Dailey & Vincent to be recognized at the 50th Annual Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree and Crafts Festival

July 1, 2021
By:

Multi-GRAMMY nominated duo Dailey & Vincent will be recognized at the 50th Annual Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree and Crafts Festival on Saturday, July 3 in Downtown Smithville, Tenn. for their contributions as one of the most popular bands in contemporary American music, embracing bluegrass, country and gospel.

Darrin Vincent will be celebrated by the State of Tennessee with an unveiling of his “Tennessee Music Pathways” marker on the square in his hometown during the Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree at 5 p.m. CT. Launched by the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development in 2018, Tennessee Music Pathways is an online planning guide that connects visitors to the state’s rich musical heritage at tnmusicpathways.com. From the largest cities to the smallest communities, Tennessee Music Pathways stretches across all 95 counties and features hundreds of landmarks from the seven genres of music that call Tennessee home.

Jamie Dailey will also be honored at the event as the recipient of the Fiddlers’ Jamboree’s 2021 Blue Blaze Award. The Blue Blaze Award is designed to honor an individual or group that keeps the embers of bluegrass music burning for future generations. The Blue Blaze Panel Committee for the Jamboree voted unanimously for Dailey’s nomination for the 2021 award citing his long-running contributions to bluegrass music. Following the presentations, Dailey & Vincent will perform a mini-concert on the main stage.

Although Dailey & Vincent only began performing regularly as a duo in 2008, they’d both had extensive careers in bluegrass and had sung together informally since 2001. As a member of Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for more than 10 years, Darrin won five Grammy Awards and eight IBMA Awards for Instrumental Group of the Year. Vincent met Dailey, then working with Doyle Lawson, in October 2001 at the International Bluegrass Music Association awards show in Louisville, Ky. When they sang together, they discovered that their voices blended well. Their first duet recording was for a multi-artist collection, Christmas Grass Volume 2, produced by Vincent and released in 2004. They performed “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem” for the collection.

Dailey & Vincent decided to work together as a duet. In January 2007, they handed in one-year notices to Skaggs and Lawson. Their first show together was at the Grand Ole Opry, staged at the Ryman Auditorium, on Dec. 29, 2007. Their debut album, Dailey & Vincent, was released in January 2008 and success swiftly followed. At the 2008 IBMA awards, they made history by winning Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year and Emerging Artist of the Year. Their debut album was named Album of the Year and a song from it, “By the Mark,” received the Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year award.

Dailey & Vincent have continued to record and tour prolifically, taking their show overseas and throughout the United States. As of 2021, they have received five GRAMMY Awards individually, three GRAMMY nominations collectively, six Dove Awards from the Gospel Music Association and 35 IBMA Awards altogether.

Through their long-term sponsorship with Gus Arrendale and Springer Mountain Farms, Dailey & Vincent have continued to expand their fanbase. In 2013, they launched their annual Landfest in the Mountains festival, first in Denton, NC, and subsequently in Hiawassee, GA, with plans to grow nationally. Their “Dailey and Vincent Show” debuted on RFD-TV in May 2015, switching to the Opry’s television network, Circle, in April 2020, and has received multiple Emmy nominations. Dailey & Vincent have also partnered with Cracker Barrel Old Country Store for five CDs and a DVD release.
In March 2017, Dailey and Vincent were inducted as the 213th members of the Grand Ole Opry—the event they both cite as the highlight of their careers.

June 30, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

What would the Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree and Crafts Festival be without an appearance of the Community Chorus?. This talented ensemble will be back again performing on the stage of the Fiddlers’ Jamboree during the 6 p.m. opening ceremony on Friday evening, July 2.

The Chorus’ association with the Jamboree goes back almost from the start. Longtime Chorus Director Fay Fuqua told WJLE Tuesday about how founders of the Jamboree, the late Congressman Joe L. Evins, the late Berry C. Williams, and the late James G. “BoBo” Driver asked her to put together a patriotic program for the festival during the 1970s.

“These three men came to me many years ago. In the 1970s we had put a core group together for the community lighting of the Christmas tree so I guess they had a pretty good idea that I could bring in and recruit people. They approached me at a Jamboree and said we need patriotic music. This is July 4th. Independence Day. Would you do this? So I did and by the 1980s we had been designated as the official patriotic group for the Jamboree. That was the beginning and it was exciting,” said Fuqua.

“I was interviewed for a book recently about the Jamboree and during that interview the author asked if I was at the first event and what I thought when I walked around the Jamboree that year. I told her I was there that first year and my impression was this must be what heaven is like. It was the most beautiful music I had ever heard. Strings from the hills of Tennessee. Beautiful strings, fiddles, banjos, mandolins, and all the things that have been such a part of my heritage. My mother played with a fiddle band. All the wonderful music being celebrated was just about more than my head could wrap around that day. The author used my statement to open this book so I hope everyone buys a copy and enjoys that,” said Fuqua.

As for this year’s performance of the community chorus, Fuqua said its going to be quite special because this is the 50th anniversary of the Fiddlers’ Jamboree.

“I believe people are really hungry to hear patriotic music. We’ll start out with “Stars and Stripes”, “You’re a Grand Ole Flag”, “God Bless America”, “America the Beautiful”, “This Land is Your Land”, “This is My Country”, and by that time flags will be passed around for the crowd to wave. We’ll have veterans passing out flags and I hope everyone in the audience will have a flag to wave,” said Fuqua.

Tecia Puckett Pryor, a member of the chorus said the performance is being called “A Tribute to the 50th Jamboree”.

“Several members of the Chorus have worked to put together this program. After our patriotic and military tribute to start the show, we will have a group singing the old gospel song called “Where the Soul of Man Never Dies”. We will then bring children up on stage led by Jackie Smith performing “This Little Light of Mine” followed by Jackie doing a solo on “Put Your Hand in the Hand” and then we move into our feature solo performance by Shirley Tubbs Rutland of the song “I Believe in Music”. In addition to Shirley another soloist Dessa Ray will lead us through a couple of patriotic songs. We have quite a gospel ensemble so I won’t name them all here but we are looking forward to a great performance of music. There will be something in it for everyone. As part of the program Mary Ann Puckett and her crew will be doing some fun clogging to the tune “Down Yonder”. We will then end the performance in a sense of peace with the song “Let There Be Peace on Earth” finishing up with a release of some doves. We will then go out with a bang singing “Rocky Top”. Its going to be a great show and one I’m sure everyone will enjoy,” said Pryor.

June 30, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

It may not have been illegal after all!

Following Monday night’s county commission meeting in which a member was accused of having violated the state’s Open Meetings Act (Sunshine Law), County Attorney Hilton Conger contacted the Open Records Counsel in the Tennessee Comptroller’s office for an opinion.

In response, Lee Pope, Open Records Counsel for the state wrote that based on findings in a previous case by the Tennessee Court of Appeals no law may have been broken here.

During the meeting Monday night First district commissioner Julie Young read a text message from Fourth District member Dr. Scott Little sent to Third District Commissioner Jenny Trapp prior to the meeting allegedly soliciting her vote for a proposed budget amendment to refund the former county fiscal agent/financial advisor position held by Steve Bates. Young claims that was a violation of the Sunshine law.

Commissioner Little, who did not address Young’s accusations during the meeting, later told WJLE he did nothing wrong or illegal.

Second District Commissioner Sabrina Farler Monday night moved that the funding for Bates’ position be restored with a $5,000 increase in pay to $20,000 for the year and that he be rehired. Sixth district member Jeff Barnes offered a second to the motion. The motion failed on a 7 to 4 vote. One member abstained and two commissioners were absent. (eight votes were needed for passage).

“In light of the allegation Monday night at the commission meeting that a member of the commission violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act (Sunshine Law) by contacting other members by text message seeking their support for a motion to amend the budget, I contacted the Office of Open Records for an opinion,” said County Attorney Hilton Conger.

The response from Pope, Open Records Counsel for the Tennessee Comptroller is as follows:

“In Johnston v. Metropolitan Gov’t of Nashville and Davidson Cnty., 320 S.W.3d 299 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2009), the Tennessee Court of Appeals held that electronic communications, such as email or text message, between members of a governing body can violate the Tennessee Open Meetings Act (“TOMA”) if the communications constitute the discussion or deliberation of matters a quorum of the governing body would need to vote upon. In that case, the court found that email communications weighing arguments for or against a certain measure violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act (TOMA). However, the court also found that emails about strategy, such as working on certain members to vote for the measure, did not constitute deliberation and such “strategic” communications did not violate TOMA. Accordingly, its possible a simple text message from one member of a governing body to another simply requesting that the member vote yes, without more, may not violate TOMA,” opined Pope.

Commissioners voting for restoring funding and rehiring Bates were Sabrina Farler, Janice Fish-Stewart, Scott Little, Anita Puckett, Jerry Adcock, Jeff Barnes, and Matt Adcock. Commissioners Julie Young, Jenny Trapp, Beth Pafford, and Bruce Malone voted no. Commissioner Susannah Cripps Daughtry abstained and Commissioners Shaee Flatt and Myron Rhody were absent.

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