A Serious Note From "Doc" About the Mountain Music & Medicine Show

My good friend Mark Twain -- whom I never met -- once said “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

That same statement could well apply to The Mountain Music and Medicine Show. After 12 years of performances and over 150 shows, we are cutting back a bit.

The show is an all-volunteer effort that takes each cast and crew member anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to prepare for. We put aside personal and professional obligations to invest our time in this production and music that we love. We are all a mite tuckered, though.

October 5, 2013 will be our last regular show of the current season. It is not, however, the end of the Mountain Music and Medicine Show.

We will be back for a benefit show for The Holly Theater on October 4, 2014. We plan to do a minimum of one show a year. You will also still see Doc, the Buzzard Mountain Boys, and other cast members performing around Dahlonega and North Georgia. Bluegrass and bad jokes are in our blood by now, and we aren’t leaving the scene.

We’ll let you know more later as we get a better idea of how we plan to move forward. In the meantime, please join us for some good old-fashioned fun on October 5, 2013, and mark your calendar for the first Saturday in October 2014 at the Holly Theater.

See you soon, and keep taking that Wizard Water^©!

- “Doc” Johnson

Hot Music at the Next Mountain Music & Medicine Show

I'll be up in Dahlonega at the Holly Theater on Saturday the tenth of August. The show will include Lisa Deaton and Friends, The Threadbare Skivvies and Hair of the Dog. It should be, as some folks say, "a barn burner." I hope that means all the excitement of a fire, minus the actual flames.

Keeping Things Light

I was in Dahlonega again yesterday for another Mountain Music & Medicine Show. Dahlonega, located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, is renowned as a gold-mining town. Though rich in ore, its inhabitants have few medical options, however, and not much professional entertainment to lift the spirits of the ill or their loved ones. I hate to see all those poor, hard-working miners suffer for lack of Wizard Water or the cheering distraction of a friendly card game. This is why I visit so often -- to lighten their burdens as best I can.

April Showers and Musical Hours

If you missed last night's Mountain Music & Medicine Show, you missed a great show! The North Georgia Children's Choir came out of the rain and sang harmony; they were followed by a band called Playing On The Planet, the team of Ron Hipp and Carol Statella, and the Hobohemians brought their infectious rhythms. I say "infectious" because everyone on stage began dancing! I must figure out how to distill some of that energy and add it to my next batch of Wizard Water^©.

The Mountain Music & Medicine Show visited Cumming, Georgia last night, with musical guests The Skillet Lickers, Sawnee Creek, and Spontaneous Cracker Eruption. That last group plays good music, but several people came to me before the show asking why we didn't have a cure for them. I said we did, but we preferred to inocculate people with a sample first.

Coming to Cumming

On Saturday, February 2nd, I will emcee a special presentation of the Mountain Music & Medicine Show at the Cumming Playhouse in Cumming, Georgia. The performance coincides with Groundhog Day, which I assure you will not hurt the music in the slightest.

Exhausted

I just returned from another Mountain Music & Medicine Show up in Dahlonega, after hauling my mule Bleb through the mountains of north Georgia. I know that a mule is supposed to do the hauling, but Bleb took fright when a heavy tree branch fell suddenly across our path.

I cleared away the branch but he was taken with a case of the vapors. It lasted until he got back to his stall at home. If I didn't know better I'd think he just didn't want to carry a wagon full of heavy merchandise up to the mountains and back again. I know I wouldn't.

The show went well and I'm mighty glad to be home. Even with Wizard Water^© to help, a mule is not a light creature.

A Little Music In Dahlonega

I am back from Dahlonega, where I hosted another Mountain Music and Medicine Show. The performers were the Rosin Sisters, George Norman, Whit Connah, Alex Thomlinson and Friends, the  Buzzard Mountain Boys and a duo who called themselves “Two-Toed Squid.” I did not ask the latter why they called themselves thus. I once made the mistake of asking an Apache warrior why he was called “Chuckling Bear” and spent next three days pulling cactus spines out of my hat.

So I no longer ask people the origin of their names. I make up an answer. In this case I believe that the musicians belonging to the band in question were such a rare and memorable pool of talent that they had to give themselves an equally rare and memorable name. Keep that in mind when you name your own children….but remember that “Two-Toed Squid” is taken.

Back to Dahlonega July 7

I'll be back in Dahlonega, Georgia for another Mountain Music and Medicine Show on Saturday, July 7. The musical guests will be Bluebilly Grit (hot off their win as as the best bluegrass band at the annual Telluride  festival), plus Cindy Musselwhite and Friends, Curtis Jones and The Mountain Gypsy Project, and the ever-popular-though-I-can't-fathom-why Buzzard Mountain Boys. Hope to see you there!

Mountain Music and Medicine Show Lights Up the Stage

What a great Mountain Music and Medicine Show last night! I don't know if it was my Wizard Water^©, or the full moon, or a combination of the two -- and perhaps the spring air as well -- but the musicians outdid themselves. The performance standard was set high at the start by a very talented young girl named Hannah From, who played banjo accompanied by the Buzzard Mountain Boys, sang acapella (that's all by herself, for those of you who don't speak Norwegian), and told a tale about a young man's attempts to win the hand of his true love. Her vivid description of his trials and final success held the audience enthralled (that's captive, for those of you who don't speak Algonquin).

Bluegrass Alliance rattled the walls (in a good way), Elise Witt and Friends charmed everyone with their musicianship and great harmonies, and the Hobohemians stepped off a freight train long enough to play a few sets of lively dance tunes. The only mishaps occurred when Witt's friend Jason Kenney's strings caught fire due to his fast playing, and later when Hobohemian John Amoss's accordian was set a-fire by someone who thought it was a fancy set of bellows and wanted to see how good it was at putting out flames. Otherwise it was a very good night.

Another Mountain Music and Medicine Show

I'll be in Dahlonega again this coming Saturday night to host another Mountain Music and Medicine Show. The musical guests will be Bluegrass Alliance, Elise Witt, the Hobohemians, and the Buzzard Mountain Boys.

I'm looking forward to seeing those boys from Buzzard Mountain again. They owe me a pair of pigs and a new hat. I'll explain why if I can get the pigs out of the county without any trouble.

A Busy Saturday

This coming Saturday, March 24, I'll be at the Wild West Fest at Jim Miller Park in Marietta, Georgia, sharing my wondrous elixir with the local cowboy population and any ranch hands who care to stop by.

After that I'll travel to Cumming, some miles to the northeast, for a special presentation of the Mountain Music and Medicine Show. Musical guests will be Whitepath and Spontaneous Cracker Eruption, among others.

Hope to see you at one of these events -- or both!

Back in Dahlonega

I was up in Dahlonega, Georgia again last night to host another Mountain Music & Medicine Show. We had a large crowd, and some of them were even attending on purpose. The musicians were terrific. Little Country Giants, Kinney & Blackmon, and Smokey's Farmland Band all played loud and lively enough to cause the chairs to vibrate and the roof to lose a few shingles. The crowd was very enthusiastic.

The audience was so enthusiastic, in fact, that they bought very little of my elixir! They were too energized by the music. I must take that into account the next time I visit North Georgia. My show must be entertaining and uplifting, but not too uplifting. Somewhere between a funeral dirge and a zydeco marathon, I should think. But with mandolins.

Variety Acts

I was up in Dahlonega last night for another Mountain Music and Medicine Show. Sawnee Creek, Mountain Rascals, American Honey and the Wild Turkeys, and Cedar Hill made the show one of the best ones yet – and not just because Jim Adkins of Cedar Hill did a terrific duck impersonation.

I have worked at bringing a singing animal into my medicine show, but it is difficult to teach a parakeet to keep up with a banjo. Bleb is also giving me trouble. He only knows “Happy Birthday to You,” won’t learn anything else, and -- according to my wife -- he sings off-key.

copyright ©2011 Laurie J. Anderson, all rights reserved.

Mountain Music & Medicine Show - Back Again!

I'll be hosting the Mountain Music and Medicine Show at the Holly Theater in Dahlonega, Georgia on September 3rd (this upcoming Saturday night), starting at 8:00 pm. If you get there early you'll probably get to hear some pretty good pre-show picking. Guests are the BS Band, Arlo Finch and the Green Jungle Band, Rick Harris & Friends, Homegrown Revival, and those corn-brewing, story-stretching, no-account string-playing fellows from Buzzard Mountain. With that many performers, I hope we have enough room for an audience, too! Hope to see you there!

Room for Improvement

I was in Dahlonega last night, for another Mountain Music & Medicine Show of string band music with the groups Bluebilly Grit, Hawkproof Rooster, and Pool Mountain. Bluebilly Grit used to play near a grist mill; I told them they could make more money selling music than cornmeal and they decided to try it. Now I just wished I'd also told them that they needed an experienced salesman like myself to manage them. I know if I could add band member Amber's voice to my Wizard Water^© I could open a whole new market to gospel choirs looking for a heavenly sound. Speaking of singing, Nancy and Charlie Hartness of Hawkproof Rooster fiddled and sang so irresistably that the groundhog that lives under the theater came out and step-jigged up the back stairs. Not to be outdone, Pool Mountain's banjo, bass, fiddle and mandolin playing put so much electricity into the air that several ladies' hats began floating over their owners' heads. By the end of the program, the groundhog was dancing onstage with Mr. Nix, the audience was stomping loud enough to rattle the brick walls, and several of the performers caught fire and had to be doused with Wizard Water^©

So I guess you could say it was a pretty good show. I do think, however, that a few tunes would be vastly improved with the addition of a wind instrument -- something like, say, a comb. I offered to provide such an instrument on "Bury Me Beneath the Willow" but all the musicians declined. I would perform it solo, but it loses something without the additional backup.

copyright ©2011 Laurie J. Anderson, all rights reserved.

Mountain Music and Medicine Show Begins Its Tenth Year

I'm back from Dahlonega, where they celebrated the tenth year of The Mountain Music and Medicine Show. I'm not sure which is more amazing -- that folks are still coming to the show, or that the sheriff keeps allowing me back in town.

Last night we had the music groups Mist on the Mountain, Fool's Gold, Ugly Cousin, and Mrs. Nix's cousin Frankie. Frankie was sort of a last-minute substitution. We had a terrific act planned -- a human cannonball -- but he had to cancel at the last minute. You might say he went out with a bang. He was not the caliber of performer we normally employ.

Luckily Frankie showed up, sang his heart out, and folks overlooked the fact that he was from New Jersey. I hear that in New Jersey they favor the marching music of John Philip Sousa, and boil their bread dough before baking it into something called "bagels." I suppose in a crowded place like New Jersey folks want to make sure their music is heard and their bread is safe to eat. Down here we prefer banjos and fiddles over tubas and trombones, and boil our corn before drinking it. We want to make sure we have fun.

Nix's Store

I will be up in Dahlonega again next Saturday for the Mountain Music & Medicine Show, but before I arrive I would like to heartily recommend Mr. Nix's grocery store.

Mr. Nix's grocery store always has the finest quality goods at the most reasonable prices. Mr. Nix gets his corn meal straight from a nearby mill on Yahoola Creek, and imports flour, sugar and coffee direct from Gainesville. He stores it all in solid tin bins or oak barrels that seal securely, so you know what you buy will be fresh and mostly bug-free. Likewise the eggs are never more than a week old, and hardly ever hatch before you get home. He stocks the most popular kinds of candy: licorice, horehound, and molasses. His loaf bread is prepared with the finest sulfur of copper to preserve the dough. In the fall and winter you can take your pick of locally smoked hams; they are tied securely to the rafters so you need not fear any falling on you. And all the cans are labeled.

Mr. Nix also endeavors to make the latest scientific products available to his customers. Just last month he purchased a new soda water dispensing machine. He sought my advice on the least expensive way to operate the device, the better to offer his clientele the lowest price. I not only supplied him with a formula that would produce the gas needed for beverage carbonation, but also a recipe for a novel and stimulating liquid refreshment. The former involved a simple corn-based recipe developed by the Buzzard Mountain Boys; the latter a unique mixture of caffeine and nitrate. I told him he could concentrate the carbonation with jolts of electricity borrowed from the hotel a few doors away.

That was last week. I had to hurry home for the holidays and did not see my suggestions implemented. I just heard from Professor Grant, though, that there will be a slight delay in introducing the dispenser. Mr. Nix had to order another one from Chicago, plus new front windows and a skylight. It seems that the original dispenser was shoddily constructed, and split apart on its first use. Mr. Nix is cleaning up now.

Do not let such inconveniences deter you from patronizing Mr. Nix's grocery store, though! He has a special deal right now: canning jars are half price if you bring a third of them back filled with something edible. They should also be labeled.

I look forward to presenting my medicine show next week in Dahlonega, and to hitching the wagon in front of Mr. Nix's store as usual. I'm sure he looks forward to it, too.

copyright ©2011 Laurie J. Anderson, all rights reserved.

Mountain Music and Medicine Show - November 6

There's nothing like a brisk fall evening to bring folks inside for some good music and bad jokes. While the temperature in Dahlonega fell into the upper 30s, inside the Holley Theatre Curly Maple warmed everyone with their fast-paced, traditional and Celtic-flavored tunes, and the Tucker Station String Band (Ron and Reuben pictured at left) displayed some fine fiddling and harmonies.


Lisa Jacobi, Pete Dasher (pictured at right) and the members of Steel String Session kept the crowd heated up with some high energy mandolin, fiddle and dobro playing.

Folks who arrived early were lucky enough to hear the talented Dickerson kids sing and play traditional Appalachian tunes.



The Buzzard Mountain Boys pestered me and Professor Grant with their usual nonsense; I am used to it but Professor Grant (who is a northerner) is now afraid they will apply to a local college and use him as a reference.



Thanks to all the volunteers and supporters who make this show a success! I'll be back next year if the sheriff doesn't object.

Mountain Music & Medicine Show - September

I parked the wagon outside Nix's general store in Dahlonega, Georgia last night and was joined by the bands Yahoola, Little Country Giants, Mist on the Mountain, the Georgia Pick and Bow Kids, and that pair of reprobates the Buzzard Mountain Boys. Local lady Miz Lynn was so inspired by the latter (or by something they brought with them from the mountain) that she jumped up and danced on the stage! The mayor even joined in with them on a song or two! I must find out what they're adding to their corn.

One thing's for sure - a good time was had by all! Come out and see what it's all about the next time I'm up there on November 6, or visit the photo albums on their FaceBook page.