The "Mingling with the Hillbillies" Story

It was an ordinary day. Spending the evening with the hillbillies of Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. Philipsburg is about a half hour from State College by way of great new concrete highways that carry very few people through the rolling hills of North-central PA. Visiting with Jerry and Just Sue for the weekend so we could go hear one of our favorite oldies bands, "The Fabulous Flashbacks". Used to hear them play at the annual spring art show in State College and even got to hear them play one time at the Mt. Hope Winery near Lancaster. Sue called about two months ago and told us about the show near their place, so we marked it on the calendar. The band drew huge crowds at the art show as well as the winery so we didn't know what to expect. They are playing at The Wagon Wheel Music Park on Sleepy Hollow Road right outside of Philipsburg. Nice warm day with temperatures in the low 80s so we should have a great time. Got there early for the car show they traditionally have with the concert and when we arrived we were the second car in the lot. Uh Oh! We decided to drive around the hills and explore and come back in an hour or so. When we arrived back there were ........ maybe 30 cars in the lot, and the show was due to start in 10 minutes. Where are the big crowds we expected? We grabbed our chairs and headed to the bandstand. The "Florence Jean Stage" might have been 30 feet across, and "The Fabulous Flashbacks" were tuning their instruments and checking the sound system. We put our chairs right in front of the stage, second row. And ..... we were in the back row. Wow, almost as many cars in the car show as people watching the concert. Looks like the car show was the main event. After visiting and voting for our favorite cars we took our seats. Kind of felt a little out of place. Jerry and I were two of a few males who had shorts on. Most had on jeans and quite a few sported long sleeve shirts and leather jackets. And everyone seemed to know each other. Almost like a family reunion! I suspect this traditional weekly event in the backwoods of PA is their weekly entertainment. As the band started, so did the dancing. One guy, his age undeterminable, was dancing with his girl on the blacktop dance floor in front of the the stage. He had a long-sleeved leather jacket with some logos on the back, leather brimmed hat, heavy-duty chain attached to his belt and connected to his wallet, knife in a sheath on his belt next to his cellphone, pointed black cowboy boots and black nail polish. Sounds like a description from a J. Peterman catalogue, doesn't it. Boy, was he enjoying himself, though. And, so was I, sitting in my lawn chair. The band had lost some of it's luster from when we had heard they a few year's before. The "Fabulous Flashbacks" are from Altoona and are in their 21st year. We heard them when they had two fantastic vocalists. One male could sing the old Frankie Valli songs with his high voice while the female had a deep throaty voice that captured many of the girlie tunes of the 50s and 60s that I remember. We recognized the keyboard player, drummer, and bass guitarist from the group we had seen previously. Still enjoyed reliving our past with their performance. Then, as the sun went down, the night air got a very brisk chill to it. Rather cool. No, make that cold. And here I am with my shorts and short-sleeve shirt. So that's why most are wearing long sleeves and jeans, and many have sweaters, jackets and blankets. During the band's break they held a 50/50 drawing and had a hula-hoop contest. After the break, we talked it over, and decided to head home. But, the experience, in the deep back woods of Centre County, PA was enjoyable and truly Americana. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - photos from the top are: 1955 Ford which was the same color as my second car, being shown off by LDub and his wife, car show at the park, current members of "The Fabulous Flashbacks", Florence Jean Stage at the Wagon Wheel Music Park, and the performance of "The Fabulous Flashbacks" PPS - Thanks for the pixs, Sue