Like a lot of people, I love music. Not so much the canned pop you
sometimes find on the radio, but the authentic, down-home, live music kind. Pigeon
Forge, Gatlinburg and the surrounding area have an amazing variety of
music venues year 'round and most are free. To mention a few of my
favorites...

In January there's Appalachia Fest with traditional mountain music you
may not hear anywhere else, with music from the likes of Tim O-Brien, Riley
Baugus, and Boogertown Gap - talk about down-home

July is great too - the outdoor Patriot Festival in Patriot Park is a
blast(along with the fireworks)! This past July 4th it included the
StarJam 2008 free concert. We had Good Charlotte, Metro Station, American Idol's
Ace Young, Boys Like Girls and others. They put on an incredible show! This
year the weather was plenty warm, so the PF fire department provided regular
"showers" to help keep us cool.

If you're around here in August, be sure to visit "Stringtime in the
Smokies" here in Pigeon Forge. Every year it has some of the best
Bluegrass music around - live, right here! Did I mention it's FREE?
The Hackensaw Boys, Steep Canyon Rangers, Jimbo Whaley, and Timberwinds are
just a few of the artists (don't forget Jammin' at the Old Mill every
afternoon during the festival).

By the way, as you're driving into and around town, check out WDVX
(89.9FM). It's a great radio station I love listening to in my truck - they
provide airtime to a lot of fantastic regional talent.

See you up front!
Jim
Accomm by Sunset Cottage

Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and the surrounding area have an amazing variety of music venues year 'round and most are free. To mention a few of my favorites...

There are so many things I enjoy here in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area. Having grown up here, lived in other parts of the country and returned here I have new appreciation for this unique part of the world. Probably the most appealing to me is the raw nature that survives in and around the cabins and big attractions in town. I never have to go far to find a spot to sit quietly by the river and just listen to the rushing water.  Off many of the area roads you can find an out-of-the-way nature trail where you can take just a few steps and feel miles away. Very cool!

If you’ll indulge my inner “nature geek” for a minute, remember that the Smoky Mountains range is one of the oldest on the continent. A lot of folks don’t realize that before that the area was at the bottom of a huge ocean! If you take a minute to look at the rock faces as you drive around a curve, sometimes you can see the layers of rock and sandstone that used to be an ocean floor. There are countless plants and animals here that are found nowhere else in the world. Tennessee has almost 300 species of fish alone – more than all of Europe!  Ok, ok ... enough already. The point is that there’s enough to explore around here to last a lifetime of searching – and I’m going to try.

Enjoy your stay and look around!

Jim Large
Sunset Cottage team