Solstice R&B/Soul Celebration with the Magi (& Center Hill Realty Customer Appreciation)
06.22.2024 - It was a fully jam-packed day of excitement and great music at the Harvester Event Center in Historic Downtown Smithville, Tennessee, on Saturday, June 22, with Robin and Kristie Driver’s 35th Anniversary & Customer Appreciation Day for their Center Hill Realty and re-imaged “Escape to Center Hill” featuring their amazing group of luxury vacation rental properties on beautiful Center Hill Lake.
Randy Caldwell, representing the Smithville Chamber of Commerce, presented a special recognition award to Robin & Kristie for their obvious contributions over the many years of service to the community.
Larry Pinkerton, guitarist extraordinaire, provided just the right musical ambiance with his tasteful selection of “everything from the Beatles to Hoagy Carmichael standards” as the CHR guests enjoyed the super-spread of food, beverages and the complimentary merch items from CHR and Escape to Center Hill Vacation Homes. Based on the excellent turnout, the event was obviously well appreciated by all attendees. Congratulations, Robin & Kristie!
As Center Hill Realty’s event began to wind down, sound checks started for the Harvester’s Summer Solstice R&B/Soul Celebration with Cerulean Soul hitting the Flatwoods Stage at 6:30p.m. Jordan Morack “came back home” to the Harvester and brought a great group of young, energetic (well-accomplished) musicians that included a FIVE-piece horn section, with all the musicians being very capable of great section work, as well as ALL bringing excellent solo performances. Fronted by the “diminutive in size, but very big in voice” the lovely Kaleah Wooten was in rare form as she cruised easily through a varied and tastefully-prepared set with “the guys”.
It’s very gratifying to all of us at the Harvester to be able to present groups such as Cerulean Soul who are definitely serious about their music and art, who, while pursuing new directions and frontiers of music, these young players recognize and honor the traditions and players of old-time jazz. After an afternoon and early evening of some great live music, it was hard to imagine more positive musical energy than was already floating around at the Harvester, but that was before The Magi kicked off their set.
The Magi are a trio, but I guarantee you, they sound more like a five-piece band, with their three-part harmony being spot-on, and their choice of material seemingly custom-made for the discerning and appreciative Harvester crowd.
I’m gonna say this - I hope it doesn’t offend anyone, but there are VERY few singers (and I’ve heard a bunch) who are capable of sounding anything like the incomparable Sam Cooke. Well, I met a guy from North Carolina who does it effortlessly. His name is Damien Horne - he sings lead and plays guitar in The Magi, and they put on one of the best performances I’ve ever witnessed at the Harvester on Saturday night.
The Magi play concerts and events all over the country and are headed for Hawaii next week for a tour of corporate events. We were lucky to get ‘em – The Magi are THE REAL DEAL, FOLKS! Don’t miss this group if they’re ever around again!
The only glitch for the entire day was when the scheduled food truck did not arrive – a lot of times, when folks come to the Harvester for an event, they come, planning to eat dinner before or after the show…so, it was sort of a minor panic (all our guests suddenly looked very hungry!).
Well, Bert Driver called our buddy, Jon Powers owner of Domino’s Pizza here in Smithville and placed an “emergency order”, and in about 30 minutes, they delivered thirty (30) pizzas and “donated them to the cause” so to speak…Jon’s a big music-lover like us, but sending FREE pizzas to all the Harvester crowd was above and beyond! Thanks, Jon – folks like you are why we love Smithville!
Special thanks to the always excellent Security and Service Staff at the Harvester, and Phil Stafford, Sound Engineer. There’s several special live music events coming up at the Harvester every month through the rest of 2024!
Up next is Rhiannon: A Stevie Nicks Experience with Straight from the Heart: A Bryan Adams Experience on Friday, 7/19 (more info coming this Tuesday!), Jefferson Street Blues Review featuring Fredrick Weathersby on Saturday, 8/9, and Tom Tippin with Drew Elliott on Saturday, 8/24.
Stay tuned for upcoming special music events at the Harvester, and stay up-to-date with all the events in the Bert Driver Network (Nursery, Burlap Room, and the Harvester) by signing up for our ‘The Local Vibe’ Newsletter - released the first Tuesday of the month, straight to your inbox! And don’t forget the Harvester is for rent: corporate events and parties, weddings, receptions, graduations, baby showers, or whatever you’re celebrating, we host ‘em all! Contact us for more information, and check us out on Wedding Wire or The Knot!
