There used to be a grocery store located on Waters Street in Greenville, AL, my hometown. I spent a lot of my childhood inside those walls. My grandfather, B.E. Sikes, and my grandmother, Ida Sikes, owned an operated that store until they passed away. The store was in the front and the house they lived in was in the back. The neighborhood consisted of a combination of people and personalities and a time that for me, was golden.
I learned things in that store that made me who I am today. In the future I’m certain that I will talk about this more because I’m writing a short a story called “Sikes Grocery” but for today, I’m going to talk about this simple thing…. “Food.”
I’ve seen food bring people together my whole life and so have you. You add great music and entertainment, and your favorite beverage, and then you’ve got a party. The point is, we all love food, and the better it is, the better the memory, the better the conversation, and the better the mood …..I can remember day dreaming about good BBQ, a steak, or red snapper, while sitting in the middle of the woods in Ft. Sill, OK, eating an army issued meal in a bag. I never had to go overseas, so I can only imagine what those guys dreamed about in terms of food. I know that just the experiences I had, the thought of a great meal, always brought you home.
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of writing a jingle for one of the staple taste in the pallet of my life that we found in my granddad’s store; Conecuh Sausage. It took me 20 minutes, and a pack of sausage to celebrate writing that jingle. It’s called “Get your Grill On”….that jingle was recorded in Columbus, Ga with two of my friends, Randy Dameron and Jeff Cummings aka ( kingbee). Jeff played the harmonica part on the jingle. We both grew up on Conecuh Sausage. They have been doing their thing since 1947, and people from all over this country have enjoyed the taste off their product.
I can tell you that everywhere we go to play music, and entertain people ( FL, AL, GA, TN, NC, SC, TX, etc) They all love that little taste of heaven. When Uncle Hound and I started Rolling Smoke Nation, we knew we had it right. We started bringing people together with an old Chevy truck, Conecuh Sausage, John Boy and Billy sauce, and Roots music. That combination works every time. We lit the grill, put strings on the guitar, and started something. And, it’s grown. We have our friends in the BBQ world, and at the World Food Championships as we make our way down “the road to Dallas, TX” for the big World Food Championships Finale in October. We found out that we weren’t the only ones that wanted to come to the table for a soul revival. Rolling Smoke Nation is you and me.
Just like my granddaddy’s store brought people together in a time where neighborhoods had small grocery stores, we get to do that in our own way. I think that’s pretty cool. By the way, we’ve got some more music to serve up too this year.
Oh, and here’s that jingle….get your favorite jeans on today, and your favorite shirt….crank that grill up too, and give somebody a hug, or invite your family and friends over for a meal…..Love you, Love you Big!