In January of 2014 Todd Hoke, Mare Carmody and Michael Carver played the first Gospel Brunch at Southern Appalachian Brewery. The Gospel Brunch became a popular Hendersonville community event held monthly on the 3rd Sunday of every month. Often times other members of the local music community would sit in for a song or two.
In February of 2020 the Gospel Brunch evolved into the Hendo Showcase Brunch. In this format Carver, Carmody and (Paul) McIntire featured a local musician for each brunch event. CCM played the first set. The featured musician(s) performed the 2nd set. To wrap it up CCM and the featured musician(s) joined together played a final ‘jam’ set. The ‘jam’ set was often the highlight of the show, with many memorable performances.
Starting on October 20th we are evolving to an exciting new format that will continue to foster the community vibe of the prior brunches and build on that by opening the stage for other local musicians to perform. In the new format, The Highway 52 quartet, featuring ‘brunch’ veterans Michael “Country” Carver and electric violinist Paul McIntire and adding multi-instrumentalist Bill Loftus and Bassist Lauren Bandy will act as the house band. Highway 52 Quartet will play the first set and then open the stage to audience members to come up and play with the house band. This format will be called “The Hendo Acoustic Jam Brunch”.
Musicians interested in playing can sign up prior to the jam by sending a Facebook message to Highway 52 Music. Performers can also sign-up at the show. Priority will be given to those who sign up ahead of time. We will tweak the format as needed based on feedback from our first few shows.
If you have any questions about the Hendo Acoustic Jam Brunch send a FB message to Highway 52 Music.