Each time we drive down to visit my mom, we select a different route, aiming to see different sights along the way down and back, meet up with friends, and hopefully find opportunities to play music. For this trip, we opted for a relatively western route through the Appalachian Mountains. The timing would be great for us to visit 2 national parks we’d not yet visited, and it would be peak foliage season in both – New River Gorge and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks.
Coincidentally, and serendipitously, 2 Drumeos we met in the last year were in our most direct path through the mountains. Wanna jam?
Zac
Last year, we met Zac (ZDrums) at his home near Raleigh NC. You can read all about it here. Since then, he’s moved 3 hours to the west so Zac and Rose – and Max – now live in the foothills of the Blue Ridge in the Appalachians, right in the middle of our new route south. Can we visit again? After all, Zac was so busy last year we didn’t get a chance to jam!
Yes! Of course we had to catch up a bit and get a tour of Zac and Rose’s new place – a lovely home in a nice neighborhood, with an awesome soundproof basement. We eventually made our way downstairs, where Zac has claimed half of the basement for his new studio and practice space. Centered on the drum kit, the studio is well equipped with keyboard, mics, PA, speakers, recording gear, and a great space for hanging out and playing or listening.
Zac and I swapped turns on the drums, laying down a groove for Doug on guitar and vocals. We played through a list of tunes we all knew, with lots of opinions and storytelling in between. We took a break and listened to several tunes from Zac’s archives – his touring bands from the 70’s and 80’s. We were honored to be the first guests in their new home and the first to make music in his new studio.
Here’s a sampling from our jam…
Shawna
We met Shawna (Music Dragon) – and Finn – a little more than a year ago in Florida. You can read all about that here. We were both visiting our moms who live 5 miles from each other. After spending time with Shawna, we knew she lived in the hills of North Carolina, but we didn’t know exactly where…
And it turns out that she lives in the small gateway community where the Blue Ridge Parkway meets the Great Smoky Mountains. OK, that may not be meaningful to everybody… To people who love the mountains, it’s the center of the Appalachian Universe! She lives a 5-minute drive from the Great Smokey Mountains NP campground where we were planning on staying. We visited for dinner and music, and she brought us on a tour to share with us a few of her favorite sites in the area, including The Road to Nowhere and the Nantahala Gorge.
Shawna brought Doug and me over to her house to jam one afternoon. With Doug on guitar and vocals, Shawna layed down a solid beat – it was 80’s alternative rock meets 70’s folk. Fun fusion! Then Shawna, who’s also a master guitar player, took out her guitar. She and Doug started trading solos, growing an incredible, organic guitar jam. I had no option but to grab some sticks and support them with a groove. Here’re a few highlights…
We were still in the National Park when Shawna’s band, The Shrubberies, had a rehearsal and we were invited not only to listen (awesome!) but to sit in! Shawna, Travis and Jason have a palpable chemistry as they play a mix of alt rock tunes and their originals. Just for fun, they tried a couple of our tunes with us, so I enjoyed playing a few more songs holding the rhythm with Jason on bass while Doug sang and Travis played ripping guitar solos. Honorary Shrubberies!
