Making a site visit to BamaJam
May 28, 2008
Someone on the accent desk at the newspaper got the email from a bluegrass fan in Birmingham on Tuesday.
The gist of it was, “Hey! Is this BamaJam thing really gonna happen? Eight of us were planning on headin’ down. But, is this gonna happen?“
I relayed that message to Ronnie Gilley an hour or so later during a scheduled interview. He shook his head and responded:
“When are people gonna realize, yes, it’s gonna happen. We have proven and proven and proven it. I guarantee it will happen. With eight musicians coming who are top eight ACM artists, ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd ... This concert has more clout than any event in the country. It’s hard to believe it, but it is and it’s happening in Coffee County, Alabama.
“Yes, it’s really gonna happen and yes, Trace Adkins, Miranda Lambert and Hank Jr. are all gonna be here at BamaJam. BamaJam is really gonna happen.“
‘Nuff said. Believe it, folks.
Tickets sales increase daily. Music fans from as far away as Scotland and England are coming. Hank Jr. has his own BamaJam helicopter pad for transport. (He hates traffic, promoters say.) The Bama Slam Saloon is near completion. Security is tight and plentiful.
BamaJam is gonna happen and in a big way. Gilley and his vice president, Billy Graham, who is taking care of all the BamaJam stuff while Gilley concentrates on Country Crossing, are expecting all 30,000 tickets to be sold. Another 12,000 are being given away.
Eagle photographer Jay Hare and myself visited the site Tuesday in its, I call it, “virginal” farmland-type state. Right now it is lots and lots of land—parking to accommodate more than 10,000 vehicles. Campgrounds for more than 650. And a few trailers and portable buildings here and there. Pipes for fresh drinking water, a couple of roads and lines and lines of fencing.
It is a bit difficult to grasp that on this site could be a huge crowd of music lovers of various genres. Vendors. Entertainers. Fans. Campers. Police, EMA, volunteers, beer girls, car parkers .... And you can’t ride by there without feeling it.
There’s an overwhelming excitement to it all. Seven days as of this blogging and the fun begins!!!!
CYA there!
