Uncle Dave Macon Days moves to the Fountains at Gateway for its 2022 roots music festival, set for Oct. 7–8. Additionally, admission to the Uncle Dave Macon Days festival will be free to the public this year.

Old-time, bluegrass and roots music will kick off at 5 p.m. Friday evening, and again at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Fountains at Gateway is located at 1500 Medical Center Pkwy.

Starting from humble beginnings on the lawn of the Rutherford County Courthouse in 1978, Uncle Dave Macon Days has been a Middle Tennessee tradition for decades. Inspired by the legacy of America’s rich musical heritage, organizers of Uncle Dave Macon Days intend to continue expanding the all-ages event’s musical genre experience over the coming years.

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“Stomp your feet, clap your hands, and sing along with us, let’s have a good ol’ Tennessee sing-along,” said Paul Harris, a.k.a. Digger Cleverly, as his band The Cleverlys went into a traditional American string-band version of “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC at one of the group’s many performances.

That piece is definitely a classic Tennessee string-band sing-along tune, or at least it was after The Cleverlys got a hold of it. Maybe a “good ol’ Tennessee sing-along” has less to do with the song selection and more to do with the “stomp your feet, clap your hands” and string band parts.

The Pulse got a chance to speak with Paul, as well as Ben Wilson, The Cleverlys’ agent, and talk about traditional country music, Uncle Dave Macon, The Cleverlys, and how they all intertwine, prior to the band’s performance at the upcoming Uncle Dave Macon Days festival here in Murfreesboro.

For those who may not know, Uncle Dave Macon, the “Dixie Dewdrop,” was an old-time American banjo player who was a successful Vaudeville performer in the 1920s before becoming the very first star of the Grand Ole Opry.

Dave was known to “Make Happy”; audience members enjoyed his stage presence and his energetic personality, something Wilson believes he and The Cleverlys share in common.

“Part of the reason we love playing [Uncle Dave Macon Days] is that we want to bring more progressive old-time music to introduce new people to the genre,” said Wilson.

The group was slated to play the festival in 2019 but couldn’t due to rain. The pandemic interrupted the festival the next two years, but Uncle Dave Macon Days is back in 2022.

Uncle Dave was born just a “stone’s throw” outside of McMinnville, Tennessee, and died in Murfreesboro in 1952, a big part of why the Uncle Dave Macon Days festival exists in Rutherford County.

“This year marks the 43rd Anniversary of the Uncle Dave Macon Days festival starting with small beginnings which attracted only a few old-time music enthusiasts on the lawn of the Courthouse in 1978,” according to uncledavemacondays.com.

Uncle Dave Macon Days will take place Oct. 7 and 8 at Fountains at Gateway in Murfreesboro, and it aims to honor traditional American music as well as the impactful career of Dave Macon and all the pioneers of the genre.

“Uncle Dave’s banjo playing was aggressive for the times,” Wilson said. “He was almost like the rock ’n’ roll of old-time music.”

That’s partly why Wilson feels that The Cleverlys’ style of music is true to the spirit of Dave Macon. “They embody making happy and pushing the boundaries of what people believe music is. It’s gonna be a good time. You’re gonna laugh, you’re gonna cheer and probably get out of your seat because it is an energetic show.”

Regarding the origin of The Cleverlys, “I started doing stand-up comedy for 15 years before creating The Cleverlys,” Paul Harris told the Pulse.

The Cleverlys started as a concept for a TV show about a traditional bluegrass family band with characters and stories created by Paul as a way to combine his love of music with his acting background.

“I filmed a couple videos as Digger Cleverly and they went viral, and suddenly we were putting a band together and going on tour,” he said.

Paul grew up in the Ozarks of Missouri among a deep theater community of entertainers who put together shows.

“Bluegrass is really about community. It’s amazing to continue to see young and old people dancing and laughing at our shows,” he said.

If you’ve never seen The Cleverlys perform, their set is a mix of stand-up comedy and fantastic musicianship devoted to creating traditional country covers of well-known rock, rap and pop songs. Their innately comedic versions of “No Diggity” and “Low” are laced between hilarious stories of Digger’s nephews and bandmates. While they do well in theaters, comedy clubs and PACs, they still play traditional festivals such as Macon Days.

“A lot of the other bands on the lineup are a lot more traditional than The Cleverlys. I like to have a wide buffet of choices for the fan experience, and we get to be the change-up,” said Wilson.

Having amassed millions of online streams, something they are doing must be working, and certainly some of those listeners are discovering traditional bluegrass music for the first time, even if it is via the song “Thunderstruck.”

So, if you feel like stomping your feet, clapping your hands and singing along, be sure to come out to Fountains at Gateway to see The Cleverlys along with Glade City Rounders, the Will MacLean Band and many others “make happy” with a little bit of music and dance—no ticket needed!

Find more information at uncledavemacondays.com.

The opening day of the 2022 Uncle Dave Macon Days is also the 152nd anniversary of Macon’s birth. Around 6 p.m. Dr. Mike Doubler, Uncle Dave’s great-grandson and author of Dixie Dewdrop, will lead a unique birthday celebration. Country music artist Leroy Troy will perform several Uncle Dave tunes on the banjo and lead the singing of “Happy Birthday to You” As a teenager, Leroy Troy was one of the first Uncle Dave Macon competition winners on the Square in the ’80s.

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2022 Uncle Dave Macon Days Schedule
Friday, Oct. 7
5 p.m. – Glade City Rounders
7 p.m. – Jake Leg Stompers
9 p.m. – Uncle Shuffelo & His Haint Hollow Hootenanny

Saturday, Oct. 8
1 p.m. – Will MacLean Band
3 p.m. – Mid State Cloggers Square Dance
5 p.m. – Caleb Christopher Edwards
7 p.m. – Jake Leg Stompers
9 p.m. – The Cleverlys