It was a happy day when Hunkerdown owners Tammy and Guy McAninch and long-time events producer Cheryl Mansley met. Tammy and Guy McAninch opened The Hunkerdown, a cozy coffee shop, hoping it would become a place where people would gather and create community. And because of her passion for building community via art and music, Mansley is always on the lookout for places and people with just the right vibes for exactly that. And so, they began to chat and become friends.
Last month, along with Mary Dailey, who is Mansley’s music partner in the Appalachian vocal duo Little Maggie, they produced their very first monthly, all-acoustic, mountain music jam – Jammin’ at the Hunkerdown. The jam, hosted by Little Maggie, featured fiddlers, guitarists, percussionists, banjo, mandolin, and harmonica players, and songs. And the house was packed inside and out!
Now, in addition to the jams, the McAninchs and Mansley are bringing to the community a concert series: “Live @ the Hunkerdown”! The shows will feature the best in original and traditional music – unplugged, and will be “up close and personal,” much like that of a house concert.
On Sunday, Oct. 27, the very first Live @ the Hunkerdown will present international touring artist and award-winning singer-songwriter Diana Jones.
When Jones first hit the music scene, she quickly gained critical acclaim and international radio play, championed by radio legends such as BBC’s Bob Harris, BBC Scotland’s Ricky Ross, and Chicago radio WFMT’s Rich Warren. Since then, Jones has played sold-out concert venues, toured with Richard Thompson and Mary Gauthier, shared the stage with Peggy Seeger and Nick Lowe, played the Cambridge Folk Festival Main Stage, appeared on BBC4 Folk America, Mountain Stage, and the Jools Holland Show, and tours internationally, appearing on BBC4 Songwriter Sessions with Steve Earle and Tom Morello.
Jones has seven original recordings through Proper Records, and her progressive, yet historically rich, songs have been recorded by artists including Joan Baez, Iris DeMent, and Gretchen Peters and have won her numerous folk festival awards, including the Mountain Stage NewSong Festival, The Kerrville New Folk Award, and others.
“Songs come in a flurry of inspiration. I don’t understand it, but I’m grateful,” says Jones.
“There’s some kind of channeling from some other lifetime going on, I don’t know the answer to these things, but all I can think of is that it must come from some mysterious part of her soul.” – Joan Baez
Adopted as an infant and raised in Long Island, NY, the fact that Jones couldn’t get enough of her brother’s Johnny Cash records finally made sense when she found her birth family and musical roots in the Smoky Mountains of Eastern Tennessee.
“Live At Folsom Prison blew my mind,” Jones recalls. Whenever she heard artists like Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, or Dolly Parton, she wanted more but just didn’t know where to find it.
In her twenties, the attraction was explained when she met her biological grandfather, a singer and guitar player who had formed his first teenage band with a young Chet Atkins. Her grandfather introduced her to the folk songs her ancestors had sung for generations. Gradually, she discovered an uncanny affinity for Appalachian music and began claiming it as her own as she found her true artistic calling. Rooted in the Appalachian traditions of her birth family she has proven unusually adept at distilling complicated cultural forces down to a particular person in a particular time and place.
The very first Live @ the Hunkerdown with Diana Jones will take place Sunday, Oct. 27, from 5 to 7 p.m. at The Hunkerdown, 110 Fort Springs Road, Sinks Grove WV. Admission is $15 per person at the door. Cash only, please. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. for the show. Seating is first come, first served.
The Hunkerdown will have coffee, tea, and baked goods available for purchase. Food trucks will be providing dinners for purchase beginning at 4 p.m.
Parking at The Hunkerdown is available along Fort Springs Road, the lot adjacent to The Hunkerdown, the Post Office, and the lot on the corner of Route 3, also known as Wayside Creamery Road. When parking, please be respectful of neighbors’ driveways.
For more information, contact Cheryl Mansley at cherylmansley@gmail.com or 304-702-0554, or visit ArtBeat of the Mountains on Facebook.
