The hiking season is well underway. Both Hanson and I are former thru-hikers of the Appalachian Trail. (For those uninformed, a “thru-hiker” is a person who endeavors the great task of hiking a long distance trail in it’s entirety.) As former thru-hikers, we’ve always held the Trail close to our hearts and it has never been far from our minds. That is why we’ve decided to spend this year’s hiking season booking and playing shows at the various trail-towns in an attempt to sing songs for the thru-hikers.
Our goal is to start down south and to follow the bubble of northbound hikers throughout the season as they trudge their way up the Appalachian Trail to Maine.
A week from now, we’ll be playing our first show of this series at the Spring Creek Tavern in the iconic trail-town that is Hot Springs, NC – the first significant town after hiking out of the Smoky Mountains. I remember having trouble hiking out of this town because of the time I spent at this tavern imbibing in their tasty brews. Whew! That was a tough climb…
The following day we’ll be performing at the Rathskeller in Franklin, NC. This place opened it’s arms to me and showed me so much love when I was hiking through. I hope to return the favor.
We’ve also booked a slot at the world famous Trail Days festival in Damascus, VA. Trail Days is a celebration of the Appalachian Trail where thru-hikers of the past and present come together to enjoy the crazy subculture that is the A.T. hiking community. We are very honored to be a part of this celebration.
While we are traveling around singing songs, we’re also going to keep an eye out for opportunities to do some Trail Magic. For the uninitiated, “Trail Magic” is, generally speaking, any kind of selfless act bestowed upon thru-hikers to assist them on their journey. It can be a meal prepared for them, a ride into town to resupply, a beer stashed in the woods, or even an invitation into one’s own home to do some laundry, take a shower, and sleep in a bed. Seein’ as Ol’ Hanson and I are pretty much homeless, we’ll probably focus more on offering rides and tons of beer. It is how we do…
I’ve made a ton of friends during my thru-hike and have been fortunate enough to keep in touch with many of them through the various media available today. So, if you all are reading this, please spread the word! If you all have a friend hiking this year, let them know that we’re trying to be around to sing and help and beer. We’ll try to keep on the updates and inform people as to where we may be doing some Magic and, of course, where we’ll be playing next.
This is gonna be fun…
Hike your own hike,
Herb (Two-Sticks)
My brothers and I talked about hiking the entirety of the Appalachian Trail, but every year we seem to let so many other things take priority. I would love to set aside a spring/summer/fall and make the whole journey. I found out later that my dad has always wanted to hike it as well. Maybe we’ll be able to make it a family trip some day! I think it’s awesome that you’re building a whole tour around sharing the love and making music for the hikers! Rock on!
The hardest part is finding the time to do it. Maybe in your case it would be coordinating schedules with your whole fam. Needless to say, it would be totally worth it!
I’ve made a ton of friends during my thru-hike and have been fortunate enough to keep in touch with many of them through the various media available today.