Gatlinburg Life Snippet: July 9 Evening of Tunes, Tales, and Triumph.

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I’d like to give you small snippets of my life in Gatlinburg with the benefit of keeping these personal narratives short and sweet. Not only do I believe it will keep me in the rhythm of writing more; but hopefully, it holds your interest long enough. I can’t guarantee these short posts will be the most compelling stuff. That’s okay, though. I just hope you find some value in what I do, because this is what I love. Now, let’s extract the details from my evening of July 9 in Gatlinburg…

Some days I just don’t feel it. Mornings are tougher nowadays, and I don’t like using the age-old excuse of… well, age. It’s not like I was being lazy yesterday. I mean, working on my latest post for over two hours while my wife started cleaning our apartment, which imparted a wave of guilt I didn’t feel great about. But then again, I was laser-focused on the task, and when I don’t answer the call with action, it gets passed over. And with my procrastination, that’s not good.

I saw it through to the end, and after a hearty dinner that didn’t skyrocket my blood sugar, I felt energized with the reward of heading downtown with another focus—listening to some live music.

No, I normally don’t plan a rough map of how and where I plod through Gatlinburg on foot. But Wednesday night was different. Heck, most of the time, I’m home by 6 in the evening—unless I’m working, of course.

Yes, I had a personal directive of walking down to the Elks Plaza, where I would give myself a breather and enjoy the sounds projecting from the instruments of the performers from Smoky Mountain Tunes & Tales—a daily, seasonal free event of musicians performing outdoors in downtown Gatlinburg from 6-9 in the evening.

I had no clue who was performing, but it didn’t matter. I love live music, whether it’s country, bluegrass, rock, folk… whatever. Since I knew this was one of the locations where musicians perform, I was just happy to play the hand dealt to me.

This evening, it was a trio of performers, including… a Trio. We had The Lorentzen Trio, Daniel Michael Crane, and Back Row Brothers duo playing alternating sets that lasted between 15 and 20 minutes each. With the summer heat, it was a nice opportunity for them to give each other breaks.

I would love to tell you about these performers I watched last night, but we’re keeping it short for these posts. I will provide you a link where you can peruse all the talented pickers and singers as part of Smoky Mountain Tunes & Tales, and you can find it below!

Smoky Mountain Tunes & Tales Facebook Page

The amazing part of this whole outdoor live event is this: if you missed any of the performers, or don’t make it to their location, you can head to the Gatlinburg Convention Center where they all come together for a grand finale at 9 in the evening from the top of the steps facing the Parkway side. Enjoy!

As it turned out, my timing was excellent for getting ahead of the weather. I was already back home for a half-hour before I heard the first flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder—which were bright and loud for a period.

I’ll definitely be a spectator again before the summer session of Tunes & Tales in Gatlinburg ends. I’m so happy the city puts this on, welcoming talent from not only here, but points from nearby states to come perform for people. It’s all part of the free entertainment you should take full advantage of seeing while you’re here. I liken it to a walk on the trail next to a creek or river in the Smoky Mountains. It has that effect, and I came home in an even better mood than when I left. I think you will too!

Thank you for reading this brief snippet of my one evening in Gatlinburg. If you liked this, I would be grateful if you… well, like this post or leave a comment. You can do it here or on my Facebook Page from where I share it. Again, a big thanks for following me on my Gatlinburg adventures. It is a real pleasure sharing it with you. See you next time!