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Sarah Cahill photo
Kickin’ It On The Creek
Dan Johnson, banjoist for “Padre" Paul Handelman.
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Sarah Cahill photo
Kickin’ It On The Creek
Amberly Winfrey Caddell and Aaron Smith during the Brother Smith performance.
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Sarah Cahill photo
Kickin’ It On The Creek
Maggie Noelle of Magnolia Boulevard.
Meandering slowly down Spencer Ridge Road in the rural depths of Eastern Kentucky, it’s been a while since I’ve has passed a house or another vehicle.
The one-lane dirt road is eerily silent, more so when the sun falls behind these desolate, mysterious mountains of Southern Appalachia. The air of late September is now cool through the open windows of the old truck, with cell service lost over an hour ago.
And just when I think I’m about the drive off the edge of the earth, headlights appear up around the next winding curve. I flash my high-beams at the unknown truck to stop. It obliges.
“Excuse me, am I going the right way to…” I inquire, only to get cut off by the friendly voice, “To Kickin’ It On The Creek? Keep goin’ a lil’ while longer—can’t miss it.”
“A lil’ while longer” I roll up into a remote holler, with the nearest town of Irvine (pop: 2,715) a half-hour away. The backwoods gathering (capped at 1,000 attendees) takes place in the front yard of Byron Roberts’ cabin residence.
He and the rest of the Roberts family open not only the gates of the almost 200-acre property, but also their hearts to the throngs of friends, family and the curious alike for the annual music festival, now in its fifth year.
“Music is a healer in your life and this festival is the best kept secret in Southern Appalachia” Bryon said backstage (which is the Roberts’ cabin). “It’s all about love and respect in this place. It’s about rising up and helping one another out. All those musicians onstage and all those faces in the crowd—they’re all family to me, all my brothers and sisters trying to get by in this world by working together.”
What initially started out as a 21st birthday celebration for Byron’s son, Kenton, has now transformed into an awe-inspiring celebration of legend and lore within the musical circles of Kentucky and surrounding states. Some five years ago, Kenton befriended a little-known Kentucky singer-songwriter by the name of Tyler Childers.
In an effort to raise the funds needed for Childers to enter the recording studio, the Roberts held the inaugural KIOTC. The event was such a barnburner of a success, all involved decided to keep the party going each September.
And this year was no different, with Childers headlining alongside several rising Kentucky acts (The Wooks, Kelsey Waldon, Magnolia Boulevard) and other melodic firestorms from around the southeast (Town Mountain, Larry Keel Experience, Ona).
Stepping into the Roberts’ cabin on Friday evening, Town Mountain is warming up around a large table before another footstompin’ showcase. A couple jars of highly-potent local moonshine are passed around; so are large helpings of barbecue and whatever else was cooked fresh on the massive grill behind the building.
The mesmerizing tones of the Asheville, North Carolina, string band soak into the old wood beams of the cabin, soon echoing out onto the main field when someone opens the door to have a smoke or simply look up at the brightly-lit stars in the crystal-clear backwoods sky.
“This place is a rarity in the music scene. It still has that private party feeling, but there’s also around 60 bands onstage throughout the weekend—it’s really like a family reunion for all of us touring musicians,” said Robert Greer, singer/guitarist for Town Mountain. “There are no outside distractions, people here just focus on the music and on each other. It’s hard for me to put my finger on it, other than that it’s no accident, either. The folks who throw this party deeply care about those who are here.”
Leading up to the recent gathering, Childers latest album “Country Squire”—a rollicking whirlwind of hard Appalachian truths and down-home melodies—reached #1 on the Billboard Country albums chart and hit #12 on the Billboard 200.
“There’s always been good music in these hills of Kentucky. And it has just kind of filtered out through the years of country and bluegrass stars that have emerged from here,” said Jesse Wells, fiddler/guitarist for Childers, backstage before the band’s Saturday night performance. “People still want to identify with their past and their families who’ve made this music for generations. They want to feel human, especially nowadays in the digital age. I grew up in an age where I wanted to just play music as my own entertainment, and I think there are enough people who understand the importance of the culture and being able to identify with your neighbors.”
Wells’ sentiments are shared by C.J. Cain, the lead guitarist for The Wooks, a wild string ensemble from up the road in Lexington. Cain is also a cousin of Bryon and the Roberts family. Following his set, Cain takes a seat at a nearby picnic table and gazes over at the brightly lit stage and roaring audience.
“You just disconnect from the world and love each other, man. No cell service, a good band, a cold beer, and a friend next to you—what more do you need?” Cain smiled. “Society is so separated and so divided now with everything else going on in the world—with politics, with this and that and the other—I feel that people can really just forget about that and hang out with their friends, play some music. This one of the last vestiges of letting your hair down.”