Tennessee Motorcycles & Music Revival

What does Jack Daniels Whiskey, The Dragon's Tail, Country Music, Blues Music, The Smoky Mountains, Moonshine, Barbecue, Elvis and a Great Motorcycle Show all have in common?  These are all places and culture born out of the great state of Tennessee.

So when we met the organizer of the The Tennessee Motorcycle and Music Revival, Buck Shaw, and he invited us to exhibit at his show,  we where all in for the 15 hour drive South from New York.  The event was held on the grounds of Country Super Star, Lorreta Lynn's Ranch, in her town of Hurricane Mills. 

Located about a half hour ride from Nashville, you could not find a nicer place to hold a motorcycle event.  Top name music acts, great motorcycle riding, camping, custom motorcycle shows, dirt track racing, vendors, a Wall of Death and a hill climb competition, there was no shortage of entertainment in this laid back setting.

Most attendees chose to camp on the grounds of the event.  Some camped in style with their top dollar RV's, while others tied a tent and sleeping bag to their motorcycle sissy bar and set up on a patch of lush Tennessee grass.  A stream ran thru the grounds to cool off in, watch out for those snakes, or head up to the redneck pool for a dip.

Non-stop live music could be heard between the rumbling of the bikes moving in and out of the festival all day and night.  The day of music was topped off with Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top and the Southern Rock band, The Outlaws on both main nights of the revival. 

That covered the music part in the name of the event, now onto the motorcycle part.  Picture an outside shed lined up with some of the sweetest custom motorcycles this side of the Mississippi River.  Choppers, bobbers and bar hoppers all were represented, while their builders where close by their bike to answer any questions about the builds. 

Hourly shows, put on by the Ives Brothers in their Wall of Death, left the crowd wanting more as they both sped around on vintage Harleys in their 100 year old side show wooden barrel defying gravity.  Show your appreciation with some cash tips , while they raced around the barrel and grab the money as you look down on them circling the inside of the barrel narrowly missing colliding with each other.  Dizzy from following the action, slide up to one of the many bars set up around the grounds and throw back a cold one.  Take a walk down vendor row, with everything for sale from Barbecue Smokers to Motorcycle Parts and Apparel.

Dirt track racing was going on all day with all sorts of motorcycle classes with non-stop thrills and spills.  Unfortunately, Saturday afternoon saw a severe lightning storm move in with heavy down pours of rain prematurely shutting down the event.  People retreated to their tents, RV's or any place they could find a safe shelter.

We tore down our Lethal Threat Tent in record time but still managed to get soaked to the bone.  Mother Nature was the only force that could have stopped this show, and if you know anything about a storm in Tennessee, it's not something you mess with.  When the tornado warning come across your cell phone, you don't ignore it.  The last day of three-day show got washed out, cancelling the hill climb that was due to take place Sunday morning.   The weather cleared up by Sunday afternoon, but the damage was done, severe flooding made the whole ranch a sea of puddles and mud. By noon Sunday morning the place was a ghost town.

The positive attitude of the organizers was for sure washed away with the storm, but they vow the show will be back in 2023. Overall, it was a good time not to be missed!

Story courtesy of Lethal Threat Brand - www.lethalthreat.com

                        Down-N-Out Brand - www.downnout.com

Photos courtesy - matt_keane / Instagram