FOLK FEST SUMMER

VISIONS OF PARADISE

                               

 Just like a blind man I wandered alone

Worries and fears I claimed for my own
Then like the blind man that God gave back his sight

Praise the Lord I saw the light.

                                                   Hank Williams

By Doc Lawrence   

ATLANTA-I met Rita Wood at the end of a rousing rendition of the Hank Williams song, “I Saw the Light,” by a talented blues singer. She was taking a break from greeting potential buyers at her family’s exhibition at Folk Fest, the largest folk art show in the country, held for the past 20 years just outside Atlanta. “I play fiddle,” Rita told me, “and my husband’s quite an artist.”

RITA (L), DAWG AND ROBERTINE

I walked over to the Dawg’s Art booth, one of about 100 at the three-day show, and met James “Dawg” Wood who introduced me to his art and told me his story. The revelations were similar to those self-taught artisans I know and have been writing about for many years. The common threads tend to be home, land, family, community and humor. Dawg’s works, displayed for the crowds packed into the exhibition hall, told a visual story about life and heritage in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, supplemented by Rita’s revelations about weekly jams at the Phipps Country Store.

Do they dance? “It’s flat-foot,” replied Dawg who demonstrated the ancient steps, confirming that I had seen this performed a few years back in Galax, Virginia.

MISSIONARY MARY WITH NEW PAL

Dawg has enjoyed some success that eludes many folk artists, having won the admiration of Atlanta-headquartered Coca-Cola Company with one of his paintings that had an image of an old Coke machine, a bit of nostalgia that turned into a profit and some notoriety for the resident of Lansing, North Carolina.

Folk Fest draws visitors from museum curators and art collectors to people who love the color and authenticity of what I call Americana. Officials from the Smithsonian, the American Museum of Folk Art, colleges and universities hobnob with folks who search for that painting or wood carving to brighten up a dull room. The rich and famous stand beside children from rural areas; housewives take a weekend off to look for a hand-crated ceramic angel to put on a mantel. Art and democracy blend seamlessly.

PAINTING BY LORENZO SCOTT

After taking some photos, I said goodbye to everyone, promising to visit Lansing and Ashe County soon. “David Holt is a friend,” Rita said, “and he’s stayed with us at our home.” Holt, a Grammy Award winner and the longtime host of Public Radio’s “Riverwalk Jazz” is a man I admire and knew someday I would indeed make the trip north, driving on roads near the course of the New River in time for a jam at the Phipps Country Store.

Missionary Mary Proctor lives in Tallahassee and has connections with a higher power that few enjoy. Tragedy like the loss of her son never deterred her deep beliefs and contagious optimism. Life goes on, there’s a better world waiting and look on the sunnyside are prevalent themes. I have her works on my walls at home and a favorite shows a woman dancing, holding some daffodils, inscribed with: “Blessed are the hands that giveth flowers.”

ERIC LEGEE

No artist does Biblical scenes like the great Lorenzo Scott, a master whose works are in museums from Atlanta’s High Museum of Art to the Smithsonian. Eric Legee still paints on found wood in his Blue Ridge mountain home in rural Rabun County, Georgia, and his themes range from the Dalai Lama to blues legend Robert Johnson. Braselton, Georgia’s Chris Hobe produces what he calls ”revolt art,” a populist expression of current events. When you see it, stops you in your tracks. Precise, detailed and provocative, it’s subject to multiple interpretations like many works by classic artists.

The year is nearing the end of the third season and late summer is a perfect time for Folk Fest: Heat and humidity, endless rain, old friends, the joy of being in the same room and breathing the same air with children, old men, couples holding hands and unconsciously doing some toe-tapping to live music is the perfect backdrop for this edition of Folk Fest.

As Missionary Mary Proctor says, “to be happier, you have to be in heaven.”

BEHIND THE RED DOOR

Community Theater Thrives in Alabama

By Doc Lawrence

UNION SPRINGS, Alabama-The arts in this Deep South state seem to aspire to be on equal footing with college football. When traveling in Alabama, I've beheld a rich tradition of writing, acting, music and dance along with other impressive examples of visual and performing arts. This beautiful community near Montgomery, home to the Red Door Theatre, has earned the right to be known as a performing arts destination, a worthy place for travelers to enjoy the miracles from the live stage.

The Red Door’s most recent production, See Rock City is both a play and the iconic name introduced to the world by a sign painter named Clark Byers, who painted “See Rock City” on the roofs of barns as far north as Michigan and as far west as Texas.  The play is concerned with the small events and the major blows that befall a young couple in the first year of their marriage. The story is gentle and not lengthy but deeply focused on the cares and concerns of a family dealing with the joys and limitations of their lives as best they can while taking pleasure in small things. This quiet masterpiece confirms Arlene Hutton as a playwright to be reckoned with.

Do you have to move to find happiness? Is there contentment through acceptance? Taken together, these suggest an exploration of that universal query: How deep is your love? See Rock City, set in the last days of WWII, is an Appalachian tale loaded with challenging and relevant issues that stick with you.

The Red Door Theatre is located in what once was an Episcopal church. Most everything regarding the original from the exterior, the stained glass and stage remain. Actors and sets have replaced preachers and pulpits. Some very creative locals have made it into a fine example of restoration and preservation, a warm place to connect souls with the magic of an entertaining production.

Union Springs and the Red Door Theatre offer an enchanting opportunity to experience a small Southern town while taking in a professional theatrical performance. The productions offer audiences the opportunity to enjoy the wonders from the live stage in an intimate 160-seat venue. And, there’s a big bonus: Union Springs is well known for its beautiful countryside and many stately antebellum homes and historic buildings.

Close your eyes and listen. You might hear Atticus and Scout talking.

More information:

www.reddoortheatre.org

www.unionspringsalabama.com

FOLK FEST

THE WORLD’S BEST FOLK ART SHOW

 By Doc Lawrence

ATLANTA-This weekend is the 20^th edition of the most colorful, family friendly art extravaganza in America. My first visit to Folk Fest got me hooked on the magic that comes from talking to artists and gallery owners about the paintings, wood carvings, face jugs, painted walking canes and objects that defy description. Here, in a large auditorium ordinarily used for trade shows, self-taught, outsider artists gather for three glorious days of pure joy and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Folk Fest provided the opportunity for me to meet Reverend Howard Finster, the sage of Summerville, Georgia who painted according to God’s instructions. The great Myrtice West began painting scenes based on the Book of Revelations after her daughter was murdered. O. L. Samuels, once a prizefighter from rural South Georgia, said he could walk through the woods and certain sticks and fallen limbs would “talk," He took them home, carved images with a knife and painted what he heard. Each of them (and many more) have their works in the Smithsonian.

Wood Construction by Ab the Flagman

The brainchild of a delightful couple, Amy and Steve Slotin, Folk Fest has grown in size and reputation. Many of the artists are from highly inaccessible parts of the rural South. Their art is inspired by spirits and an environment most would never experience. In other words, the homogenization of their culture hasn’t happened, but many are on up in the years and their talents likely will pass away as they leave this planet. America and in particular the Deep South will be the lesser.

Parking is free. Food and beverages are available from several vendors, the facility is very comfortable and you’ll be hard pressed to find anything other than smiling faces and interesting conversation.

Visionary Painting by Helen LaFrance

Collecting folk art is an adventure that can be a profitable. I have early works of several notables like Ms. West, Reverend Finster and Lorenzo Scott, which have appreciated exponentially. I will never sell them because I love how I feel when I’m working with these mounted on my walls.

Come on over to Folk Fest beginning Friday evening. Meet many of the greatest of all artists, listen to the blues and let the kids enjoy themselves. There is no other experience like it.

I’ll be there, meeting old friends, making some new ones.

For directions and more information, go to www.slotinfolkart.com .

ATLANTA'S BEDROCK RESTAURANTS

Name Your Favorites

By Doc Lawrence

ATLANTA-The call from a big media editor triggered memories of delicious meals, gregarious hosts and terrifically interesting venues. “What do you remember about Atlanta’s older restaurants? Were any in Atlanta truly distinctive?” she asked. I remembered enough to start a conversation and even surprised myself that some were still around. The idea was to produce a retrospective: Good places to dine in an earlier version of Atlanta, making the case that the city has a rich dining background long before today’s boom with the revolving door of restaurant openings and closings.

Mary Mac’s Tea Room is still serving to packed houses with a clientele that on occasion includes Jimmy Carter and the Dalai Lama. The Colonnade on Cheshire Bridge holds strong with roots going back several generations. And Petite Auberge near Emory University is still serving French and German cuisine, adding performances by the Capital City Opera Company each month

But who remembers Dale’s Cellar, a first-rate gourmet restaurant in the basement of the Imperial Hotel? The Paradise Room in the state-owned Henry Grady Hotel. Jim Sanders’ Top of Peachtree? Leb's, Herren’s, Emile’s, or Ship Ahoy, all within two blocks of the Rialto and the Balzar Theatre? I can almost taste the chicken pot pie at Rich’s  Magnolia Room, which featured a Nathalie Dupree-inspired menu.

 

The Coach and Six was always packed and you could eat your weight in broiled lobster tails at The Crossroads in Midtown. Downtown had standard bearers like The Diplomat, a true supper club. The 70’s were the heyday of Joe Dale’s Cajun House. Sorrento’s served Italian cuisine with live Atlanta jazz by the legendary Roy Mays and the All Stars. Harry’s Steakhouse on Spring Street was just around the corner from Johnny Reb’s.

Black-owned restaurants were wonderful and thrived even during the sad days of racial segregation. Paschal’s and Shepherd’s come to mind, but there were many others.

These restaurants were almost exclusively locally owned and words like fresh or local sourced weren’t needed. Customers assumed this.

My memory has its limits. Many recall places where families enjoyed Sunday dinners, birthday and anniversary celebrations or a good place to have a meal with cocktails and wines. Share these recollections and I’ll use them. Photographs and old menus are invaluable. I have several and the prices for entrees are a far cry from today’s 40 bucks for previously frozen salmon served with mysterious lines of liquids.

This will be the major part of a feature story with television on the horizon. Join the fun with your memories, menus and photos.

Doc Lawrence: editors@docsnews.com .

CARL WHITE'S CAROLINA BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

TV HOST ENJOYS A BIRTHDAY

There are some things which cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring. They are simple things, and because it takes a man’s life to know them, the little new that each man gets from life is very costly and the only heritage he has to leave.
                                                                                           Ernest Hemingway

By Doc Lawrence

NORTH WILKESBORO, NC-This in bedrock America, a Deep South counterpart to the landing long ago by Pilgrims in New England. Early settlers here were independent-minded, hardy men and women who loved land and the fruits of the soil. They remain today “God-fearin’” people, as my ancestors would say, and what they believed and built had permanence. Their progeny is all over this region of North Carolina and no person embodies all that makes North Carolina so special than TV’s Carl White who celebrates his birthday this weekend.

“Life in the Carolinas,” Mr. White’s highly popular brainchild is syndicated throughout North and South Carolina, reaching millions of homes, delivering a light-hearted, high-quality program that showcases everything from the arts and folkways to Yadkin Valley wines and Bluegrass music. Not since Charles Karult’s CBS program,  “On the Road," has there been a television series that honors the grassroots culture of a region. Karault, also a Tar Heel, had an eye for humor and poignancy, gifts skillfully employed by Carl White.

While quite contemporary, White’s “Life in the Carolinas,” has spiritual roots in Karult’s. "On the Road" which became a regular CBS News feature. Karult wore out six motor homes during his tenure, but Mr. White’s Lincoln Town Car is holding steady after five years. Much like Karult, the show is produced by a small, albeit gifted crew and where possible, Interstates are avoided (they “allow you to drive coast to coast, without seeing anything" Karult said), in favor of back roads, in search of Carolina’s people and their way of living.

My first encounter with Carl White was in the deep and dangerous waters of the mighty Tuckasegee River in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina near Sylva. I was trout fishing in icy waters when I met the host standing in the stream, holding his microphone. With a cameraman positioned on a nearby rock like a sniper, he inquired if I was having any luck and where I was from. Although the current was swift, and the rocks needed for balance were slippery, the interview remained light-hearted and at times funny.

We never fell in the river. A friendship began.

CARL WHITE'S CAST AND CREW

After many bottles of what Carl White calls “good Carolina wine,” and all night story telling occasionally with strangers is such places like the Outer Banks, downtown Charlotte, Lake Oconee south of Atlanta and points in between, I’ve yet to hear him speak one mean-spirited word or make a cruel reference to anyone, a pretty high claim to clean living in a media culture dominated by empty talking heads. White is a composite of what makes North Carolina such a special place: Classic old school media and celebrity in the tradition of Andy Griffith, James Taylor, Doc Watson, Thomas Wolfe, Earl Scruggs, Ava Gardner, David Brinkley, Charlie Rose and Mr. Karult.

A few days during production at Merrily Teasley’s gorgeous Balsam Mountain Inn near Western Carolina University included mountain dancing, sing-alongs, food and wines and an opportunity to give and receive, the secret ingredient for making new friends. True to Carl White’s formula, the mixture was balanced: Families, technicians, Native-Americans, actors, cooks, musicians and one genuine celebrity, Grammy-Award winner David Holt, the talented host of Public Radio’s “Riverwalk Jazz.”

At dinner, a toast was proposed, observing that life was a wonderful interaction between “good hopes and precious memories.”

DINNER AT BALSAM MOUNTAIN INN

Carl White’s “Life in the Carolinas” could be the biggest tourism bargain not just in the two states but also anywhere in the country. Each show reaches the

multitudes with a message that something wonderful is going on by the hour in these nooks and crannies of America’s heartland, beckoning us to come visit and stay awhile.

I join Carl White’s many friends in celebrating. Time and distance mean nothing this weekend. I have a bottle of delicious RagApple Lassie wine from the Yadkin Valley and every sip pairs perfectly with a toast to North Carolina’s extraordinary messenger to the world. He gives his time and resources and this weekend we give our gratitude.

Happy Birthday, Carl!

HEMINGWAY IN JULY

Papa’s Birthday

"It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end."        Ernest Hemingway

By Doc Lawrence

KEY WEST. The guy is still around. His island home here stays packed and images of him are omnipresent. Less than a hundred miles south in Havana, Ernest Hemingway is just as popular and revered.

Today is the birthday of the Nobel Prize winner and his fame keeps on growing. Along with his popularity is just as much challenge of his skill, storytelling, technique and lifestyle. Hemingway was always bigger than life anyway and the man who said, “there is no friend as loyal as a book” likely wouldn’t be particularly concerned with critical commentary,

The lines can be long here at his home, easily the most visited place on the island. Everything remains in place and you can even buy some interpretive art from sidewalk artists. I have a one called “Papa with a hangover.” It will be framed and occupy a hallowed place by my keyboard.

I have visited his home in Cuba and in Key West. Beyond the books, typewriters, Picasso paintings and celebrity mementoes, I was impressed by his limestone wine cellar in Key West and the full bar he maintained in both homes. Papa, as he was universally called, had a love for life that was nearly as strong as his fascination with death, dominant theme in classics likes The Snows of Kilmanjaro and For Whom The Bell Tolls.

Hemingway adored women and disdained weak men. His boat, the Pilar, was named for the strong gypsy woman, the bravest soldier in For Whom the Bell Tolls. Friendships included Ingrid Bergman, Karen Blixen and Gertrude Stein. His admiration for Ava Gardner landed her career-making roles in The Sun Also Rises and The Snows of Kilmanjaro.

 

Papa's Key West Home

Cocktails are appropriately associated with Papa. Beginning with his early Paris days, he and his entourage, particularly F. Scott Fitzgerald, drank at places like Harry’s New York Bar, the birthplace of the Sidecar, a venerable cocktail that is still popular.

Havana was paradise for this man. Hemingway’s lifelong routine was to rise early, write until mid-afternoon, walk to his neighborhood bar, and, over cocktails, share stories with locals. Although one of the world’s best known celebrities, Papa was comfortable with grassroots people, whether Cuba, Spain, Africa, Cuba or America. Guys and gals he knew in bars appeared in great stories like The Old Man and the Sea and The Sun Also Rises. “Don't you drink? He wrote.  “I notice you speak slightingly of the bottle. I have drunk since I was fifteen and few things have given me more pleasure. When you work hard all day with your head and know you must work again the next day what else can change your ideas and make them run on a different plane like whisky? When you are cold and wet what else can warm you? Before an attack who can say anything that gives you the momentary well-being that rum does? The only time it isn't good for you is when you write or when you fight. You have to do that cold. But it always helps my shooting. Modern life, too, is often a mechanical oppression and liquor is the only mechanical relief.”

Would we have the daiquiri or mojito today without Hemingway?  His years in Havana and Key West were energized by his love for rum. Papa wrote “My mojito at the Bodeguita” in Spanish on the wall in La Bodeguita del Medio where it remains today. The Papa Doble, called the Hemingway Daiquiri was crafted in Havana’s La Floridita, a favorite hangout during his years on the island.

During visits to Paris, he regularly stayed at the Ritz. Papa’s preferred cocktail there was the Montgomery Martini. Craig Boreth writes in his marvelously entertaining The Hemingway Cookbook: “Like James Bond, Hemingway, too, had his special martini: the Montgomery. Named after the World War II British General, Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, who would not attack unless he outnumbered the enemy fifteen to one, Hemingway’s martini contains that same proportion of gin to vermouth.” Papa’s ingredients, according to Boreth, were Gordon’s Gin and Noilly Prat Vermouth.

Hemingway left some profound observations: “There are some things which cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring. They are the very simplest things and because it takes a man's life to know them the little new that each man gets from life is very costly and the only heritage he has to leave.”

On a July afternoon, the heat calls for rum. A daiquiri or mojito? The mojito, a first cousin of the mint julep, seems appropriate for a toast. A salute to all that Papa gave us.

TAILGATING DOWN SOUTH 2013

A New Season of Kickoff Feasts

By Doc Lawrence

ATHENS, GA- Like all college towns, everything is quiet at the moment, a brief  Dog Days interlude before the start of college football, just beyond the horizon. When the first home game in the Classic City begins, many thousands will be satisfied with the delights from the pre-game tailgating, great food increasingly as creative as many of the items on top restaurant menus, all served with ample portions of wine, cocktails, beer, sweet iced tea and goodwill.

Frank Spence, a former Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Falcons top executive is a familiar face here and occupies the lofty position of being the unofficial historian for the tailgating nation. Franks story is even more compelling because it ties in the Civil War Sesquicentennial. “Tailgating here is a hallowed culinary ritual,” according to Mr. Spence,  “ it’s core heritage, vital bedrock and a high-octane picnic as Deep South as grits with red-eye gravy.”

Frank Spence believes that the 1861 “Great Skeedadle” and the law of unintended consequences launched the first tailgating party. A native of Nashville, Spence was referring to the Union Army retr

eat after the first battle of Manassas. “Congressmen, accompanied by beautiful women, set up colorful tents for a fancy hillside picnic to view the assumed quick destruction of the fledgling Confederate Army. Unaware of the looming defeat, party wagons-forerunners of today’s caterers- arrived loaded with picnic baskets filled with fancy food, and cases of expensive French Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne. Reacting to the sudden bad turn of events, lawmakers and their ladies fled back to Washington’s fortified safety, abandoning the unpacked goodies. Exhausted Southern soldiers
removed the food and wine from the rear of the wagons and celebrated, going home after the war to share the amazing memories.”

Thus, says the ebullient Mr. Spence, tailgating was born.

Last year. among the wonderful tailgating recipes we found, Josh Butler, Florida’s “Top Chef” under three governors, had the winner in his “Dog Island Grouper Burger.” The search has already started for dishes with this much imagination, local connections and flavors. The local features are impressive: Dog Island is a short distance from FSU’s stadium, Butler
is a home grown chef who serves what he prepares to tailgaters and dish includes local ingredients with everything prepared just before kickoff.

I’ll start the new season at Tuscaloosa, Athens, Tallahassee, Clemson and Knoxville. That’s just the beginning. It’s a long way from August to the bowl games of December and January.

As in past years, appropriate wines and cocktail recipes will be showcased.

All recipes are welcome. If you have photos of people enjoying the feast, send them and we’ll use them. editors@docsnews.com .

May your team go undefeated in 2013!