On Saturday, August 2nd I will be joined by several of my guitar students at Sweet Providence Farm for some porch picking. Sweet Providence is a family owned and family run farm, store and bakery. They sell local produce, local chicken and beef, locally made music and artwork and some of the best BBQ this side of Memphis. John Paul and Rainey Houston and their 7 (soon to be 8), children all pitch in along with several other employees to make sure that "every day is an event." My friend Amy Adams has helped the Houstons organize a weekly concert series and promotes the events on her YouTube Channel. You can see several student performances from our last visit there at NewVisionAmy'sChannel.
I was a big fan of the Houston's store long before my first performance there. John Paul asked me to perform there last year and although he offered to pay the usual performance fee we worked it out as bartered arrangement. Unfamiliar to most outsiders, bartering is still somewhat common in Floyd. Instead of cash, Sweet Providence gave me and my family my usual fee's worth of credit at their store. With all the shopping we do there it didn't take long to use it up! I had several students join me at that session and they were scheduled into my three appearances this year.
What I Love:
Local business supports musician (and his aspiring students), by hiring him and paying him (albeit "in kind"), to perform in a clean, family friendly environment -- once again we have a winner! My crowd gets turned on to another local business they may not otherwise have tried and my students earn valuable experience performing in a low stress environment. Everybody seems to win in this deal.
What I Don't Love:Once again it's all love with this venue. The performance area is tight and there's not a lot of seating, but I'm not complaining and I haven't heard anyone else complain either! Bring a lawn chair and come join us!
