{"id":3599,"date":"2025-07-25T18:45:55","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T18:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=3599"},"modified":"2025-07-25T21:06:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T21:06:38","slug":"ftv-the-thhmc-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=3599","title":{"rendered":"FTV: The THHMC Show"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To celebrate our 46th anniversary in mid-July 2025, my wife and I traveled to Crystal Falls, Michigan to see The <\/span>T<\/span>raveling <\/span>M<\/span>usical <\/span>H<\/span>illbilly <\/span>H<\/span>ippie <\/span>C<\/span>ommune Show (or TMHHC).\u00a0 Never heard of them?\u00a0 They have been around since 1971 so perhaps you knew them by one of their previous names:\u00a0 Family Tree?\u00a0 Burlap Socks?\u00a0 Emergency Band?\u00a0 No?\u00a0 Surely you will recognize them from a name they were inspired to take as a nod to Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen:\u00a0 Cosmic Corn Cob & His Amazing Ozark Mountain Daredevils (which they mercifully shortened to The Ozark Mountain Daredevils).\u00a0 My previous knowledge of the band was limited to two songs that got the most airplay (<\/span>If You Wanna Get To Heaven <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Jackie Blue<\/span><\/i>).\u00a0 They are currently on the last leg of a two year odyssey they are calling their farewell tour.\u00a0 The band had been at the Crystal Theater in 2022 and liked it so much they decided to make it a stop on their <\/span>When It Shines – The Final Tour<\/span><\/i> jaunt.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My wife had spied the announcement for this show back in April so she snagged two tickets and made reservations so we could do an overnight stay.\u00a0 At the time, she did not realize this show was being held the same weekend as the big Iron River Rodeo.\u00a0 The annual rodeo is an event so large it snaps up most of the available rooms for the weekend so we were fortunate to get our lodging ahead of the curve.\u00a0 We had no other formal plans for our own celebration on tap and figured we would wing it.\u00a0 With the Rodeo and the normal Friday night TGIF crowds packing most eateries, we had to make a snap decision about where to dine before the show.\u00a0 We discovered a terrific little hole-in-the-wall deli \/ ice cream shop two blocks down the hill from the theater.\u00a0 We basked in the funky 1960\u2019s hippy vibe there and enjoyed perhaps one of the best fish and chips meals we have ever had.\u00a0 If you are in the neighborhood, stop by Logan\u2019s Place on the main drag of Crystal Falls and you can see exactly what I am talking about.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After our dinner, we realized there were no parking spots on either side of the main street so we decided to leave our buggy on a side street and hike to the theater.\u00a0 One forgets that Crystal Falls is built on a hill and though we only had to go two blocks, we were feeling it.\u00a0 The doors were already open so we got our \u2018will-call\u2019 tickets and directions to our seats.\u00a0 Crystal has an interesting set up – all of the seats at the left of the house are odd numbers and all of the seats on the right are even.\u00a0 We were on the end of Row O but our seats were numbered 25 and 27.\u00a0 The theater was not lacking for volunteers as every other person we saw when we found our seats seemed to be wearing the official red volunteer shirts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You will never find me saying anything negative about volunteer groups that make it their mission to renovate old theaters in their communities.\u00a0 We have seen it in Calumet, Ironwood, and Ontonagon.\u00a0 Each of these renovated theaters share similar stories yet they maintain their own charming characteristics.\u00a0 With that said, I will point out one amenity I am grateful for when attending shows at the Ontonagon Theater of Performing Arts:\u00a0 comfortable seating! \u00a0 Occupying seat O-23 (to my wife\u2019s right) was a rather large gentleman.\u00a0 He was respectful of my wife\u2019s \u2018space\u2019 in the same manner that one tries to employ when flying economy class on their favorite airline.\u00a0 When two women deeper in the row decided they needed a restroom break before the show started, we all had to vacate our seats to let them by.\u00a0 This is when I noticed that not only were we sardined into our row, the seats were so low they were actually difficult to get out of (we called them \u2018low riders\u2019).\u00a0 Let me retroactively say \u2018thank you\u2019 to the wise people who planned the new seats and comfortable spacing employed at the Ontonagon Theater.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Crystal Theater is a beautiful, old time vaudeville venue. \u00a0 According to the theater\u2019s fact sheet, \u201cE.J. Bregger began construction in 1926.\u00a0 It featured an orchestra pit, ventilation system, and a large house with a seating capacity of 820 on the main floor and 200 more in the balcony.\u00a0 When the original EJAY (marquee) sign was put up on the new theater, it was the talk of the town.\u00a0 It was an upright flashing sign made up of 60 lights with a chaser all around it containing 200 more lights.\u00a0 There were chaser lights around the three sides of the marquee which ran in a channel with a couple rows of nine inch gold beveled letters used for announcing the coming shows. (taken from a 1926 issue of <\/span>The Diamond Drill<\/span><\/i>).\u201d\u00a0 The only notable change in the marquee since then are the electronic displays that replaced the nine inch gold letters.\u00a0 She was a grand old lady then and has been restored to her former luster by today\u2019s volunteers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As for the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, I had to dig back for some information as it was hard for me to pick up all of the stage chatter.\u00a0 My hearing is not what it used to be and combined with our location on the main floor well under the balcony, much of what was said on stage was difficult for me to understand.\u00a0 The music they presented was well received and it was only my unfamiliarity with their catalog that prevents me from identifying all of the songs they performed.\u00a0 I am looking forward to pulling up some of their albums so I can connect what we heard at the Crystal with their recorded output.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The OMDs have been together for 53 years and in that time, 35 different musicians have passed through their ranks.\u00a0 Original members still with the band include multi-instrumentalist John Dillon and bassist Michael \u2018Supe\u2019 Granda.\u00a0 The current touring ensemble puts TEN musicians on the stage.\u00a0 With a backline of keyboards, drums, and sax, the other seven players were arranged across the front of the stage.\u00a0 From left to right, they were Nick Sibley (guitar and harmonica), Ruel Chappel (vocals and hand percussion), Dillon (guitar, mouth bow, fiddle), Molly Healey (fiddle and vocals), Granda (bass and vocals), Dave Painter (lead guitar, slide guitar and vocals), and a young man whose name I did not hear (and cannot find) alternating between acoustic guitar and mandolin.\u00a0 I did not envy whoever was running the sound board because when the whole band was playing, it was difficult to keep the sound levels balanced.\u00a0 Most of the harmonies came through in the mix, but too often the keyboard, sax and mandolin went unheard.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The crowded stage led to some interesting moments.\u00a0 When Kelly Brown took some of his keyboard solos, the guys at stage left would move aside so he could be seen.\u00a0 The same thing happened at stage right when the sax player (Bill Jones also in the back line) was featured.\u00a0 Dillon, Healey, and Granda performed some interesting choreography so the fiddle player could step forward and solo without poking out the bass player\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 The drummer (Ron \u2018Rongo\u2019 Gremp) and keyboard player Brown spent a lot of time exchanging looks and gestures during the performance.\u00a0 During the third number, Gremp was playing multiple cymbal splashes to accent the chorus and twice he missed his smallest crash cymbal completely.\u00a0 The second time it happened, he made eye contact with Brown and they both broke out laughing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Things looked to be going south during the fourth tune when Painter\u2019s guitar signal disappeared.\u00a0 He went to his amp and fiddled around with the connections up until his solo was supposed to start.\u00a0 He pointed to Brown who took up the task on his keyboard.\u00a0 Painter began unplugging and replugging cords.\u00a0 By the end of the song, he got his guitar back in play.\u00a0 He looked at the mandolin player to his left, gave a bit of a shrug, smiled, and that was it.\u00a0 There were no further equipment issues other than the odd sound mix from time to time.\u00a0 The set they played after intermission was louder and more \u2018rock\u2019 than the first, but issues with hearing the keys, sax, and mandolin largely disappeared.\u00a0 I should also note that Gremp\u2019s drumming was spot on all night and the sound of his kit was right in the pocket.\u00a0 He and Granda were the steady backbone for the band for the entire evening.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Chappell was an interesting character.\u00a0 Wearing a bright red hat similar to something Michael Stipe from REM used to sport, he acted as the band\u2019s official cheerleader.\u00a0 When he took lead and harmony vocals, they were spot on.\u00a0 He looked to be having a great time even though his percussion parts were often buried in the mix.\u00a0 Very little could be heard of the shaker and\u00a0 bongos he played the most.\u00a0 The sharp rap of the klaves he played came through fine and nobody could miss the cowbell.\u00a0 According to Granda, the band recently released a digital track called <\/span>More Cowbell!<\/span><\/i> which they had played at The Grand Old Opera during their last performance there.\u00a0 As the title suggests, it featured Chappell happily pounding out cowbell beats during the chorus which featured the \u2018sing along\u2019 lyric <\/span>More Cowbell!<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 Even when the song appeared to end, Chappell continued \u2018cowbelling\u2019 until the rest of the band flagged him to a stop . . . almost!\u00a0 It was a lighthearted comic moment shared between the band and the audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Both Dillon and Granda shared stories of their former band mates Larry Lee and Steve Cash.\u00a0 Both were given their props as songwriters and performers with Dillon noting their passing;\u00a0 Cash in 2019 and Lee in May of 2025.\u00a0 Dillon also mentioned how much they enjoyed their previous visit to the Crystal Theater in 2022 (which partly explains the reception the crowd gave to <\/span>Chicken Train<\/span><\/i>).\u00a0 They had previously played at the Mole Lake (Wisconsin) Festival so they were familiar with the country up north.\u00a0 The Crystal Falls area really reminded them of their Missouri roots, especially on this trip as they got further north of Chicago.\u00a0 When they were planning the <\/span>When It Shines <\/span><\/i>tour, they made it a point to put the Crystal Theater on their list of \u2018have to play\u2019 venues just because they felt so at home here the last time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Before the intermission ended, the band\u2019s road manager said he wanted to share a few thoughts with the audience.\u00a0 He mentioned the 35 musicians who have kept the band alive over the past 53 years.\u00a0 He also singled out the Crystal volunteers and supporting members because musicians live to perform at such historic venues.\u00a0 Dillon underscored these thoughts when he shared a story from early in their career.\u00a0 He said an agent promised if they relocated to Los Angeles, they would make enough money in two years to be set for life.\u00a0 The Ozark Mountain Daredevils didn\u2019t take the bait, preferring to \u2018stay home and watch our tomatoes grow\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Before they were actually a band, they were just a group of like minded people who would gather in the living room or on the front porch and sing together.\u00a0 These sessions became a kind of songwriting collaborative where they shared new music and helped each other turn their riffs and lyrics into actual songs.\u00a0 Back then, Dillon was the only one with a job as he played at a pizza joint.\u00a0 His friend Cash was an aspiring songwriter but he didn\u2019t play –\u00a0 he was just happy to hang out and help John down his allotment of pizza and beer.\u00a0 To summarize the second phase of their recording career, Dillon said, \u201cColumbia Records (their second major label home) were good to us.\u00a0 They pretty much left us alone and let us record anything we wanted.\u00a0 I think they were a little scared of us.\u201d\u00a0 Their prolific output has seen them release 20 albums (in the United States and Europe) on major and independent labels since 1971.\u00a0 Their two biggest hits (<\/span>If You Wanna Get To Heaven (<\/span><\/i>1974) & <\/span>Jackie Blue <\/span><\/i>(1975)) were actually recorded for the A&M label.\u00a0 The first albums moved enough units to get them some leeway to put music they liked on tape.\u00a0 They may not have had enduring chart appeal, but they did build a loyal following of fans.\u00a0 Perhaps their audience was not as large as The Grateful Dead\u2019s, but they certainly had enough fans to get them invited back to every corner of North America and other parts of the world. When their album sales for A&M began to sag, they moved on;\u00a0 first to Columbia and then to a variety of independent labels.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Sunday after the Crystal Theater show, we held a picnic lunch after our Sunday church service at St. Paul\u2019s Lutheran in Mass City.\u00a0 Our annual Vacation Bible School was scheduled to start the next Monday and a Day Camp team from Fortune Lake Bible Camp was on hand so we could introduce them to the congregation.\u00a0 During lunch, team leader Lily mentioned the heavy rain fall they had at the camp on Saturday morning.\u00a0 Fortune Lake Bible Camp is just west of Crystal Falls off US 2.\u00a0 I told her that my wife and I were 15 minutes down a nature trail at the Biwabic State Park (which is also just off US 2, just a little closer to Iron River) when that same storm soaked us before we could get back to the car.\u00a0 When she asked what we were doing there I mentioned the concert we saw on Friday night.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Lily surprised me when she said, \u2018Oh, the Ozark Mountain Daredevils stayed overnight at Fortune Lake.\u00a0 Most of the artists that appear at the Crystal Theater stay at the camp.\u00a0 The Ozark band members are just terrific people – no rock star stuff, just plain nice people.\u201d\u00a0 Lily was working at the camp in 2022 when they paid their last visit to the Crystal Theater.\u00a0 Remembering that visit, she again raved about what nice, regular people they are.\u00a0 Her assessment was spot on as that is exactly the image they project on stage.\u00a0 There is no \u2018look at us we\u2019re rock stars\u2019 attitude in the OMDs.\u00a0 At the end of the show, Granda said, \u201cYou know how at the end of the show, the band runs off and makes you stand and holler for five minutes before they come back out and act surprised that you are still here?\u00a0 How about we skip that part and just do one more song?\u201d\u00a0 The answer was a resounding \u2018yes\u2019 from all.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The OMD played the next night at the Calumet Theater before they headed south for their next show on July 19.\u00a0 This is the second year of their two year farewell tour and it will wind down in November with three shows in their hometown of Springfield, Missouri.\u00a0 Though they won\u2019t be touring after 2025, they still expect to do some recording and occasional one off shows.\u00a0 After 53 years of being on the road, that part of the band\u2019s life has run its course.\u00a0 With that said, they started as a group of friends playing music for themselves and it would not be odd at all to see them get back to where it all started.<\/span><\/p>\n

Top Piece Video:\u00a0\u00a0Jackie Blue\u00a0<\/em>from England’s Old Grey Whistle Test show in 1975<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To celebrate our 46th anniversary in mid-July 2025, my wife and I traveled to Crystal Falls, Michigan to see The Traveling Musical Hillbilly Hippie Commune Show (or TMHHC).\u00a0 Never heard of them?\u00a0 They have been around since 1971 so perhaps you knew them by one of their previous names:\u00a0 Family Tree?\u00a0 Burlap Socks?\u00a0 Emergency Band?\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11,8,6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bands-musicians","category-education","category-from-the-vaults","category-new-music","category-woas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3599"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3602,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3599\/revisions\/3602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}