Upcoming Events
From music festivals, racing, history, heritage, food and everything in between. Here's your guide.
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Long Journey Home
Just about as far northeast in Tennessee as you can get, you’ll find a place where folks still get together and play Old Time music on their front porches. Every year a celebration takes place honoring the iconic Old Time mountain music style that shaped country music as we know it.
This year’s Long Journey Home festival on September 4th and 5th might look a little different, but even a global pandemic can’t stop the celebration. The anticipated events will be enjoyed virtually:
· An exclusive one-time community preview of the new film Short Life of Trouble: The Legend of G.B. Grayson, will be shown Friday, September 4th at 8pm
· The largest mural yet A Day in the Life of a Song will be unveiled in Downtown Mountain City- Saturday, September 5th
· Authentic Old Time music from heritage music sites throughout Johnson County- September 5th
· An exclusive guided virtual tour of the Musical Heritage Mural Mile in Downtown Mountain City- September 5th
· An online visit with best-selling Appalachian author, Sharyn McCrumb-September 5th
All events will be presented online at www.longjourneyhome.net and on the Long Journey Home Facebook page.
The excitement begins on Friday, September 4th with an exclusive one time online community preview of Short Life of Trouble: The Legend of G.B. Grayson. This film tells the long overdue story of the blind mountain fiddler G.B. Grayson, whose short career produced The Ballad of Tom Dooley, Train 45, Handsome Molly, and about 40 other songs that became the standards of Bluegrass and early country music. The film was created by Appalachian Memory Keepers in partnership with Johnson County Center for the Arts and funded by Tennessee Arts Commission.
On Saturday, September 5th, the Musical Heritage Homecoming Tour goes live at 11:30. First, you can watch the unveiling of A Day in the Life of a Song, the newest addition to downtown Mountain City’s Musical Heritage Mural Mile. Artists Cristy Dunn, Temple Reece, and Lewis Chapman created scenes that celebrate music as a part of everyday life, from singing while making biscuits to ‘Lassy Making and Sawmillin’ and ending with a family gathered around an old fashioned radio listening to The Grand Ole Opry.
The Kody Norris Show will entertain with the songs of G.B. Grayson at noon, and then two more virtual sites will celebrate the music of Clarence “Tom” Ashley, Clint Howard and Fred Price with video segments ‘Sawmillin and ‘Lassy Makin’ and My Home in the Mountains.
Afterwards, viewers are invited to go for a guided tour of the Musical Heritage Mural Mile. This virtual tour through beautiful downtown Mountain City will give you an in-depth look into the inspiration behind the musical heritage murals.
Finally, acclaimed Appalachian author, Sharyn McCrumb will join us for an online talk and share her insight into ballads and murders in Johnson County. Wherever you are this year, you can tune in and share in the sites and sounds that make Johnson County such a special place at www.longjourneyhome.net.
“It’s about as real as it gets. If you were wondering whether authentic Appalachia still exists, look no further.” -Evelyn Cook
For more information, please contact Cristy Dunn at 423-957-6346 or Evelyn Cook at 423-727-8700
or go to www.longjourneyhome.net
