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Students across 7 COUNTIES & 5 LOCATIONS tell their own story every year at Bevill State Community College.
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Features 08 12 16 20
- SEPTEMBER 2019 -
ART DIRECTOR Malarie Brakefield
Whiskey Myers
CONTRIBUTORS Jennifer Cohron James Phillips Nicole Smith Rick Watson
Drivin N Cryin
ADVERTISING Jake Aaron Brenda Anthony Zach Baker Renee Holly Liz Steffan
Brent Cobb
2018 FOOTHILLS FESTIVAL featuring robert randolph & the family band
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www.MountainEagle.com 205.221.2840
PUBLISHER James Phillips
Blues Traveler
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THE DAILY MOUNTAIN EAGLE
2019
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FOOTHILLS FESTIVAL
Vendor list: 18 - Jasper Martial Arts 19 - Lil’ Pappy’s / Church of God of Prophecy 20 - Purely Stunning Boutique 21 - Walker County DHR 22 - Jimmy Lashaum 23 - Three Pups Incorporated 24 & 25 - Monogrammed Fever’s Unique Boutique 26 - Salvage Charm 27 - Rodan & Fields Independent Consultant 28 - Dixie Divas Jewelry 29 - God’s Gift 30 - Redline Leather Workz 31 - Bab’s Jewelry & Hairbows 34 - The Sanctuary Church of God 34 - Walker County Sheriffs Dept. 57 & 58 - Mellonea’s Mobile Boutique 59 & 60 - Doron Jewelry Designs 61 - Walker County Retired and Senior Volunteer Program
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62 - Dyno Nobel 63 - AT&T 64 - Leaf Filter North of Alabama, LLC 65 - AARP 66 - An Original Creation 67 & 68 - Lamastay 69 - McCoy Krafts 70 - Walker County Arts Alliance 71–74 - Southern Style and Stash 124 - Tennessee Novelty 125 - Michele’s Tupperware 126 - Pearls Pickins 127 - Swat Team Reptiles 135 - Wendy’s 169 - BamaCarry Walker County 170 - NWAMHC 171 - Drayer Physical Therapy Institute 172 - Extreme Roofing & Construction 173 - Old 64 Barbershop 187 - Ugent Care Northwest 188 - Alabama Floor Works 189 - Legacy of Hope
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191 - Riverside Designs 198 - Perfect Bite BBQ, LLC 212 - Designed by Grace 215 - Joe’s Shirt Shop 217 - Bama Pallet Art 220 - First Presbyterian Church 221 - McDowell Camp & Conference Center 239 - Modern Woodmen of America 242 - Girly-Gear Mobile Boutique 243 - Terri’s Vintage Treasures 249 - Champion Windows 250 - Nothing Bundt Cakes 251A - Creative Temporary Tattoos 251B - R.U.L.E. Autism Family 256 - MTZ Construction LLC Courthouse Square - Walker County Farmers Co-op 4th Ave. - Talladega Superspeedway 4th Ave. & 19th - Alabama Sweet Tea
SITE MAP
food court: Come-N-Get It Concessions
Q & A Concession’s
Venice Gelato
Snack Boxx
Sweet Parad-Ice
Fatstuff of Philadelphia, LLC
Tazzo’s Kettle Korn
Toose’s Cajun Cooking
Sweet Pea’s Sweet Treats
Staten’s Fresh Squeezed Lemonade
Walker Co. Cattlemen’s Association
Steel City Pops
Devil Dawgs Concessions
Florida’s Fine Foods
Cesar’s Concessions
The Local No. 7
Brawner’s Concessions
B.A.s Statewide Concessions
Poe Family Sandwiches & More
Son’s Smokehouse
Maggie’s Farm
Spidies and Sweet Treats
Big Shorty’s Pizza & More
Anna’s Café
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BLUES TRAVELER
w Text By JAMES PHILLIPS
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Foothills Festival consistently draws 20,000 to 30,000 people to downtown Jasper every September, and those numbers are expected to climb even higher in 2019 thanks to the headlining act, Blues Traveler. The jam band is known for music that hits in multiple genres (blues rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, soul and Southern rock) and is considered one of the best festival acts in history. “I’m excited about having Blues Traveler in Jasper,” said Zach Baker, talent buyer for Foothills Festival. “They are known for their
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high energy and ability to play to festival-type crowds. They are the best festival band out there, and we are proud to have them coming to Jasper.” Blues Traveler brings an improvisational live show to the stage, and the current lineup for the band includes singer and harmonica player John Popper, guitarist Chan Kinchla, drummer Brendan Hill, bassist Tad Kinchla and keyboardist Ben Wilson. The group’s most recognizable song is the 1994 hit “RunAround,” and other Top 40 songs are “Hook” and “But Anyway.” The band’s most recent album, “Hurry Up & Hang Around,” was released in late 2018. It features 12 tracks, and bluestraveler.com says it “finds the band re-energized and laser-focused 10 / A Guide to Foothills Festival
stirring up an intoxicating brew of rowdy rock, smoky phychedelica, southern folk, staggering soul and brash blues.” “Blues Traveler doesn’t play as many shows each year as a lot of bands, so there’s not always an option of getting to see them play,” Baker said. “Having them in Jasper this year is something special.” The band only has two other show dates in September, playing in Sausalito, California, on Sept. 2 and Gulfport, Mississippi on Sept. 6. Blues Traveler has released 13 albums, and the band is expected to play songs from each album as well as a handful of covers during its performance at Foothills Festival. The group will hit the stage at 9:30 on Saturday night. •
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BLUES TRAVELER
NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS
WHISKEY MYERS
DRIVIN’ N CRYIN’ ALEX WILLIAMS
BRENT COBB
THE RED CLAY STRAYS
FREE ENTRY | GOOD TIMES, MUSIC, SHOPPING, FOOD, KID ZONE
WWW.FOOTHILLSJASPER.COM | ON THE COURTHOUSE SQUARE - JASPER, ALABAMA
ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS
Michael Michael ACCEPTING NEW Brasfield, M.D. ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS PATIENTS ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS Brasfield, Internal MedicineM.D. Michael WalkerMichael Medical Diagnostics, LLC Internal Medicine Michael Brasfield, M.D. Brasfield, M.D. Walker Medical Diagnostics, LLC Brasfield, M.D. Internal Internal Medicine Medicine ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS
Internal Medicine Walker Medical Diagnostics, LLC
Walker Medical LLC Medicine Internal Medicine WalkerInternal Medical Diagnostics, Diagnostics, LLC Walker Walker Medical Medical Diagnostics, Diagnostics, LLC LLC
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR AN APPOINTMENT, FOR FORMORE MORE INFORMATION INFORMATION CALL 205-221-0562 OR APPOINTMENT, ORAN AN APPOINTMENT, CALL 205-221-0562 CALL 205-221-0562 FOR MORE INFORMATION MORE INFORMATION 1450FOR Jones Dairy Rd., Bldg. 400 OR AN APPOINTMENT, FOR MORE INFORMATION FOR MORE INFORMATION OR AN APPOINTMENT, OR AN APPOINTMENT, Jasper, Alabama 1450 Jones Dairy Rd., Bldg. CALL OR AN205-221-0562 APPOINTMENT, 1450 Jones Dairy Rd.,35501 Bldg.400 400 CALL 205-221-0562 Jasper, Alabama CALL Jasper,205-221-0562 Alabama35501 35501
PIZZA BY THE SLICE! ICE COLD DRAFT BEER! Beside the main stage on 19th street
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1450 1450 Jones Jones Dairy Dairy Rd., Rd., Bldg. Bldg. 400 400 Alabama 1450Jasper, Jones Dairy Rd.,35501 Bldg. 400
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WHISKEY MYERS Text By NICOLE SMITH Photos contributed by KHRIS POAGE PHOTOGRAPHY
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Whiskey Myers will bring their blend of southern rock and country to the Foothills Festival in Jasper. The band is a headliner at the festival and will perform from 10 to 11:15 p.m. on Friday. Whiskey Myers has performed in Alabama before but never in Jasper. “Driving by Talladega for the first time when we were kids just starting to tour was a pretty memorable moment,” band members said in a statement. Whiskey Myers band members Cody Cannon (lead vocals and guitar), Cody Tate (lead guitar, vocals and rhythm guitar), John Jeffers (lead guitar, slide guitar, lap steel and vocals), Jeff Hogg (drums), Jamey Gleaves (bass) and Tony Kent (percussion, cowbell and keys) are preparing to release their new, self-titled album on Sept. 27. “This is an album we’re proud of. We jumped all in and self-produced it ourselves,” band members said. “It’s another rockin’ album that still entails a wide spectrum of diverse music. We always appreciate an album that you can listen to from front to back and not get bored.” The band was first formed by Cannon, Jeffers and Tate in East Texas. Whiskey Myers’ first album, “Road of Life,” was released in 2008, followed by “Firewater” in 2011, “Early Morning Shakes” in 2014 and “Mud” in 2016. “Early Morning Shakes” was their break-out album, while “Mud” once climbed to fourth on the Billboard country charts. When Whiskey Myers was featured on the series Yellowstone in 2018, the band’s music was soon after in the Top 10 of the iTunes’ country chart.
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Whiskey Myers now performs across the United States and even internationally. “There’s just a particular feel ya get when you know it’s YOURS,” the band said in reference to writing their own music. “Maybe it’s pride or maybe it’s humbleness. Sort of hard to explain but it always comes out more organically, as a band as well as a writer, when it’s your material you are recording. We just write songs and let the pieces fall as they may.” • 14 / A Guide to Foothills Festival
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Mon - Wed 10:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Thu - Fri 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sat 11:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sun 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Locally Owned & Operated by the Pedraza Family
Voted as your #1 Mexican Restaurant in Walker County!
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Offering Limited-Menu to get you IN & OUT quickly and back to the outdoor festivities!* *SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH ONLY
Foothills Special...
(fri. & sat.)
MARGARITAS $5.00 | 16 oz. DRAFT BEER $3.00
COME VISIT US AT OUR NEW LOCATION HOME OF THE
LIFETIME WARRANTY
625 22nd Ave. E. Jasper, AL 35501 A Guide to Foothills Festival
HOME OF THE
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DRIVIN N CRYIN
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Text By RICK WATSON
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When Drivin N Cryin take the stage at the Foothills Festival on Saturday, they bring 33 years of touring experience with them. They’ve worn out a lot of tires because they’ve spent much of their career on the road. The band is based out of Atlanta and has played in Alabama some through the years, but they have never played in Jasper, according to guitarist Kevin Kinney, who along bassist Tim Nielsen started the band in 1985. The band is hard to place into a category, but some describe them as an American hard rock/southern rock band, but there are so many other influences at work here. Rolling Stone magazine described the band like this: “Crunching hard rock is the Drivin part, brittle countryish balladry is the cryin, with the two linked by a heavy dose of Led Zeppelinphilia.” When talking about what to expect
from Drivin N Cryin at the Foothills Festival, Kinney explains that every show is different. Sometimes every song is created differently. “I feed off the whole situation,” he said. “If there are a bunch of old people sitting in chairs, I might start off a little easy on them with some acoustic stuff.” The band has an acoustic set and an electric set, according to Kinney. Their fans get a different show every night. “I’m not there to experiment, we’re there to entertain,” he said. “Now if it’s a punk rock club with a $5 admission, all bets are off,” Kinney joked. “When we first started off, I wanted to be a band like a mixtape from your record collection,” he said. “A little bit of country, and a little bit of rock.” Listening to all of Drivin N Cryin’s work on a playlist one can hear touches of
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psychedelic music along with the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and the Flying Burrito Brothers with Gram Parsons. Aaron Lee Tasjan, a long-time fan of Drivin N Cryin, produced their latest effort, “Live the Love Beautiful.” Tasjan wanted a record for Drivin’ N Cryin’ fans. This is the 17th record released by the band. “There are some songs that are like Willie Nelson meets Led Zeppelin,” he said. Elizabeth Cook, who is a country artist, sang backup on “I Wish I Didn’t Care.” Cook added haunting harmonies, and has appeared on the Grand Ole Opry hundreds of times. Kinney explains that Drivin N Cryin songs evolve. He may come up with a rift, and then the band will work up the music for the song. Once they get a draft of the music, Kinney goes back through his list song ideas and notes. “The main thing is to tell your story,” he said. “Don’t sing about the blues at the Crossroads because you’ve never been to the Crossroads, but if you grew up in a house with avocado-colored appliances 18 / A Guide to Foothills Festival
with shag carpeting then tell your story,” he said. “That’s an interesting story.” Kinney strives to tell his story in his songs. The new record was written like that. “Working hard, and free ain’t free,” Kinney said. “Looking at the world the way it is.” Not many bands have the longevity of Drivin N Cryin. “That’s a long time to be sittin’ next to somebody in a van,” Kinney jokes. Rounding out the band are guitarist Laur Joamets who has been with the group three years and drummer Dave V. Johnson who has been with them for almost 20 years, according to Kinney. When asked what he plans to do when he grows up, he laughs and ends with a joke. Mom: “What do you want to be when you grow up, Jimmy?” Son: “I want to be a musician.” Mom laughs and says: “Oh, honey, you know you can’t do both.” Drivin N Cryin takes the festival stage on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. following the Red Clay Strays. •
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Brent Cobb Text By JENNIFER COHRON
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“Never thought I’d be so far from Georgia,” Brent Cobb sings in the opening to his “Come Home Soon” music video released by RollingStone on Aug. 5. Cobb, who was nudged out of a Best Americana Album GRAMMY in 2018 by Jason Isbell, is a long way from the quiet life he might have spent in his hometown of Ellaville, Georgia, if he hadn’t been born into a musical family. “When I was growing up, it was always a secondary source of income. My dad played most weekends. He used that money to pay the bills. I was never from that family who thought of music as not a true career path luckily, and it came natural to me from growing up around it,” said Cobb, who will perform at Foothills Festival on Friday, Sept. 6. Cobb made his stage debut at age 7 singing Tim McGraw’s “Don’t Take the Girl” with his father’s band in the American Legion Hall in Richland, Georgia. His first break came when he met distant cousin Dave Cobb at a great aunt’s funeral. Dave Cobb is a Grammy-winning record producer now associated with such acts as Isbell and Chris Stapleton. He also produced Lady Gaga’s “Always Remember Us This Way” for the 2018 “A Star is Born” soundtrack. Brent Cobb joined his cousin in Los Angeles for a time but then made the
move to Nashville in 2008, where he got a songwriting contract. Cobb’s songs have been recorded by the likes of the Oak Ridge Boys, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Kenny Chesney and Little Big Town. In the past three years, he has released two albums with Dave Cobb’s Low Country Sound, an imprint of Elektra Records. “Shine on Rainy Day” was released in 2016 and rose to 17th on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart in addition to being nominated for a Grammy. “Providence Canyon” followed in 2018. The second track, “King of Alabama,” was inspired by Arab native Wayne Mills. Mills, a fellow country music singer, died in 2013 after being shot in the head by a bar owner in Nashville, Tennessee. The song references the fact that the shooter, Chris Ferrell, had been a friend of Mills’. Mills was a mentor to Cobb when he came to Nashville. “Wayne was the kind of dude that would take everybody under his wing. He wanted everybody to succeed. If he liked you, he loved you. I met a lot of people through him,” Cobb said. At the time of Mills’ death, Cobb’s wife was pregnant with their first child. His thoughts immediately turned to Mills’ 7-year-old son, Jack. Cobb penned “King of Alabama”
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with Opelika native Adam Hood, whom he met through Mills. With the blessing of Mills’ widow, the two gave Jack Mills a co-writing credit, which entitles him to one third of the song’s royalties. An animated music video for “King of Alabama” is available on YouTube. Cobb, who considers himself a songwriter-singer rather than a singersongwriter, would prefer to spend all his time writing songs. “For some reason, the good Lord or just my life keeps pushing me into being an artist and touring, which has never been what I loved first,” he said. The strain that a touring schedule puts on Cobb’s life comes through in “Come Home Soon.” “And its been so long since I’ve felt at home. I’ve forgotten what it feels like to belong,” the chorus goes. The video for “Come Home Soon,” shot in Georgia and featuring Cobb’s daughter, Lyla, makes it easy to understand how hard it must be to spend so much time on the road. (Cobb now once again makes his home in Georgia.) “I’m not ungrateful. I’m grateful that
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I get the opportunity to do it. It’s even more gratifying to see people showing up and singing these songs. I can be in Manchester, England, and there will be 200 people singing about the king of Alabama. That part of it I love,” Cobb said. In one sense, Cobb never gets too far from home because the songs that he performs each night are infused with his affection for Georgia. “South of Atlanta” from the “Shine on Rainy Day” album describes a town familiar to many Southerners, where families gather for Sunday supper and people wave without taking their hand off the wheel. Cobb hopes that his songs make listeners feel like they could love his part of Georgia as much as he does. When he plays events such as Foothills Festival, he feels even closer to the place that where he belongs. “Any time I’m in those situations, it really feels like I’m home. It feels like I’m in Ellaville playing on the square. It’s like meeting family,” he said. Cobb will perform at 8:30 p.m. on Friday. •
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