This is a personal artist spotlight on Overmountain Men by DJ Salinger for Hopscotch.
It’s hard to pick a place to start when beginning to talk about Overmountain Men. The band members’ thick North Carolina roots coupled with the fact that David Childers is a lyrical genius only give a glimpse into the many reasons why Overmountain Men is a musical gem. To top it off, Bob Crawford of the Avett Brothers played such a huge role in the formation of the band—(which is enough proof to show just how talented this band really is). Wherever you start, each little bullet point on the list has a long story behind it. To simplify it down a bit, Overmountain Men is a great, foot-stomping folk band from the Charlotte area of North Carolina headed primarily by the extremely talented David Childers. Childers seems to be a very down-to-earth, proper representation of a true North Carolina man that (thankfully for us) never sat his guitar down for too long. The talent and inspiring lyrics that Childers puts forth was what caused a stirring in Bob Crawford to start the collaboration that became Overmountain Men. However, Bob is not the only Avett Brother to take a liking to Childers; the entire Avett Brothers band has covered and performed Childers “Prettiest Thing” online and in concert.
For one man to have such a big influence on a popular modern folk band speaks thousands of words for itself. You better bet that I will be in the audience for their set at Hopscotch this year with my head nodding and my heart pounding.
Favorite Track: “Some Place Along The River” on “Glorious Day”
Playing: Saturday, September 7th between 10 – 11pm at Tir Na Nog