Listen: Chokin’ Kind

A few weeks ago I picked up guest of honor John Dee Holeman and his girlfriend Joan to take them to the North Carolina Heritage Awards, an event familiar to the two as John Dee had won the award back in 1994. We arrived at the ceremony, found our seats and took in all that NC’s fantastic artists had to offer. From seeing pottery being made live on stage, dancing along to Bill Myer and his band, and even running into Algia Mae Hinton, the ceremony couldn’t have gone better. After we ate our chocolate cake and hopped back on the road, we couldn’t stop talking about all that we’d seen and heard at the show. That was until the song “Chokin’ Kind” started playing in my car’s stereo from Captain Luke and Cool John’s “Outsider Lounge Music” CD. John Dee and I started to sing the main phrases “If you don’t like the peach, walk on by the tree!” and Joan started ad-libbing from the back seat “…Sing it Captain!” I don’t think words can truly capture the energy in the car ride back to Durham that night, but if it wasn’t for Captain Luke and Cool John’s one of a kind chemistry playing together, I don’t know that our spontaneous sing along would have been full of quite as much energy.

I mentioned in a previous Diggin’ that if it wasn’t for Music Maker, Captain and Cool might have never performed together, but looking at it one step further, if it wasn’t for Music Maker, someone like John Dee might never have even heard of either of them. Seeing John Dee being inspired and singing along with Captain Luke and Cool John’s music is really what Music Maker is all about, developing a community of musicians all under the Southern Roots umbrella. Not only was that night one of my favorite moments since working at Music Maker, but it was also the start of a wonderful relationship with John Dee and Joan. Since then I’ve helped at a few more gigs, and also helped them move into their new home. It’s really a privilege to be able to help out and spend quality with people like John Dee and Joan, and I’ve gotta thank Captain and Cool for helping add to the spark of such an awesome friendship.

– Berk