SMITHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Middle Tennessee is known for music festivals. CMA Fest and Bonnaroo may be the first ones you think of, but in the small town of Smithville, there's a festival that is even older and it has quite the loyal following.
For 52 years, crowds have come by the hundreds to listen to a little music and take in the town square.
"If you want to get some high cholesterol, we can help with that," joked one of the announcers at the festival.
And while 52 years is a long run, the traditions they celebrate seem to step you right back into time.
"I’m doing old time buck dancing," Mickey Labee said as he danced to a little Appalachian music. "If you’re good enough you can have people walk up to you and say, 'I heard that tune coming out of your feet.'"
You might call musician Rob Pearcy one of the old-timers around here.
"I came to this jamboree like 42 years ago, didn’t really know much about it," Pearcy, who is a staple at the festival that plays seven different instruments, said. "Learned music from some old timers under the shade trees."
After a few years under those shade trees, Pearcy emerged with a career.
"The music I learned here, then I wound up getting drafted into becoming a music teacher in Metro Schools," he said.
Pearcy recently retired after also teaching at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music.
But year after year, he comes back to the jamboree to compete among the best of the best.
"The younger generation is coming on, and they just get better. That’s the problem with it — they keep getting better," Pearcy joked.
Noah Goeble is among the next generation gunning for musicians like Pearcy in the competition. He's sometimes better and definitely younger, no matter what he plays.
"I’m 14 years old," said the young phenomenon from Elkton, Kentucky. "
He plays five instruments.
Fiddle, mandolin, guitar, banjo, and the DoBro guitar," he said.
But Noah's favorite instrument to play is the fiddle.
"I love hearing it back up a singer. It’s just a great instrument. It’s fun to play," Goeble, who made his Grand Ole Opry debut not long ago, said.
In reality, having a musician like Goeble to compete against is music to Pearcy's ears.
"They learn everything we do and they improve on it," he said.
Traditions can only get older, as long as there are musicians like Noah around to keep strumming along.
"I think that’s very important. We’ve got to keep it going," Goeble said.
The Smithville Fiddler's Jamboree continues Saturday July 1st. The event is free to attend.
