Live at Longo's! The Evendim Hillbillies in concert.

Post date: Sep 28, 2017 3:58:44 PM

By Janco Bloatfoot 

Hiya, dear readers,  

I bring you some fine news from Oatbarton: The Evendim Hillbillies, a local band, will be playing a concert in the Shire. No need this time to travel up north, although the villagers will always welcome you there... with chores that they are too lazy to perform themselves. Especially those famers up in Northcotton are infamous for that. More in particular that pipeweedfarmer, Miss Blossom Gamgee. She's already standing next to barrels of pipeweed, but no, she needs YOU to sort them and sample them. I'm not marrying her, I can tell you that!  

So we looked for a location in the Shire this time, one that still has all the atmosphere of Oatbarton itself.. We talked to a nice and industrious pipeweedfarmer, Master Longo Burrow. He gave us permission to play at his farm. Let me give you the details before I ramble on a bit more.

What:    The Evendim Hillbillies, live at Longo's

Where:   Longo Burrow's farm in Tuckburough

When:    October 7th, starting 19:30 ((UK time, 2:30 servertime))

Now who exactly are the Evendim Hillbillies, some of you may ask?

We (I can say "we" as I am part of that merry gang) are musicians who originate from Oatbarton in the North Farthing. Some of us were even born there. As farm life can be very busy, (currently we are in the middle of harvesting) the Evendim Hillbillies do not perform very often. But we do aim for a Spring and a Fall concert, each year. So attending an Evendim Hillbillies concert is something special!

Lately it has become even more special, as famous singer/performer Emylou Haggins often joins our ranks and brings the audience some of her famous and succesful songs. Let me introduce her and the other Hillbillies now:

Pete Proudfoot, better known as Onionfarmer Pete is our bandleader and lute player. Together he and I founded the Evendim Hillbillies some years ago, as a duo for starters. We also founded "the Farmer's Guild". Unlike woodworkers and tailors, cooks and so on, us farmers did not have their own guild yet, so it was about time too!

I, Janco Bloatfoot, met with Pete in Michel Delving one day and we talked about music. We did not talk long as he tuned his lute and I took out my clarinet and we started to play those fine tunes that we learned back in Oatbarton. We started to perform together and it seemed that the Shire folk really liked our music. We thought about expanding and forming a band..

Potty Nutbutter was one of the hobbits who agreed on playing with us. He takes care of the low notes, played expertly on his theorbo. It took some effort to persuade Sir Potty to change clothes for performing with the Evendim Hillbillies, but in the end he agreed. He now leaves his hat tip at home.

Miss Lully Locket was recruited as our horn player and what a talent she is on that instrument! She plays even the most difficult melodies when volunteered to do so.

We also needed a drummer and we found one in Miss Annera Happyheart, a woodworker from Bindbole Woods, later Combe.

She often is accompagnied by her twin sister Linsina who sometimes stands in when a Hillbilly needs a break. A multitalented lass, she is.

I already mentioned her, our famous guest-billy Miss Emylou Haggins, born as Emily Haggins. She too originates from Oatbarton, but left that town to succesfully seek fame and fortune in Bree. We made a song about her and when she learned about that, she came to us, first to scold us about it, but as we played it for her, she changed her mind and agreed to appear with us at our next concert. It was a huge success and each time we do an all-nighter (a big concert), we ask her and when she can find the time in her own busy schedule, she performs with us.