Down From the Mountain Concert Tour Takes Sevierville by Storm

The world tour of Bluegrass, or Bluegrass-palooza if you will, came to town last week and was everything it should have been- large, outdoors, and great. Legends such as Dr. Ralph Stanley, Ricky Scaggs, Del McCoury, and Emmylou Harris and newcomers, carrying the standard for the future of bluegrass, performed in harmony and with style more reminiscent of larger mainstream shows. Bluegrass acts like Allison Krauss, Union Station and Patty Lovelace left fans of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack in awe. Behind the push from the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?, bluegrass and americana music continues to see a surge, as evidenced by the over 8,000 people (a Smokies Park attendance record) on hand to see what has to be considered THE concert of the summer 2002. Emcee Rodney Crowell mentioned, “Knoxville didn’t want us, so thank you Sevierville.” It was yet another triumph for tourist mecca Sevierville, and Sevier county. The large stadium concert sold out, showing their neighbor, Knoxville, has once again passed up a sure thing. The Tennessee Smokies departed from Knoxville a couple of years ago due to squabbling over a new ballpark. Sevierville jumped on board and the rest is history. Album sales and movie soundtracks are big business, and Sevier County has realized exactly what it takes to be a mover and shaker in the music scene. One glitch to the evening was a large traffic jam that kept would-be concertgoers away until thirty minutes after the opening act-even with a delay from the concert’s promoters Once on the show began, the crowd and the performers were electric. Dancing and revelry were evident throughout the crowd and yet, the family-oriented atmosphere hearkened to days of old. Performances by Stanley were adequate, the angelic sounds of Krauss and her band were strong points for the Grammy award winners. McCoury turned a lively performance, with his post-modern bluegrass sounds. But all eyes and ears were on the trio that is known as the “Soggy Bottom Boys”. Singing “Man of Constant Sorrow”, the theme song to the O Brother movie. Dan Tyminski on lead vocals was show stopping. His pure vocal harmony and “Dapper Dan” good looks were what concertgoers persevered the traffic jam to see. The most touching performance of the night was a tune by Patty Lovelace from her new album, called “Never Leave Harlan Alive”. It was a moving and tear-provoking tribute to all the hard working people of the Appalachians suffering from Black Lung disease, which was brought about by working in coalmines. Other memorable performances were Harris, Krauss and Lovelace performing the male seducing “Nothing but the Baby” from the O Brother soundtrack. With sexy looks and great harmony, it’s easy to see why these sirens are considered the avante garde of woman’s music. On the whole, the concert was smooth-if somewhat laid back. Krauss was one of the tardy performers, but then joined her band after one song solo (she was “doing needlepoint”) to belt out a beautiful version of “Down to the River to Pray”. The only major disappointment was brevity. The concert could have continued throughout the night and no one would have minded. But all good things must come to and end, right? Well the end is far from near for Bluegrass music and the performers on stage, in Sevierville last week. If you missed the concert, you truly missed a great event.