Intrigue
A5 ThePlainsman.com
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Intrigue
The Overall Company brings in the best of southern culture Fashion designer Billy Reid, chef David Bancroft, bands and more to appear at Southern Revelry Reese Counts WRITER
CONTRIBUTED BY THE OVERALL COMPANY
LEFT: Fashion designer Billy Reid has offices in Florence and New York City. MIDDLE: David Bancroft, an Auburn alumnus and chef, began his restuarant career at Amsterdam Cafe. RIGHT: Hailing from Nashville, Great Peacock blends indie-folk and southern music to create its sound.
Get ready for an evening of southern-inspired celebration. The Overall Company in Opelika will host The Southern Revelry Saturday, July 27. The event runs from 3 p.m.-midnight and features fashion, food, music and art from throughout the region. Jay Pritchard, co-owner of The Overall Company, wants to celebrate southern tradition and culture. Prichard runs The Overall Company with Ty Maloney, Ali Maloney and Jay’s wife, Laura. “We want to show off Opelika,” Pritchard said. “We want to change how people view the area.” Jay, a graduate of the University of Alabama, is hoping this event will be the “forefront of something awesome.” He is hoping to show off Opelika and said the event will “encompass some cool stuff.” The Southern Revelry will feature a Pop-up store from fashion designer Billy Reid. Reid, whose main store is located in Florence, has stores in cities across the country, including New York City and Atlanta. Jay met Reid in Austin, Texas, at South by Southwest. The Overall Company was there to promote the Opelika area. Chef David Bancroft, who will open the new restaurant Acre in the fall, will provide food. Acre will be located near the corner of Gay Street and Glenn Avenue. The Southern Revelry will be a preview of Acre’s future menu, with Bancroft selling tamales and cooked pork belly. Tasia Malakasis and Belle Chevre will be selling a wide selection of goat cheese. Good People Brewery from Birmingham and Blue Pants Brewery from Madison, will be onsite Saturday with a selection of beers to try. Both breweries already have beer available at The
Overall Company. Coffee will be available, but only to ticket holders. The drive-thru will be closed to make room for the stage and different artists’ booths. Live music will begin at 7 p.m. and will run until midnight. The Banditos, Dana Swimmer and Great Peacock will be the musical acts for the evening. All three acts are presented by Cotton Seed Studios. Musicians will perform on a purpose built stage behind the building. “Every square inch has been utilized,” Pritchard said. “The building will be broken into stations to prevent crowding in certain areas.” There will be a chef on the second floor, along with artists painting busts of famous Alabama figures. These will be available for purchase. Tickets are available at SouthernRevelry.com for $10 and will be sold at the door for $12. Attendees will receive wristbands and are welcome to leave and come back to the event later in the evening. Jay and the other owners of The Overall Company have been working hard to change the way the Auburn-Opelika area is viewed. “We can’t afford not to do this,” he said. “We want to get like-minded people together.” This will be The Overall Company’s largest event, with Pritchard expecting anywhere from 800 to 1600 people to attend. “We had 1100 people attend our grand opening,” Pritchard said. Planning for the event didn’t start until May of this year. Originally conceived to be much smaller, more was added as ideas were formed. If successful, Jay hopes to make The Southern Revelry an annual event. He said planning for next year will start once “we all get some sleep.”
Nashville-based performer Korby Lenker visits Opelika Kelsey Davis EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
With heartfelt lyrics and a creative spin on classic bluegrass sounds, Korby Lenker performed at The Overall Company Wednesday, July 24. Though he’s no stranger to the Opelika music scene, Lenker has hit stages all over the country - including opening for names such as Ray Lamontagne, Nickel Creek and Willie Nelson. The Plainsman recently had the opportunity to catch up with Lenker and get to know him better as an artist through this Q&A session.
What was your first introduction into music? My first introduction into music was when I was 8 years old. My parents bought a piano from my uncle, and it was crazy because I didn’t know that my parents knew how to play music, and maybe they really didn’t, but when the piano was delivered my mom promptly sat down and played (a rendition of heart and soul) and I was totally blown away. It gave me this new perception of my mother. That was the first impression I had with music, and it made a really strong impression.
If you weren’t playing music what would you be doing? If I wasn’t playing music I would probably be a writer of some kind. I love books and I like to read a lot.
Does that play into you as a lyricist? For sure. I love language and trying to say something, you can’t really say anything new, but you can say something in a new way, and that challenge is really a fun one for me. I spend a lot of time thinking about words, trying to make things just so.
What’s the most important part of the song writing process for you? It’s got to be authentic. It’s got to be believable. If I don’t believe what I’m saying then the song is no good. It doesn’t matter how clever it is.
What do you remember about your first gig? It was when I was 15, and it was me and my guitar player friend and we played in a tennis court for my little
The week in Tweets
brother’s all-star baseball team. It was just moms and little kids, and me and my buddy played Cure covers. Nobody knew what to do, everyone was kind of embarrassed and then somebody spontaneously formed a congo line and everybody felt good. That’s what happened the whole time we were playing and I was just like, ‘Yeah this is something I could do.’
What’s one of the more memorable experiences you’ve had with someone you’ve opened for? I opened for Willie Nelson last year, and that was pretty memorable. He’s very generous and open-hearted, it was really cool. It was an outdoor show that was sold out, and there was a huge crowd. That was really exciting too.
Do you have anything coming up as far as new albums or tours go? I do, I just finished a record, and it’s being printed right now at the factory and it’s going to be coming out later this year. I’m really excited about it and it’s super awesome.
What brought you to the Opelika music scene? I’ve played down there a couple times and met Richard Patton (owner of The Railyard) that way ... He brought me to Overall Company in April of this year and we worked out another plan to come back down, and it’s just great. I like him, I like the town and I really like that venue.
How do you think Overall is going to contrast from places you’ve played before? Every place is sort of different, but what I like about The Overall Company is that it’s kind of a listening room. What I do is sort of careful song writing, so it does better there than in a noisy bar for instance, s o i t ’s cool.
CONTRIBUTED BY KORBY LENKER
Snapshot
Auburn-related chatter on Twitter from July 18-24 @AllenPayne2_: I feel bad for defenders who have to go heads up with Jay Prosch. Smh dude built like a Mac truck @AuburnAg: National Geographic included Auburn’s “Old Rotation” in World’s Longest Running Experiments. #WarEagle #Agriculture @AubietheTiger01: Thoughts and prayers being sent to the Barber Family! Sad to lose Vot...one of my favorite Auburn players ever. War Eagle!! @CoachGusMalzahn: It was a big weekend. I appreciate our coaches’ hard work. We are building something special! #WarEagle @AUAuthority: Georgia’s Aaron Murray: “(Nick Marshall) can throw a football farther than anyone I’ve ever see in my life.” #Auburn @AU_History: 7/22/2005: Auburn football drops Nike, will be the only team in the nation this season to wear New Balance cleats. @macyfinck: Six weeks from today, Auburn football fans will either be giddy about the future or on suicide watch. There is no 3rd possibility. @AUFAMILY: Born with a silver spoon really isn’t our way ... we believe in work, hard work.
Auburn siblings Sonny, sophomore, and Leila MacCurrach, senior, enjoying time together on the beaches of Jacksonville, Fla. Want to see your photo here? Email your best shots to photo@theplainsman.com