Larry Cordle at Bluegrass Christmas in the Smokies ’25 – photo © Bill Warren
Promoters Lorraine Jordan and Allen Dyer make Bluegrass Christmas in the Smokies special in many ways. Wednesday night saw the pre-show party at Ole Red in Gatlinburg.
Ole Red was packed for performances by Country Grass and the Smoky Mountain Allstars.
Country Grass is Lorraine’s brainchild, recording with several of Nashville’s traditional country artists making their songs “grassy.” The band consists of Matt Hooper on fiddle, Duncan Stitt on dobro, Kent Dixon on mandolin and vocals, Allen Dyer on guitar and vocals, Lorraine on bass and vocals, Wayne Morris on guitar and vocals, and Garrett Newton on banjo.
Larry Cordle joined in for a set of his music, and shared the back stories to his songs. He will be performing tonight at the festival as well.
Lorraine has also teamed up with Randall Hibbitts to create the Smoky Mountain Allstars. This year’s band is Noah Goebel on fiddle, Darren Nicholson on guitar and vocals, Randall on bass and vocals, Wyatt Ellis on mandolin and vocals, Alex Leach on guitar and vocals, and Tom Isaacs on banjo and vocals. Larry Cordle joined them for a couple tunes and Susan King sang a duet with Randall. Curtis Coleman joined Tom Isaacs for a banjo duet.
The show moves into Mills Auditorium for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. More than fifteen bands are scheduled for the three days. The Christmas lights are on in Gatlinburg, and the local bears are welcoming everyone!
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