I believe some decisions are made for you. I mean, as in, this is what God is lining up and no matter what you do, it’s gonna happen. I might get a little push back on that by some of my friends but hey, that’s ok. That’s what I love about my friends. We don’t have to agree all the time:) Besides, if we did, how boring would that be. And, guess what? We still love each other….isn’t that a novel idea. Agree to Disagree……but I digress
After we finished our last season on RFD tv with the Right Place tv show, we were in the middle of reorganizing a few things. It was a new season in our journey, and life was moving on. I mentioned to you in another blog that I met Hound Brown on a tour bus. It was John Berry’s Christmas tour, and I was able to do an opening spot for him that year. It was cool experience. I will always enjoy those memories. Little did I know that one brief moment in time would lead to what we call “Rolling Smoke Nation”.
The truth is always best right? The truth is we had very little to do with any of this…..Hound was going through a transition too. After burying his Brother, his Mom, and his Dad, he came back home to Nashville with his dog Sambeau. Hound offered for me to stay at his house when I was working in town.
So, there it was…..one day Hound was watching R Kelly “Trapped in the Closet” for a mental break one afternoon, plus it’s hilarious….then, we were always cooking something, grilling, chilling, or whatever your phrase is; that’s what we do at the end of long day, or week, or maybe it’s a long season in your life. The oldest form of creating the best atmosphere for taking the stress down a notch and communicating your feelings is breaking bread.
It was a perfect wind coming through “Plowhaus”. That’s what Hound named his house. That old house is situated just off of Jefferson Street in downtown Nashville. It was built sometime in the 1920’s and we teased about it having a good ghost. We also recorded our first “Rolling Smoke” Album in that old house, but of course that was later in the story… So the creative winds started blowing.
Carl the cook is a long time friend of Hounds. They grew up together in Eastern North Carolina, around the Goldsboro area. Carl is an incredible cook. He makes the John Boy and Billy Grillin’ Sauces, owns a steak place in Goldsboro ( Carl & Chelles Grill Room), and you will hear him from time to time on the John Boy and Billy show. He is also a North Carolina Pit Master. He’s the real deal and he’s a lot of fun! Carl along with many other BBQ enthusiast, competitors, and all around back yard BBQ folks use the phrase, “Rolling Smoke” to refer to the cooking, grilling, and passion that comes with the lifestyle. That’s it. One phrase on one day sparked a joke, only, I didn’t see it as just a joke. I decided to take it for a spin. Hound teases me about that still…
Hound wrote a parody rap song for fun ( possibly inspired by him watching R Kelly) called, “Rolling Smoke.” He wrote the song about grilling, and cleverly did what Hound does best and not only wrote a parody rap song about grilling, but enjoyed making fun of all of us including himself. He wrote that song with our young talented friend Cameron McClaren. I had the pleasure of adding one line to the song as I got out of my truck from driving back in to Nashville. I walked in and sung “Roll, roll, roll, roll, roll, Rolling Smoke”. There it was…Rolling Smoke.
After the song was done, I immediately wanted to do a video…..we HAD to do a video….and with the help of Ross Jaynes, a young, talented producer in Columbia, TN we were able to do just that…..On a cold January day in the square in Columbia, TN and even featured some friends at Variety Records. There’s a common thread to all this….”friends helping friends”…..there are some details I will leave out and save for a book one day:) The point is, you can’t do anything good without some help.
From that point on, we were walking through the doors. We were invited out to John Boy’s Boogar Branch, and we were set to go on the Big Show. Hound and I enjoyed playing our music for John Boy’s guest out at his place. John Boy is certainly an iconic radio personality but he’s also a music enthusiast. He loved our original tunes. Hound and I have been singer/songwriters for years and it’s always good to share music. Just us and our guitars. As we went on the show that particular week, John Boy took the opportunity to tell the world that we were in the middle of producing a new Album. A collaboration of Roots music geared toward the BBQ world. So, we left knowing that we had to do it!
What would follow would be a truck stage we named, “Holy Joe”, “The Conecuh Sausage Truck stage” ( 1965 C30 Chevy) and booking events all over the southeast. We brought the tunes, grilled that hickory smoked Conecuh Sausage, and produced our first Album, “Rolling Smoke”.
The months that followed lead us to Bentonville, AR to perform at the Sam’s Club BBQ championship. It was at that event where we met, Mike McCloud. Mike is the guy behind the World Food Championships. He liked what we were doing. He liked the reason behind the music as well. He invited us to perform at the World Food Championships in Orange Beach, AL and of course we said yes.
It’s rare that things come together, but when they do, it’s nothing short of amazing. From John Boy & Billy, to Carl “the Cook” Lewis, to celebrating 23 years of John Boy and Billy grillin’ sauce, creating the tent revival around the Rec Tec trailer, and cooking up Conecuh Sausage & Savannah Classics hush puppies for the biggest Food Fight on earth! We capped off each day by performing a full band show in the packed out Orange Beach Event Center for the World Food Championships Award Banquet! We even pinned a song called “Eat it Up” just for the WFC! It was fantastic and filled with great moments we won’t ever forget.
We were there with friends who volunteered to come help with the event, and we would not have been able to pull it off without them. That is the essence of our message….Soul Food & Roots Music bringing folks together. We met new friends too! From 43 states and 13 other countries! For a moment, we celebrated life. The Good Life….One Bite at a Time.
Stay tuned….& Fire up the Grill and crank up the tunes….I believe Rolling Smoke Nation is just getting started!