimes they’re in jars sometimes there with a head sometimes without ahead.

00:17:24.030 –> 00:17:31.590 Jim Hamilton: folks want to know you know what the animals are they find they find on their property so that’s another service that we provide.

00:17:32.220 –> 00:17:37.350 Joseph McElroy: The mountain North Carolina, especially with regards to turtle so I don’t want to get into it too much, but yeah.

00:17:38.520 –> 00:17:48.750 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah it is okay good all right so so I heard that around the office, your coworkers call you Jimseng

00:17:51.240 –> 00:18:04.920 Joseph McElroy: And then you say you teach workshops and workshops on how to plan it you drink daily smoothies sprinkled with it, so I guess your expert on the subject, so why this intense interest.

00:18:05.250 –> 00:18:18.450 Jim Hamilton: And what the ginseng is such a unique plant with such a historical and cultural significance, especially here in in the western North Carolina mountains.

00:18:19.260 –> 00:18:35.130 Jim Hamilton: I had I known what it was, you know as a student of forestry natural resources, and you know when I started working in western North Carolina I would hear about it more and more and.

00:18:37.140 –> 00:18:44.550 Jim Hamilton: I’ve had friends with access to property actually take me, you know ginseng hunting, it is still.

00:18:44.940 –> 00:19:00.690 Jim Hamilton: juicing hunting is still a very integral part of Appalachian mountains and for a lot of folks it’s a supplemental form of income there’s a legal harvest season for it and there’s a there’s an international market for it.

00:19:00.720 –> 00:19:01.470 Jim Hamilton: But it’s a.

00:19:01.770 –> 00:19:05.220 Jim Hamilton: You know, in the fall during the legal season.

00:19:06.660 –> 00:19:17.430 Jim Hamilton: You have folks that hit the woods either you know they’re scouting out there, the place to put their deer stand, you know for deer season and while they’re out there they’re looking for ginseng, and if they find.

00:19:18.030 –> 00:19:22.830 Jim Hamilton: or come across a patch you know they’ll dig ginseng and there’s there are registered dealers who.

00:19:23.250 –> 00:19:32.190 Jim Hamilton: who purchased the root and the more I learned about it, the more curious I was about it, and you know to live here and working with a wide number of.

00:19:32.820 –> 00:19:38.010 Jim Hamilton: Property property owners and locals I just came to learn more about it and really.

00:19:38.460 –> 00:19:51.060 Jim Hamilton: You know that’s where my I guess passion for the plant comes from because it is becoming more and more scarce due to overharvesting and you, there are a few TV shows a while back that that that led to that.

00:19:51.390 –> 00:19:53.040 Joseph McElroy: Right well you know.

00:19:54.180 –> 00:20:14.520 Joseph McElroy: You know I picked that song ginseng to sell them for a couple of reasons, one that spoke to you know didn’t sing as a financial force of income and solving Scotch Irish right so it’s been a part of the Scotch Irish settlers economics for several hundred years right.

00:20:15.150 –> 00:20:24.540 Jim Hamilton: Right yeah it was so you know there are several species of ginseng as far as the plants concerned and the Asian ginseng

00:20:25.080 –> 00:20:34.140 Jim Hamilton: A pan so to get not to get too scientific, but the scientific name for Asian ginseng his pen X ginseng in the pen, X is the Latin for.

00:20:34.440 –> 00:20:44.730 Jim Hamilton: panacea for everything, because it was considered a plant that was good for everything was good for your heart, good for blood pressure regulation, good for.

00:20:45.330 –> 00:20:56.430 Jim Hamilton: Maintaining your blood sugar as a state as a stimulant and the in traditional Chinese medicine and in Asia ginseng has been harvested for

00:20:56.880 –> 00:21:07.650 Jim Hamilton: Five millennia, apparently, so you know over 5000 years apparently what you know wars and dynasties rose and fell related to the ginseng trade in China.

00:21:08.130 –> 00:21:19.230 Jim Hamilton: But then, in the early 1700s and 1716 there was a French jazz missionary Joseph fluffy toe who was stationed kind of outside of Toronto.

00:21:19.650 –> 00:21:30.690 Jim Hamilton: Many worked with a mohawk the mohawk and the Iroquois in that area, and one of his Jesuit Redland brethren in China had sent a little monograph over have a picture of.

00:21:31.230 –> 00:21:40.500 Jim Hamilton: Chinese Jen saying and describing the benefits of it and how it was used in Asia, and he had either seen it or spoke to some of the natives.

00:21:40.950 –> 00:21:47.520 Jim Hamilton: In that area and figured out that there was an American species of it, so he described it wrote it up drew it out.

00:21:48.210 –> 00:21:53.820 Jim Hamilton: described how it was used and submitted to some big consortium and in Europe.

00:21:54.330 –> 00:22:09.450 Jim Hamilton: And it was officially recognized and so by once it was sort of recognized it, you know it sort of formed an additional backbone of the American trade economy with China so that’s some of the kind of really deep historical roots that this this This plan has.

00:22:10.470 –> 00:22:23.070 Jim Hamilton: In 1784 it was Jim thing was was was in barrels shipped on the very first flagship of the United States to China to Canton on you know, a trade junket.

00:22:23.700 –> 00:22:34.740 Jim Hamilton: And, and even Daniel Boone you know who to reverse all over you know the smokies and here in the high country Western North Carolina there’s a reference to him and in 1787.

00:22:35.550 –> 00:22:44.490 Jim Hamilton: carrying a barge load of ginseng up the Ohio River and the barge actually sank had a capsized and he lost the barrels of ginseng

00:22:45.090 –> 00:22:53.760 Jim Hamilton: But you know ginseng used to be so plentiful in the mountains, that you know the story goes, as he said, well boys I guess we’ll just you know hit the woods and dig some.

00:22:55.110 –> 00:23:09.150 Jim Hamilton: He would hire and Daniel Boone would conscript or higher either Native Americans are locals to help them dig ginseng because it was part of the export trade to China, you know as early as the late 1800s or 1700s.

00:23:09.870 –> 00:23:17.040 Joseph McElroy: Now, did you know didn’t the Cherokee and other indigenous cultures use the route and sold it long before.

00:23:18.330 –> 00:23:18.960 Joseph McElroy: The.

00:23:21.510 –> 00:23:22.350 Joseph McElroy: settlers use it.

00:23:22.620 –> 00:23:33.690 Jim Hamilton: Oh absolutely you know it was used as a tonic I know that the Cherokee have specific words for it, the mohawk and the Iroquois would use it, I think they would.

00:23:34.590 –> 00:23:42.390 Jim Hamilton: I read somewhere that they would binge on it before going to war before serious negotiations.

00:23:43.110 –> 00:23:46.350 Jim Hamilton: Because of the energy aspect of it and.

00:23:46.890 –> 00:23:56.310 Jim Hamilton: And I, and again I read somewhere else, that you know the Cherokee said that you know ginseng was sort of like you know much like in Chinese culture ginseng a sort of like a person.

00:23:56.610 –> 00:24:01.830 Jim Hamilton: If it doesn’t work if you don’t honor the forests or if you don’t respect.

00:24:02.730 –> 00:24:08.010 Jim Hamilton: Respect ginseng in the woods around it, then, then it won’t let you find it, it will actually hide from you.

00:24:08.460 –> 00:24:23.490 Jim Hamilton: And as and as someone who’s hundred ginseng and it looked for ginseng in areas where I knew it was it can it’s it can be very tricky and difficult to find because it’s a very small, you know, a small cryptic little plant, you know, really.

00:24:25.200 –> 00:24:31.020 Jim Hamilton: Probably you know 300 years ago when it was more prolific and grew to the size that.

00:24:31.740 –> 00:24:42.750 Jim Hamilton: That it grew to before we started harvesting it, you know, a big plant might hit you in the hip you know, these days, if you find a plant that’s high enough to hit you in the knees that’s a decent sized.

00:24:43.620 –> 00:24:45.180 Joseph McElroy: And what color are the flowers.

00:24:46.020 –> 00:24:51.840 Jim Hamilton: So it’s got really tiny white flowers, it is flowering right now in in the smokies.

00:24:53.280 –> 00:25:02.580 Jim Hamilton: In here in the high country to so if you’re there it’s a small head of flowers that’ll turn into these really blood-red berries.

00:25:03.240 –> 00:25:15.150 Jim Hamilton: Later in the summer and a lot of folks who dig ginseng and hunting ginseng well start hunting it when the berries turn but you know number one, it makes them easy to find and number two.

00:25:15.900 –> 00:25:32.040 Jim Hamilton: You know it’s required that you replant those berries before you dig up the root because it’s a perennial plant, it can live for over 100 years it’s like I said it’s a really unique plant.

00:25:34.080 –> 00:25:39.060 Joseph McElroy: What would you say, are the most popular medicinal uses and.

00:25:40.110 –> 00:25:42.060 Joseph McElroy: You know how does it use.

00:25:42.990 –> 00:25:57.660 Jim Hamilton: So if you dig into the literature on ginseng there hasn’t been a ton of truly medicinal research on it in the United States now there’s a journal of ginseng research out of Korea.

00:25:58.050 –> 00:26:09.330 Jim Hamilton: Where they’re really delving into the medicinal qualities but energy has been the is the number one use and they’ve done a study, I believe it was a University of Michigan or Michigan state study.

00:26:10.560 –> 00:26:25.770 Jim Hamilton: Giving ginseng to cancer patients increased their energy levels in traditional Chinese medicine, so you know how I’m going to mispronounce this because that’s how my son the roots told me to say you know you have ya yin and Yang.

00:26:25.980 –> 00:26:33.990 Jim Hamilton: Right, I was corrected by Chinese you know a medicinal expert who corrected me said it’s yang Jim it’s not Yeng

00:26:35.430 –> 00:26:48.750 Jim Hamilton: So in Chinese medicine Asian ginseng, which is pan X gen saying is young ginseng it’s hot energy its heat the heat hottest.

00:26:49.530 –> 00:27:01.260 Jim Hamilton: So you take Chinese dancing in the wintertime if you’re cold or have chills you drink it in tea, or you, you know consume it and powdered form in a meal or as a supplement.

00:27:01.770 –> 00:27:10.920 Jim Hamilton: Well, American ginseng Pan X Holiness is yen energy so it’s cool energy it’s what you take.

00:27:11.550 –> 00:27:22.710 Jim Hamilton: What you take in the summertime when you’re really hot and you need that that that that boost of a boost of energy so it’d be like a really nice frosty cold CAP frappuccino.

00:27:23.370 –> 00:27:30.900 Jim Hamilton: You know in here in the US, we consume coffee, the way folks in China, probably consumed Ginseng

00:27:31.890 –> 00:27:37.530 Joseph McElroy: I’m trying to figure out things to take caffeine all the time, we will investigate.

00:27:38.280 –> 00:27:43.950 Jim Hamilton: Give ginseng a try, you know, during the summer, when I can find fresh ginseng oh.

00:27:44.610 –> 00:27:54.510 Jim Hamilton: I’ll pop a root into a smoothie it’s very bitter the route itself is very bitter so it takes the edge off the sweetness of a smoothie.

00:27:55.380 –> 00:28:05.820 Jim Hamilton: My wife, really, really, really likes ginseng in the smoothies, and yeah it gives you that you know it gives you the coffee, you know the coffee buzz without the jitters.

00:28:05.970 –> 00:28:14.700 Joseph McElroy: Alright cool well when we come back I’ll talk a little bit more we’ll talk a little bit more about economics don’t get into it it your book sounds great listening to.

00:31:00.840 –> 00:31:12.660 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with a gateway to the smokies podcasts and my guest Jim Hamilton you were talking ginseng so Jim you know that song.

00:31:13.860 –> 00:31:26.220 Joseph McElroy: didn’t single cell but also brought up another thing and negative stereotyping of people hunting ginseng and southern Appalachian, what do you think about that is Is that true why, why do you think it happened.

00:31:27.030 –> 00:31:41.280 Jim Hamilton: Well, they were so they were a series of reality shows it came out right around 2013 that sort of corresponded with the highest ginseng price, you know to date ginseng hit.

00:31:41.820 –> 00:31:53.010 Jim Hamilton: Around 1300 dollars a pound in 2013 and about that time he had shown a couple of on the history channel there were Appalachian outlaws and you had smoky mountain money.

00:31:53.400 –> 00:31:54.990 Jim Hamilton: And hillbilly good.

00:31:55.500 –> 00:32:05.670 Jim Hamilton: And filthy riches and you know those shows just portrayed your you know what I think a lot of people perceive the Appalachians as.

00:32:06.120 –> 00:32:12.780 Jim Hamilton: A you know running around the woods of grabbing as much ginseng as they could to make a fortune.

00:32:13.260 –> 00:32:27.810 Jim Hamilton: And that you know the downside of that is that it drew a lot of and needed attention to the plant itself, which is already stressed as far as its population, and you know for Kennedy go so.

00:32:28.830 –> 00:32:37.410 Jim Hamilton: You know that the only bright side of those shows, and the stereotypes, is that the more people became interested in it, and I think.

00:32:38.070 –> 00:32:44.730 Jim Hamilton: A vast majority of them became more interested in it as something that they could plant.

00:32:45.630 –> 00:32:50.280 Jim Hamilton: In their own on their own properties here in the mountains or in their own woods and it.

00:32:50.790 –> 00:33:00.060 Jim Hamilton: You know it sort of is caused a really you know sort of reconnection for some folks who remember their parents or their grandparents taking them out as kids too.

00:33:00.510 –> 00:33:09.720 Jim Hamilton: You know, to hunt ginseng back in the day, so I mean that’s the only silver lining out of those shows because you know everyone thinks, you know moonshine bluegrass.

00:33:10.170 –> 00:33:24.660 Jim Hamilton: ginseng and it in it, you know those negative stereotypes are are are are just you know don’t represent you know the true art and science behind.

00:33:25.560 –> 00:33:34.440 Jim Hamilton: The wild harvesters who really are their true stewards of the land, and you know, there are poachers and you, you know if you Google ginseng poaching or.

00:33:34.860 –> 00:33:42.420 Jim Hamilton: ginseng and the smoky mountains you’ll see these articles and newspaper stories about you know people.

00:33:43.170 –> 00:33:56.970 Jim Hamilton: Illegally harvesting ginseng on in the great smokies, but you know I work with a lot of property owners who are interested in, you know, preserving the integrity of the plant and that you know those kinds of.

00:33:57.870 –> 00:34:03.060 Jim Hamilton: The preserving a part of their heritage in their childhood too.

00:34:05.070 –> 00:34:12.720 Joseph McElroy: So it’s fairly regular now right, and there can you say people have farms so there’s both the wild and there’s also the.

00:34:14.400 –> 00:34:15.900 Joseph McElroy: Culture cultivated.

00:34:16.080 –> 00:34:16.350 Young.

00:34:18.990 –> 00:34:31.170 Jim Hamilton: yeah they said that most of them, the majority of the cultivated ginseng, so the cultivated ginseng is grown on large commercialized farms, mainly in Wisconsin and then Ontario Canada.

00:34:31.620 –> 00:34:45.600 Jim Hamilton: you’re under it’s produced under shade cloth it’s heavily fertilized it’s till this heavily managed they harvested in about four years that’s the stuff that brings about 50 bucks a pound that’s the stuff that’s in your so be energy drinks your monster energy drinks.

00:34:45.960 –> 00:34:47.490 Joseph McElroy: as good as the wild stuff right.

00:34:47.850 –> 00:34:51.300 Jim Hamilton: Now that’s the stuff that cheap stuff goes into this little yellow jacket.

00:34:51.300 –> 00:34:53.850 Jim Hamilton: truck they might find that you know at the.

00:34:54.360 –> 00:34:56.250 Jim Hamilton: At the Kangaroo or.

00:34:56.820 –> 00:34:59.910 Joseph McElroy: You want to come to the mountains and get some of the real-life stuff right.

00:34:59.940 –> 00:35:13.890 Jim Hamilton: yeah the real now is the real wild stuff and ginseng is sold on how it looks and the older in larger the ginseng the better so most dealers who buy ginseng from local diggers.

00:35:14.280 –> 00:35:25.080 Jim Hamilton: are looking for plants that are a minimum of about 10 years old, and you can gauge the age and the quality of a ginseng root, by the way, it looks now.

00:35:26.010 –> 00:35:37.080 Joseph McElroy: Is there have been shops and places to buy and consumer-oriented ability to participate in ginseng in culture in the mountains that have popped up.

00:35:37.500 –> 00:35:49.350 Jim Hamilton: You know not not not really that you know, probably 99% of all the ginseng that gets harvested from the mountains in ends up in China or Hong Kong in some way or Korea in some shape or form.

00:35:50.550 –> 00:35:55.620 Jim Hamilton: yeah we have had a lot of you know that with more and more Korean.

00:35:57.510 –> 00:36:10.620 Jim Hamilton: Korean residents in our larger cities ginseng is also a major part of Korean culture in in in food there I just I saw a podcast from the Smithsonian folklife museum on.

00:36:11.730 –> 00:36:21.960 Jim Hamilton: On on ginseng chicken soup that’s a Korean dish now the Koreans will buy they’ll actually come up and and and contact the dealers directly.

00:36:22.230 –> 00:36:31.890 Jim Hamilton: And purchase fresh ginseng to consume, you know in in the US, but as far as retail outlets for ginseng products I’ve seen some ginseng teas.

00:36:33.210 –> 00:36:34.500 Jim Hamilton: I don’t have a box of tea here.

00:36:34.800 –> 00:36:38.070 Joseph McElroy: Where do you get the ginseng thing that you put in your smoothies.

00:36:39.510 –> 00:36:41.040 Jim Hamilton: that’s found in the woods and I’m not.

00:36:42.600 –> 00:36:46.350 Joseph McElroy: Sure, oh so, how do you know it’s a good area to look for ginseng.

00:36:46.380 –> 00:36:49.200 Jim Hamilton: Well, I know, Joseph the first rule ginseng clothes you.

00:36:49.200 –> 00:36:49.380 don’t.

00:36:53.700 –> 00:37:03.390 Jim Hamilton: Know there’s, you know as rare as it is in the wild you can still find patches of it and I have some that I started from seed.

00:37:03.780 –> 00:37:14.130 Jim Hamilton: You can find there are some ginseng Facebook groups that are really popular and if you say you’re looking for seed, you can get some plant, so my mind comes out of the woods, but.

00:37:14.580 –> 00:37:22.830 Jim Hamilton: You know they’re the agent marketing you there in New York City, where you are I’m sure if you walk down to one of the Asian markets in China town you.

00:37:24.000 –> 00:37:36.900 Joseph McElroy: live in North Carolina didn’t say, but I mean I’m done smoky mountains, all the time, so I want to look, I want to look at things I never did grow up, as we didn’t go after ginseng so you know I should experience that yeah.

00:37:37.050 –> 00:37:38.700 Jim Hamilton: Well there’s a right before.

00:37:40.290 –> 00:37:47.940 Jim Hamilton: On your way to the paper mill down there there’s it’s called Carolina bait and they are adjusting their ginseng dealer.

00:37:48.960 –> 00:38:06.840 Jim Hamilton: Just in there in Clyde just down the road from you and and and and you can find ginseng there during the season, you know season opens up September 1 and you know most of what they’re buying ginseng to then sell to the roaming bands of buyers that come through.

00:38:07.230 –> 00:38:08.640 Jim Hamilton: Around

00:38:08.670 –> 00:38:18.660 Jim Hamilton: You know, between Thanksgiving and Christmas is when the Asian buyers come to export it back over to China for the Chinese New Year cool oh.

00:38:20.760 –> 00:38:21.150 Joseph McElroy: I want to.

00:38:22.200 –> 00:38:37.140 Joseph McElroy: Make sure we have some time to talk about your book, so you have a book called the last entry and it’s paying the woodland tones of Western North Carolina’s rural mountains and you weave a natural history of the story.

00:38:39.300 –> 00:38:48.480 Joseph McElroy: The story of characters that reflect our diversity here and the black market economy for June six tell us about this book and it was, I think it once an award right.

00:38:49.140 –> 00:38:52.170 Jim Hamilton: yeah it was so this was about a five-year project, you know I’ve.

00:38:52.560 –> 00:39:00.600 Jim Hamilton: Written a lot over my career more technical stuff and in you know, there was all there’s already a couple of great books there’s a nonfiction book explaining.

00:39:00.870 –> 00:39:05.820 Jim Hamilton: kind of the culture and history of dancing and then there’s a couple of technical guides out there, but nobody had written.

00:39:06.480 –> 00:39:17.640 Jim Hamilton: A book of fiction, you know that never seen you know, a book that really you know told the story of ginseng as it applies here in the mountains so so yeah it’s a coming of age.

00:39:18.330 –> 00:39:32.010 Jim Hamilton: a novel set in Appalachia but it’s set under the background of the ginseng trade and it got an I was, I was shocked it got nominated for the Thomas Wolfe memorial.

00:39:32.640 –> 00:39:39.900 Jim Hamilton: literary award which was, which was a which was on you know, on a humbling honor to just being nominated for that.

00:39:40.410 –> 00:39:54.450 Jim Hamilton: And it was a quarter-finalist in for the book life prize, which is it’s an award for the independent or small run book so I’ve been pleased with with the response.

00:39:55.260 –> 00:39:58.560 Joseph McElroy: As I said in the current time is set in current times are.

00:39:58.590 –> 00:40:10.500 Jim Hamilton: Pretty pretty pretty current I would, I would say, you know I really don’t know either I guess there’s a couple of mentions it’s probably from that from the 80s, the 80s, through the early 2000s is when a bit.

00:40:11.130 –> 00:40:11.700 Jim Hamilton: But uh.

00:40:11.880 –> 00:40:15.240 Joseph McElroy: yeah lots of a thriller is it a romance what is it.

00:40:15.900 –> 00:40:19.320 Jim Hamilton: I would say it’s sort of his.

00:40:21.420 –> 00:40:25.230 Jim Hamilton: I would just call it you know, a coming-of-age drama I guess.

00:40:25.950 –> 00:40:34.560 Jim Hamilton: An act, you know more of an action commercial fiction, I think, is what it would qualify as but there’s some.

00:40:36.900 –> 00:40:45.780 Jim Hamilton: You know the editor who helped me with the book kept telling me, you know because I’m in education, he kept saying quit teaching quitting.

00:40:46.410 –> 00:40:58.770 Jim Hamilton: tell the story quit teaching about the plan, but um there’s it has all of the all the conflict and drama, you know that you that you’d find in an in a contemporary novel so.

00:40:58.920 –> 00:41:00.810 Joseph McElroy: that’s great can I get a copy.

00:41:01.140 –> 00:41:03.810 Jim Hamilton: Oh yeah yes me address I’ll send you a copy for sure.

00:41:04.080 –> 00:41:14.250 Joseph McElroy: Alright cool alright yeah we’re actually geared up we’re starting to sell books too so maybe we can look at yours as a possible entry in our mountain heritage Center.

00:41:16.320 –> 00:41:29.310 Jim Hamilton: Oh yeah the amount that would be perfect, you know a lot of most of the best ginseng actually comes from that that Haywood County you know Haywood in Jackson county area in the smokies the soil.

00:41:30.450 –> 00:41:39.810 Jim Hamilton: The soil is really black in the roots that come out of there are really valued by the buyers, probably the only other place.

00:41:40.260 –> 00:41:55.140 Jim Hamilton: Where ginseng is more valuable would be the Catskills in New York, a very narrow band of hollers in the Catskills but other than that smoky mountain ginseng is the highest next highest quality ginseng in the US.

00:41:55.440 –> 00:42:01.950 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah I mean the mountains, I mean there’s got amazing soil for a lot of these sort of heirloom type.

00:42:03.450 –> 00:42:10.020 Joseph McElroy: Growth, you know you people used to be ramps for a sort of a rarity that you got now you get ramps at whole foods.

00:42:12.510 –> 00:42:12.780 Jim Hamilton: yeah.

00:42:13.110 –> 00:42:17.880 Joseph McElroy: But yeah there are other things yeah so.

00:42:18.450 –> 00:42:21.000 Jim Hamilton: Well, and that’s what you know ginseng came from those.

00:42:21.540 –> 00:42:35.670 Jim Hamilton: You know, back in the back in the day you didn’t have a CVs or Walgreens on the corner, you know if you had a case of hemorrhoids you headed up to witch hazel holler and grabbed a handful of leaves made you a cultist and put it where it needed to go.

00:42:35.970 –> 00:42:36.570 So.

00:42:37.650 –> 00:42:49.980 Jim Hamilton: ginseng was one of those you know medicinal plants that were that was used alongside many of the other forest medicinal herbs that are you know really native to native to our mountains.

00:42:51.390 –> 00:42:53.220 Joseph McElroy: All right, well you know we’re gonna take.

00:42:54.270 –> 00:43:02.700 Joseph McElroy: A final break here and then we’ll come back and we’ll talk a little bit about your life in that in the smokies and yeah things that you think people should understand.

00:43:03.180 –> 00:43:03.900 Jim Hamilton: sounds great.

00:45:22.200 –> 00:45:28.380 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and my guests and Jim Hamilton.

00:45:29.550 –> 00:45:40.380 Joseph McElroy: Jim you do a lot of seminars around the state and yeah and you’re going to be doing one at the Meadowlark Smoky mountain Heritage Center on August 28 what’s the kind of content that you do.

00:45:41.310 –> 00:45:52.230 Jim Hamilton: As well I’ll probably get into a lot more deep detail and depth into the history and culture of gensing in the area and also do.

00:45:52.680 –> 00:46:03.270 Jim Hamilton: Planting and sort of an educational lecture on you know the best site companion plants, how to how to plant ginseng how to establish.

00:46:03.750 –> 00:46:13.050 Jim Hamilton: You know your own patch of ginseng and other you know medicinal plants on your own property so that’s The goal of the talk, they are the Meadowlark.

00:46:13.410 –> 00:46:16.560 Joseph McElroy: Oh fabulous can you do it on flatland does it have to be in the mountains.

00:46:17.490 –> 00:46:29.010 Jim Hamilton: You know ginseng has a wide range, but it just works so well in the mountains I’ve told people before that you know you can plant some seed and try it at home if you’re outside of the Appalachians but the plant.

00:46:29.430 –> 00:46:37.200 Jim Hamilton: really needs those uh you know, several days of below-freezing cold for the plant to.

00:46:37.710 –> 00:46:54.000 Jim Hamilton: germinate and following year and come up right so but, but any anywhere around the smoky if you’ve got you got a house or property in the smokies or really anywhere in the Appalachian mountains if you have a nice shady hardwoods spot it should grow cool.

00:46:54.330 –> 00:46:55.260 Joseph McElroy: So you live in.

00:46:56.970 –> 00:47:01.950 Joseph McElroy: You live near Boone North Carolina which is sort of north of the smokies.

00:47:02.220 –> 00:47:05.880 Joseph McElroy: And we haven’t talked a lot about that area, what do you, what do you love about that area.

00:47:06.840 –> 00:47:21.210 Jim Hamilton: So Boone other, otherwise known as is the high country is home to Appalachian State University, and you know I settled here to work in the Christmas tree industry that with my forestry background.

00:47:22.620 –> 00:47:28.560 Jim Hamilton: I came here at you know I’ve been originally from Alabama it’s the mountains are a little higher, although.

00:47:28.950 –> 00:47:37.080 Jim Hamilton: Although I know they’re in Haywood county is the most mountainous county East of the Mississippi, I would say that you know some of the peaks here.

00:47:38.220 –> 00:47:47.760 Jim Hamilton: In the Boone area, you know get that higher topic, you know grandfather mountain is a pretty popular destination for a lot of folks coming up.

00:47:48.690 –> 00:48:05.100 Jim Hamilton: into the high country and you know I like it’s a small town very the town itself is very similar to Waynesville with you know, surrounded by mountains and being someone who likes to spend more time in the woods than in the office.

00:48:06.060 –> 00:48:13.650 Jim Hamilton: yeah it’s just a great fit and we have real winners and real snow and that’s why I’ve come to come to love it here.

00:48:14.220 –> 00:48:23.610 Joseph McElroy: Well, if you had if something was to come to visit and wanted a good itinerary to experience Boone what would they do, starting with Where would you go for breakfast.

00:48:24.240 –> 00:48:33.390 Jim Hamilton: overbred see I wouldn’t waste too much time with breakfast I would get so I would bring breakfast to go okay now I’ve got some other restaurant choices for light lunch and dinner.

00:48:33.390 –> 00:48:42.990 Jim Hamilton: But I would hit a trail early off of the Blue Ridge Parkway I’d bring a pack your own, uh you know trail mix or breakfast on the road.

00:48:43.530 –> 00:48:53.580 Jim Hamilton: And I would if it’s me I’m going to go to one of the more scenic overlook trails that we have up here called rough Ridge, which is kind of between Boone and blowing rock.

00:48:54.060 –> 00:49:01.410 Jim Hamilton: And you just can’t be you know the sunrise in the morning hike there if you got back early enough.

00:49:02.250 –> 00:49:12.540 Jim Hamilton: In the morning you could hit sunny Rock in Bowling rock for breakfast there that’s probably one of the better breakfast places, but personally I probably pack my own breakfast.

00:49:12.630 –> 00:49:13.500 Joseph McElroy: Alright cool.

00:49:15.060 –> 00:49:18.090 Joseph McElroy: After that Nice adventure Where would you go for lunch.

00:49:18.870 –> 00:49:24.120 Jim Hamilton: Oh well, if I’m in the blue and rock area I would probably go to the speckled trout.

00:49:24.720 –> 00:49:33.360 Jim Hamilton: they’ve got just at you have some great American affair that’s all sourced low from the farms around here we’ve got a lot of farms to table opportunities.

00:49:33.780 –> 00:49:45.450 Jim Hamilton: In the area, if I managed to make it into Boone I would probably get a pizza and and and in a cold cold beer at last province.

00:49:46.170 –> 00:49:51.480 Jim Hamilton: You know Boone this area, the high country used to be called the last province North Carolina because it was so hard to get to.

00:49:51.990 –> 00:50:03.390 Jim Hamilton: And they’ve opened up they’ve got wood-fired pizzas and they brew a number of their own beers and that’s a great lunch spot and then just around the corner you’ve got the mass general store.

00:50:04.230 –> 00:50:10.320 Jim Hamilton: You know if you wanted to get your shopping in and they gotta give them a plug they’re actually carrying my

00:50:12.780 –> 00:50:15.270 Jim Hamilton: God that would you spend your afternoon.

00:50:15.960 –> 00:50:21.000 Jim Hamilton: Oh, you know if the weather’s right, I would take a canoe trip to the new river here.

00:50:21.960 –> 00:50:36.510 Jim Hamilton: is great for either inner tubing or canoeing or kayaking that the river is not that deep, you can pull off at various different points, and you know, like I said I’m all about the outdoors so I’m going to spend it, you know.

00:50:37.260 –> 00:50:41.490 Joseph McElroy: Maybe Spencer, I was wondering when you come back from that you’d go to dinner where.

00:50:42.240 –> 00:50:59.130 Jim Hamilton: yeah so If so, if I’m in so so you know if it’s me I’m going to either maybe be Stroh Rocha in blowing rock it’s just off of Main Street and bone rock and when I get done there’s a kill one’s ice cream place and that’s my son’s actually work in there.

00:50:59.400 –> 00:51:00.510 Joseph McElroy: All right, there you go.

00:51:00.900 –> 00:51:18.180 Jim Hamilton: that’s his summer job as a teenager and then, if I’m in Boone I’d be at one of the many, many restaurants on King Street, but one of my favorites is is is Vidalia they’ve just you know great American affair locally sourced their specials are incredible.

00:51:19.500 –> 00:51:25.020 Jim Hamilton: And you know, and then you know I’d take a stroll down King street to you know to kind of.

00:51:25.710 –> 00:51:27.720 Jim Hamilton: To work off the dinner.

00:51:27.960 –> 00:51:31.110 Joseph McElroy: And then maybe entertainment places finish up with.

00:51:31.860 –> 00:51:46.020 Jim Hamilton: You know there’s a few there’s always some there’s live music on the weekends at several of the breweries have in town in the I know in late July there’s the symphony on the lake, which is a show tola in blowing rock.

00:51:46.830 –> 00:51:50.550 Jim Hamilton: that’s a big event but there’s a whole lineup of.

00:51:52.170 –> 00:52:01.320 Jim Hamilton: You know of music at ED either at the last province or Appalachian mountain brewery or moonshine I mean not to get into the beer theme, but you can see.

00:52:01.320 –> 00:52:07.140 Jim Hamilton: Where my life has become known for breweries yep so good good good.

00:52:10.230 –> 00:52:13.320 Joseph McElroy: So how do people get your book and how do they follow you.

00:52:14.100 –> 00:52:31.950 Jim Hamilton: So I’m on Facebook Jim V Hamilton is where you can you find me on Facebook, but uh you know the book is in some independent southern independent bookstores one here in downtown Boone you know foggy pine down your way, I believe, Chris Wilcox at.

00:52:33.030 –> 00:52:50.250 Jim Hamilton: At the bookstore there and silver city lights, he should have some copies, I sent him a cinnamon box of books, I guess, about a year ago, and then you know, then everyone sort of has to go to the grand demon Amazon.COM if you’re not.

00:52:50.250 –> 00:52:50.550 Joseph McElroy: From the.

00:52:51.690 –> 00:52:59.250 Jim Hamilton: You can find it under the last entry on Amazon it’s in its an e-book paperback and I think there are some hard hardcovers floating around.

00:52:59.250 –> 00:52:59.430 there.

00:53:00.480 –> 00:53:05.070 Joseph McElroy: cool will be carrying suited up I’m smokies adventure and meadowlark background.

00:53:05.130 –> 00:53:08.640 Jim Hamilton: Great I’ll bring some books down to Bob there in August.

00:53:08.940 –> 00:53:19.170 Joseph McElroy: Alright sounds good, so I want to thank you for being on the show I got it so my own shout outs Now you can go to gatewaystothesmokies.fun and find out more about this podcast.

00:53:20.010 –> 00:53:27.990 Joseph McElroy: there’s also a link to a contest right now for the bluegrass band camp thumbs July 17th to win a two nights day and free.

00:53:28.650 –> 00:53:39.990 Joseph McElroy: Free admission to both the seminars and to the concert on July 17 Saturday so go there, you can find an entrance to the concert.

00:53:40.350 –> 00:53:50.010 Joseph McElroy: Now, once you imagine a place evocative of motor courts of the past and modern environment with Chic Appalachian and feel a place for adventure and for relaxation.

00:53:50.370 –> 00:53:59.430 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place where you can fish in the mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on fire, and he accompanied by fine wine or craft beers.

00:53:59.790 –> 00:54:13.830 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place in the old-time using world cultural sound there’s no place like the Meadowlark motel in Maggie valley your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay we’re sponsored by smokies adventures smokies Plural adventure.

00:54:15.030 –> 00:54:34.140 Joseph McElroy: singular smokiesadventure.com, where you can find information listings about the smokes hiking, wedding venues books trail maps resources, the emphasis is on smokies outdoor recreation and outdoor life events like weddings at adventures go to smokiesadventure.com

00:54:36.210 –> 00:54:55.080 Joseph McElroy: The the face we’ve been this live on audio and talkradio.NYC, which is a great network to listen to for lots of different podcasts the one after this podcast is all about New York, so you go from rural North Carolina to urban New York City.

00:54:56.850 –> 00:55:06.390 Joseph McElroy: On this podcast and it was a lot of great shows, so I recommend you go there, we also stream live the zoom podcast to Facebook and facebook.com/slash.gatewaytothesmokiespodcast and

00:55:06.810 –> 00:55:17.280 Joseph McElroy: there you can find all sorts of information and information about this podcast’s guests and upcoming events.

00:55:17.670 –> 00:55:31.230 Joseph McElroy: Next week we’re going to have Darren Nicholson talking about from also arranged talking about the bluegrass band camp and his career in the bluegrass legend grammy award-nominated and a world-class.

00:55:32.400 –> 00:55:48.330 Joseph McElroy: player for a lot of different bands now even bought a pound help band balsam range and we’re pretty proud to be having a long, so this is next Tuesday from six to seven, I look forward to seeing you then Thank you Jim and we’re now signing off.

Gateway to the Smokies Podcast guest is Alex McKay, a successful Haywood County businessman who owns and manages rental property throughout the county.

However, Alex is better known for his work as a Haywood County historian. He has been active in working with the historical Shelton House in Waynesville on various projects and is well known for his efforts in helping record the history of the town of Hazelwood, as well as for renovating a historical house in Hazelwood where he now resides.

Alex was also instrumental in the development of a museum in the Haywood County Courthouse. Joseph McElroy and Alex Mckay will be discussing all the historic houses in Haywood County, NC, and museums' history.

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

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Starting off today’s episode is announcements for special upcoming events announced by Bob. There are all sorts of music events, gatherings, workshops and seminars coming up. In addition to that, there are a ton of mid-eighteenth-century events coming up for people to enjoy. The episode continues with the introduction of today’s guest: Alex McKay. Joseph and Alex talk about his accomplishments and how he came to be. Alex explained how greatly he was influenced by his family and how because of that, he joined the family business and grew into what he is today.

Coming back from the break, Alex talks more about his connection to what he does and how he came to love it. He speaks about his father and grandfather and how they had held on to documents and collections from decades ago and how they sparked his interest even more. The two talk about stories about Alex that came from his time with historic museums and projects to preserve history. Alex talks about his favorite photos and things to find at museums.

Alex explains what it is like working at Shook Smathers House and what it is. He talks about his favorite parts and gives a little history about the house itself. There are many upcoming events in the Heywood County area that Alex recommends people to come to, where they can eat good food and listen to nice music and enjoy each other’s presence. Alex discusses with Joseph future projects that he thought about doing with the museums, especially after Covid-19 and restrictions being lifted.

For the last segment, Joseph and Alex discuss their favorite foods and restaurants in the Heywood and Smoky Mountains area. They both enjoy a wide variety of foods, from barbeque to Chinese to home food. They continue their discussion by talking about where they go for entertainment. They talk about their experiences with these places and the episode ends with Joseph asking Alex for museum spots that the audience could and should visit.

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00:00:28.320 –> 00:00:33.750 Joseph McElroy: hey thanks for joining us on this week’s episode of gateway to the smokies.

00:00:34.410 –> 00:00:42.840 Joseph McElroy: This podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the great smoky mountains national park, and the surrounding towns.

00:00:43.260 –> 00:00:52.440 Joseph McElroy: there are areas filled with ancient natural beauty a deep-storied history in a rich mountain culture that we explore with weekly episodes.

00:00:52.980 –> 00:01:05.490 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 culture.

00:01:06.300 –> 00:01:12.330 Joseph McElroy: today’s podcast is about history museums and historic buildings in Haywood County, North Carolina.

00:01:13.440 –> 00:01:29.370 Joseph McElroy: Look, first I want to give you a rundown of some events that are coming up very rich in history and I’ve invited Bob Plott here to give us a little bit of an overview of what’s going on, be sure to unmute yourself, Bob.

00:01:34.620 –> 00:01:35.490 Alex McKay: Thank you, Joseph.

00:01:35.700 –> 00:01:36.360 appreciate that.

00:01:39.630 –> 00:01:45.330 Alex McKay: I’m just thrilled to be a part of what you’re doing here is as the new haircut Center director and.

00:01:46.020 –> 00:01:55.770 Alex McKay: it’s just a lot of foam and work with the theme and we’ve got six events by in July and August, our first event is a lot faster Union weekend and.

00:01:56.400 –> 00:02:03.360 Alex McKay: Real excited about that kind of on the heels of what we did earlier in the original plot fast years ago.

00:02:03.870 –> 00:02:13.650 Alex McKay: But it’s gonna be a little smaller, more intimate event, but a lot of fun would be two days got just a few rooms left for that So hopefully people can call in and get those reserved.

00:02:14.190 –> 00:02:23.580 Alex McKay: For the music, everything we do is about music culture, education, but having funny mercy of experiential learning, while we’re doing it.

00:02:24.360 –> 00:02:32.220 Alex McKay: In the following weekend on July 17 we’re doing something that I don’t think anybody’s really done around here that we’re really excited about which is.

00:02:32.760 –> 00:02:50.970 Alex McKay: Darren Nicholson, the great mandolin player and vocalist with balsam range he’s going to do a bluegrass band camp for us here in Meadowlark and he’s going to have three other equally talented musicians include naughty boy lock and Eric Ellis among others to

00:02:51.990 –> 00:03:02.910 Alex McKay: Teach you one-on-one their skill sets and really intimate setting on Saturday afternoon and then culminate that with a big concert on Saturday night.

00:03:03.420 –> 00:03:11.670 Alex McKay: So we’re very, very excited about that, so what better opportunity to learn from grammy-nominated blue Ridge hall of fame artists.

00:03:12.150 –> 00:03:21.210 Alex McKay: And it’s just going to be a great time me by the nose there and knows what of interest and fail, he is the right to sense of humor so that’s going to be a great great time.

00:03:21.570 –> 00:03:26.730 Joseph McElroy: As Marina just it’s more than just playing it’s also learning how to write the music and things like that too right and.

00:03:26.730 –> 00:03:27.510 Joseph McElroy: Making that.

00:03:28.020 –> 00:03:37.620 Alex McKay: yeah yeah will be seminars and afternoon for songwriting perspective instruments guitar mandolin that sort of thing a group Skype session.

00:03:38.010 –> 00:03:47.370 Alex McKay: So yeah it’s there yeah I mean where else can you get that type of opportunity to learn from artists of that magnitude and that sort of intimate setting it’s really unique.

00:03:47.700 –> 00:03:49.350 Joseph McElroy: And then there’ll be a concert in the evening.

00:03:50.010 –> 00:03:56.670 Alex McKay: Yes, constantly meeting with that all-star lineup, and I mean those guys are just hall of fame copper musicians.

00:03:56.850 –> 00:04:00.630 Joseph McElroy: Alright cool and then you mentioned some other events.

00:04:01.110 –> 00:04:13.260 Alex McKay: yeah the next weekend discuss the most stuff going on here in the valley we didn’t want to compete with, but the fall of last weekend last day in July we’ve got a tree be playing for landing and Charles Miller to

00:04:14.340 –> 00:04:20.400 Alex McKay: Haywood County icons historians and artists and just interesting colorful characters and.

00:04:20.880 –> 00:04:27.060 Alex McKay: a lot of their friends are coming together to honor them are going to have a primitive 18th-century camp set it up to showcase some of their

00:04:27.570 –> 00:04:37.890 Alex McKay: Skills and we’re going to give the first annual Meadowlark lifetime achievement award to both those individuals we hope that’s going to be something that’s going to be ongoing for years to come.

00:04:38.250 –> 00:04:45.300 Alex McKay: And then we’re going to have music there’s a way Earl made his own falling or fiddle as we like to call it around here and.

00:04:47.010 –> 00:05:02.760 Alex McKay: We have readers to come and play that fiddle and do some old 18th-century songs for so we’re excited about that and then we’re going to have dinner at J Arthurs at night that reservations for a room for about 50 people for that for kind of being that evening for them for that.

00:05:04.290 –> 00:05:07.320 Joseph McElroy: that’s cool and then in August, you got some things going on right.

00:05:07.350 –> 00:05:13.800 Alex McKay: yeah yeah August 7 the following weekend we’ve got the Meadowlark Mountain heritage festival where we’re going to have.

00:05:14.790 –> 00:05:22.980 Alex McKay: Really excited to have Davey arch renowned Cherokee storyteller mass Carver he’s been on.

00:05:23.880 –> 00:05:30.270 Alex McKay: Every TV show has been a Smithsonian he’s worked with the museum on the quality boundary just a great great guy.

00:05:30.810 –> 00:05:41.400 Alex McKay: who has the 18th-century camp set up again, this time with the blacksmith with bark and brain tanning we’re going to have all I had been doing medicinal herbs and how do they.

00:05:41.790 –> 00:05:51.180 Alex McKay: Find wild edible plants in the wilderness and we’re going to have more music where your readers going to be doing some 18th-century ballads.

00:05:51.690 –> 00:05:57.780 Alex McKay: David ruins going to be doing a blacksmithing seminar that was actually he put together for the Smithsonian.

00:05:58.230 –> 00:06:05.910 Alex McKay: And we’re going to be doing that day as well, so there’s going to be all sorts of things going on that day, and then the following day.

00:06:06.510 –> 00:06:21.930 Alex McKay: Randall Pierce who’s a professor at the University of Tennessee is going to be given a seminar to and then on Sunday morning we’re going to have a bluegrass Gospel concert and then we’ll go to wrap things up at the plot ham program in a book signing there on Sunday.

00:06:22.950 –> 00:06:31.500 Alex McKay: And so that’d be on the seventh and eighth of August in the 14th of August 13 and 14th of August we had the Horrace Kephart festival.

00:06:32.100 –> 00:06:40.260 Alex McKay: And we’re really excited about that as well kind of commemorates Kephart’s and Obama with helping get the great smoky mountain National Park started.

00:06:40.620 –> 00:06:45.150 Alex McKay: As well as he is field manuals we’ve got some of his direct to standards here.

00:06:45.570 –> 00:06:56.940 Alex McKay: we’ve got people who have brought books about him Raymond been who’s a really great firearms expert is going to talk about some kid air firearms next or thing.

00:06:57.570 –> 00:07:12.300 Alex McKay: Just up and then we’re going to have music again with that as well, and then leave he’s going to lead some hikes on Friday, along with which data retired park ranger into some of the same areas that Kephart’s lived in Camp before it was apart.

00:07:13.260 –> 00:07:23.370 Joseph McElroy: So it’s all fabulous so everybody, you can find out about these events at Meadowlakrmotel.COM go to events and look for the smoky mountain heritage Center.

00:07:24.780 –> 00:07:29.520 Joseph McElroy: Always you know we have a public component.

00:07:31.290 –> 00:07:44.280 Joseph McElroy: But guess we’ll get priority and be able to stay and Bob appreciates you coming on board now our guest today is Alex McKay so, can you ask him to come on come on down Alex McKay.

00:07:47.940 –> 00:07:48.930 Alex McKay: All right, hey Joseph

00:07:49.170 –> 00:07:56.850 Joseph McElroy: Very good, how you doing so Alex is a successful Haywood county businessman who is known for his work as a Haywood county historian.

00:07:57.450 –> 00:08:02.820 Joseph McElroy: He works with the historic shook house and records the history of the town of hazel which, which is now part of Waynesville.

00:08:03.330 –> 00:08:19.590 Joseph McElroy: Alex was also instrumental in the development of a museum in Haywood county courthouse Alex is in the North Carolina Department of converse Main Street champion for his revitalization efforts in Waynesville North Carolina oh good little resume there Alex.

00:08:20.940 –> 00:08:21.510 Alex McKay: Thank you.

00:08:21.780 –> 00:08:25.140 Joseph McElroy: yeah you did a lot of stuff so you were born and raised in Haywood County, right?

00:08:27.090 –> 00:08:42.270 Alex McKay: Right, generation on one side on my father’s side and seventh-generation on my mother’s side so I’m born and raised in Haywood county and it was never an option for me to leave I’m I meant to be here.

00:08:43.140 –> 00:08:55.950 Joseph McElroy: that’s right, you know a lot of people here generation hey my generation I left, I had to pursue things because I was in the tech I was into computers and yeah back then, you had to go somewhere else to be into computers, but.

00:08:57.240 –> 00:08:57.540 Joseph McElroy: But.

00:08:58.650 –> 00:09:05.490 Joseph McElroy: So, how did, how did what made you What was it, what did you do decide to stay and why do you think he decided to.

00:09:06.270 –> 00:09:08.070 Alex McKay: Well, I guess the family business.

00:09:09.210 –> 00:09:24.480 Alex McKay: My father was in the grading and construction business back he started in the 50s and he was doing construction when a lot of these older families, like the loves of Thomas, ‘s the Songs.

00:09:26.340 –> 00:09:28.860 Alex McKay: Where they had a lot of lands, not a lot of money.

00:09:30.870 –> 00:09:43.470 Alex McKay: And so, he would go in and develop their property bill roads section it off and lots and if some of these families didn’t pay them money they were payment laws so we ended up in the real estate business.

00:09:44.580 –> 00:09:51.750 Alex McKay: and property management Rentals all types of rental so we ended up in that just.

00:09:54.180 –> 00:09:55.590 Joseph McElroy: Did you vacation Rentals.

00:09:56.970 –> 00:09:59.460 Alex McKay: Not so much most of our yearly Rentals.

00:09:59.640 –> 00:10:07.290 Alex McKay: Right yeah not so much we’ve got some into we’re getting into some vacation Rentals but not, not so much right.

00:10:08.580 –> 00:10:11.430 Joseph McElroy: Well, in the end, we should let people know how to get the Rentals.

00:10:11.430 –> 00:10:21.630 Joseph McElroy: Because a lot of people here might listening might want to come down and live for a little while or have you do meditation I will be important to let him know, say, have you ever lived anywhere else.

00:10:22.620 –> 00:10:27.660 Alex McKay: I went to college and garden with them Shelby you’re boiling springs.

00:10:29.400 –> 00:10:30.210 Alex McKay: But but.

00:10:31.470 –> 00:10:32.460 Alex McKay: i’m still lacking strike.

00:10:33.300 –> 00:10:35.310 Joseph McElroy: yeah sea level, the reason right.

00:10:35.490 –> 00:10:36.660 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah.

00:10:38.250 –> 00:10:47.910 Joseph McElroy: So, but you have a passion and you seem to be one of those unique individuals who have managed to get a good balance between your business and your passion which is history.

00:10:48.300 –> 00:10:49.650 Joseph McElroy: yeah yeah.

00:10:50.280 –> 00:11:07.200 Alex McKay: And I guess growing up, and I, looking back on it now, you know I don’t know what really spurred it other than I had older parents and I was around my grandparents kind of held that that old generation of.

00:11:09.060 –> 00:11:22.260 Alex McKay: A mountain people like to tell you every everything about everybody, you know and they generate what generations and how there can’t my grandmother knew everything about more of the mountain community.

00:11:23.850 –> 00:11:35.670 Alex McKay: In Haywood county and then my father’s side I had more of the town history, so I got it from both ends and dad doing going back to that the dad doing construction.

00:11:36.690 –> 00:11:38.520 Alex McKay: Back in the 60s and 70s.

00:11:40.200 –> 00:11:50.670 Alex McKay: A lot was starting to change in Haywood county and Rosa wide and wrote new Rosenfield a lot of our old structures got torn down so throwing up driving around.

00:11:51.510 –> 00:12:04.260 Alex McKay: you know agile for the old-time hotel down here before rest avenue went this way, the road with this way, so I just kind of grew up knowing how things were before me.

00:12:07.140 –> 00:12:10.770 Alex McKay: And that sparked my interest in history, and when I was around.

00:12:11.910 –> 00:12:20.970 Alex McKay: I was around that older generation more than the younger generation, so my parents would have known my friends his grandparents.

00:12:22.410 –> 00:12:25.410 Alex McKay: So I knew I knew all about that generation and the energy.

00:12:26.460 –> 00:12:42.540 Joseph McElroy: that’s you know I have, I have a 28-year-old son, but I have now, I have two and a half-year-old twins right now, they are growing up with an older dad so they’ll have a different perspective on existence, I think right.

00:12:43.380 –> 00:12:44.370 Alex McKay: yeah definitely.

00:12:44.820 –> 00:12:47.220 Joseph McElroy: yeah so yeah it’s.

00:12:48.360 –> 00:12:50.880 Joseph McElroy: An interesting history and what’s going on before.

00:12:51.900 –> 00:12:52.380 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:12:53.070 –> 00:12:59.190 Joseph McElroy: What so you got started a business that asked you to be in the business or did you decide you wanted to be it.

00:12:59.340 –> 00:13:01.320 Alex McKay: Now I don’t think I ever had a choice and.

00:13:03.780 –> 00:13:19.440 Alex McKay: yeah it was just there was set to get done and I was expected to be there to do it so so, and you know, and once you’ve got so many different houses or pieces of property there’s always somebody done and.

00:13:20.760 –> 00:13:28.530 Alex McKay: And, and I enjoyed it growing up, I enjoyed you know, a one on one with him and the mother to collect rent and.

00:13:29.610 –> 00:13:32.760 Alex McKay: And rehab houses, so I.

00:13:33.840 –> 00:13:34.620 Alex McKay: enjoyed work.

00:13:36.030 –> 00:13:43.710 Alex McKay: It gives you some freedom since you’re not working, a nine to five it gives you the freedom to pursue your passions.

00:13:45.840 –> 00:13:53.310 Joseph McElroy: Similar raising my father didn’t let me do the business part of it, he made me go to the mountains and clean up the construction second step.

00:13:53.640 –> 00:14:01.650 Alex McKay: Back exactly yeah there were yeah yeah I learned how to I mean you know, but I was probably collecting rent at the time I was 12.

00:14:02.820 –> 00:14:04.110 Alex McKay: And then.

00:14:05.190 –> 00:14:14.610 Alex McKay: You know not to sin after that I could like carpet or paint or change door knocks or do anything that goes on, with the property manager.

00:14:14.940 –> 00:14:23.550 Joseph McElroy: There, when I first got my first business up here in New York City and I got an office I just did I renovated advice.

00:14:24.960 –> 00:14:28.530 Joseph McElroy: Your technology guy What do you do it renovated your offices, I.

00:14:29.010 –> 00:14:29.550 Joseph McElroy: After.

00:14:29.730 –> 00:14:34.020 Joseph McElroy: I installed the electricity I did the whole thing they’re like What do you do.

00:14:37.980 –> 00:14:43.140 Joseph McElroy: When we go to take a break here when we get back we’ll talk about your passion which is preserving history.

00:14:43.680 –> 00:14:44.640 Alex McKay: All right, alright sounds good.

00:17:14.190 –> 00:17:23.070 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and my guest Alex McKay, so Alex.

00:17:23.610 –> 00:17:34.590 Joseph McElroy: You know your passion is history and I, you know we’ve talked to some you know some of the elders in the Community, and they really appreciate your passion for local history.

00:17:35.100 –> 00:17:47.880 Joseph McElroy: And now, and your efforts and presenting, but I think also just I think you’ve had a lot of conversations with people, how do you find connecting with the old-timers and what is that the hearing Their stories like for you.

00:17:49.200 –> 00:17:49.560 Alex McKay: well.

00:17:50.850 –> 00:18:03.420 Alex McKay: You know, being from Haywood County or a lot of these you know we kind of we know each other, you know and we’ve gotten, even though we might not be direct can we’re kind of family.

00:18:04.650 –> 00:18:05.640 Alex McKay: anywhere so.

00:18:06.720 –> 00:18:20.520 Alex McKay: there’s it’s easy to connect to these old-timers and I guess it’s easier for me because I can speak their language and I know you know about what’s happened during their lifetime and the county.

00:18:22.650 –> 00:18:31.320 Alex McKay: I know people were you know with a large you can just say a couple of names and get them laughing because you know they’ll have members of the people and.

00:18:31.920 –> 00:18:41.220 Alex McKay: It would people you know today people wouldn’t think about or we wouldn’t be brought into the conversation so it’s just in the in local has a lot.

00:18:43.620 –> 00:18:44.040 Alex McKay: As it.

00:18:44.760 –> 00:18:45.810 Alex McKay: makes it a lot easier.

00:18:47.370 –> 00:18:54.540 Joseph McElroy: yeah I find there’s I find there’s a lot of the stories are sort of subtle and dry humor that.

00:18:58.110 –> 00:19:00.930 Joseph McElroy: That you’re supposed to get the NGO yeah.

00:19:01.110 –> 00:19:03.300 Alex McKay: yeah exactly exactly.

00:19:03.630 –> 00:19:04.080 Alex McKay: yeah I.

00:19:04.710 –> 00:19:11.970 Alex McKay: know my family and my friends my grandfather has a slaughterhouse of nice wood and so a lot of these old families.

00:19:13.260 –> 00:19:16.530 Alex McKay: are a lot of the old-timers now visited there they were children.

00:19:18.420 –> 00:19:27.990 Alex McKay: And you know it and they’ve been instrumental in helping me raise to do the research that I needed and there isn’t a continued me to do.

00:19:29.970 –> 00:19:32.700 Alex McKay: People like Charles Mailer and Nora hamming and.

00:19:34.020 –> 00:19:49.650 Alex McKay: Think swift and Bruce Bruce Briggs, who is a store in for years and years he’s 9495 now and he’s been a mentor me and talking a lot that you know if these people have been gone that information would have been gone with them.

00:19:50.040 –> 00:19:50.610 Their.

00:19:51.960 –> 00:19:52.800 Alex McKay: story.

00:19:53.820 –> 00:19:57.600 Alex McKay: You know a lot of my best friends are probably in their age 18.

00:20:00.420 –> 00:20:02.460 Joseph McElroy: So I know you’ve.

00:20:03.630 –> 00:20:16.170 Joseph McElroy: talked to these people and all your research you’ve attained hundreds, I guess, not if not thousands of important historical artifacts and documents over the years, can you give us some highlights which ones are once one until the proudest of.

00:20:17.160 –> 00:20:17.640 well.

00:20:19.050 –> 00:20:19.620 Alex McKay: You know.

00:20:21.750 –> 00:20:22.650 Alex McKay: I guess.

00:20:25.290 –> 00:20:25.770 Alex McKay: You know.

00:20:27.840 –> 00:20:40.560 Alex McKay: What points of what stands out to me as an executive isn’t exactly items, but it’s different collections so like this week I’ve been going through, let me see alan’s collection.

00:20:41.670 –> 00:20:45.720 Alex McKay: His house it’s been empty for years for the most part.

00:20:47.040 –> 00:20:53.490 Alex McKay: And when you go in it’s just like he walked out in 1940 and he wrote he did a lot of early history books.

00:20:56.520 –> 00:20:56.910 Alex McKay: and

00:20:59.550 –> 00:21:06.240 Alex McKay: So you go in now, and all his research is there there are hundreds of photos documents.

00:21:09.000 –> 00:21:11.580 Alex McKay: And then another one was that scraper.

00:21:13.050 –> 00:21:19.830 Alex McKay: The collection of her grandfather stuff he was a lawyer and a judge MAC turn of the century.

00:21:20.610 –> 00:21:34.140 Alex McKay: So it’s going through his file cabinets and I found all the original and deeds are leading brands and beloved thing and from David Allison land grant john Struthers grant so all these original documents, going back to the late 1700s.

00:21:35.190 –> 00:21:42.690 Alex McKay: Where they are in that that filing cabinet and in you know, had been there for probably 40 or 50 years and nobody looked at.

00:21:43.290 –> 00:21:45.660 Joseph McElroy: wow that’s pretty impressive.

00:21:46.290 –> 00:21:58.410 Alex McKay: It not one not really one item stands out, but just different collections of the stem that people have held on to win it been, for the most part, and search for so many years.

00:21:59.730 –> 00:22:08.490 Joseph McElroy: I read, I read about a little story about you, you went and helped acquire the portrait of James Robert love.

00:22:08.790 –> 00:22:17.430 Alex McKay: Yes, yeah yeah that somebody had called the talent-wise well and said, there was a portrait of Robert’s love in Florida that was going at that.

00:22:18.930 –> 00:22:24.810 Alex McKay: One of these fine art options and, of course, there was beating online that I.

00:22:25.860 –> 00:22:37.740 Alex McKay: I didn’t trust getting it back and possibly losing the bid to you know computer malfunction or Internet connection, so I just broke up with me, my father drove to Florida and.

00:22:39.060 –> 00:22:47.070 Alex McKay: And both the both blaming from this auction and to get to God that that option, they were baseball cards going to $35,000 and.

00:22:48.930 –> 00:22:56.430 Alex McKay: Other patients are bringing 10s of my so I didn’t know I you know I didn’t know what to expect Luckily, we didn’t have to get too often.

00:22:57.570 –> 00:23:05.610 Alex McKay: But I was able to bring it back to wines were working alone and it ended up being James Robert Robert but they just ahead miss smart.

00:23:07.410 –> 00:23:10.230 Joseph McElroy: Ministers who rubber lovers who James Robert level.

00:23:10.680 –> 00:23:15.750 Alex McKay: So, Robert Love was was what’s considered the founder of wines well.

00:23:17.070 –> 00:23:26.340 Alex McKay: He ended up being a surveyor and ended up being the executor of the James bountiful land grant and so he ended up him and his son ended up.

00:23:27.480 –> 00:23:34.560 Alex McKay: with most of what is tiger county Benton county Simon making and Nancy county.

00:23:35.670 –> 00:23:49.350 Alex McKay: So they ended up with hundreds of thousands of acres in the early 1800s and then James his father’s the one that’s kind of considered valuable, but he played just as much role as as as his father did.

00:23:51.390 –> 00:23:53.100 Alex McKay: And so, a lot of families.

00:23:54.540 –> 00:24:01.680 Alex McKay: You know they had all this land so James Robert a lot of these over families, like the like the box has K in the browns.

00:24:02.850 –> 00:24:05.370 Alex McKay: They can live off the land from the.

00:24:06.960 –> 00:24:07.530 Alex McKay: From James.

00:24:10.050 –> 00:24:15.690 Alex McKay: his hands a lot more than Roberts doesn’t know in the old days.

00:24:16.200 –> 00:24:19.350 Joseph McElroy: He sort of had foresight about the railroads coming into.

00:24:19.380 –> 00:24:20.910 Alex McKay: yeah yeah he.

00:24:22.350 –> 00:24:29.940 Alex McKay: He died in 1844- 1845 and.

00:24:32.880 –> 00:24:45.060 Alex McKay: he’d already kind of laid out where the railroad would go in Waynesboro now he didn’t come until 1883 and so you know almost 40 years before after he died.

00:24:46.650 –> 00:24:47.280 Alex McKay: He.

00:24:48.660 –> 00:24:55.200 Alex McKay: He knew the importance of him, he gave all of his children lots along the railroad because he knew it would be, it would be important.

00:24:56.550 –> 00:24:57.330 Joseph McElroy: Oh that’s great.

00:24:58.410 –> 00:25:04.140 Joseph McElroy: Well that’s a pretty good story yeah it’s it’s always finding a nice to find little gems like that.

00:25:05.370 –> 00:25:13.200 Joseph McElroy: So um so you were instrumental in creating a museum and Haywood County courthouse I know I didn’t even know about this tell me about that museum.

00:25:13.620 –> 00:25:19.500 Alex McKay: I was kind of the second wave of it so before I got on it, the historical society.

00:25:21.090 –> 00:25:24.480 Alex McKay: Bruce Briggs and Bets Frank, are there was.

00:25:25.650 –> 00:25:38.640 Alex McKay: The the county was going to remodel the historic courthouse in so they went for the Commissioners, and this is probably early to that maybe in the 90s early 2000s.

00:25:40.770 –> 00:25:51.390 Alex McKay: And acquired that room from the Commissioners, and so, then they had in the paperwork that it that that room always belongs to the historical society so, then I come along.

00:25:52.560 –> 00:26:07.620 Alex McKay: Maybe 10 years ago, and by that time they weren’t using the room anymore, and the course of the county was wanting to back to us for other things and, and so I kind of took it over and.

00:26:08.670 –> 00:26:13.830 Alex McKay: Business that back in there and I’ve had to the museum and there were some been closed down for repetitive.

00:26:16.110 –> 00:26:27.360 Alex McKay: But it’s been good and people that have moved out of the county will come back in, and so I get to hear a lot of more local stories from people that have been having been gone for a while, but I’ve heard about community.

00:26:28.050 –> 00:26:30.810 Joseph McElroy: Because that is a good place or two people like to visit it.

00:26:31.650 –> 00:26:43.800 Alex McKay: yeah yeah yeah and I’ve got a lot of interesting articles in it from slave deeds to original maps of the county from the early 1800s.

00:26:45.060 –> 00:26:54.480 Alex McKay: That the portrait that we went to Florida good and then some lighter stuff like all the milk bottles the liquor bottles, we had wines with a dispensary and.

00:26:55.500 –> 00:26:58.650 Alex McKay: Through 1909 that.

00:26:59.760 –> 00:27:08.940 Alex McKay: When you couldn’t go when you couldn’t buy liquor store you go to a place kind of like the pharmacy and by your like if you did not have you know from moonshine.

00:27:10.980 –> 00:27:13.950 Alex McKay: So other just mindful collectible signs.

00:27:14.910 –> 00:27:16.830 Joseph McElroy: of pictures original pictures things without.

00:27:16.830 –> 00:27:25.110 Alex McKay: Yet yeah sounds good, yeah and that’s my favorite thing fine but that’s what’s been so special about the sounds for our collection there are pictures from the 1900s.

00:27:26.040 –> 00:27:33.810 Alex McKay: You know that they’ve never been published, that you know that that’s always my favorite ledger’s and pictures are probably my favorite things to find.

00:27:35.490 –> 00:27:36.060 Joseph McElroy: cool.

00:27:36.330 –> 00:27:37.980 Alex McKay: yeah a bunch of those in the courthouse.

00:27:38.220 –> 00:27:41.040 Joseph McElroy: Did you get the where’d you get the funding.

00:27:42.060 –> 00:27:42.840 Alex McKay: Where to get the wall.

00:27:43.200 –> 00:27:44.790 Joseph McElroy: Where do you have the funding for the museum.

00:27:45.360 –> 00:27:47.910 Alex McKay: Oh just myself there’s just myself

00:27:49.110 –> 00:27:52.470 Alex McKay: yeah yeah I found I found all of that museum and then now get.

00:27:53.520 –> 00:28:03.090 Alex McKay: We get some donations, but a lot of stuff I’m able to to to acquire from collections, or you know, sometimes stuff ends up and with antique dealers or antique stores.

00:28:04.230 –> 00:28:09.060 Alex McKay: Most of them in my immediate area know you know if they get something local they give me a call.

00:28:09.570 –> 00:28:11.220 Joseph McElroy: It was the name of the museum, what do you call.

00:28:11.610 –> 00:28:12.780 Alex McKay: The Waynesville archive.

00:28:13.800 –> 00:28:17.970 Joseph McElroy: archive cools any other individuals or groups that are working with him.

00:28:18.210 –> 00:28:29.310 Alex McKay: yeah yeah I’m kind of I’m under the umbrella of the wood county historical society so it’s Mike Maclean’s President of it and then that’s the shook house.

00:28:30.720 –> 00:28:34.470 Alex McKay: And I think we’re getting ready to open it a month or so.

00:28:35.220 –> 00:28:35.610 alright.

00:28:36.960 –> 00:28:41.250 Joseph McElroy: cool so so you got some really good support there that’s good so when we talk.

00:28:42.270 –> 00:28:44.820 Joseph McElroy: When we come back let’s talk about the Shrek House a little bit all right.

00:28:45.270 –> 00:28:46.920 Alex McKay: Okay sounds good.

00:31:35.880 –> 00:31:49.170 Joseph McElroy: howdy it’s Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with a gateway to the smokies podcasts and my guest Alex Mckay’s, Alex you work with it’s actually the historic ships Matters house right and.

00:31:49.170 –> 00:31:50.730 Alex McKay: Class yeah.

00:31:51.060 –> 00:31:54.930 Joseph McElroy: yeah cool how long you been doing that what you do with him.

00:31:56.010 –> 00:32:09.630 Alex McKay: probably say the last seven or eight years at right now on the history I’ve been Vice President, maybe a couple of other positions on the board but I’m the store in the storage side right now and.

00:32:10.500 –> 00:32:15.600 Alex McKay: The ship’s matters have is run by the Haywood county historical and genealogical society.

00:32:17.010 –> 00:32:22.200 Alex McKay: And so we’re right now we’re in the middle of reorganizing the show cows and the.

00:32:23.340 –> 00:32:28.560 Alex McKay: winds will archive to reopen added to the public, after Africa.

00:32:30.030 –> 00:32:32.670 Joseph McElroy: And what is the history of the Shook House.

00:32:33.570 –> 00:32:37.470 Alex McKay: So this shook house was built around the turn of.

00:32:39.270 –> 00:32:41.970 Alex McKay: The early 1800s right around the turn of the century there.

00:32:42.990 –> 00:33:02.700 Alex McKay: And Jacob Shook came here with sandals and the biggest thing about the shook house is the oldest frame house west of actually so you know most cabins at that time would have been house would have been cabins that time.

00:33:04.170 –> 00:33:13.920 Alex McKay: jake chuck came and built it, you know he made by us to very he was a blacksmith or I’m sure you’ve had a blacksmith is an end.

00:33:15.810 –> 00:33:20.490 Alex McKay: But he made the nails faculty Member and built that first time house it.

00:33:21.780 –> 00:33:26.190 Joseph McElroy: Is it’s a beautiful looking place, I saw pictures of it I’ve never actually been there.

00:33:26.640 –> 00:33:28.950 Joseph McElroy: Do you have a museum in there.

00:33:29.460 –> 00:33:47.670 Alex McKay: yeah yeah the whole House, music and some of it to the ship family ships matters family and others, just to the other parts of it are going to be we’ve got a military room that’s kind of the heavy-handed military history, an industry part.

00:33:50.220 –> 00:33:53.490 Alex McKay: Then kind of a sewing quilting.

00:33:55.080 –> 00:34:05.580 Alex McKay: You know more of a lady’s handiwork type of the type of room in there, so we’ve got a lot of new things that that we’ve never had it the ship’s matter music.

00:34:06.600 –> 00:34:08.880 Joseph McElroy: What do you think is the most popular thing there.

00:34:10.860 –> 00:34:20.760 Alex McKay: My favorite thing in the House, probably the most important artifact that I what I think semester artifact, there is the first piano that came to Western North Korea.

00:34:21.420 –> 00:34:30.750 Alex McKay: Oh, really, we talked about James Robert Love with this was his piano and they brought it into somewhere on the coast on a wagon.

00:34:32.760 –> 00:34:36.270 Alex McKay: So I think that’s probably my favorite thing.

00:34:36.660 –> 00:34:37.620 Joseph McElroy: This is good her.

00:34:39.480 –> 00:34:51.540 Alex McKay: I think some keys work, it needs to be restored, but I think some keys did work on it, but you know sometime in the future I’d like to to do a fundraiser or something to get that cannot restore.

00:34:52.590 –> 00:34:56.640 Joseph McElroy: Now I know you did tours the tours resumed yet.

00:34:57.120 –> 00:34:58.350 Alex McKay: No, not yet, I think that.

00:34:59.370 –> 00:35:03.000 Alex McKay: I don’t remember the exact date they’re probably the website it’s.

00:35:04.200 –> 00:35:08.850 Alex McKay: Probably within a month in a month or so within two months are.

00:35:11.010 –> 00:35:17.490 Joseph McElroy: There any other events or festivals, that you would like to tell people about related that are history is in the mountains.

00:35:17.940 –> 00:35:36.480 Alex McKay: Well I’m also on the Haywood county or the wind for preservation Commission and we got a great got to are coming at green hill cemetery be the evening of October nine it’s the same day, is the church street fair on mainstream.

00:35:37.680 –> 00:35:38.430 Alex McKay: On on.

00:35:39.480 –> 00:35:44.880 Alex McKay: On October 9 day of clothes off mainstream it’s a full day best tool with vendors and food music.

00:35:45.900 –> 00:35:51.240 Alex McKay: And then raw think rather than that so maybe five 530 is when we do that cemetery.

00:35:52.650 –> 00:35:53.760 Joseph McElroy: A cemetery tour.

00:35:53.850 –> 00:35:57.090 Alex McKay: yeah cemetery towards just right up the street from downtown.

00:35:59.340 –> 00:36:01.680 Alex McKay: Right of both of ours restaurants.

00:36:02.190 –> 00:36:04.440 Joseph McElroy: All right, that’s that big cemetery on the hill right.

00:36:04.530 –> 00:36:05.280 Alex McKay: yeah yeah.

00:36:05.550 –> 00:36:06.900 Joseph McElroy: that’s cool looking.

00:36:07.200 –> 00:36:10.020 Joseph McElroy: At there, I’ve never actually been in there yeah.

00:36:10.110 –> 00:36:14.400 Alex McKay: yeah yeah a lot of my family’s there and then a lot of the founding fathers are there.

00:36:15.690 –> 00:36:19.740 Alex McKay: A lot of old old mines for families that’s where they ended up.

00:36:20.670 –> 00:36:27.420 Joseph McElroy: Oh, a lot of my family’s out on America football behind Antioch Baptist church.

00:36:28.200 –> 00:36:29.430 Alex McKay: yeah yeah yeah.

00:36:29.580 –> 00:36:39.000 Joseph McElroy: But you know it’s gotten so it’s gotten said interesting has gotten so full of them, and now having to dig graves and the Granite areas.

00:36:40.440 –> 00:36:56.490 Alex McKay: I think I you know I think that’s one problem I’ve had a great deal is that cemetery we started so early the records haven’t been lost or haven’t been kept that well in early period at the cemetery so they’ve actually hit the other grades, they can new grades are.

00:36:57.540 –> 00:36:59.160 Alex McKay: digging digging new grapes.

00:37:00.420 –> 00:37:03.960 Alex McKay: Oh yeah they’re their heart may add there’s not much room left metal.

00:37:04.860 –> 00:37:09.570 Joseph McElroy: yeah so, are there any other in the whole of Western North Carolina that.

00:37:10.920 –> 00:37:19.230 Joseph McElroy: I’m no expert on all Western North Carolina but are there any historical events or festivals that people should be aware of that may be fun to visit.

00:37:20.280 –> 00:37:32.940 Alex McKay: You know I’m not sure we everything’s just kind of getting back started after covid did you know now that people are really starting to move around so so I’m not sure I’m not the best person for that.

00:37:34.500 –> 00:37:34.860 Joseph McElroy: yeah.

00:37:36.690 –> 00:37:38.940 Alex McKay: I’m amazed at everything good job going on down you.

00:37:39.630 –> 00:37:52.380 Joseph McElroy: know or you know we’re having the one I thought you might know a little bit about where I think you know a little bit about all of them, but we’re doing one on July 31 honoring the early morning and Charles Miller for the lifetime achievement.

00:37:53.640 –> 00:37:55.380 Joseph McElroy: And I’m sure you know, those are those look like.

00:37:55.410 –> 00:37:56.250 Alex McKay: Oh yeah yeah.

00:37:56.310 –> 00:37:59.220 Joseph McElroy: What do you think about them any stories about them.

00:38:00.090 –> 00:38:00.630 well.

00:38:02.430 –> 00:38:04.980 Alex McKay: yeah well Charles.

00:38:06.030 –> 00:38:08.760 Alex McKay: Both of them are interesting characters and.

00:38:09.840 –> 00:38:21.630 Alex McKay: You know, Charles can take you, you know I wish I had known Charles when he was you know younger and his as I sound a lot better because he’s really good metalwork and.

00:38:22.800 –> 00:38:33.300 Alex McKay: You know, and I know he’s made some steals in his day and I think he’s bringing one to show you he you know, Charles has some good stories and I, you know.

00:38:33.990 –> 00:38:39.330 Alex McKay: I probably am not going to start Charles’s stories out I know some of my detail or not so.

00:38:40.260 –> 00:38:47.220 Alex McKay: And the Earl’s character just need each other at the past, the other day, to tell me about what y’all like going on here.

00:38:48.030 –> 00:38:59.220 Alex McKay: And that was really good guys and I’ve been a good helped me a favor if I ever need to know anything about the relative trace I mean those two guys they know like factor, and that was when.

00:39:00.840 –> 00:39:08.250 Alex McKay: When the first platinum can come in on dating wrestlers expedition to have this back the charities so.

00:39:09.540 –> 00:39:11.250 Alex McKay: You know they know it well.

00:39:13.050 –> 00:39:13.680 Joseph McElroy: cool.

00:39:15.090 –> 00:39:16.680 Joseph McElroy: I know you present seminars.

00:39:17.760 –> 00:39:23.880 Joseph McElroy: about local history and Chris including what last structures in Waynesville history three ways will tell me about this.

00:39:24.420 –> 00:39:25.650 Alex McKay: yeah I did.

00:39:27.300 –> 00:39:34.440 Alex McKay: Last structures are probably my favorite wants to do and then unpublished photos of wine in school.

00:39:35.220 –> 00:39:48.120 Alex McKay: And that the Allen collection that the probably the next seminar I’ll do probably be on that Alan collection because it’s just so expensive and the items that are found in it so far are ours.

00:39:49.530 –> 00:39:57.270 Alex McKay: Culture and I really culture in portland to the town and just amazing photos and so that’s probably the next night do.

00:39:59.790 –> 00:40:07.920 Alex McKay: You know, and like I said we’re just trying to get out and back up and figure out what all we can do, what all we can do, and if we’re going to have people show up and.

00:40:10.350 –> 00:40:11.670 Alex McKay: But yeah and then.

00:40:13.620 –> 00:40:15.420 Alex McKay: yeah photos you know my.

00:40:16.440 –> 00:40:17.130 Alex McKay: My.

00:40:18.600 –> 00:40:33.630 Alex McKay: My seminars attract local people, so I can I playoff people in the audience, you know there’s people an audience that will know stuff that I don’t know about certain places in the photos so it’s always good to have those people in my audience that you can.

00:40:36.720 –> 00:40:43.260 Joseph McElroy: Show you so you have hope you’ll have some of those going on soon, so we can send people to the right yeah.

00:40:43.290 –> 00:40:55.140 Alex McKay: yeah yeah yeah maybe in the next couple months, hopefully, we can get those notes that I’ve got a Facebook page and I’ll post those on one layer, and then they’ll be in our local newspaper.

00:40:55.770 –> 00:41:04.230 Joseph McElroy: cool um so I’ve been told that you have a beautiful home and hazelwood you’ve completely renovated, it was a historic structure.

00:41:04.620 –> 00:41:15.780 Alex McKay: yeah yeah it’s 1912 hours, so when I was in middle school we live, we live, we live that towards the lines for a country club, and I would walk.

00:41:16.740 –> 00:41:31.320 Alex McKay: Down Main Street hazelwood nowadays would avenue to the middle school and there was a house on the phone or they had no for big colonial-style columns to it just always stood out to me when I was young.

00:41:32.490 –> 00:41:47.940 Alex McKay: And then maybe a year or so years ago now, I met, one of the daughters of the woman who lives there and I said I love your mother’s house and she had been there since the 40s.

00:41:49.950 –> 00:42:03.180 Alex McKay: And I said, well, if you please, let me know if you ever just tried to sell it and luckily that I was you know when when when her mother died, she was 101 flip back said, since the 40s.

00:42:04.920 –> 00:42:17.730 Alex McKay: I was able to buy the house and it needed to be completely renovated the plaster walls were cracked the lot of the woodwork has broadened on that side of course plumbing and electrical.

00:42:20.160 –> 00:42:30.180 Alex McKay: So I’ve taken it back to just keeping the same floor plan pretty much except for the kitchen I had 10 more things on to the kitchen.

00:42:33.120 –> 00:42:35.940 Joseph McElroy: Did you get some historical furnishings in there.

00:42:36.270 –> 00:42:46.260 Alex McKay: Oh yeah yeah yeah a lot of my first you know my the pedestal in the for your came from the store or the old brick courthouse from the 1800s.

00:42:47.580 –> 00:42:56.640 Alex McKay: My light fixtures in the hall in the bathroom came from the President’s old courthouse from the hallways in the jail.

00:42:59.520 –> 00:43:04.530 Alex McKay: The same time from a race forest on Main Street my bathroom sink.

00:43:06.180 –> 00:43:12.750 Alex McKay: stuff just you know, are trying to use that’s another one of my favorite things to find is just local salvage.

00:43:15.630 –> 00:43:20.820 Alex McKay: And so, when I was planning on how did the restoration incorporated those things into it.

00:43:21.270 –> 00:43:24.750 Joseph McElroy: You ever have you ever going to do an open house or anything let people see it.

00:43:24.840 –> 00:43:25.290 Alex McKay: And you know.

00:43:27.810 –> 00:43:42.930 Alex McKay: we’re kind of in the plan early planning stages, the bad at you know what I That was the whole plan because I worked on mass for two and a half years, and you know, then right when I get done it when when I would have had a party we’re right in the middle of it so.

00:43:44.160 –> 00:43:56.670 Alex McKay: So so yeah I hope to hope to do have a big house warming party here before too long, I think we’re having a big fourth of July already and we’re gonna shoot fireworks until somebody tells.

00:44:00.870 –> 00:44:01.800 Joseph McElroy: You just announced it.

00:44:04.650 –> 00:44:16.320 Joseph McElroy: When we come back we’ll get you to give us and we’ll talk about things to do and the Waynesville area that you like that you recommend let some of our people wanted to travel there no I know some insider views on what to do.

00:44:16.830 –> 00:44:17.820 Alex McKay: Okay sounds good.

00:46:35.700 –> 00:46:52.860 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklin McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast with my guest Alex McKay hey Alex so I imagine you have, like most people live in Haywood county have some outdoor hobbies or hiking or fishing, what do you do.

00:46:53.880 –> 00:47:06.000 Alex McKay: At five-ish so matt my grandfather was a farmer and that’s what he did in his spirit and when he got some time off from the farm that’s what he did he buy fish.

00:47:06.540 –> 00:47:15.720 Alex McKay: And when I went with him, I mean he you know I’d want to use wax worms or weren’t with corn or read when I was little and he wouldn’t let me use anything but a fireman.

00:47:16.410 –> 00:47:22.380 Alex McKay: And so, but I’m thankful for that and I didn’t like that time but, but now I’m thankful that he did so because of that.

00:47:23.130 –> 00:47:25.680 Joseph McElroy: is a nice meditative hobby right.

00:47:26.100 –> 00:47:26.760 Alex McKay: yeah yeah.

00:47:27.120 –> 00:47:31.110 Joseph McElroy: What are some good Ruby rivers in Haywood county to go fishing fly fishing.

00:47:31.350 –> 00:47:40.530 Alex McKay: Well I’m just going to do, like a quick, you know, sometimes I can get away for an hour to and I’ll just come down to Maggie here and go there’s a little park behind the.

00:47:41.760 –> 00:47:42.180 angels.

00:47:44.040 –> 00:47:45.960 Alex McKay: elevated to sell right yeah.

00:47:46.020 –> 00:47:55.140 Alex McKay: yeah elevated ruin there’s a good little spot there behind the post office or there are good little spots like that that you can go real quick and then.

00:47:55.860 –> 00:47:59.550 Joseph McElroy: If you know there’s one behind the Meadowlark that bridge is pretty good.

00:47:59.790 –> 00:48:09.390 Alex McKay: yeah yeah yeah and then down at the bottom, it goes down there are a couple of good holes down layer but i’m going to go for a day.

00:48:10.590 –> 00:48:23.430 Alex McKay: I probably go to big creek or sterling pretty calm the over on the Tennessee line they go down the board and right on the water go on hartford exits there’s some good fishing down in that area.

00:48:24.270 –> 00:48:34.800 Joseph McElroy: cool alright that sounds good, and I guess as a local resident you become where we’ve got it we actually got a burgeoning social scene, especially in waynesville.

00:48:35.220 –> 00:48:41.730 Joseph McElroy: Right and silver and Maggie is actually starting to do some of its own, what are you some of your favorite local restaurants.

00:48:42.870 –> 00:48:52.980 Alex McKay: restaurants, what see I like well being on Main Street, and he would I go, we go meet us probably once a week or at least get something going.

00:48:54.330 –> 00:49:05.790 Alex McKay: And it’s not tagging restaurant rotten rotten downtown hazleton and then we add new restaurants just opened up just right up the street mobile pace with pharmacy build on the beach mountain diner and it’s great for.

00:49:07.260 –> 00:49:08.580 Alex McKay: lunch or breakfast.

00:49:10.650 –> 00:49:12.450 Joseph McElroy: You would smoke out.

00:49:13.020 –> 00:49:18.300 Alex McKay: yeah oh yeah I would smoke cast grey market risk, the risk that I would smoke has wonderful.

00:49:19.470 –> 00:49:26.880 Alex McKay: Sometimes we’ll we’ll make our sides of the House and an order or you know Pam brisket you don’t that for a couple months but.

00:49:27.210 –> 00:49:34.500 Joseph McElroy: But you know, there was a national magazine listed that doesn’t smoke House as well the top 20 Barbecue joints in the nation.

00:49:35.010 –> 00:49:36.300 Alex McKay: Real What about.

00:49:36.570 –> 00:49:40.920 Alex McKay: yeah about and it’s me it’s good Barbecue maybe probably the best brisket man.

00:49:41.190 –> 00:49:45.000 Alex McKay: yeah and then of course maggie’s galley will go there, so often.

00:49:48.600 –> 00:50:01.740 Alex McKay: I like I like Japanese and Chinese food, so we go to Kobe Kobe is down and winter visor and then we’re Tommy on Main Street next to the to the town hall.

00:50:03.570 –> 00:50:12.990 Alex McKay: Then firefly on Main Street we’ve got some some good restaurants, but you know, we want to eat them one treat them all the time you kind of cycle through them all.

00:50:13.950 –> 00:50:14.190 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:50:14.580 –> 00:50:15.480 Alex McKay: After after you.

00:50:15.570 –> 00:50:18.510 Joseph McElroy: eat after you Where would you go for some entertainment?

00:50:22.710 –> 00:50:30.090 Alex McKay: entertainment I don’t know, maybe seems like they’re doing something on the creek now and silver seems like there’s music on the creek and silver.

00:50:30.330 –> 00:50:30.810 hmm.

00:50:32.430 –> 00:50:42.000 Alex McKay: You know, every so often on Main Street, they’ll have art after dark or since the street dances and those are good to go to events.

00:50:42.360 –> 00:50:45.510 Joseph McElroy: Here, those are like the first Friday right as the first Friday of the month.

00:50:46.230 –> 00:50:47.130 Alex McKay: I believe so.

00:50:47.640 –> 00:50:55.860 Alex McKay: yeah and yeah a lot of people been going to like drop level brewing sometimes they’ll have music.

00:50:58.650 –> 00:51:03.360 Alex McKay: I think, Belgium has live music, a lot of people go down and go there in the months.

00:51:05.580 –> 00:51:06.750 Alex McKay: yeah I.

00:51:08.940 –> 00:51:10.140 Joseph McElroy: recently had the best.

00:51:10.920 –> 00:51:23.160 Joseph McElroy: They had seafood not sure I don’t remember exactly what it was right now, but no that was some of the best nachos I ever had I’m cauliflower or something Chris or something it was odd, but it was really great.

00:51:23.220 –> 00:51:23.490 Joseph McElroy: It was.

00:51:24.120 –> 00:51:25.170 Joseph McElroy: Really fantastic.

00:51:26.550 –> 00:51:37.500 Joseph McElroy: So uh so I gotta ask you, what are the museums that people shouldn’t miss and the Western North Carolina historical museums or places I shouldn’t miss?

00:51:37.710 –> 00:51:38.640 Alex McKay: Well, the.

00:51:39.960 –> 00:51:54.870 Alex McKay: archives over Western they’ve always got some interests and displays at Western Carolina university they’ve got some really neat artifacts and they kind of cycle through their artifacts that the what’s at the mountain heritage.

00:51:57.270 –> 00:51:59.130 Alex McKay: let’s say the Shelton house and wines rule.

00:52:00.330 –> 00:52:18.810 Alex McKay: they’ve done a really good job on handicrafts that they’re they’re not as towards local kind of local history but more mountain handy graphs and we’ll share it and they don’t that house, he was agent to the Navajo Indian so they’ve got a lot of Navajo effects.

00:52:20.220 –> 00:52:21.060 Alex McKay: Shell mouse.

00:52:26.670 –> 00:52:29.040 Alex McKay: pad library sometimes has some.

00:52:30.090 –> 00:52:31.380 Alex McKay: Some displays out.

00:52:32.910 –> 00:52:35.100 Alex McKay: they’ve had some interesting things ever pack library.

00:52:35.400 –> 00:52:39.840 Joseph McElroy: Well that’s good I’m sure I’m sure some of the bigger towns got some good stuff too so.

00:52:41.280 –> 00:52:43.320 Joseph McElroy: really appreciate you being on the Program.

00:52:43.530 –> 00:52:53.310 Joseph McElroy: Yes, we will keep track of you how did you find out about the show cows, how did they find out about your museum, and how do they keep in touch with you, or if you follow a new.

00:52:54.210 –> 00:53:02.070 Alex McKay: Well I’m mostly active on my Facebook page is Alex Mckay MC K A Y and.

00:53:03.090 –> 00:53:07.800 Alex McKay: For the the show counts, we got a website.

00:53:09.060 –> 00:53:12.930 Alex McKay: And people can just Google the shirts neighbor’s house and time beer.

00:53:15.060 –> 00:53:17.400 Alex McKay: But yeah those are probably the best the two best.

00:53:18.420 –> 00:53:20.520 Joseph McElroy: a way to archive is, it is a website.

00:53:20.760 –> 00:53:24.240 Alex McKay: No, no, I just do I just do all of it through my Facebook page.

00:53:24.330 –> 00:53:24.900 Joseph McElroy: Okay.

00:53:24.960 –> 00:53:25.860 Alex McKay: Great yeah cool.

00:53:26.430 –> 00:53:33.960 Joseph McElroy: Well, I appreciate it it’s been good talking to you and I’ll keep following your historical events I’m a come see your museums that’s for sure.

00:53:34.080 –> 00:53:36.420 Alex McKay: yeah yeah.

00:53:37.590 –> 00:53:39.630 Joseph McElroy: Now, give out some shoutouts myself.

00:53:41.340 –> 00:53:53.820 Joseph McElroy: So this this this podcast is called gateway the smokies podcast it’s you can find out more about it gatewaytothesmokies.fun you go there and subscribe to a newsletter allows you to know what’s coming up.

00:53:54.840 –> 00:54:02.070 Joseph McElroy: And we usually have a lot of things better guests, we have all the previous episodes and this podcast is also available on iTunes and.

00:54:02.670 –> 00:54:10.230 Joseph McElroy: And all those sort of things and broadcast live on talkradio.nyc into the New York area.

00:54:10.920 –> 00:54:21.810 Joseph McElroy: Where there’s some great live podcast if you’re listening, listen to the one that follows us to tell them that New York, so you can go from you know rural North Carolina to the most urban place we have in the United States.

00:54:22.980 –> 00:54:32.340 Joseph McElroy: Now a lot to them, you know, imagine a place evocative of motor courts of the past and modern and vibrant with a Chic Appalachian field.

00:54:32.790 –> 00:54:44.550 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 fire, and be accompanied by all fine wines and craft beers.

00:54:45.270 –> 00:54:59.370 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place of the old-time with music and world cultural sounds there’s no other place like this Meadowlark Motel in Maggie valley, your smoky mountain adventure starts with where you stay. find out more about meadowlarkmotel.com.

00:55:00.570 –> 00:55:05.940 Joseph McElroy: we’re sponsored by smokies adventure that smokies plural adventure singular.com.

00:55:06.600 –> 00:55:16.260 Joseph McElroy: Information and listings about the smokies hiking wedding venues books trail Max resources for experiencing the smokies, the emphasis is on.

00:55:16.830 –> 00:55:29.970 Joseph McElroy: Smoke smokies adventure is outdoors outdoor recreation outdoor life events like weddings and adventures, along with providing information and lodging fam family entertainment events conventions honeymoons and more.

00:55:30.360 –> 00:55:35.280 Joseph McElroy: You go to the site is to become the leading information portal of the smoky mountains.

00:55:37.500 –> 00:55:40.170 Joseph McElroy: And and surrounding towns.

00:55:41.670 –> 00:55:42.690 Joseph McElroy: remind you that.

00:55:43.800 –> 00:55:50.340 Joseph McElroy: July 7 or eighth we’re having the plot fest reunion at the weekend at the Meadowlark Motel and the following weekend.

00:55:51.060 –> 00:55:57.690 Joseph McElroy: we’re having the Bluegrass band camp, but I recommend you go to the meadowlarkmotel.com and look at events in the smoky mountain events.

00:55:58.050 –> 00:56:14.760 Joseph McElroy: And sign up to become and come in and either to the concert or just come for the whole weekend and the whole weekend will be a wonderful experience for everybody I’ll see you next time, at the same BAT time same BAT channel and it’s

00:56:15.930 –> 00:56:29.700 Joseph McElroy: Every week from six to seven on Tuesday night on talk nyc, talkradio.nyc next week we’re gonna have a great gentleman named Jim Hamilton it should be a great talk I’ll talk to you later.

Our guest in this episode is Wendy Meyers, a renowned historian, and researcher described as "the best of the Smoky Mountain history detectives --bar none" by historian and author, Bob Plott. Wendy has worked for over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, where she works as a regulatory writer in drug development. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, cycling, and historical research. Since 2013, she has maintained a blog, “Reflections of Olde Swain”, that seeks to preserve the history of Swain County.

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

Joseph starts off today’s episode by letting us know that we will be cycling through the Smoky Mountains’ past as well as literally talking about cycling through the Smoky Mountains. He then introduces guest and renowned historian Wendy Meyers. Wendy talks about her journey to becoming both a historian and regulatory writer in drug development.

Joseph asks Wendy what her favorite stories or work she is proudest of that is on her blog. She dives into some of her favorite work she has gotten the chance to do, including research on victims of murders and discovering the history of specific graves. She then goes into talking about her favorite places to hike in the Smoky Mountains area and gives examples of how they hold historical significance. Wendy also talks about the type of wildlife she generally sees while hiking in this area.

Wendy talks about what makes her favorite hiking spots special to her. Joseph then asks Wendy for recommendations for people who want to visit the area. As far as hikes, she recommends trails where one can see waterfalls, beautiful views, and even some wildlife. She recommends hikes that are short, hikes that are more challenging, and some overnight hikes. Wendy then goes on to talk about what trails she recommends for cycling through the Smoky Mountain area.

Joseph asks Wendy to give some advice to someone if they were to hypothetically only have one day in Bryson City. She recommends a breakfast place, a hike, a lunch place, a mountain farm, dinner, and even a historical place to sleep. Wendy then ends the podcast by giving out some ways to follow her work.

In this episode, Joseph talks about food traditions and modern-day options for food in the Smokies.

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

Starting off this episode, host Joseph McElroy talks about some of his favorite memories in the mountains and shares a poem. He talks about food traditions in the mountains and iconic foods in regions. Some examples include locations to find barbecue, buttermilk pancakes, and corn chowder.

Coming back from the break, Joseph continues his conversation on iconic and staple foods in the Smoky Mountains. He gives tips and reads out unexpected food combinations that people should try out.

Coming back from the break, Joseph looks up more highly recommended restaurants around the Smoky Mountains. Some are steakhouses and one is a blackberry farm called The Barn. He explains how each place is unique and why it is rated so highly. He continues by talking about fishes, specifically rainbow trout, that you can get fresh in the Smoky Mountains. He talks about how there’s a lot of new fusion of cultures and foods that are introducing people to new cultures and flavors.

For the final segment of the episode, Joseph talks about upcoming events for the next few weeks and gives shoutouts to many shops and restaurants.

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00:00:38.160 –> 00:00:38.820 Joseph McElroy: howdy.

00:00:39.210 –> 00:00:43.350 Joseph McElroy: Thanks for joining us on this week’s episode of gateway to the Smokies

00:00:44.370 –> 00:00:54.300 Joseph McElroy: This podcast is about America’s most visited National Park, the great smoky national park, and the surrounding towns, this area is rich.

00:00:54.840 –> 00:01:07.650 Joseph McElroy: With that ancient natural beauty deep storied history and deep mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes I am Joseph Franklyn McElroy

00:01:08.010 –> 00:01:19.140 Joseph 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 mountain culture.

00:01:20.250 –> 00:01:32.130 Joseph McElroy: Today we’re going to learn more about food and farm-to-table food in the smokies, which is a long tradition I’m gonna be the first time I do a little poetry, and then maybe some recipe so.

00:01:33.390 –> 00:01:40.710 Joseph McElroy: I was looking around looking for something that talked about Community because the community is a big important part of.

00:01:41.910 –> 00:01:45.540 Joseph McElroy: of you know, farm to table culture.

00:01:46.680 –> 00:01:57.090 Joseph McElroy: And in the growing up in the smokies you know, having a Community meals from food that you’d pick their yourself was incredibly important, I can remember.

00:01:57.510 –> 00:02:10.260 Joseph McElroy: The whole family going out and picking corn and picking beans coming back and check in the corn and cutting the beans and then can in the beans and you know cream in the corn, and then everybody sits around and has a meal eat.

00:02:11.430 –> 00:02:16.380 Joseph McElroy: and saving the rest of the year, so, for me, I.

00:02:17.430 –> 00:02:23.040 Joseph McElroy: I get an intense feeling of home from the concept of farm food.

00:02:24.360 –> 00:02:30.660 Joseph McElroy: So I found this poem it touches on it a little bit it’s called from blossoms by Leon lead.

00:02:32.130 –> 00:02:43.560 Joseph McElroy: From blossoms comes this paper brown paper bag of peaches, we bought from the boy a bend in the road were returned out toward signs painted Peaches.

00:02:44.820 –> 00:02:58.740 Joseph McElroy: From laden bows from hands from sweeps fellowship in the bins comes nectar at the roadside succulent peaches will devour dusty skin and all and comes with a familiar dusty summer.

00:03:04.440 –> 00:03:17.730 Joseph McElroy: Take what we love inside to carry within us an orchard to eat, not only the skin, but the shape, not only the sugar but the days to hold the food in our hands adore it and then bite into the round jubilance of peach.

00:03:18.600 –> 00:03:33.570 Joseph McElroy: There are days we live as if death were nowhere in the background, from joy to joy to joy from wing to wing from blossom to blossom to impossible blossom to sweet impossible blossom.

00:03:34.650 –> 00:03:50.820 Joseph McElroy: No concept of taking the orchard inside of you, and just feeling it, I think, really, you know when you’ve been in the mountains long enough and experience, you know getting food from the farm and as part of your culture, you have that sense of unfortunately and inside of you.

00:03:52.020 –> 00:04:01.410 Joseph McElroy: You know it’s a memory of picking strawberries and off the side of the road wild strawberries, you know, being in the back of a night.

00:04:01.950 –> 00:04:09.510 Joseph McElroy: I was leaving four or five or six years old, my grandfather would put us kids in the back of a little trailer in this.

00:04:09.870 –> 00:04:19.260 Joseph McElroy: Take us along an old gravel road through the mountains along the side of the road, all the way around wild strawberries and so he stopped every.

00:04:19.530 –> 00:04:29.580 Joseph McElroy: You know 10 1520 feet we’d all jump off and scrambled pick whatever strawberries are and then put them in our little buckets and then jump back on the on the.

00:04:30.900 –> 00:04:41.520 Joseph McElroy: The trailer and go a few more feet, of course, the dust would be shifted up and it gives a little dusting the than that what you pick but you still ate it.

00:04:41.880 –> 00:04:49.050 Joseph McElroy: still eats it, it was sweet, and it was just tasted great, even though there was a little dust and maybe even a little dirt and sometimes there was even a little.

00:04:49.710 –> 00:05:03.660 Joseph McElroy: a little bit of bugs in there, but we were six years old, five years old, with a chair, we just love that taste, so you know it’s a wonderful experience has been to tell you about some of the favorites.

00:05:05.130 –> 00:05:08.310 Joseph McElroy: favorite traditions of food in the mountains.

00:05:09.540 –> 00:05:21.330 Joseph McElroy: That I remember and some that I didn’t even know about right there’s a there is a tradition of lettuce and onion salads.

00:05:21.900 –> 00:05:33.990 Joseph McElroy: And it in here, you might think that that is sort of a scary name alright, so you let us and onions right but it’s a delicious dish.

00:05:34.650 –> 00:05:49.380 Joseph McElroy: it’s a really refreshing starter, and something light for a one day, but you also add in some dry salt pork and there’s some give me some a meeting flavor and then you have cornbread crew talks which you just you know really wonderful.

00:05:50.760 –> 00:05:56.130 Joseph McElroy: And so it’s smoky mountain tradition and you don’t want to miss that.

00:05:57.600 –> 00:06:00.360 Joseph McElroy: I think that you know there’s a.

00:06:01.740 –> 00:06:14.160 Joseph McElroy: You can decide, you can search lettuce and onions and find a salad and find a good recipe online pretty good another iconic vegetable this it’s all over the South.

00:06:15.180 –> 00:06:18.360 Joseph McElroy: But is really important, in the mountains is collard Greens.

00:06:19.980 –> 00:06:21.810 Joseph McElroy: a lot of people in the mountain swear by doing.

00:06:21.810 –> 00:06:31.890 Joseph McElroy: collard greens and black-eyed peas and new years but it’s also just a big staple of you know, every family unit and every

00:06:33.420 –> 00:06:49.830 Joseph McElroy: You know holiday gift to go that we’d have we’d want to eat these dishes so collard Greens you don’t want to overcook but it’s there, it was very important to have as part of the culture of being in the mountains.

00:06:51.180 –> 00:06:56.400 Joseph McElroy: Another is beef stew, and I have a little bit of a conflict would be stupid, then there was also a.

00:06:57.510 –> 00:07:07.980 Joseph McElroy: Yankee tradition which my grandmother on my mother’s side was a Yankee, for she was also a big and the beach too, but it’s hardy comfort food that’s important.

00:07:08.520 –> 00:07:22.620 Joseph McElroy: In the mountains and it’s you know it’s about cooking beef with canned tomatoes and stops and then you take your spare vegetables that maybe you didn’t use at other times.

00:07:23.520 –> 00:07:29.970 Joseph McElroy: Or you know what didn’t get canned or didn’t get us to whatever or just the end of the season, vegetables and you throw them in that.

00:07:29.970 –> 00:07:40.680 Joseph McElroy: stew and it’s and you cook it for a while it’s really part of a lot of smoking out meals there’s a version of it there’s not beef stew and.

00:07:41.880 –> 00:07:47.760 Joseph McElroy: I think people call Brunswick stew it’s a game to where you know it’s a similar recipe you go and.

00:07:48.420 –> 00:08:01.770 Joseph McElroy: You at the end of the at the game season people bring a lot of their game needs to go in the freezer point I think they did eat you know, maybe it’s a new season coming up and you’ll throw in rabbit venison and all sorts of stuff.

00:08:03.840 –> 00:08:12.960 Joseph McElroy: For a while and you through vegetables and that you know this kind of long-simmering stews are a real part of a smoky mountain cultural tradition and.

00:08:13.650 –> 00:08:20.430 Joseph McElroy: Another thing is beans and cornbread you know every day that I went to rock hill elementary school.

00:08:20.910 –> 00:08:27.900 Joseph McElroy: I would go in and have beans and cornbread for breakfast or sometimes I’d have cornbread and milk I love.

00:08:28.620 –> 00:08:40.020 Joseph McElroy: beans and cornbread and cornbread and milk and those are sorts of staples of breakfast and then you know, to make it lunch it had its own get some green onions, sometimes just sweet onions and.

00:08:40.740 –> 00:08:46.500 Joseph McElroy: It just I don’t know it just feels it feels a real spot like a hearty it’s a hearty meal.

00:08:47.280 –> 00:08:57.060 Joseph McElroy: It was for generations that’s what people eat now I don’t see it as much around here, but I do notice some of the old cafes you can go and some of the places like there’s.

00:08:57.630 –> 00:09:13.080 Joseph McElroy: One right if I 40 Maggie validates if there’s a CAFE in it in a and a gas station that’s been around for 100 years, nobody really stops accept the local farmers, but if you go in there, you can get the best bowl of.

00:09:14.280 –> 00:09:17.310 Joseph McElroy: beans and cornbread with onions, that you ever had.

00:09:19.740 –> 00:09:22.620 Joseph McElroy: And then there’s something called a dried apple stack cake.

00:09:23.760 –> 00:09:35.520 Joseph McElroy: Which is it’s a desert it’s creative dried apples and flat take this and you got it you got to take some patience you stack it we put a lot of spices in it and.

00:09:36.360 –> 00:09:48.000 Joseph McElroy: And and sorghum and buttermilk you know and the stack cakes and it’s it’s really good mountain delicacy, in a sense.

00:09:53.670 –> 00:09:56.100 Joseph McElroy: I was expecting a guest to show on today.

00:09:57.240 –> 00:10:01.830 Joseph McElroy: And I think they’re running late, we were talking about farm-to-table food.

00:10:03.360 –> 00:10:07.920 Joseph McElroy: Which is is an important part of ours.

00:10:09.450 –> 00:10:10.560 Joseph McElroy: of our culture.

00:10:12.150 –> 00:10:21.810 Joseph McElroy: But I can mention some things that are you know some good places to go to get other kinds of food all around the smoky mountains and.

00:10:22.560 –> 00:10:34.230 Joseph McElroy: You know, one of the favorites in the mountains is old-fashioned buttermilk pancakes and you can get that at a place for the pantry really great version of that pancake pantry.

00:10:35.490 –> 00:10:46.170 Joseph McElroy: it’s been serving up since the 1960s and it’s in the Gatlinburg area, all these I’m only trying to Gatlinburg area.

00:10:47.340 –> 00:10:57.540 Joseph McElroy: You can get now do you get some good stuff to it, what you might consider are not the best places to go get through, but you get some great kettle corn

00:10:58.290 –> 00:11:04.020 Joseph McElroy: And Dollywood has some really great entertainment, but it also has some of the best kettle corn, you might get.

00:11:04.380 –> 00:11:14.370 Joseph McElroy: it’s fresh-made there, and I know it’s got that sort of slight sweetness and Kettle corn is a staple around here and I just recommend it highly and, of course, you get to go to see a wonderful.

00:11:15.630 –> 00:11:17.400 Joseph McElroy: amusement Park, while you’re doing it.

00:11:18.930 –> 00:11:29.940 Joseph McElroy: Another other place is to get pit-smoked Barbecue and there are several places I do that one is a hungry bear, which is a Gatlinburg, which is pretty.

00:11:30.780 –> 00:11:47.280 Joseph McElroy: Famous joy is near to Gatlinburg and it’s really great bar now really great places that new Hazelwood North Carolina is part of Waynesville North Carolina and it’s called the Hazelwood smokehouse news actually listed as one of the top 20.

00:11:50.310 –> 00:11:55.170 Joseph McElroy: Barbecue place in the nation, and it has eight different kinds of Barbecue sauce.

00:11:55.800 –> 00:12:06.120 Joseph McElroy: ranging from very spice it’s a very sweet and all the others in between, and they have different kinds of Barbecue they have pulled pork, which is a North Carolina staple and then they have.

00:12:06.480 –> 00:12:23.850 Joseph McElroy: brisket they have rooms that are just unbelievable Barbecue is just you know stapled smoky mountain tradition and there’s a lot of we’ll go around a lot of places you’ll see the screen off courses, where they have the smoking, you know grills and things like that just part of.

00:12:25.170 –> 00:12:26.310 Joseph McElroy: corn chowder.

00:12:27.480 –> 00:12:36.030 Joseph McElroy: Is a great staple to get in the mountains of North Carolina and you get one in the smoky mountains and you can get it in.

00:12:38.190 –> 00:12:42.480 Joseph McElroy: You might get it at a place called the old mill restaurant and that’s in pigeon forge.

00:12:43.860 –> 00:12:48.660 Joseph McElroy: And it’s and it’s a very rich home style.

00:12:50.670 –> 00:12:53.580 Joseph McElroy: porridge sort of thing it’s really full.

00:12:55.500 –> 00:13:02.010 Joseph McElroy: And you know it’s good to company things like.

00:13:04.350 –> 00:13:12.090 Joseph McElroy: touchy fried steak and sugar-cured ham and those other things, so when we come back I’ll talk to you more about the food in the smoky mountains.

00:15:42.660 –> 00:15:58.830 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast and I did have a guest, but they have they’re having technical difficulties so we’re going to try and we threw some interesting things I’m fine I could talk about food in the mountains.

00:16:00.270 –> 00:16:01.380 Joseph McElroy: You know I went to.

00:16:03.000 –> 00:16:07.110 Joseph McElroy: there’s a great smoky mountains institute that tree mom, which is really great.

00:16:09.420 –> 00:16:13.740 Joseph McElroy: About resource for venturing in the great smoky mountains National Park.

00:16:15.270 –> 00:16:21.750 Joseph McElroy: And you know, one of the things that they emphasize is that you know you’re going to have successful ventures in the mountains.

00:16:22.080 –> 00:16:29.220 Joseph McElroy: And you’re hiking things you want to make sure that you have really good food when you go with you need to keep your energy.

00:16:29.970 –> 00:16:38.400 Joseph McElroy: And so, a lot of their staff and people that are associated with have shared their secrets and.

00:16:39.060 –> 00:16:50.670 Joseph McElroy: And and suggestions for favorite foods and snacks when you’re doing anything from hiking the background free to do just doing a family pick so imma mentioned some of these because some of these are pretty good.

00:16:51.960 –> 00:16:57.030 Joseph McElroy: Emily Stein who’s a youth program coordinator record it recommends that.

00:16:58.200 –> 00:17:02.190 Joseph McElroy: she loves the food that trail food that.

00:17:04.560 –> 00:17:15.990 Joseph McElroy: You know that is fun to create right and that’s new and tasty so she’s got it she’s recommending fried farmers you grip takes.

00:17:16.680 –> 00:17:30.180 Joseph McElroy: A grip cakes or you know and cheese grit cakes are always a good standard the mountains and so you know you can basically write up some grip and put some cheese on some dried tomatoes, then you carrying cook it.

00:17:31.890 –> 00:17:36.660 Joseph McElroy: And there’s a and then another one is you know you know the good old.

00:17:37.980 –> 00:17:49.170 Joseph McElroy: Raising the good old raisins and peanuts is always good at throwing some chocolate chips, so you can eat that breakfast lunch, and dinner so that’s you know that that’s some secrets to take you.

00:17:51.840 –> 00:18:00.720 Joseph McElroy: Sometimes people actually better on the trail, and when they when they’re eating at home, and so you know you actually you can when you’re planning ahead.

00:18:04.020 –> 00:18:09.810 Joseph McElroy: I’m going to do something you got to take food with you can plan ahead, you can make a much better meal in terms of.

00:18:11.010 –> 00:18:23.220 Joseph McElroy: You know what you’re going to take, and so Eric Cantor the manager of the science military research recommends making marinated template sandwiches with saute kale and cashew cheese.

00:18:23.670 –> 00:18:33.300 Joseph McElroy: And then you know takes a Tupperware was kennel ships and throw in some Mandarin oranges and or an apple and, of course, always bringing lots of water.

00:18:35.130 –> 00:18:44.550 Joseph McElroy: You know that’s a different one that probably wasn’t a traditional mountain the recipe, but it’s probably a current one for people adventuring and living here now.

00:18:46.620 –> 00:18:50.040 Joseph McElroy: No, you know there’s when you’re hiking you can.

00:18:52.230 –> 00:18:54.030 Joseph McElroy: You can get.

00:18:55.110 –> 00:19:00.000 Joseph McElroy: You know, you can get a sweet tooth you can also because your exercise, you can take advantage of.

00:19:01.020 –> 00:19:16.470 Joseph McElroy: Things you wouldn’t normally like I don’t eat candy bar so one of the things I would always take is I would think about taking as a snicker bar because it’s you know it’s got peanuts it’s got carnivals got the protein it.

00:19:17.790 –> 00:19:23.970 Joseph McElroy: it’s, it is a good thing when you’re like the culminating moment when you reach that peak you know, having something that.

00:19:25.620 –> 00:19:35.670 Joseph McElroy: rewards you. it’s a little bit off your normal path, but it’s like you haven’t had a long time can be pretty pretty pretty enjoyable.

00:19:38.640 –> 00:19:48.630 Joseph McElroy: there’s a sugary snack that luke’s shucksmith who’s the teacher naturalist recommends is called to chewy sprees I have.

00:19:49.350 –> 00:19:58.950 Joseph McElroy: I don’t know what is it two weeks, chewy spree, so you guys will have to go figure that one out but I’m assuming it’s some sort of commercial product that you can buy it it’s a very sugary snack.

00:20:00.540 –> 00:20:12.570 Joseph McElroy: And, and of course you know, a different kind of trail mix that I like and he recommends, as well as walnuts almonds, dried cranberries along with dark chocolate you get those.

00:20:13.140 –> 00:20:22.710 Joseph McElroy: Special health benefits from dark chocolates, but yeah you have to like dark chocolate milk chocolate little bits a little bit more sweet.

00:20:26.760 –> 00:20:44.130 Joseph McElroy: And then there is a meal, that you can make this is interesting there are cutlets he calls it, the backpacker rammen alright, so you mixed together with a pack of spicy ramen our the pouch of today, and you, and then you have a and then you can have that.

00:20:46.650 –> 00:21:01.800 Joseph McElroy: was one bowl of super easy and then you can include bell peppers onions Saracen scallions broccoli chicken even a fried egg you can fry an egg on the trails very possible and carrots and cheese and.

00:21:02.340 –> 00:21:16.320 Joseph McElroy: crackers and that makes that sounds like to be a sort of a decent meal, you know, being able to make a quick soup is and those ramen noodles are really good to be able to carry and stay in a very light in a pack.

00:21:17.490 –> 00:21:18.600 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:21:19.980 –> 00:21:27.390 Joseph McElroy: And you know and makes for a great experience now you could also to get adventurous and have a little time, you can take some potatoes with you.

00:21:27.930 –> 00:21:36.840 Joseph McElroy: And then you could cook boil them and mash them up and put that in the soup instead of ramen noodles and that sort of a backcountry shepherds shepherd’s pie.

00:21:40.260 –> 00:21:43.620 Joseph McElroy: Of course it’s a little odd with tuna, but you know what the heck.

00:21:45.210 –> 00:21:45.750 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:21:48.600 –> 00:21:56.610 Joseph McElroy: JEREMY Lloyd manager a few programs a collegiate study recommends Earl grey tea and wells kicks.

00:21:57.690 –> 00:22:01.320 Joseph McElroy: that’s an interesting combination right, but you know what.

00:22:02.010 –> 00:22:14.340 Joseph McElroy: tea would be a great thing you know I liked you know it’s got that calming effect that you know it can help release you know all wet adrenaline that you’ve built up in the evening when you got to go to sleep with you know you.

00:22:14.880 –> 00:22:20.400 Joseph McElroy: Probably don’t get any hot drinks during the day, so you take the time to make one coffee would not be the right thing.

00:22:22.260 –> 00:22:22.710 Joseph McElroy: and

00:22:24.000 –> 00:22:24.360 Joseph McElroy: and

00:22:26.040 –> 00:22:26.550 Joseph McElroy: And then.

00:22:28.260 –> 00:22:41.550 Joseph McElroy: That I think is and then if you’re boiling water is always probably a good idea, except in the mountains here, you can drink the water out of the spring so yeah you don’t really have to worry about that.

00:22:44.160 –> 00:22:44.820 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:22:45.840 –> 00:23:02.010 Joseph McElroy: If you’re going on a picnic the tradition here is always taken country fried chicken and corn on the cob so if you’re taking the family, out of the day, then you know that’s what you gotta do you gotta do that.

00:23:04.680 –> 00:23:14.250 Joseph McElroy: makes it a little you know a little this gets back to you know so fried chicken point on top of a biscuit sounds like I just went to KFC.

00:23:15.660 –> 00:23:26.880 Joseph McElroy: But it’s a, it is a traditional picnicking thing here in the mountains now if you were taking going to a family reunion in the mountains, it was sort of picnic you’d also bring something like.

00:23:28.020 –> 00:23:30.870 Joseph McElroy: A sweet potato pie, you might bring some.

00:23:33.030 –> 00:23:53.520 Joseph McElroy: Some red velvet cake, you might bring some you know some they beans course you bring that collard Greens, you know, so it depends upon the extent of your picnic but the fried chicken is a staple of all those kind of events.

00:23:56.100 –> 00:23:57.240 Joseph McElroy: Now Joey.

00:23:58.290 –> 00:24:06.240 Joseph McElroy: tr Lizzie a teacher naturalist recommends bringing a block of cheese you don’t even need a knife anything you just eat it right off the box.

00:24:08.370 –> 00:24:18.360 Joseph McElroy: I imagine, some people look at you weird as you’re walking a big block of cheese down the wall, if you meet some other papers, but you know what sometimes when I go home and I.

00:24:18.720 –> 00:24:30.270 Joseph McElroy: I see that block of cheese and even when I’m up in New York City I’ll grab it just take a big bite out of it because I’m hungry and I’ll slice it off put it back in the refrigerator or my wife won’t see it.

00:24:31.590 –> 00:24:34.980 Joseph McElroy: If you’re listening don’t worry about it I’m not doing it anymore.

00:24:40.830 –> 00:24:50.970 Joseph McElroy: So Elizabeth Davis the field program specialist recommends bread cheese apples and chocolate I sort of like.

00:24:52.410 –> 00:25:03.840 Joseph McElroy: Four food groups of backpacking we just say more, I don’t know it’s a starts there’s a protein there’s fruit there’s a sweet I guess it’s all we need right and I guess the chocolate as a little fat is.

00:25:07.710 –> 00:25:24.780 Joseph McElroy: also recommended by Scott Moss is a black teacher nationalist as a block of cheese he picks Wisconsin Chandler he also recommends cheez it’s and Snickers so he’s on board with the Snickers thing for when you make it to the destination so that’s a that seems like a good tradition.

00:25:26.400 –> 00:25:30.480 Joseph McElroy: And finally, Mary Kate brown teacher naturalist recommends.

00:25:32.730 –> 00:25:33.960 Joseph McElroy: block of cheese.

00:25:37.170 –> 00:25:48.030 Joseph McElroy: I would you know I would love to be able to take on it type is ice cream, but I haven’t figured out how to do without it getting totally melted.

00:25:50.220 –> 00:26:05.700 Joseph McElroy: And you know you know another thing I like is this leftover Barbecue right you could do after you’ve cooked up the bbq gets leftover Barbecue wrap it up to the grill take it out that’s kind of nice to.

00:26:07.530 –> 00:26:18.600 Joseph McElroy: And this, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention you know you want to bring plenty of water floating water, but when you reach the enemy this nation, you might want a Snickers bar but I’d also want a bottle of wine.

00:26:19.800 –> 00:26:29.520 Joseph McElroy: And there’s some good wine now in the mountains there’s a there’s a couple of wineries you know the Biltmore the biggest is the biggest visited winery in the world.

00:26:30.270 –> 00:26:44.220 Joseph McElroy: So you go out to the Biltmore Estate get yourself some bottles of wine and then head out to go to some of the hiking trails around there, along with your cheese block and you’re a snicker bar and you’re going to have a hell of a night.

00:26:48.210 –> 00:26:48.780 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:26:49.860 –> 00:26:59.910 Joseph McElroy: One of the things you do want to remember is if you’re doing anything and you stop anywhere, you want to make sure you bare foot good food that means hang it up, so they can get to it all right.

00:27:01.140 –> 00:27:10.620 Joseph McElroy: yeah it’s it can be don’t have the food in your tent if you’re sleeping in a tent because they’ll come in there, so it’s better to.

00:27:11.070 –> 00:27:26.280 Joseph McElroy: put it in a way, so they can’t get to it, it also doesn’t put them in your vicinity so it’s always important to remember that when you’re here in this part, so when we come back we’ll see if we got a guest back here, or if we talk about other things happening about.

00:30:16.950 –> 00:30:31.170 Joseph McElroy: howdy this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcast and I’ve been talking about the various foods and things that you can do in the mountains.

00:30:31.950 –> 00:30:41.970 Joseph McElroy: And it’s been fairly Nice we were going to have a discussion about the farm-to-table experience in the mountains, but.

00:30:42.720 –> 00:30:57.330 Joseph McElroy: our guests are having technical difficulties, so I am talking about various you know various aspects of food in the mountains, I can do I’m not an expert but I’ll do my best.

00:30:58.590 –> 00:31:03.300 Joseph McElroy: But I’m a look, for now, is you know some great.

00:31:05.220 –> 00:31:09.090 Joseph McElroy: You know, farm-to-table restaurant, you can go visit.

00:31:10.770 –> 00:31:13.410 Joseph McElroy: And you know there’s a number of them.

00:31:14.460 –> 00:31:16.440 Joseph McElroy: In in the mountains here.

00:31:19.050 –> 00:31:21.930 Joseph McElroy: Asheville has Gatlinburg saver builds.

00:31:23.550 –> 00:31:37.470 Joseph McElroy: there’s I’ll mention some that I’ve I’m finding online and if I recommended me I’ll recognize them there’s one leader near these are near Gatlinburg, Tennessee and it’s called the local goat.

00:31:38.730 –> 00:31:52.290 Joseph McElroy: And it looks like it’s a burger American type food, but it has a high rating and it looks pretty good after would farmhouse rest but I’m I’ve heard of that.

00:31:53.460 –> 00:31:56.970 Joseph McElroy: And you have to-it’s a great place for breakfast.

00:31:58.260 –> 00:32:01.260 Joseph McElroy: And it’s the does Southern Appalachian comfort.

00:32:03.360 –> 00:32:06.150 Joseph McElroy: there’s the greenbrier restaurant.

00:32:07.680 –> 00:32:17.820 Joseph McElroy: you’re getting near Gatlinburg and it’s called and it’s a steakhouse and it also has top status and small place now there’s the five oaks farm kitchen.

00:32:18.840 –> 00:32:24.540 Joseph McElroy: Which is going to America traditional and so it’s really featured for breakfast and brunch.

00:32:25.980 –> 00:32:27.120 Joseph McElroy: it’s very farm table.

00:32:28.560 –> 00:32:39.360 Joseph McElroy: there’s a restaurant called the Appalachian and it’s a steakhouse southern steakhouse and it’s in the middle of the smoky mountains it’s in the Gatlinburg area.

00:32:41.130 –> 00:32:44.700 Joseph McElroy: there’s the old mill pottery house CAFE and grill.

00:32:46.080 –> 00:32:56.970 Joseph McElroy: it’s I’ve got bakeries chocolatiers got shops it’s got all sorts of places to go visit and it’s a grill.

00:32:58.650 –> 00:33:02.310 Joseph McElroy: there’s the host and kitchen, which is another day.

00:33:06.240 –> 00:33:12.780 Joseph McElroy: seems pretty good look some near to the Somerville Tennessee, which is another gateway to the smoking stout.

00:33:14.910 –> 00:33:15.300 Joseph McElroy: and

00:33:16.500 –> 00:33:18.390 Joseph McElroy: there’s a place called the barn.

00:33:19.980 –> 00:33:26.370 Joseph McElroy: it’s actually the Blackberry farm and if you guys haven’t heard the Blackberry farmers this huge resort.

00:33:27.630 –> 00:33:39.750 Joseph McElroy: That is farmers or and there they do have a lot of farm-to-table food they also you know yeah I think the Blackberry cobbler is highly recommended there.

00:33:40.620 –> 00:33:50.340 Joseph McElroy: So I that was something worth looking up because it’s a real five-star resort it’s a huge place and it’s definitely.

00:33:51.540 –> 00:34:07.050 Joseph McElroy: You know, some somewhere not coming now, you know that, in the mountains, the smoky mountains were famous for the rainbow trap, and so you can get rainbow trout right off the grill that’s basically when caught that day

00:34:08.190 –> 00:34:14.610 Joseph McElroy: fact my place which I have is the Meadowlark motel Maggie Valley, we have a place called.

00:34:15.840 –> 00:34:16.530 Joseph McElroy: The Maggie.

00:34:17.910 –> 00:34:26.730 Joseph McElroy: Maggie valley restaurant right next to us and that restaurant has been around since the early 50s and one of the first restaurants herein.

00:34:27.090 –> 00:34:38.640 Joseph McElroy: In Maggie valley and what they’ve been famous for this whole town town town distress trap that gave a big sign on there’s a rainbow trout and you go there and they grew that perfection.

00:34:39.600 –> 00:34:51.060 Joseph McElroy: But some others there’s one in the same area, called the English mountain trout farm grill and that one’s supposed to be a really good great place to travel, you know, and I like it.

00:34:52.170 –> 00:35:00.990 Joseph McElroy: You know grilled I like personally to put it, you know I like to put it in a bake with a little lemon in between it.

00:35:02.340 –> 00:35:14.220 Joseph McElroy: Like the season, because it’s a very I find it very delicate fish other people like to fry it up with a little bit of the light reading and they’re both with a really, really good now in Asheville.

00:35:14.940 –> 00:35:27.300 Joseph McElroy: There is a place called jargon and I went to last time I was there, which is a really nice restaurant it’s a small intimate place and there I had smoked trout.

00:35:30.480 –> 00:35:39.360 Joseph McElroy: Like a pat tag that was served on some crackers and it was really incredibly delicious and smoked trout here in the mountains it’s like.

00:35:40.020 –> 00:35:47.220 Joseph McElroy: A real delicacy and you don’t want to leave the smoking balance without getting smoked trout you can also get trout row which is like a.

00:35:47.790 –> 00:35:54.240 Joseph McElroy: sort of Sam I mean it’s sort of like caviar that’s really great on the test.

00:35:54.990 –> 00:36:01.770 Joseph McElroy: So if you want to be looking for that kind of things when you come up here, because you can get all that really fresh you know we.

00:36:02.190 –> 00:36:07.470 Joseph McElroy: With the men like we’re on a mountain heritage trout farm a trout stream belt with Jonathan creek.

00:36:07.950 –> 00:36:16.200 Joseph McElroy: And it’s during the winter during the summer protections stop and so it’s easy to come here and catch yourself some rainbow trout.

00:36:16.530 –> 00:36:28.680 Joseph McElroy: And then cook it up on a grill and we have this if you want to try it yourself and feel welcome you can do that in several places in the mountains, a lot of places that fireplace and not right on right on a trout spring a trap spring.

00:36:29.910 –> 00:36:33.960 Joseph McElroy: creek and you can catch it and cook it and really have a nice evening.

00:36:35.910 –> 00:36:42.810 Joseph McElroy: Also, near see reveals a place called the dancing bear Appalachian beast true and it’s a new American outdoor dining place.

00:36:43.950 –> 00:36:47.040 Joseph McElroy: And it’s got a lot of great recommendations.

00:36:48.990 –> 00:36:57.210 Joseph McElroy: I enjoy the food that we get in in all these places, you know in this actual area has become a real food in town.

00:36:57.990 –> 00:37:11.250 Joseph McElroy: So you get your getting a lot of MCS well you know, like that jargon place well they’re good they’re really developing a cuisine that’s a mix of all sorts of world cultures, but with an Appalachian.

00:37:11.910 –> 00:37:19.620 Joseph McElroy: twist to it now with the Appalachian based to accept takes Appalachian traditional dishes and you know adds in.

00:37:20.700 –> 00:37:23.310 Joseph McElroy: A lot of different kinds of.

00:37:25.080 –> 00:37:38.130 Joseph McElroy: World touches to it and it, you know those kind of collaboration and fusions are tremendous in my book, but you know that’s not when I travel around the world, I look for fusion.

00:37:38.520 –> 00:37:54.120 Joseph McElroy: And when I remember when I was in Japan, I went to a Japanese restaurant that fused Japanese traditional sushi pipe cooking with the French cooking and I can’t describe it, but it was incredibly creamy and incredibly fishy and it was really good.

00:37:56.640 –> 00:38:02.910 Joseph McElroy: So, so those are some recommended.

00:38:06.480 –> 00:38:10.410 Joseph McElroy: In terms of the fever bill area.

00:38:12.390 –> 00:38:17.430 Joseph McElroy: I was going to look and see if I can tell you some farm-to-table restaurants.

00:38:18.660 –> 00:38:25.200 Joseph McElroy: restaurants international because I think that is where it’s going really.

00:38:27.900 –> 00:38:35.580 Joseph McElroy: to another level and Asheville now has like 38 breweries and distilleries wineries.

00:38:36.930 –> 00:38:37.830 Joseph McElroy: And you know.

00:38:40.230 –> 00:38:49.950 Joseph McElroy: And it’s become you just it’s probably as is as good as you can get anywhere on the east coast, a lot of ways anywhere you go.

00:38:51.390 –> 00:38:53.670 Joseph McElroy: there’s a great place called the sauna.

00:38:55.110 –> 00:39:06.810 Joseph McElroy: Which is a contemporary fiber table in the heart of downtown’s actual historic park squares and it serves local seasonal sustainable cuisine it’s also 100% gluten-free.

00:39:07.290 –> 00:39:19.200 Joseph McElroy: And they have some great cocktails, by the way, that place jargon, they have to tell you about this cocktail they made it something that was similar to an old fashioned I don’t remember the Dave up but.

00:39:20.010 –> 00:39:28.410 Joseph McElroy: That was what was cool is they actually made the ice was around the giant round ball that was hard that was hollow.

00:39:28.830 –> 00:39:38.010 Joseph McElroy: With a hole and they put the ice in the glass and they for all the mix into that hollow ice ball right.

00:39:38.460 –> 00:39:48.630 Joseph McElroy: And then they brought it up to you put it on their thing and then they took out a spoon and they cracked it boom and the ice ball shattered and then you’ve got the drink, so it was very dramatic.

00:39:49.170 –> 00:39:57.630 Joseph McElroy: presentation to have a drink and I could tell you it was really a fabulous drink I guess I’m really selling this jargon place but you really got to go to.

00:39:59.190 –> 00:40:01.890 Joseph McElroy: Another great restaurant is called the.

00:40:03.060 –> 00:40:18.150 Joseph McElroy: The blackbird in Ashville and it is its cooking ground and the traditions and ingredients of the Carolinas with a modern southern seasonal farm to table menus and it has fresh cut catches so it’s got a lot of.

00:40:19.440 –> 00:40:27.450 Joseph McElroy: seafood from all over the Carolinas and it’s got microbrews and Nice wines and very inventive cocktails.

00:40:29.010 –> 00:40:37.800 Joseph McElroy: One that claims to be the original farm-to-table restaurant in the marketplace and it’s a downtown fixture since the 70s.

00:40:38.280 –> 00:40:48.900 Joseph McElroy: And it offers a seasonally driven menu featuring organic ingredients from area farms and artists and producers and has extensive wine that craft beer and cocktails.

00:40:49.980 –> 00:41:07.680 Joseph McElroy: there’s a fence grease Joe called thesis French bistro and instead of executive chef Peter croc Crockett and he brings a real coronary finesse to the table and it’s seasonally inspired French cuisine with the link-local twists like I said a fusion.

00:41:08.700 –> 00:41:14.340 Joseph McElroy: Which is you know I think really great and it’s what’s happening a lot around the smoky mountains now is that.

00:41:14.760 –> 00:41:24.090 Joseph McElroy: People are you know we’re mixing a little bit of world cultures into the traditional and so we’re not losing our traditional culture it’s just getting new different.

00:41:24.600 –> 00:41:33.360 Joseph McElroy: flavors in fact I’m thinking about bringing fried shrimp to the Meadowlark motel but it’s going to have a Trinidadian twist to it.

00:41:34.830 –> 00:41:38.040 Joseph McElroy: And and multiple sources that are that.

00:41:39.240 –> 00:41:42.480 Joseph McElroy: come from different mountain cultures of the world.

00:41:44.220 –> 00:41:44.760 Joseph McElroy: So.

00:41:46.050 –> 00:41:54.750 Joseph McElroy: it’s a you know it’s fun to experiment with your culture and mixing with other cultures, without getting the appropriation and things like that.

00:41:56.160 –> 00:41:59.760 Joseph McElroy: They have this eases French pre-show has great.

00:42:01.050 –> 00:42:07.890 Joseph McElroy: dishes like as cargo and bone marrow yeah oh it’s got steak tartare scallops Oh well.

00:42:08.970 –> 00:42:18.510 Joseph McElroy: I can’t say it I’m sorry about that steak treats lamb chops salad salmon this new swan adapt to their own.

00:42:20.160 –> 00:42:24.510 Joseph McElroy: So I’d go there there’s another restaurant called homegrown.

00:42:26.280 –> 00:42:41.280 Joseph McElroy: it’s got locally sourced ingredients, it has got chicken biscuits and cheesy Chris catfish PO boys yeah PO boys around here really good I mean I know Louisiana has no form but people down here really know they’re come through and they’ve made him pretty good too.

00:42:42.780 –> 00:42:53.580 Joseph McElroy: there’s the corner kitchen, which is a Victorian house, which is very charming historic built more and it’s a breakfast lunch dinner weekend brunch is cool and comfortable.

00:42:54.810 –> 00:43:04.110 Joseph McElroy: And then there’s Rhubarb, which is an award-winning James beard chef and it’s a service farm to table American.

00:43:05.820 –> 00:43:20.400 Joseph McElroy: There, and it pays out how much homage to the bounty of regional and American cookie it has a wood-fired oven, and it kind of grill to complicate the complement the rustic creations so we’ll come back I’ll finish up with some.

00:43:21.060 –> 00:43:35.490 Joseph McElroy: Some shoutouts and things coming up and hopefully you’ve learned a little bit about food and we’ll talk more with another guest in some future thing about the real farm to table we have that culture that’s going off period amounts.

00:43:42.300 –> 00:43:43.050 Education.

00:45:54.630 –> 00:46:07.860 Joseph McElroy: This is Joseph Franklin McElroy host of the gateway to the smokies podcast and been talking about food and we had a nice discussion that what I could

00:46:08.550 –> 00:46:19.770 Joseph McElroy: remember from my past and current existence I’m going to tell you a little bit about what’s coming up in the area in terms of festivals, I am a focus.

00:46:20.400 –> 00:46:36.150 Joseph McElroy: On you know Maggie Valley Waynesville very particularly familiar, but there you know the mountains, the smoky mountains and all the towns all around the scope mounts and all of Western North Carolina basically yes Eastern Tennessee celebrate their culture.

00:46:38.070 –> 00:46:57.720 Joseph McElroy: Their culture Cherokee culture know indigenous cultures African culture Scottish culture German culture so many cultures that mingled together here in the bounce to create all sorts of festivals there’s the Highland games out in the

00:46:59.460 –> 00:47:03.390 Joseph McElroy: out in the grant I think grandfather mountain area.

00:47:04.590 –> 00:47:16.410 Joseph McElroy: or Scottish games and you know charity has lots of different cultural celebrations and festivals now they’re like fishing festivals, so you know going when you come here, you should look to see.

00:47:16.800 –> 00:47:31.800 Joseph McElroy: What kind of festivals are going on there’s a lot of resources just searching, you know festivals in North Carolina or festivals and Tennessee festival smoky mountains and you come up with a lot of festivals and for the.

00:47:32.910 –> 00:47:33.510 Joseph McElroy: For the.

00:47:34.620 –> 00:47:48.600 Joseph McElroy: For you know, for I consider it almost a prerequisite of your come here to get at least one festival and there’s all sorts of music festivals and arts festivals and you know and then there’s you know.

00:47:49.080 –> 00:48:04.110 Joseph McElroy: there’s a road culture is it’s been an important part of the smoky mountains since its beginnings really it’s one of the largest parks it’s the most visited that are

00:48:05.910 –> 00:48:21.210 Joseph McElroy: In you know the range of a large amount of population was like eight to 12 million people, you can see we’ve got national, international Atlanta it’s a Western eastern part of North Carolina you got Alabama Georgia.

00:48:22.770 –> 00:48:36.780 Joseph McElroy: South Carolina all within a half day’s driving distance the smoky mountains, it makes you a highly visible place ironically, though it maintains a lot of wilderness so it’s got both the.

00:48:37.950 –> 00:48:48.750 Joseph McElroy: You know the excitement of tourism very but then you can lose yourself in in in you know into the wilderness, and you know and peacefulness.

00:48:49.440 –> 00:48:57.900 Joseph McElroy: So I mentioned so road culture people coming and going from the mountains and then utilizing their vehicles to explore, it is.

00:48:58.410 –> 00:49:12.150 Joseph McElroy: A very important part, because we have a lot of wonderful winding roads and back roads and gravel roads and some of you don’t even know about I just discovered, one that to tell me about I don’t remember the name of it right now.

00:49:12.390 –> 00:49:19.080 Joseph McElroy: But it starts near Maggie valley and the boss of the road it’s roading it’s like a 20-mile road but.

00:49:20.130 –> 00:49:33.390 Joseph McElroy: It takes like two hours to go to the end up in Cherokee and it’s a winding road that shows me pictures and it’s beautiful and it’s essentially one way out of gravel road but to driving people to take.

00:49:34.500 –> 00:49:37.890 Joseph McElroy: Their cars and things on this, and this happens, a lot of places.

00:49:38.880 –> 00:49:52.440 Joseph McElroy: And so you know road cultures important that’s why there are so many you know vintage and chic motels in the mountains, but tell resorts which the Meadowlark motel room to work because people yeah we’re driving one stop.

00:49:53.400 –> 00:50:04.710 Joseph McElroy: yeah stay the night and then move on to explore spirit something else you know and that’s still part of it so I’m going to mention some of the road events coming up.

00:50:05.970 –> 00:50:19.320 Joseph McElroy: We have on June 11 and 12th at the Maggie Valley festival grounds, you go to Maggie valley festival grounds calm to find out about this, and most of these events happen every year, so if you’re listening to this in some future time.

00:50:19.650 –> 00:50:31.110 Joseph McElroy: it’s probably happening again, we have the Western North Carolina jeep fest jeeps groups of jeeps traveling around have become very popular and they have a whole culture of jeeps and.

00:50:31.650 –> 00:50:47.310 Joseph McElroy: I saw some of the stories, so they got jeep little sections where people can buy jeans T-shirts, and G pads and it’s a real sort of solid community and so they’re going to have a festival benefiting as possible.

00:50:48.780 –> 00:51:05.850 Joseph McElroy: An animal rescue foundation and there’s going to be vendors and lots of music great food they have a show and shine competition, they also going to you know, have you know some some some entertainment I have.

00:51:07.080 –> 00:51:10.230 Joseph McElroy: yeah you’re also welcome to bring your pet pets things like that.

00:51:11.580 –> 00:51:21.210 Joseph McElroy: Now the next week from June 17 to 19th they’re going to have the Maggie valley swap meet Camaro and fire show now swap meet is where people come.

00:51:21.510 –> 00:51:34.050 Joseph McElroy: And they swap parks, sometimes swap cars, they come, you know to do some old-fashioned horse trade so it’s got that sort of old you know meeting them at the crossroads.

00:51:34.650 –> 00:51:43.800 Joseph McElroy: flavor to people come to you know do a little horse trade exchange anything but again they’ll have things set up to make it enjoyable for the whole family yeah.

00:51:44.610 –> 00:51:52.560 Joseph McElroy: They usually do things like celebrating veterans have some music that has some yes about you know places to go.

00:51:53.010 –> 00:52:04.140 Joseph McElroy: You know, go do you see arts and crafts or shops, or you know or any number of things and then you’re right in the middle of Maggie Valley, so you know to walk around these wonderful gift shops and.

00:52:04.530 –> 00:52:16.470 Joseph McElroy: And souvenir shops and restaurants and things to go experience it’s easy to walk up and down Maggie valley, it’s like a two-mile flat sidewalk you can visit all sorts of things.

00:52:16.860 –> 00:52:28.230 Joseph McElroy: Now that we can, after that is June 25 and 27th and we have thunder in the smokies motorcycle rally it’s the oldest and largest motorcycle rally and Maggie Valley.

00:52:28.740 –> 00:52:38.820 Joseph McElroy: And it’s like a three-day event, and they have tour rides and vendors and bike shows and games and prizes concerts and.

00:52:39.090 –> 00:52:49.290 Joseph McElroy: Fire dances and you know, the latest bikes and products and stuff and you know it’s an elaborate event is worthwhile to come into and.

00:52:49.860 –> 00:53:04.080 Joseph McElroy: that’s a big one hey now July 4 we’re having our fireworks celebration will actually be on July 4 on Sunday, July 4 so come for the weekend and then culminates your weekend with a big fireworks display.

00:53:05.460 –> 00:53:14.820 Joseph McElroy: And you know this town he actually has like four or five different fireworks displays Waynesville will have a big event the night before so it’s a great place to come and celebrate.

00:53:15.240 –> 00:53:24.360 Joseph McElroy: The holidays, and of course they’re going to have you know, have you know all sorts of things balls and hula hoops and games and you know and.

00:53:25.170 –> 00:53:42.090 Joseph McElroy: Other things like that there, we do have an arts and arts and crafts festival on July 10 11th year and Maggie Valley so artists from all over Southeast come to sell handmade arts and crafts items I recommend highly that we can we’re also everything here.

00:53:43.260 –> 00:53:59.220 Joseph McElroy: You know the, on the other, Ninth and 10th it’s the plot best we can, and plot test is you know is celebrating the state dog of North Carolina, which is a, which is one of the first hunting dogs brought to America.

00:54:00.630 –> 00:54:03.840 Joseph McElroy: And it was a bear dog so and then.

00:54:06.000 –> 00:54:19.590 Joseph McElroy: And then to natural that we’re going to have a wonderful concept everything else, so you know to Maggie about a festival grounds.COM, to see that or you go to the MeadowlarkMotel.com see all sorts of great events that are coming up now, I want to mention.

00:54:21.300 –> 00:54:25.860 Joseph McElroy: The shoutouts now, so you know when you.

00:54:26.910 –> 00:54:29.970 Joseph McElroy: want you to imagine.

00:54:31.320 –> 00:54:42.840 Joseph McElroy: A place evocative of motor courts of the past yeah modern environment with the Chic Appalachian field, a place for adventure and for relaxation.

00:54:43.620 –> 00:54:53.100 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill and catch on fire and eat accompanied by fine wine to craft beers.

00:54:53.640 –> 00:55:06.480 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place with old-time music and world profile sounds, there is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel back about your smoky mountain adventures starts with where you stay.

00:55:08.160 –> 00:55:20.490 Joseph McElroy: sponsor is smokies adventure that’s plural smokies singular venture smokies adventure com the emphasis of smokies adventure is outdoor recreation.

00:55:20.940 –> 00:55:30.960 Joseph McElroy: Along with providing information on logic family entertainment events conventions honeymoons and more The goal is to become the leading information portal, the Smoky Mountain

00:55:31.650 –> 00:55:45.030 Joseph McElroy: You can find more about this podcast at gateways to the smoke gateway to the smokies.fun or facebook.com/acebookgateway to the smokiness podcast we’re on the talkradio.NYC network.

00:55:45.600 –> 00:55:52.500 Joseph McElroy: Which is alive podcasts and stations, whose mission is to empower inspire up an educated worldwide audience.

00:55:52.830 –> 00:56:04.800 Joseph McElroy: After this show is one about New York and exploring New York, I recommend you listen to it and it’s a worthwhile to show I’ll see you next week with another great guest gateway to the smokies podcast.