Do you ever wish life had a soundtrack? Of course you do. “Everybody’s Talkin’” on a stroll down King Street, “Summer in the City” for a cruel traffic jam when your air-conditioner is shot, the “Jeopardy!” theme for those pensive “paper or plastic” moments, “All My Rowdy Friends” when you’re ready for some football, and the “Indiana Jones” theme to make tooth-brushing a veritable adventure in oral hygiene. Let’s face it. Life could be more exciting that way, or at least more entertaining. After a think-tank session in our creative bullpen, your Mountain Times staff got to thinking – what if Watauga County had its own soundtrack? It’d probably go something like this.


Jason Reagan: Defying Easy Description

A soundtrack for the Boone area begins and ends with the Avett Brothers.

Originally from Concord, the group — brothers Scott and Seth Avett along with Bob Crawford — exude a style of music that, like the High Country, defies easy description.

Whether it’s the laid-back, swinging-in-your-hammock mellowness of “Do You Love Him?” or the “grungegrass” intensity of “The Traveling Song,” the Brothers avoid labels in much the same we do as a community.

I mean, are we country folk, hippies, county conservatives, country-clubbers, pipe-smoking intellectuals, early techno-adopters, college liberals or just plain folk?

We are all of these in some respect and that’s reflected in our music as well as the tunes of the Avett Brothers.
The trio manages to wring an eclectic worldview through an acoustic spin cycle and dress up our favorite music in a new wardrobe described by the San Francisco Chronicle as the “heavy sadness of Townes Van Zandt, the light pop concision of Buddy Holly, the tuneful jangle of the Beatles, the raw energy of the Ramones.”

That sounds like the Boone area in a nutshell.

FYI: The Avett Brothers — in addition to being a MerleFest mainstay — will perform on Oct. 31 at the War Memorial Auditorium in Greensboro.

Bill Greene: Thank God I’m a Country Boy

There are quite a few musical pieces that come to mind when thinking of a soundtrack for our area. From

A miniature replica of Bill Greene’s 8 by 10 foot poster.

“People of the Southwind” by ’70s era band Kansas, a misty look back at who we all are, and how our home shaped us, to ...well, “Slip Sliding Away” by Simon and Garfunkel (if you want to put a steep slope angle on things).

I think of the times when I left the area to pursue adventures in other parts of the country, and the eventual return home that culminated in seeing the “Boone 10” sign that used to be on the old Highway 421. Like other Boonerangs as we are called, this sign was the marker that we had finally made it back to the one place we felt a true connection to. I can remember on one such trip back from Florida, heads hanging from the grueling 12-hour trip, I popped in a cassette we had of John Denver – yeah, that’s right, I said it, John Denver. The reason was that after being out of our element for six months, and being the focus of interest mainly because of our southern accent, we couldn’t help but sing out loud to the song “Thank God I’m a Country Boy.” It was the kind of pride you feel when your home team completes the Hail Mary pass to win the game. After re-winding the tape a couple of times for encore performances, we came up on the piece of road where our old friend the “Boone 10” sign was.

There was a brief moment where uprooting the sign for our collection was actually on the table, but was overruled by full bladders and the desire to reach our loved ones. Seeing different cities and people was an exciting part of my youth, but rolling into the city limits, even to this day, makes me thank God I’m a country boy.

.

Frank Ruggiero: Sun King

Here comes the Sun King, and he’s armed and wearing tights.

Boone. Boooooone. The name itself sounds good in song, open to many rhyming variations like moon, dune, croon, June, platoon. And let’s not forget festoon. But seldom is there a soundtrack featuring a decent song based on the source material, with “Weird Science” and “Big Trouble in Little China” being a couple exceptions. So, when it comes to Boone and Watauga at large, we must abandon the theme song and embrace variety.

For the morning drive to work, the song that seems most fitting is “Sun King” by the Beatles. Opening with the soothing sound of crickets chirping, a gentle drum beat soon follows to ease the listener into a brand new day. It’s all very gradual and the perfect complement to Watauga’s natural majesty.

For a trip to Blowing Rock, “The Village Green Preservation Society” by the Kinks comes to mind. As a small town determinedly keen on staying a small town, Blowing Rock practically exemplifies the Kinks’ lyrics, some of which boast about “preserving the old ways from being abused, protecting the new ways for me and for you,” while also noting, “We are the office block persecution affinity; God save little shops, china cups and virginity.”
As for the Blue Ridge Parkway, an anthology of melodies comes to mind, the most prominent being jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt’s “Nuages,” translated from French as “Clouds,” and understandably so – the listener blissfully floats along with the ambling tune, not too fast and with one heck of a view.

Passage through the U.S. 321/N.C. 105 intersection would be almost enjoyable were John Williams conducting the London Symphony Orchestra for the climactic Death Star destruction scene in “Star Wars,” provided one narrowly avoids a red light (and blue lights, for that matter). A shopping excursion to the mall would be complete with a Muzak version of “The Girl from Ipanema,” while a visit to Lowe’s Foods would – well, Lowe’s usually plays fairly eclectic music anyway.

And to wrap this up, only The Doors will suffice. “The End.”

Scott Nicholson: Of Dennis Hopper and Shrubberies

While “Born To Be Wild” would be a groovy soundtrack, I doubt you could get Dennis Hopper to wear a helmet, and if you took away his skatepark privileges, he would probably egest in the shrubs at the Jones House.

Likewise, “Hell’s Bells” works for the football crowd, but football covers only a handful of days unless you happen to be one of the people paying for stadium improvements. Which is most of us.

And “A Bicycle Built for Two” would be a great ode to leisure and recreation, given the mad traffic, it would be followed shortly thereafter with “Precious Memories,” which is hardly the kind of image tourist organizations can pitch off the mountain.

Maybe “Money (That’s What I Want)” could be played by an orchestra of downtown cash registers, and since it’s been covered by everybody from Josie and the Pussycats to The Supremes, Boone could finally achieve the status of being all things to all people. Who happen to have money, that is.

“ Drive My Car” works for those who are unable to find a parking space and must roll out of the driver’s seat like Walter Sobchack (John Goodman) in “The Big Lebowski,” muttering “Your wheel,” as he tumbles to the asphalt with a packaged, loaded Uzi, leaving the passenger to go sidewalk bowling while struggling to control the vehicle.

Mayor Loretta Clawson could lead a rousing rendition of “Wonderful Tonight” to commemorate the passage of the ABC referendum, but public opinion is still divided.

But I’ll put aside my cynicism and go with “Give Peace A Chance” to commemorate the upcoming Day of Peace on Sept. 21, because I know we can all get along, no matter the direction from which we enter Boone.