The line up is set for the Chattahippie Music Festival, which takes place in Chattanooga, Tennessee, from September 18 through September 21.
Loads of talent from Texas will be on display, but sadly, most of it comes from our neighbor to the south: The Derailers, Walt Wilkins & the Mystiqueros, Dallas Wayne, The Gougers, Jason Eady & the Wayward Apostles, Band of Heathens, Tressie Seegars, The Dedringers, Tom Gilliam, and Tina Mitchell Wilkins all call Austin home.
Only Darryl Lee Rush, the great hardcore honky tonker, represents Big D. Arlington’s Tommy Alverson will also perform, adding ever so slightly to the North Texas contingent. Stretching out a bit, we could also include Miles From Nowhere which hails from the tiny East Texas town of Blossom. (Folks who want to catch a preview of this fine alt-country quartet can do so when the band hits Poor David’s Pub on September 11.)
The Chattahippie Festival features some killer headliners, such as Blue Rodeo, Pure Prairie League and the legendary Charlie Louvin, but one has to wonder why area acts such as Eleven Hundred Springs, The Drams and Collin Herring were not invited. Perhaps they were and, for whatever reason, they declined. Even lesser known folks such as A.M Ramblers or The King Bucks would have surely fit in well with the Festival’s Americana theme.
In any case, if alt-country is your thing, spending a few days in Chattanooga should be hillbilly heaven. --Darryl Smyers
