Michelle Poe, Ken Taylor, and Russ Freeman
08.27.2022 - It felt so right – “Saturday night, Historic Smithville, Tennessee, Live Country Music” at the Harvester Performance and Event Center...one advantage of being so close to Nashville is the prevalence of professional musicians who always love playing gigs “close to home”. Our fearless leader, Bert Driver, is also the Chief Music Aficionado of our team, and luckily has the innate ability to sniff out good, I mean REALLY good, musicians/artists. When those two factors work in tandem, and suddenly a window of opportunity opens up, everybody wins - especially us music lovers!
Bert hit another home run Saturday evening with Michelle Poe, Russ Freeman and Ken Taylor as headliner entertainers on the (first ever) Saturday night performance at the Harvester.
I remember playing in Vegas back in the 70’s and the strip was abuzz because Nashville “Class Country Artists” were starting to appear in the big rooms of the casinos – Saturday night, I couldn’t help but keep thinking how much that term (from way back then) was a perfect description of the show Michelle, Russ, and Ken Taylor were creating onstage at the Harvester at this very moment. They cruised through the standards from the Eagles to George Strait to the Judds, and then threw in some tunes that were not your standard “honky-tonk fare” ...all the while, maintaining that “Class Country” vibe. Ever notice how the REALLY good performers make it look SO easy? Michelle, Russ, and Ken got all that…and “Class” to boot!
I could list this excellent trio’s many professional musical accomplishments here, but suffice to say they’ve been there, done that, and it sounds like it. Michelle should get a medal for being bass player for Hank Jr. on and off for sixteen years(!). At the risk of being redundant, Michelle, Russ and Ken are excellent musicians/artists and outstanding examples of the quality entertainment we are proud to introduce to our Smithville and Upper Cumberland clientele. And the final kudos goes to our featured Food Truck for Saturday night – Tio’s Taco Truck.
Join us at Short Mountain Distillery, 9/2-9/4, for the Greenway Music Fest - (85 Bands!!). Bert Driver Nursery will be participating in the GreenWay Music Fest as a Nursery. We support the development of the GreenWay, and you can, too, by stopping by our booth and register to purchase a tree to be planted on the Short Mountain Distillery GreenWay. We’ll be back at the Burlap Room on Saturday, September 10, with the Music City Stones, and Saturday, October 8, for Dia de los Muertos. The Shoppes of West Walnut are having their premiere “Artwalk” on Friday, September 16, 2022 - Dining in the street, live jazz band, local/regional artisans displaying their works, late shopping at the Shoppes of West Walnut - finish off your Artwalk at the Harvester on Friday evening! Comedy Night returns to the Harvester on September 29, details to come.Stay up-to-date with all the events in the Bert Driver Network (Nursery, Burlap Room, and the newly-opened Harvester Event Center) by signing up for our Burlapper Newsletter. All tickets for all Burlap Room and Harvester Event Center can be purchased at burlaproom.eventbrite.com.
