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The sound of Tennessee comes to life with fiddles, banjos, and community spirit.

Hello, I'm Peter Knoll.

On this edition of Tennessee is Talking, the topic is the 47th annual Bluegrass Festival.

From its roots on the Tennessee River to its growing reputation across the country, we'll explore how this festival honors bluegrass music and unites the community.

Let the conversation begin.

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West Tennessee PBS presents Tennessee is Talking.

Let the conversation begin.

Thanks for joining the discussion here on Tennessee is Talking.

I am Peter Noll.

Today we're celebrating a musical tradition that runs deep in the heart of Hardin County, the Savannah Bluegrass Festival.

It's more than just music.

It's a gathering of culture, heritage, and southern hosp..

Joining us is the founder of the Bluegrass Festival, Wayne Jerrolds Geralds, and Freeda Ashe.

Thank you both for joining us.

Thank you for having us.

Let's start by, how did this festival begin in Savannah?

Just about 47 years ago, I ran a music store in Savannah.

Wayne Whitten is working there for me.

We got talking about having a fiddling contest.

That's a pretty big thing in Tennessee all over, of course.

I'd won several championships in the fiddling contest.

We printed up our posters, and I took them down to Mississippi and passed them out at bluegrass festival.

They said, "No, we won't get in a contest."

I got thinking, "Well, I can see why a contest, somebody has to lose, that so many people have their feelings hurt."

I come back, and I told Wayne Whitten, I said, "We're going to tear that poster up and start one with a bluegrass festival where everybody feels good about their performance, and gets an applause, and they all feel like they would have won," we all.

That's the way it started.

We made new posters and passed them out and started the Bluegrass Festival.

It was, like to round it out, but people really showed interest in it.

The city of Savannah, they thought, "Well, what is this?

It's drawing so many people."

They come and talk to me about having it on the 4th of July.

I don't remember the date.

It was probably August when we had it.

I said, "Okay, that'd be fine."

We started on the 4th of July and it's been that way up till now.

When is it happening this year?

The dates of this year's festival?

It'll be the 11th and 12th of July.

It'll be the second weekend.

Okay, so after the second weekend in July.

In July, yes.

Okay.

It's two days, and where does it take place?

Where in Savannah should people go?

On Friday night, it's just as you cross the river bridge.

If you're coming east on 64, you look to your right, and it's Wayne Jerrolds River Park and the buildings-- But there's no sign.

They've taken the sign down for all the construction going on.

Sure.

Building a hotel the..

Yes.

Just see the n..

Turn right at the hotel.

Yes, we're just behind the hotel there.

That's where it'll be on Friday night.

Saturday, uptown at Savannah Market, right across from the courthouse.

Okay, it's sort of that open market area.

Very nice facilities.

How has it changed over the years?

Because I think at one time, it was on the river.

Yes.

Well, it's on the river on Fri.. but I don't remember who it was, someone there at the City Hall asked us if they wanted to get several people coming uptown.

Asked us if we could come uptown on one occasion.

We did on a Saturday, and it got more people into uptown Savannah, maybe visit some of the merchants and whatever, but it was what they wanted.

I hate to give it up down on the river, so we had it there on Friday night and uptown on Saturday.

That whole riverfront is just blowing up.

It's just really growing in Savannah.

-It is.

-It is.

When we moved it on Saturday up there, we had it on the court square and it was really hot.

There's no trees.

It was hot.

We're not far from the court square now.. but we have a pavilion there and overhead fans, and it was much more comfortable.

It's better.

How did you pick July as the time frame to have it?

I don't know.

I guess the 4th is what they.. at the City Hall, and so they just thought it would be a good time to build it around the 4th.

It's hard to find good dates to have events because there's so much going on in West Tennessee, and especially in the music world, there's festivals going on all the time.

That's one reason that I was really on board when they mentioned maybe the second week in July instead of the first.

They had more help there at the city.

It wasn't hardly as busy.

I was thinking about the one at Smithville.

They have a great contest there, and the whole town just closes down for it.

It's so much.

It's on the 4th of July weekend.

This is the week after and we can use that as advertisement up there, and we get several people, I feel like, that will come that wouldn't otherwise.

Who's coming this year to the Savannah Bluegrass Festival?

Who's performing this year?

Oh, you tell us about that, will you?

On Friday night, it starts at 4 o'clock on Friday night, and you have the Hilltop Bluegrass, the Mallards of Mayhem, the Hope Family, Cowgirl Up.

Do you want to say something about Cowgirl Up?

They're from Muscle Shoals.

Oh, they're a high-energy band.

They're from Muscle Shoals.

Their parents were in the business, and of course, they're gone now.

When we first started, their parents was coming to perform, and now it's the children, but they really get thin.. Then you have State Line Strings.

They're a new and upcoming group, and this will be their first time in Savannah to play.

Scotty Bogus and Boone Creek.

It's been there a long time.

Scotty was just a young boy when he started, and, of course, I was much younger, too.

Scotty's our cousin.

He's my first cousin, but Wayne got him on with Bill M..

He plays a good banjo.

All right, and then the guest is the Bank Shafts, and they're an upcoming new group.

Do you want to say anything about them?

They are.

They really rate high in the popularity of bluegrass.

They'll be on at 7.30 till 8.30.

That's on Friday night down on the river.

Then Mr. Gerles comes on at 8.30.

Old Man Gerles is on.

Now, the fiddle you have, you've been playing the fiddle since you were how old?

16.

16, and you self-taught, right?

Yes, that's about right.

I'd try to be around good musicians.

It's like picking up a language, whatever you're around, you're going to pick it up.

What drew you to bluegrass music?

Of course, I guess, the fiddle, but that was where we grew up.

It was more of the country and bluegrass, and mountain music.

Mountain music, yes.

It just wound up with Bill Monroe being the star of the show and records, Bluegrass Records.

The fiddle was getting more attention than the other instruments and that's-- [laughs] A lot of people consider .. with the father of bluegrass music.

I consider you the father of bluegrass music for West Tennessee.

How did you hook up with Bill Monroe?

How did you meet him?

I was playing with a group out of Nashville.

In Alabama, they were mixed up.

We were river boys, so we'd go to festivals in Florida and all around playing, and Mr. Monroe would be there with his group.

We was there one day in Jameson, Alabama, and him and his fiddle player had some short words on the stage.

The fiddle player left off and so he had to hire some more fiddle players, and somehow, they didn't stay with him.

Let's see.

Buddy Spicer was one of the Nashville top fiddlers, and he plays with-- what's their name?

Loretta's sister?

Loretta Lynn's sister, Crystal Gayle.

Crystal Gayle, you got it.

He was little past her, but he was sitti.. and Bill was wanting somebody to play with him to take his place, and so I got an audition and passed the audition, and he got to calling me to come to Nashville and play.

He called me.

I had a phone but no cell phone then, and I was out of town tuning pianos and the whole week gone by, and I said, "Well, he's not going to call me."

Saturday evening, the secretary stays there, and she called me in the night.

"Mr. Monroe's been trying to get a hold of you all week.

Where you been?"

Finally, he comes to the phone and same words, "Where you been?"

He said, "You want to play with me tomorrow night?"

I said, "Yes, I was hoping to scoot or something wouldn't be so dangerous for me of messing up."

Anyhow, he said, "We'll be at the Grand Ole Opry tomorrow night.

Come and get in the union and meet me at the back door," which I did, and the rest is history of my part.

Can I go backwards and give you Saturday night's lineup?

-Would that be okay?

-Yes, yes, please do, yes.

He's excited about the 6:30 show, but we start at 11:30, and it will be at the Savannah Market.

Jeff Long, an old-time string band, they're from over here in Jackson, you want to say something about him?

Yes, Jeff is a dedicated musician.

He's a retired school teacher, but they play about every week somewhere around, and of course, he'll be there.

He's got his own band, and there's Crosswinds.

Crosswinds and Joe Garrett and Hatchie Bottom Boyz and Rudy Moore, Good Times Grass, Courthouse Pickers, then Scotty again and Becky Rowland and the Double Stops.

They're from here.

This mother and her two daughters, th.. -Real good.

-real good fiddle.

She teaches them harmony, and they're good.

Seven Mile Creek with Morris, she's been in college this past year, and so she's been really smoking with the college music, but she is so good, and she's been there several times when she was-- She has grown up with-- Her granddaddy plays the mandolin and the banjo.

Then Lisa Lambert, they're from Mississippi.

What about your favorite, the next thing, the dance contest?

Yes, I like the dance contest.

Now what type of dancing is that?

They call it bug dancing, of course, and square dancing, and we have it of all ages, up to 12-year-olds.

-And waltzing?

They waltz.

-Oh, yes, waltzing is my.. and we have some pretty good prizes for the dancing.

Up to 12-year-olds is one prize, 12 to 20, another category, and then on up to about 50, then on over 50, then the waltzes and the square dancers, they really cut up now.

Their prize is $300 the first, two circuits and on like that.

His buddy that always dances at Smithville, he was at- Holiday.

-at Holiday, at the fi.. and he's promised that they're going to come, so that's really going to help us bringing in some really talented dancers.

They always went to Smithville, see, and there was a conflict there because we were having on the same time, and now then we feel like they'll get to make it.

Then you've got Blake Hopper, he's from Jackson, isn't he?

-No, he's from Henderson.

-Henderson, I'm sorry.

Blake has been up in the mountains playing for about 20 years, all of the mountain shows up there, and he's moved back to Henderson, down, and he works as a-- Tourism or chamber?

Yes, they're a chamber.

They're at Henderson, he's got a real good band.

Very talented.

Most of them are from around here, but he's from Henderson.

Now this is the one, Ralph Stanley II, he's the one that you're tickled about, and the Clinch Mountain Boys.

Yes, that's right, he'll be there on Saturday- -At 6:30.

-right at 6:30, 6:30 to 7:30.

Of course, Ralph Stanley, his father, he's a legend to say the least.

What was that song that he had out, O Brother How Art Thou?

O Brother, Where Art Thou, yes.

He was the one that inspired that, his record.

That movie.

When I was with Mr. Monroe, we had a three-bus tour for a week.

It was him and Jesse and Bill Monroe, and his father, which was Ralph Stanley.

On Friday night, we made it back pretty close to Nashville.

We had a program and his mother brought him out there.

He was about seven years old, so I haven't saw him since, so I'll see him over there.

Of course, his father passed away, and he took the band and kept it going.

Ralph Stanley II now.

Then after them it'll be Billy Droze and the Kentucky Blue.

One thing you haven't told, it's all free, it's all free.

That's why I was asking, are you going to-- It's all free.

-Yes.

-Yes.

So this is like the best.. to this world-renowned music and show, and it's all free.

It's all free.

Wayne says if you don't like it, he'll give you your money back.

[laughter] Yes.

It sounds like a lot of these acts, it's something that's passed down from generation to generation.

What is it about bluegrass music that really is part of family traditions?

It's like you said, generation to generation.

We play Sally Gooden and one old tune that, when my great-granddaddy was in prison in the Civil War, he wrote some words to it, The Girl I Left Behind Me.

It's been in the family since then, besides the others.

I play The Mockingbird, that's the one that I went to audition at the Peabody Hotel and won a trip to Miami Beach, Florida.

This goes back to 1855, so most of these tunes have been around before Bill Monroe or me or any of the rest of them, and it's hands-on down, they were pretty good numbers.

The fast ones, the square dance, really kept them alive.

In the communities, they'd take down the beds in the back room and have a square dance there about every week or two, especially in the fall after the crops have [?]

by and the old fast tunes, Sally Gooden and Katie Hill and all that was played and we still play them.

It's a pretty good tune.

Do they still teach square dancing in schools?

I know when I was in elementary school, we all had to square dance.

We did in 4H.

Okay, and my folks were part of a square dancing club tha..

I think, monthly, I think in the fall after harvest usually out in the country at someone's big farm, and they did square dancing.

We've had square dancing around that was really strong back probably 15 years ago, and I don't know of anyone in Savannah-- Now, Lexington, Pat Mitchell, they have a square dancing group, and they'll be there.

They've been really practicing and they win just about every year but they're going to have some competition this year we're hoping with the Smithville bunch.

It's really exciting, but I wanted to brag a minute.

When we first moved up to the courthouse, on the courthouse steps there are my grandchildren, and they're all playing the fiddle.

One of them is playing the mandolin but they could all play the fiddle.

Wayne, well, we were out in Texas at a rodeo, and my granddaughter, she says, "Mimi, I want to learn how to play- Tennessee Waltz.

-Tennessee Waltz."

So I called him on the phone, and I left the room, and when I came back in, Morgan could play the Tennessee Waltz just like a breeze.

It's excellent.

I was so proud that we have that video and those pictures of all my granddaughters being up there with him.

They've all played with him except the baby.

The baby hadn't played with him yet.

Not yet.

Not yet, but she will.

I see it coming this summer because she's really getting into the fiddle.

For those of you out there that have been watching Tennessee is Talking from the start, we had featured Wayne when his song, Tennessee, Tennessee, was named an official state song here in Tennessee.

Are you asked to play that a lot now that it's an official state song?

Quite a bit, quite a bit.

Sure do.

We were honored a mont.. the Daughters of American Revolution, and that's what they wanted.

We played other songs, but Tennessee, Tennessee was why they called us, is why they called.

Well, let's stop talking about all these great performances at the Savannah Bluegrass.

Channel 11 has been covering this for many, many years, and let's take a clip.

We got a clip of a show from the 2008 Savannah Bluegrass Festival right on the river.

Let's take a look at that now.

[music] When we were little children Out playing, having fun When things would go wrong To Mama, I would run With her understanding way My troubles she would share When I needed you mom You were there You were always there mom Always there for me Always there mom Always there for me When I think of my foolish dreams And some of them came true You could have discouraged me But that just wasn't you You were my inspiration You did more than you're share When I needed you mom You were there You were always there mom Always there for me Always there mom Always there for me Bring up a child the way he should go He won't depart when they are old And mom your strength and courage Keeps burning in my soul I believe a mother's love Affects eternity For your words of wisdom were always there for me Now you'll always be there mom Always there for me You'll always be there mom Always there for me.

You were always there mom Always there for me You'll be always there mom And you'll always be.

[applause] As you can see, it really is great music and it's all for free.

It's coming up when again?

What are the dates?

July-- 11th and 12th.

11th and 12th, Savannah, on the river and then they move downtown to the pavilion.

To the market.

Market, okay.

Savannah Market, right across from the ..

If you've not been, this is the best time to come.

-Totally free.

-Totally free.

It might be a little hot but that just makes the music all the much more better, [laughter] -Right.

-You're right.

Have you ever said, "I can't play because it's too.. Don't believe in hell, sure don't.

Hey there's a few times at Christmas when we're playing outside and they were bringing heaters in because we were freezing.

He said, "I think it's time to go home."

[laughs] You still play every week, ..

Yes.

Oh, we play tonight.

You play all the time.

All the time.

Savannah, this is going on, but you also have the big rodeo coming up too.

-We do.

-And that's the week after.

Yes, at the fairgrounds, and we'll be playing at 6:30.

The gates will open at 6:00.

We're the pre-show, but the rodeo brings in over 1,000 people a night, so we are a big draw to Hardin County.

The city and the county, they support us so much, and we just appreciate it because we couldn't just do it without the help of the city and the county.

What does the Savannah Bluegrass Hustle, the rodeo, what does that mean to the community?

It brings in people from all over the United States.

We've had people from England that were just passing through and they heard about the Bluegrass Festival, and we got to meet them two or three years ago down the river.

You have no idea where your influence is, just like PBS, where it stops and starts because of the way that people hear and they talk about it.

Wherever they're staying, they'll say, "What's going on in your town?"

I know several people that own Airbnbs, and they make a list of everything to do that month in Savannah.

People really enjoy coming out, and especially free entertainment, which is quality entertainment.

Lots of people, while they're there, they want to go ahead and tour a little in the county, Shiloh and points of interest.

Pickwick's a big draw.

Yes.

It's so beautiful up there.

If you've been to Savannah for Christmas on Main, which is, you've got to go to that, this is the other got-to-go-to event, is the Savannah Bluegrass Festival coming up.

Thank you guys so much for joining us today- You're welcome.

-and sharing with us and for organizing t..

They act like you're getting paid a lot of money.

It's a labor of love, isn't it?

[laughter] That's right.

It usually costs you a lot of money, doesn't it?

Yes.

One of the fellas down the.. of course, he didn't make any money.

He said, "We don't have much fun, but we sure make a lot of money."

He got it right to reverse is what he was trying to say.

[laughter] Well, thank you for doing all that you do for Hardin County, Savannah, and everyone, and to keep bluegrass music alive and appreciated.

It's something that we don't want to ever lose.

Thank you.

Thank you for having us.

We're out of time for this edition of Tennessee is Talking, but we do, again, want to thank Wayne and Freeda for joining us once again on Tennessee is Talking and telling us more about the Savannah Bluegrass Festival and the big rodeo coming up.

If you want to re-watch this program or share it with a friend, remember, it can be streamed anytime on the PBS app, along with all of our local Channel 11 programs.

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Until next time, keep on talking, Tennessee.

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