Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 1, 1993 TAG: 9307300420
SECTION: DISCOVER PAGE: D-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But maybe that's not such a bad thing.
Certainly Theresa Cook doesn't think so.
As one of the owners of New Mountain Merchantile at Tanglewood Mall, she offers no apologies for bringing the music down from the hills, where it was born, and into the controlled climate of the shopping world, where it will have to survive.
Cook hopes that promoting live mountain music and bluegrass at her store on Friday nights will help keep the musical tradition alive - and prove popular with people otherwise looking for a special on tube-socks or a quick Chick-Fil-A.
Her theory is that shoppers will hear the lively string-band sound echoing through the mall. The curious will follow their ear and find live musicians playing on the store's makeshift front porch.
Inside the store, Cook has tapes for sale: The McPeak Brothers, The Horseflies, Arnie Solomon and The Johnson Mountain Boys, to name a few - all of them not likely to be found down the mall at Musicland.
Those curious few will then pluck down some cash, intrigued by what they hear out on the porch. And soon, Cook's theory goes, they're hooked.
Cook isn't ashamed to admit either that even if the live music does not win musical converts, at least it hopefully draws potential customers into her arts and crafts store for other merchandise.
From New Mountain Merchantile, newly won fans of the old time sound then can seek out more traditional outlets for this indigenous music - at Cochram's General Store every week in Floyd, at the Fiddle and Banjo Club hoedown every month in Roanoke, at any number of bluegrass festivals held across Southwest Virginia during the summers, and at countless community centers and Moose Lodges throughout the region on any given weekend.
If you're into it, there's no shortage of music here.
Cook said she believes she is providing people - particularly newcomers to the region and younger listeners - a real service. "There's a lot of people who don't know it exists because you don't hear it on the radio," she explained.
Cook and co-owners Christine Byrd and Kalinda Wycoff opened New Mountain Merchantile at Tanglewood last November. They own a second store in Floyd, as well.
For the grand opening, they featured live music. "We had to have an opening celebration," Cook said. They liked the live music idea so much that they decided to feature it every week - on Friday nights.
The informal jam sessions are open to anyone. They do not regularly book any bands. And the weekly turnout and quality of music varies. Some Fridays, a dozen people will show. Other weeks, only a few will come.
Sometimes the playing is top-notch. Sometimes it's not.
Cook said that attendance seemed better during the winter months, before the bluegrass festivals of summer got started. She never joins in herself.
"I play bass badly," she said of her musicianship.
Not that it matters. She doesn't care what caliber player shows up. Nobody does. "It doesn't have to be good. It just has to be alive," she said. "Alive is better than canned."
Besides, for Cook, just providing the outlet is enough.
"I'm real glad to be able to turn people on to alternative music."
Local musicians are equally pleased with the arrangement, she said. They like the opportunity to play in front of an audience and the casual setting.
The mall management doesn't object. "All the mall said was acoustic and no alcohol," Cook said. Shoppers also benefit. "I think people are tired of hearing the same 40 songs they hear on the radio," she said.
Steve Downie agreed. He came to Tanglewood to pick up a suit and stopped for a listen. Downie offered three comments: "It's uplifting." "It's kind of unusual." "It's free."
It also can be difficult to quietly slip past the store when Bill Hunter and the Hunter Family come to play. Regulars at the Friday night jams, they don't let people go by easily.
"Bring the baby on over," Bill Hunter told a father pushing a baby-stroller. To a group of shoppers: "What do you say, folks, come on in."
As a musician, Hunter gives New Mountain Merchantile high marks.
"It's a great outlet," he said.
Meanwhile, Cook hopes the Friday tradition grows. She would like to see a more regular core of musicians, a more consistently-good group of musicians, and larger audiences out in the mall.
by CNB