Heritage Days
Another beautiful day in the Bitterroot Valley and we spent it relaxing with Laura and Steve. After hanging out at their house for awhile playing with Charlie Dog we headed to downtown Stevensville for Western Heritage Days. Stevensville is the oldest town in Montana, 167 years I think Laura said. It's pretty small but several hundred people turned out for the evening food and music.
Here's the restored Stevensville Hotel with the crowd beginning to gather.
Local restaurants and caterers had a food court under a big tent so we indulged in a huge BBQ pork sandwich with slaw, a chicken salad/ tomato and cuke salad combo, and I added a slice of rhubarb pie. OK ...I was happy.
Then we took front row seats for the evening entertainment, Joan Zen and her band along with a special guest. Joan's group is local valley talent. She has a pretty amazing, wild voice and we enjoyed some of the selections but others were just too loud and not enjoyable. But overall...toetapping music.
By 9 PM the crowd had really picked up and then a special guest appeared.
Huey Lewis has lived in the valley for several years but I guess this is the first time he's appeared locally. Our front row seats didn't mean anything once he came on stage because everyone crowded the stage so we had no choice but to join in and stand for the hour concert.
The sound system left a lot to be desired but it was still fun to be there. The "people watching" was great. Beer was supposed to be consumed under a big tent but you can imagine how well that worked. There were quite a few "very relaxed" dancers in front of the stage. Kids of all ages were out there "shakin' their bootie" and Jim was having a hard time keeping his eyes off the young chicks :) One old guy nearly fell in Jim's lap as he tried to make his way back to the big beer tent :) A few cowboys and their gals were in town for the event with spurs, big hats and gunbelts.
We wished that Huey would have performed a couple of his hits but he said "we're just jammin' here." They hadn't practiced together and didn't know each other's songs. To me it's amazing how musicians can get together and make pretty good music without any practice. They have their own code words and body language.
It was fun to be part of this casual, small town "happening." Kids were running around having a great time, toddlers were out dancing with parents and old folks were kicking up their heels. Ten o'clock brought sunset and the end of the show. We headed home with our ears deadened by the throbbing music but smiles on our faces.