March 26 We had some really great music last weekend. Friday night Tom King performed and Sat night it was Lolly Lee's turn.
Tom, an ex DJ from WSM Nashville back in the 70's, has the kind of deep, resonant, very pleasing voice that you automatically associate with a good DJ. He has a very laid back, personable style, that relaxes the audience. In addition he writes really great songs and recites neat poetry, all original. He accompanies himself on acoustic guitar and performed with his son Sean who is a really good guitar picker. The genre is country folk I think with a western flair. Tom writes songs about unique people he's known and places he's been. He opened with Hot Rod Race a neat tale about a drag race that features some fast talking from Tom and some fast pickin' by Sean. He has a lot of comedy in his show including the next couple of songs In My Next Life I Want To Be My Ex Wife and My Redneck Mother In Law. A musical biographies about a past acquaintance followed: Call Me A Cab (about the Coyote Kid). Then the Cherokee Kid which I think was about one of his grandkids. Maybe my favorite was Don's Lunch about an old diner in Iowa back in the '50's. He also sang about the Ozzie and Harriot show and then one I can relate to called Just Getting Old. Sean played three songs alone. Two he wrote: I Could See It In His Eyes, I Should Have Known By The Tears In her Eyes, and then did Four Wheels on a Four Lanes. Tom came back on with a story about pre Civil Rights Mississippi he called The Drinking Fountain. It was a really good show and I think they will come back.
Lolly Lee is from Houston, AL in Winston County just west of Cullman. Called The Free State of Winston, it succeeded from AL during the civil war and sided with the north. The only AL county to do so. It is one of our most rural counties and I think Winston paid the price for its actions as it never developed the infastructure present in most other counties in the way of farm to market roads and has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. I worked there for years as a timber buyer for Champion International. Timber is its number one resource and it is the home of the Bankhead National Forest. Lolly is a popular performer on the Birmingham area musical scene and sings on many of the commercials that you hear on local radio and TV. I really like her songwriting and her performing style. She is a very energetic performer, she put her whole personality into it. Her songs are just great. She writes about her surroundings and experiences, sometimes about relationships, but they all are stories that draw you into them. She paints very real and interesting song pictures that we all can relate to and relive in her music. I think my favorite song that she wrote is Sweet Alabama Home. This could become an anthem for rural Alabamaians. I like it better than Sweet Home Alabama which seems to be our anthem now. I also really like her song Shine On, a tribute to lineman (my son Todd is a lineman for the Coop). She just captures the essence of their job in a way that is poetic and meaningful. She performed what she calls her Rain Medley which starts out with CCR's Have You Ever Seen The Rain, and then her original Rain Wash Away Memories of You. My House, Bar Fly Fly Away With Me are some more really great originals. She also did covers from John Prine (Make Me An Angel), Merle Haggard or as she put it "Girl Haggard" (Mama Tried), Moon River, Bob Dylan's All along The Watchtower, Neal Diamond's Solitary Man, Dolly's Joline, Willie's Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain and more. Covers can be dangerous because there is always that comparison to make, but she performs covers in her unique style and it really comes across well. This was just a really solid, great concert. I hope Lolly will come back.

March 25 Jim Fisher invited me to go on a day hike in the Bankhead National Forest yesterday with a group he hikes with regularly. I decided to go. We left the coffee house at 8 am and drove to Wren about 45 minutes west then up into the Warrior Plateau and into the Bankhead National Forest to Barbara Crow's house. She lives right on the edge of the forest. Barbara, alias Bob Crow, was to lead the hike. She leads hikes on Saturdays for the general public as part of Wild Alabama, but these Tuesday hikes are informal, leisurely, cross country hikes, in part to decide where to take the weekend hikers, and in part just to enjoy the Bankhead with friends. Jim is a regular on these hikes.
Today they were going walk Key Mill Creek and Owl Creek on the east side of the Forest. There were 6 of us Bob, Jim and I, Ted, Olga, Anna and Cathy and 3 dogs, a boxer, a St Bernard and a Labradoodle. I had heard about labradoodles, a cross between a poodle and a golden lab, but had never seen one. They are really neat, friendly dogs. We drove into the forest and left one car at the out point and drove a couple of miles to the in point where we parked the rest of the cars.
Bob led us cross country (no trail)into the forest and we followed a small tributary, down stream through the bluff line along some small waterfalls and into the Key Mill canyon. This was mostly an area of mature pine and hardwood timber, I would guess 60 plus years old, which had recently been burned. I can remember 10-15 years ago when we thinned some thick, older second growth pine stands in this area for the USFS, to a 70 or so basal area. I'm not sure that this was the exact place, but I think that this is part of the same stand. It really looks great, large pine, open, park like, with a medium hardwood understory. I think the Forest Restoration Plan is to convert these area to native hardwoods, mainly oak-hickory "climax" species, through successive thinning, reducing the pine basal area (stocking) over time and allowing the natural hardwoods to return. Prescribed fire will favor oak species which are the most desirable.
When we reached Key Mill Creek we hiked upstream to an old dead beech snag that had the word "Key" carved on, it was obviously an old carving and we speculated that it may have been carved by the Key for whom this creek was named well over a hundred years ago. We then walked up the bluff to the old Key grist mill site. This is and was remote territory and its hard to believe there was a grist mill here in the late 1800's. But the evidence is still there, although the mill is gone. Mr Key scratched out an old road through the bottoms and hills and hollows to get the building materials to this site and I assume the grain to be ground also came in this way. The nearest farm land where corn was grown in any abundance was on the ridge tops above the mill site and was, I would think, a difficult haul to get it to the mill from there. I'm sure some corn was grown in the small, flat bottoms also. The timber in the bottom wasn't as old as that on the slopes which indicates to me that it had been cleared in the past, but there were no rock piles or other sign to confirm that. The mill site was on top of a bluff where a small waterfall fell maybe 30 feet to a rocky bottom. The stream provided enough power to run the mill. I don't know what kind of structure was built there to house the grinding stones and channel the water, but apparently it worked and was profitable. Unfortunately Mr Key fell off the bluff to the rocks below a some point during a repair and was killed.
As we hiked back down Key Mill creek Cathy discovered a beech tree with a serpent carving on it. None of the group had known about this. It was neat, but I don't know whether it was prehistoric or something more recent. It had obviously been there along time, you can sort of tell that by how stretched out carvings in beech trees are by subsequent diameter growth. Bob had a piece of white chalk she carried and used to trace out the carvings and bring them to life. That was neat, and made them much easier to read. From that point we walked downstream to where Key Mill Creek met Owl Creek and then down Owl until we found the tributary Bob used to hike back up to the ridge top where her car was parked. On Owl Creek we found a beech tree that had an old carving "Owell" on the trunk and speculated that someone who was unliterate had carved in the name of the creek years ago and misspelled it. I personally wondered if maybe Owl Creek was originally named for some old settlers named Owell who had carved their name into the tree.
We were somewhat disappointed that the wildflowers were not in full bloom yet, but we did see some pennywarts, pussypaws, yellow and purple violets, pipsisiwa (which I always thought was winterberry), rue anenome, service berry, spring beauty, may apple, and buttercup.
It was a great hike, we hiked from about 9:30 to 2:30 and it was very enjoyable. I hope I can go again. When I retired from the Champion 8 years ago I had intended to spend a lot of time in the Bankhead, but instead opened my coffee house and never went back. I really miss not being in the woods regularly. Thanks Bob and gang for a great trip. I highly recommend the Wild Alabama hikes to anyone who is interested. I think they occur on the 4th Saturday, but you can check their website to be sure.

March 19 New information on the health benefits of teas seem to be coming out all the time. In the Jan 09 Good Housekeeping magazine it was reported that adding green tea to an antibiotic regimen can increase the effectiveness of the antibiotic against 28 disease causing organisms, including drug resistant staph, by up to three times. These are lab test only so far, but go to show that the chemicals in teas are potent and beneficial for maintaining good health. Check out the "Our Tea" page for a list of some of the beneficial chemicals found in tea.

I'll share with you my special tea concoction. I try to drink this regularly. In a large measuring cup (32 oz) I add about 1/2 tsp of Isu Matcha, 1 tsp of an organic green like Peacock #1 or Dragonweil, 1 tsp of organic Yerba Matcha, 1/2 tsp of peppermint leaves, and 1/2 tsp of an herb blend called cinnamon orange which has hibiscus leaves as one of several ingredients. I may substitute an organic rooibos for the green teas sometimes. Periodically I may add something like kudzu root for change. I don't sweeten it as I like it the way it is. Add about 20 oz of hot water and let sit fr a long time 1 hour to 1/2 day, the stronger the better. Strain and drink. We sell all this stuff and more in the store. Dwarf flag iris was sprouting, but not yet blooming. A couple of weeks will make a lot of difference. We finally got to the ridgetop at about 2:30. We ate lunch at Owl Creek where the horse trail crossing was. A beautiful place but badly littered with aluminum cans and other trash from horse riders who apparently don't care as much about nature as you would think they would. I carried a backpack full of trash out. It was a great hike. Thanks Bob for leading us and the whole gang for making it a great trip. When I retired I vowed I would spend a lot of time in the Bankhead, in fact I wanted to go to every waterfall there, but I opened a coffee house instead and this was my first time back in nearly 8 years. Hope I can do this again soon.

March 18 We really had a fun open mike last Monday. We didn't have a big crowd, but they were enthusiastic. It was all regulars, but things seemed really laid back and we all just had a good time. Dennis Kahlor started off and he did some of his songs that he doesn't usually do such as Riding For The Brand a cowboy song which I especially like. Then 11 year old Ryan Klein performed, he will be one to watch, he gets better every time. Roger Snow came early with his wife Rhonda and daughter Laura and they sang together, it was really good. David Brazeel sang Leaving On A Jet Plane, he usually doesn't do covers, it was a good job. Jim Brown went next. Jim hasn't been here for a while and so had I forgotten how good he is. He has a really solid voice and a picking style that compliments it on guitar. I really liked his version of Blue, Blue Monday. Carlo then did his popular Cat Drinking Song and all the college kids were meowing. James Taylor and his wife Michelle performed Sweet Home Alabama, he had the picking tight. The more I hear James the more I realize how great a musician he is. Josh Brooks closed us down with Ectusis and Hallelujah. Josh has taken a new job as the Music Minister, Associate Pastor and Youth Minster at St Andrews and he has been practicing and it shows. Great job. It was a fun night with good music, good humor, fun.

March 17 It is that time in Alabama that if you don't notice what is going on in nature, you will miss Spring. Spring comes fast here, and there is so much to see in this beautiful state. You have to slow down to see it or it is gone like a puff of smoke. Right now the hardwood trees are budding out (the red maples are really red), flowering trees are starting to bloom with the redbuds in full bloom, they are georgeous. Even fruit tree flower buds are swelling, with pears beginning to flower. Granddaddy Greybeard and some of the other unique flowering trees will begin to show very soon also. The daffodils, hyacinths and other early flowering bulbs are almost gone, hope you didn't miss them. The dogwoods will be here soon along with flowering magnolias. Don't miss the unique Bigleaf Magnolia with its gigantic white flowers, almost 3 feet long. The Bankhead Forest is full of them, they are native here. Alabama has many beautiful wildflowers and they are beginning to bloom now. Most are in the woods:jack in the pulpit, shooting stars, trout lillies, lady slippers, Indian pinks, fire pink, dwarf wood iris, Sweet William and many, many, more. In the next few weeks a wildflower tour would be in order and in fact the Cullman Audubon Society is having one the first Saturday in April They are going to look at the wildflowers in Bucks Pocket State Park. The tour leaves from our parking lot at 9 am. Stop now and notice the glory of nature all around us in Alabama the Beautiful before it is too late and it is all gone. It could be a long hot and humid summer so check out Spring, fleeting as it is, before it is too late.

March 16 The Walker Street Opry, a great bluegrass band from Huntsville was scheduled for last Saturday, but had to cancel last week. Microwave Dave had originally asked me for that night while I was in California in January, but I got busy out there and didn't follow through on it and really I forgot about it and when Blaine Anderson from Walker Street asked for it I gave it to him. When he canceled it was too late to get Dave back. So we had a hootenany. I've been in or at many of what we called hootenanys back in the 60's and early 70's, but I'm not sure I can give you a clean definition of what it is. I simply call it a gathering of folk singers, kind of what you would now call a folk singer's jam. Back then wherever we went, to the park, a party, a rally, anywhere, everybody brought their instruments and a hootenany would break out. Basically We just all sat around and played whatever somebody asked for or whatever we felt like playing. Back then most people seemed to know the words to all the songs we did. It was a group event, everyone participated.

We didn't have a gathering of folk singers, but we did what we could, there aren't that many in this area. It ended up being me, John Lott and Dennis Kaylor. John and I played old folk songs for 45 minutes or so, the Dennis sang for 30 or so minutes and John for 30 or so. Then Dennis came back and closed. We had a great time and never did get to the sing-a-long part, I think the crowd (we had a good house) just wanted us to play. Whenever John and Dennis and I play people seem to enjoy it and I always say we should do it more often but don't.

March 16 Coffee and Colors went well. there were only 11-12 participants this time, but they all had a blast and every one, without exception went home with a neat painting of two morning glories. Laura Walker does a great job and several who were there for the first time said they would be back.

Gerri and I went to a dinner theater during the art session. It was held in an old 1890's house, called the Hayes House, not far from the store, that had been built by Doctor Hayes. The Historical Society is trying to renovate it and this was a fundraiser. I'd never been to one of these before and didn't know what to expect. I was a little confused by it all. First the acoustics were not good and I am hard of hearing in a crowd (my wife would say everywhere), and last I wasn't sure where the program started and the introductions left off. I thought the Historical Society was doing an extended introduction to Cullman history when actually it was part of the play, and so I messed a bunch of clues waiting for the play to start. Even so it was so obvious that one of the protagonists was guilty, that without being up to speed even I could have guessed it but didn't. I didn't think it could be that easy. It was a good night. Meal was good, the Society worked hard to make it work and next time I may have a better idea of how all this works.

March 12 We held our first tea tasting at Berkeley Bob's. We had about 9 persons show up and we talked about the history, health benefits, types, etc of tea and then tasted 10 different teas. We tasted several greens, a white, a matcha, an oolong, two blacks, a rooibos and a herbal blend. It took about an hour and a half and everyone really enjoyed it. I did the talking and serving and Gerri made the tea. We will definitely do this again.

March 9 What an excellent show Gregg Rowell and Dawn Osborne put on here last night. One of the best we have had. We had a packed house also, so it was a really special night. I have heard a lot of great comments from those who were here. Dawn was in great voice, belting out those blues and ballads accompanied all night by Gregg's fantastic guitar work. Andrew Sharp was on drums and the back beat kept everything moving along nicely. Allen Watkins, one of the best banjo pickers in these parts and a music instructor with a large and loyal following, played guitar also. Dawn started the show with Lefty and Pancho and before the night was over had covered Eric Clapton's Crossroads, Mustang Sally, Jimmy Hendrix's Foxy Lady and Hey Joe, The Allman Bros' One Way Out, Come to San Francisco, Mr. Tamborine Man, Buffalo Springfields's Somethings Going Down, S&G's Teach Your Children Well, Steppenwolf's Born To Be Wild, ZZ Top's Blue Jean Blues, Stevie Ray Vaughn's Texas Flood, Summertime from Porgy and Bess and much more. Dawn had the audience eating out of her hand all night. Even her dad told me she was really on. I can't say enough about the support she received from the band, especially Gregg. His distinctive guitar style just fits her voice perfectly. The drums add a continuity, this is the first time I have heard them with drums. This show was tight and right.

March 1 James Smith was in great form, he is just a really good performer. He sang many of the old songs and told stories for two hours. He is a living library of Appalachian folk music. He started with two old favorites that everyone knows: Your Are My Sunshine and went into into O Susanna during which had everyone singing. Unfortunately there were not many folks present, such a shame to have such great music go unheard. His second song was a Stephen Foster tune Angelina Baker, maybe my favorite of that genre, and he told some stories about Stephen Foster. Did you know he was born on the Fourth of July, the same day that both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died. Then he went into the old pre-civil war song My Home's Across the Blue Ridge Mountains, but which had some verses added about the Grey Ghost, Gen Mosley of North Carolina, a southern hero of that war. He also told the history of the autoharp and of his, which was made from the wood of an old Martin guitar. Then he sang Uncle Joe one of the many Appalachian dance tunes that derives from Celtic fiddle and dance music, in this case a tune called McCleod's Reel. Then came The Old Spinning Wheel a song from the 1850's, Cluck Old Hen (the kids like that one), Soldiers Joy which he calls the anthem of old time music. He sang the Robert Burns lyrics from 1778 and the Civil War lyrics about morphine addiction and the traditional southern dance lyrics (June bug sittin' on a sweet potato vine...). Pig in a Pen was in there too. Then he did one of his originals Four Things I Need. James is a family counselor by profession and so this song gives a little free therapy. The Wood Shed Blues another original was next. Then came Uncle Dave Macon's Pan of Biscuits and Keep My Skillet Greasy along with stories about Uncle Dave who joined the Grand Old Opry in 1925. Fly A Round Pretty Miss and the Civil War ballad Rose of Al-la-bamy came next. The latter song is on the sound track of the Clint Eastwood classic movie Josie Wells. Then came a series of gospel songs: The Old Country Church, and he closed with the medley I'll Fly Away and Will The Circle Be Unbroken. Great show. You can catch James every 4th Friday at the Coffee Tree in Huntsville where he hosts The Appalachian Music Happening next of which is March 27th. The Coffee Tree is across from Grissom High School.