He Is Happiest When He's "Up On The Stage"!

How many of you always wanted to rock'n roll, and be "up on the stage"?  My guess most of us!  Well, I visited one guy this week that's made that dream come true.  To see it all on paper, it sounds easy, but as we all know, and as AC/DC taught us, "It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock'n roll"! 

Scott Maddux, owner of Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson in Maryville, TN, looks like your typical upwardly mobile young business man sitting behind his manager's desk, constantly on the phone, in a well appointed office.  However, if you scan the office you'll see it's full of biker, leather, and rock'n roll memorabilia, all items that shaped who he is and gives evidence to a long-held dream he's had.

He's always rode motorcycles, and loved the adventure and freedom of it, as all biker enthusiasts do, but in the back of his mind was always that Bob Seger song, "Turn The Page", and the dream to stand out on a stage and play his guitar...and play it loud!

He set out years ago to make it all happen, to make a career out of his hobbies; riding bikes and playing guitar music.  

Thus was born Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson and the connecting "The Shed", a place for people to come who love Harleys, bikes or all kinds, riding in general, and music!  As Scott says, "The riders destination".

I started to include all of Scott's road to the top story here, but you can go here and read it for yourself.  I want to get to the pertinent story at hand, and that is that Scott is coming to the Princess on March 8th to open for "The Kentucky Headhunters"!

Scott is part of a band called the "Cathouse Prophets", they are Southern Fried & Sanctified!

The band is: Scott Maddux (electric guitar, wearing his signature Fedora), Steve "Bird-dog" Burgess (drums), Mike McGill (vocals/guitar), Justin Nix (bass), David Glover (percussion), and Roger “The Glue” Schmidt (Hammond B3 and Keys).

Mike McGill

Scott tells the band's story like this: 

"In 2009, four of us got together with Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke to play a Christmas party at The Shed. We did a Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers tribute and called it Charlie Starr & Petty Crimes, Charlie poured some real rock-n-roll gasoline on us and lit a fire that set the wheels in motion.

The next year we hooked up with Mike McGill (lead vocals) to play an Unknown Hinson Halloween party. This time, in addition to a set of covers we wanted to play at least one original and as a result "Devils Deal" was written about Popcorn Sutton. The Devils Deal is his story told through The Cathouse Prophets. Later on, T.T.T (Tits, Tires, Trouble) was written from a and interview Popcorn gave Johnny Knoxville. The audience seemed to dig it so we continued.

The following year, we found ourselves in need of a new bass player, we found Justin wrapped in a blanket and placed in a basket outside The Shed. We took him in, force fed him Human Growth Hormones and subjected him to hours upon hours of "The Year of the Horse" videos. During his incubation, a stranger left his cabin unlocked and we took it over, two days later we came down having written Night Like This, Hell on the Little Man, Forever Mine, and Hell to Pay.  This was the start of The Cathouse Prophets.

In 2013, we went into Echo Mountain Studios to cut Southern Fried & Sanctified, nine songs that define our sound today. Who knows what tomorrow will bring."

Scott describes their music as having Southern roots, based in gospel and rock'n roll.  I found the music, after listening to the CD he gave me, to have a great southern country-rock sound; like a mesh of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Charlie Daniels!  You may hear other nuances of your favorite bands too, especially if you're "Southern Fried and Sanctified"! 

Here's a sample, with a little song called "Devils Deal", inspired by Popcorn Sutton:

Scott and the band will have copies of their CD after the show.  The CD was produced by Richard Young, lead singer and rhythm guitarist for "The Kentucky Headhunters".   The band and Richard made the CD in five days, 3 days tracking, and 2 days mixing, while at Echo Mountain Studios.

The two bands are tied together and will be warming up to their "THE SHED" performance on Saturday May 24th in Maryville.  So, if you like them at the Princess, head over to Scott's place for an even more enjoyable rock'n roll experience!

 

BTW, I found out that there is a great little sports bar on the Maryville Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson site.  The place is called "Stinker's BBQ Shack"!  I haven't tried it yet, but the place is great looking, with 5-pulls of fun!

Just past the bar is the entrance to Scott's indoor venue, so you can enjoy music rain or shine in a more intimate setting!  Well, it's all under roof, so even outdoors the party goes on regardless of weather.  Check it out!  It's only a 40-minute drive from Roane County.

Now I could write much more about Scott's Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson (SMHD), which opened in its new 47,000 square feet facility located in Maryville, Tennessee which has exceeded all expectations and been recognized by Harley-Davidson as one of its premier dealerships, and was awarded Dealer of the Year by Harley-Davidson Financial Services in 2006.  Or more about his other Harley-Davidson retail stores in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, or that he was recently awarded a new territory in Southeast Kentucky, but rock'n roll is what Scott would want to talk about.  It's what makes him happiest!

You can see it in his eyes, and in the subtle smile as he talks about "the music".  He didn't want to talk about the business; he quickly segued to his love and hobby, music.  So, that's what I tried to make this all about.

The bottom line is this, the "Cathouse Prophets" are coming to the Princess to open for "The Kentucky Headhunters" on March 8th...BE THERE!

So when you see Scott Maddux "up on the stage", wearing that little hat and moving to his own licks, you'll be happy too!  

Tickets are available now online at kentuckyheadhunters.brownpapertickets.com, or at the Rocky Top General Store or The Harriman Jewelry Exchange, or by calling 865-882-8867!