Mucklewain is a music festival that was held on August 19, 2006, in a big field in Harriman, Tennessee. Actually, it was a southern rock and Americana music festival. Better yet, it was a damn good time.

Mucklewain is the brain child of Joie Todd Kerns and Johnny Mark Miller of Les Honky More Tonkies, a kick-ass southern rock band. They named the festival after Tunis Mucklewain, a Revolutionary War-era Melungeon who posed as an Indian to spy on the British.

Kerns and Miller wanted to create a “working man’s music festival” for hard working bands and fans. The intent was to keep costs down ($30 advance tickets, $45 at the gate) while providing a musical forum for southern American rock bands that don’t get much airplay.

We arrived at Mucklewain a little before noon, parked in a big field, and rode in a school bus to the festival. Upon arriving at the festival, the first band, Mic Harrison and the Hi Score, was already rocking. Some people might remember Mic Harrison from the V-Roys. The band got the crowd dancing with some upbeat country rock songs.

We found a nice shady spot on the hill overlooking the two stages, laid our towels down, and settled in for the day. Including the songwriter stage, there were 30 musicians and groups playing at Mucklewain. The majority of the bands played on either of the two main stages that were set up opposite each other in a large field. When one band finished playing, the next band would be ready to start on the opposite stage.

The smaller songwriters stage was set up at the top of the hill. The only time we really spent at this stage was listening to Webb Wilder. Although Webb performed solo, he still performed crowd favorites like “Human Cannonball” and delighted (confused?) the crowd with his wit (“I come from a part of Mississippi that processes stumps”).

Headliners for the festival were Scott Miller and the Commonwealth, Steve Earle, and Todd Snider. Scott Miller is a local favorite and whenever he performs in East Tennessee, a crowd forms. Mucklewain was no exception. Scott had the crowd singing and dancing as he performed songs off his new CD, “Citation“, as well as some songs off earlier CDs.

Steve Earle, performing solo with an acoustic guitar, opened with “F*** the FCC” but then played some old favorites including “Someday” and “I Ain’t Ever Satisfied.” He made a brief political statement about supporting the troops by bringing them home now before launching into “Rich Man’s War” and ended his set with “Copperhead Road.”

Todd Snider’s set was one of the most entertaining of the day. He performed with a full band, including Will Kimbrough and Tommy Womack and played songs from recent CDs, “The Devil You Know”, released in August, and “East Nashville Skyline”, released in 2004.We only wish he had shared more stories. He can make you laugh.

As with any music festival, there are always performances and occurrences that survive until the next day for you to share. Some of these for us were the following:

• Dash Rip Rock…the lyrics were funny, the tunes were upbeat, and the performance was entertaining.
• Brian Waldschlager channeling Mick Jagger as he pranced across the stage rocking the crowd with southern sounds.
• $2 COLD beer
• Sitting on the hill and watching people migrate between stages for each new band.
• Being enthralled by the righteous hula hoop girl.
• Every 30 – 45 minutes a cannon would go off…we suspect it was set up in a cornfield to keep the crows away but it always woke up the crowd.
  Les Honky More Tonkies defines the term Southern Rock. They were great.
• Both of Mary Ann’s sandals broke but the barbecue lady provided tape to hold them together.
• Brief rain showers were like a mist tent, very refreshing.
• More $2 COLD beer.
• Jason Ringenberg’s cowboy outfit. 
• Before and after performances a lot of the musicians were seen in the crowd and on the hill listening to other bands.
• Trent Summar and the New Row Mob. Loved the performance and can’t wait to see them perform again. Trent was all over the stage, kicking his legs in the air, doing jumping jacks, and copping a beautiful Heisman Trophy pose. The songs had energy and the lyrics were entertaining. The funniest part of the festival was when The Yayhoos told Trent to “Shut the f*** up” so they could perform.
• Kevin Kinney, formerly of Drivin ‘N Cryin, performing “Straight to Hell.”
• Loved the $2 COLD beer.
• Will Hoge ROCKED out with a highly energetic set.

Mucklewain was a wonderful way to wrap up the summer. We had a truly outstanding and relaxing time listening to music. Kerns and Miller did a great job of organizing the festival and seeing that it ran on time. The wait for a school bus, a beer, some food, or a port-a-potty was always minimal. They said they wanted to create a festival to celebrate southern American rock music. That they did. We hope they’ll do it again next year! Go to the Mucklewain web site for more pictures and reviews.

– Brother Dave and Mary Ann

For those of you who don’t know, Miller has been playing around Knoxville and the Southeast, mainly, since the mid-90s.  His former band, The V-Roys, was an under-appreciated alt-country gem with 2 albums and an EP produced by Steve Earle on his now defunct E-Squared record label as well as a posthumous live album.

Miller’s new disc, "Citation" (Sugar Hill Records) was produced by Jim Dickinson – the same guy who produced "Pleased To Meet Me" for the Replacements.  The whole production thing apparently didn’t happen in the usual way for Miller.  Miller, it turns out, is kind of an intense guy.  Dickinson, it turns out, not so much.  It turns out to be a good combination.  This CD is more spontaneous, less studied than the previous two.

The Commonwealth, this time around, is Shawn McWilliams (drums, vocals), Eric Fritsch (keyboards, guitar, vocals), Jeremy PenneBaker (bass, vocals), and Reba Russell (vocals).  Miller plays the hell out of several guitars, blows some mean harp, and gets the songwriting credit save the Neil Young cover and "The Only Road" which he co-wrote with Brad Henderson and Mic Harrison (his former V-Roy bandmate).

And, if you follow Miller, you won’t be surprised to encounter a song about Sam Houston.  Miller likes his history.  He’s got a couple songs that touch on war – the current one and some from the past.  One song he borrowed from Neil Young, "Hawks and Doves".  Good choice.  One of the most rocking as well as most amusing songs on the disc is "Jody," sort of a twist on the old story about a guy who’s been shipped out and his best friend has moved in on his wife.  That one, musically and lyrically, will take you back to his V-Roys days.

The second track, "Freedom’s A Stranger," perfectly captures those hot summer nights spent in whatever car you could find, blasting your eight track tape player, feeling like you might be free, doing stuff you didn’t want your parents to find out about (as Miller alludes to on his website — well, Scott, now they know).  It also captures that wry feeling most of us have when we look at ourselves and see how far we’ve come from those days.  And there’s a nice nod to Bruce Springsteen who pretty much defined many of our summer nights, in the lyrics ( ‘If the Boss had been a preacher/ he coulda led us to the Lord"  as well as the organ and that last harmonica riff.

I didn’t really cotton to "8 Miles A Gallon" until I cranked it up to an earsplitting level.  You kinda have to do that to appreciate the gravelly throbbing bass (I know it’s a cliche but there’s a reason people like to talk about a throbbing bass.  Okay, maybe a couple reasons).  This one makes you nostalgic for that old 8 track tape player blaring Golden Earring. 

There is a lot going on in a Scott Miller disc.  Every time you listen to "Citation", you’ll hear something different.  That’s not a bad feature.  And it’s one we’ve come to expect from Scott Miller.