MC: When I moved from North Carolina back in the late‘80s, there wasn’t much of music scene there. But now there is a thriving scene. What do you think precipitated this?

D: I don’t have a clue. When it all heated up in the 90’s, I was inNYC digging on that scene, but at the time everyone was well aware of NC’s scene. When I was ready to move back to NC I drew up a five-page proposal and presented it to my band on why it would make the better sense to live in NC than NYC.  Part of that proposalwas spent citing the successes of Southern Culture on the Skids, the Backsliders, Ben Folds Five, and probably a couple of others I’ve forgotten.  Although it seemed to be heating up in the 90’s, by comparison the NYC scene hadn’t produced anything serious since Blondie. It looked like NC was hot, plus it was going home for me after 12 years in NYC.

MC: What were some of the challenges in the early days of the Heavy Rebel Weekender?

D: Well, the planning was always pretty solid so mainly we worried if things would actually come off the way we planned.  The bands were mostly cool about everything and soon turned out to be the most serious and stalwart promoters of the event.  (That comes into play on your next question.)  The main things that gave/give us trouble were all out of our control–waiting on municipal folks to issue certain necessary permits, wrangling with hotels over decent prices for all the customers we bring in, trying to get sponsors, etc. We’ve cut down on as many irritants as possible but we still face the same challenges as always.  The bands and the crowd have always been the very least of our problems.

MC: You and I have briefly discussed this one before:  one of the things that struck me about Heavy Rebel is that there is a very friendly crowd. Unlike some music festivals I’ve been to, there was no hostility between, say, psychobillies, deathrockers, goths, punks, etc.  You can stop and chat with anyone. There are no out-of-control slam dancers attacking bystanders.  People are polite even when they are raising hell!   You told me that this is largely because the community is self-regulating; would you expand on this a bit?

D: I think there are several things in play.  First of all it’s the South and the general attitude is friendly.  That can take out-of-towners aback at first, which makes them act a little more decent; it’s a lark for some people just to spend a weekend being nice to everyone. For example, the bands get there and check in with a real nice guy who tells them what all they can expect and where they should load in, etc. We try to make sure all the staff is friendly and professional….in a very laid-back way. Same goes for the people coming in the front door. That starts it.

Second, there’s just nothing to really get angry about at HRW. There’s just way too much fun to be had, too many bands to see, too many people to watch, etc., for most folks to even consider having a bad time. You really have to be very determined to not have fun at HRW in order to not have fun at HRW. Personally, I don’t think I have that amount of determination.

Third, most events that I know about don’t have as much variety as HRW; they tend to pare things down to one music genre or another and don’t really mix it up much.  That can lead to problems as in any genre there are cliques and factions with some history (usually bad) between them. Maybe they all used to get along until something happened back when and now they’re drunk and still mad about it. That leads to fights, bad blood, etc. I think that throwing all these genres together at HRW takes people aback somewhat and so their first tendency when meeting someone else or accidentally running into them is to be friendly rather than confrontational.  Their old rivals and foes may be in attendance but there’s so much to do and see that it’s easy to avoid folks you might not like from back home or wherever. That’s really the only trouble we’ve had—–someone looking to settle some shit from back home who brought a bad attitude with them. People also take their social cues from other people; they do what they see others doing. In this case it’s being friendly. Hot music, cold beer, cool people, good vendors, mud wrestling, classic cars, hot guitars, hot girls, the South, Fourth of July Weekend—it’s all just a recipe for a kickass time.

Lastly, I don’t know if the word has gotten out on this or not, but it is a fact that if you do fight or cause problems at HRW, you’ll be tossed out never to return. We treat HRW like a private party at our home that you are personally invited to.  Naturally, no one wants trouble at their home. I have to tout the influence of the bands on this as well. They’ve been golden as far as this stuff goes, and I can only assume that they’ve informed their friends to be cool, too. 

MC: It’s amazing to think that HRW is not just a local festival.   Drawing 1800 people per day from all over the world is living proof that HRW just keeps getting bigger and better.  A lot of big events sort of tend to burn out after a few years, as bands get tired of performing there, or they get swamped by the mainstream and lose their character.  This didn’t happen with HRW.  How did you manage to keep the focus?

D:  Mainly by just that–by keeping the focus. HRW is a party for all the bands out there that are trying to pay rent with rock and roll, or honky-tonk, or rockabilly, etc. Pulling that off is the main focus.   Also, we never get political, we never try to do too much and overstep our potential, we pare down the problems pretty good before they can actually come into play, we keep things moving right along, and we try to be very consistent. I don’t have time to go to other big events very often, but from what I hear many of them are not run very well.  I’ve witnessed some excellent events go to from mind-bogglingly awesome to pure shit from people just deciding to go on automatic pilot, thinking everyone and everything will take care of itself. We’ve learned a great deal just from simply paying attention.

As far as the consistency goes, the bands and the crowds at HRW have made it known that they appreciate how tightly we run the show.  Bands start on time and come off on time and that gives a measure of discipline to the event that pays off for everyone.  If the program says your favorite band will be on at 8PM, then that’s when you can count on seeing them.  One of the best compliments we ever got was from Jeremy (drummer for Nashville Pussy) who seemed amazed that the program schedule was actually useful: “Man, the program said a certain time so I went to that stage and there they were!  Every time I did that that it worked. I’ve never seen that happen at any other event!”  Lot of times at other events the promoter is drunk and putting bands on out of order, skipping one band to put a friend’s band on instead, jamming some band in there that showed up late, leaving the other band to go on a t 3AM playing to nobody.  Nobody likes that and there’s no good reason for it. It’s like soggy bacon. It’s unacceptable. We treat the bands as best we can and they know they can count on that. Beyond that they get out of it what they put into it…….and much more.

When we are gung-ho about details, then the bands take the gig more seriously and value it more.  Plus they’re just happy to have an event where they’re appreciated, where they can shine for an appreciative, ready-made crowd, where it’s about good music no matter if you’re signed or not, where everyone is a rock star and no one is a rock star, where they get paid, where their merchandise is handled for them and they don’t have to worry about it, where they can catch a shitload of other cool bands to possibly play with in the future, where they can just party their asses off for three days!  There are so many reasons why the bands dig it, but mainly it’s because we dig them.  That attitude affects the crowd, too. When a band really wants to be there– it shows, and the crowd picks up on that.  It’s a primal thing that has worked forever.

MC:  Has anyone ever raised the issue of the “Rebel” imagery at the HRW?

D: No. We make it very clear that the “Heavy Rebels” we’re honoring here are not those of the Confederacy, rather those that changed the face of music forever, i.e., Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Jimi Hendrix, Bo Diddley, Gene Vincent, Link Wray, Ronnie Van Zant, and many more.  All you have to do is look around at HRW and you’ll see the faces of these folks, our heroes, plastered on the walls and hanging from the rafters.  What you won’t see hanging in the Millennium Center is the Confederate Battle Flag, which is as controversial as of late. People can wear it or have it on their guitar or whatever they like, but we don’t display it at HRW. We’re not political, but we are very patriotic (especially at a Fourth of July Weekend party), so what you will see plenty of is the good old Stars and Stripes festooning the stages.

MC: I know that you do Elvisfest.  What other events are you involved with?

D:  None yet.  My HRW partner, Mike, and I have had a couple of other ideas for events but never seem to find the time to do them.   One was to be at a rural race track, another centered on Halloween, and another was called Hank v. Johnny (Cash) where 10 or so bands duke it out musically by playing their best Hank tunes or Johnny tunes (gotta be in one camp or the other) at adjoining stages and the winners from each side literally have to arm-wrestle in order to see who gets to play the winner’s set. Crazy.  I have a kickass poster made up for that, but the event never happened.  Now there’s the Cash Bash and Honky-Tonk-A-Rama and stuff like that, so there doesn’t seem to be room to do it they way I’d like to do it. Maybe one day.

MC:  I grew up in the Winston-Salem area, and there has been a lot of growth in the past 20 years.  Do you think this growth is a good or a bad thing?

D:  Well, I’m only ever in Winston once a year during HRW and I seldom leave the immediate are of the Millennium Center when I’m there, so I haven’t seen it like you have but it does seem to be improving as a city.  Just the little bit I see each year looks more and more gentrified.  Winston-Salem is like many other cities in our country that used to be happening, but are now past their prime and need to either find new blood, new interests, industry, and money or else decline further.  The Millennium Center was built in 1914 as a Post Office, Tax Court, and municipal office building, and all that was straight from tobacco money.  Tobacco made Winston (and North Carolina) what it was and now that crop has fallen out of favor so they’ve cast around for other things.  So far it looks promising.  I hate to see American cities go to seed.

MC:  What are some of the highlights you’ve had with the HRW?

D: 

–Seeing the first one come off just fine, the looks on people’s faces when they’d made it all the way through to the fireworks.  It was the first time they’d stopped and realized what all had happened to them that weekend.  That was worth it all.

–Being awakened from a power nap in the room between the Underground and the Jailhouse to the opening strains of “Freebird” as done by Billy Joe Winghead with the main melody line played on a Theremin. I jumped up and went over to help them sing it. Somehow it cured the absolute fatigue I had just moments before.

–Seeing Adam the First Real Man breathing fire in the pouring rain during the mud-wrestling while the Blind Pharoahs played on. It was surreal and paradoxical and rocking all at the same time.

–Seeing all those people in the Banana Pudd’n Eating Contest just jamming their faces in the pudding. Slurp, slurp!

–Seeing Roger (big mofo) slam 4 beers in the Most Beer in 60 Seconds Contest pause long enough to grab the mike from MC Jimmy-Brad, belch long and loud into it, and then slam one last beer just before time was up.

–Seeing the pure unadulterated fun of the rock and roll spirit come rolling over everyone at various and many times throughout the weekend. Watching the audience just freak the fuck out because something is so good to them is the biggest pleasure I can imagine, and I don’t even have to imagine it.  Neither do you, it just happens over and over.

–There are so many great moments that I can’t ever try to tell it all.

MC:  I am looking forward to HRW in 2008.  Are there going to be any changes?  What’s in store for the future?

D: Well, there will be quite a few new bands.  We have several repeat-regulars and crowd favorites, but many bands break up during the year leaving spots open to try new bands.  We like to keep it fresh and not let it devolve into the same exact line-up every year like so many other events. There’s a fine line between being consistent and being boring.  We’re always open to new ideas and suggestions for stuff to try and if it’s a good idea and we think it will serve the event, then we try it.  We’re always trying out new deals on tickets, new vendors, new bands, new sponsors, new contests and attractions, but basic premise will always be the same—a shitload of kickass bands for three days on Fourth of July Weekend, a bunch of very cool people to check out and get to know, loads of beer and food. I don’t know anyone that would want that to change too much.

MC: Is there anything else you would like to add?

D:  Yes. HRW is like our church.  It is a rock and roll church built by the Heavy Rebels I listed earlier. It is a safe haven for rockers, honky-tonkers, rockabillies, garage hounds, psychobillies, and anyone else that feels they’ve got no place to go to really get down and rock the fuck out all weekend with some like-minded misfits.   That’s why the message board is called Loserville and is populated by “Losers” who are happy to call themselves that. They are all kin to one another in that way. They don’t take themselves too seriously but they take having a good time very seriously. Someone might fall on the ground and start speaking in tongues at the very moment their favorite band kick starts the song they’ve been waiting to hear and no one judges them for it.  Everyone knows that’s just the spirit of rock and roll passing through them. Because of that lack of judgment, that energy of fire that renews rather than destroys, that camaraderie, it is a sacred place to me.  That’s my church and services are held once a year from four nights. All are welcome to come and worship the Heavy Rebels, to celebrate what they gave us, and do it on the anniversary of our Independence.  I don’t care if someone reading this rolls their eyes and says, “Oh, for fuck’s sake, get over yourself and your bullshit event—-it’s just an event.” Brother, you have no idea.

MC: Amen!

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