MURFREESBORO, TN – Uncle Dave Macon Days is transitioning from a “music competition” to a “music fest”, and their inaugural “ROOTS RENDEZVOUS MUSIC FEST” is set for birthing at Hop Spring at 4:30PM on Friday evening (Sept. 6, 2024) and back again for an 11AM-9PM line-up on Saturday (Sept. 7, 2024).

For performance times, check www.rootsrendezvous.com/schedule

Hop Springs Sept. 6-7

Festival organizer Gloria Christy told WGNS that the September event at Hop Springs will focus on the entertainment from this area that fed country music and the Grand Ole Opry in those early days...

$10 Parking Fee/Everyone In Vehicle Admitted FREE

Price should not keep people away either. The only fee charged is for parking. That one $10 rate allows everyone in the vehicle to attend the festival. Gates will open at 4:00 o’clock Friday night (9/6/2024) with the first show at 4:30PM.

Cripple Creek Cloggers and Steve Cates

The style of entertainment that originated in this area not only included Uncle Dave Macon, but also dance troupes like the Cripple Creek Cloggers, whose Appalachian style square dancing can be traced to Ireland, Scotland and other parts of Europe are this area’s musical ambassadors spreading our heritage around the world.

“From Harvest to Hoedown”, the 2024 Roots Rendezvous at Hop Springs will highlight the music and dance legacy of Middle Tennessee. For the first time in 57 years under the direction of founder, Steve Cates, the Cripple Creek Cloggers will be performing in the Kittrell community since their organizational days as the Kittrell and Rutherford County Square Dancers in 1967. An Uncle Dave Macon Days favorite, The Slim Chance Band will accompany the dancers on Saturday, September 7 at 3:00. Hot Springs is a stone’s throw away from where the hoedown music originated and performed. All this will be celebrated near where roots music began in Rutherford County, Tennessee on the front- porches, in the parlors, and at the barn raisins of the 19th century and early 20th century.

Fine Craft & Visual Arts Too

ROOTS RENDEZVOUS AT HOP SPRINGS is where you’ll have the opportunity to witness, interact, and collect the uniquely creative renderings of many fine craft and visual artists. Organizers are excited to introduce elements of cultural inclusion from our friends, ‘Boro International, the talent of MTSU Art, the students of the MTSU Department of Art and Design, and the work of Murfreesboro favorites associated with the Stones River Crafts Association’s ‘Boro Art Crawl.

Without a doubt, this event will have a lasting impact on the fabric of the community. Not only will Roots Rendezvous feature made-in-America music but the event promises to be the ultimate in shared worldwide traditions.

Meant To Be

Christy told how a print style used for vintage showbiz posters is being incorporated into the print pieces about the upcoming Roots Rendezvous presented by Uncle Dave Macon Days. She described it as a split-fountain style.

Unknowingly, Gloria’s son, Ben Wilson, was so impressed with the design of a book titled “Teaching Values”. It was a guide on helping educators improve their skills. Local Murfreesboro City School Superintendent Baxter Hobgood along with Graphic and Photographic Designer Richard C. Shacklett.

Ironically, Gloria did not have a copy of the 1960’s book that was designed by her father. A teaching cohort of Gloria was Betsy Murfree who had one of the publications and gave it to her friend.

She realized that the silhouetted family on the front of the book, and now being used in the upcoming Roots Rendezvous promotions, was more than likely actually her family.

This coming September’s festival at Hop Springs will also spotlight square dancing on Saturday night. It will include the Cripple Creek Cloggers, Dixie Dew Drop Jamboree and talent to Carpe Artista in Smyrna.

Bedford County Mules

In addition, the mule skinners that Gloria befriended from Bedford County last year will be a part of the September 6th and 7th performances. She noted that Uncle Dave could not stand motorized vehicles, because he felt it was out to end his mule-driven delivery service that ran between Murfreesboro and Woodbury.

Uncle Dave--Biggest Funeral in TN

And boy was Uncle Dave popular. His funeral on March 23, 1952, at First Methodist Church in downtown Murfreesboro is believed to be the largest ever held in the State of Tennessee.  A newspaper account notes that more than 5,000 either attended visitation or the funeral.

Murfreesboro Police reported that the sanctuary was already full an hour and a half before the service, while hundreds waited outside.

In addition, the 5-mile procession from the downtown church to the Coleman Cemetery in the Kittrell Community was bumper-to-bumper for the 81-year-old country music star.

Uncle Dave Days Beginnings

The inaugural festival was on the Murfreesboro square July 8, 1978, and was created by legendary Murfreesboro businessman and pharmacist Jesse Messick.

Much has happened during the 46-year span from the beginning Uncle Dave Macon Banjo Pick’n Contest and the upcoming festival at Hop Springs, 6790 John Bragg Highway in Murfreesboro.  Ironically, much also remains very similar in the two-miles that lies between the music event and the cemetery in which Uncle Dave continues to rest-in-peace.

And a special THANK YOU to Gloria Christy, who has been creating events over the decades that promote this community’s unique musical background. May each activity bring the Heart of Tennessee closer to having a museum and concert venue that will share this entertainment history with students, residents and tourists traveling the same route that Uncle Dave took weekly by bus between the Historic Rutherford County Courthouse and Nashville.

Conversation with Gloria

Here is the full conversation with Gloria Christy...