Greenville -- The historic Greenville Municipal Auditorium has a remarkable legacy that includes concerts by Duke Ellington and Elvis Presley, but an event coming up this fall has the potential to dwarf all other shows at this venue. As Waylon Jennings famously sang, "Once you cross Red River, hoss, Bob Wills is still the king."
The event has the blessings of the Wills family and Carolyn Wills, daughter the late Western swing celebrity, was in Greenville Tuesday, June 3, to unveil what is certain to become an annual festival and contest.
"This is an amazing city," remarked Carolyn. "It is exciting to see the Bob Wills legacy shared in the wonderful city of Greenville. We're looking forward to the Bob Wills Festival & Fiddle Contest being the place of great music packed with talent and fun for years to come."
The idea first occurred to Carolyn when she was accepting a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award on behalf of her father and was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiastic reaction from the audience even 39 years after the death of Bob Wills. She thought to herself, "Oh, my gosh...something needs to be done."
Enter Joey and Sherry McKenzie of Twin Fiddle Productions, the event coordinators. Based in Burlington, Texas, Joey and Sherry were barely teenagers when they first met at a National Old-Time Fiddlers Contest in Weiser, Idaho, and both have gone on to win multiple state, national and world fiddle championships.
While there are literally hundreds of fiddle contests held each year in the U.S. alone, none of them are formally affiliated with the late great Bob Wills and no city could work harder at promotion than Greenville.
"I think this could quickly become the premier fiddle contest," says Sherry, adding, "Larry Green is a big reason we decided to bring the fiddle contest to Greenville."
A highly respected Hunt County attorney, Mr. Green serves as the volunteer coordinator of Greenville's non-profit Threadgill Concert Series.
Joey McKenzie said there is a special vibe as soon as you walk in the front door of the 75-year-old Greenville Municipal Auditorium. Everyone from Ray Price, Ralph Stanley and Loretta Lynn to Delbert McClinton and Roger McGuin of The Birds has graced the polished hardwood floor of this stage. It was here in the late '40s that a 23-year-old Ruby Allmond from Bailey, Texas walked off with the championship trophy at the National Champion Woman Fiddler Contest.
"They don't build 'em like this anymore," Joey says as he looks around the historic venue constructed in 1939. "From the audience's standpoint, they will know they are in a grand room. Greenville is so fortunate to have such a quality venue. Dallas and Houston would love to have a room like this."
"It holds great potential for our entire town, as well," noted Milton Babb, Tourism and Marketing Director at Greenville Chamber of Commerce. "This is economic development, too, because heritage visitors typically spend 30% more than the average tourist."
The historic Texan Theater, located nearby at 2712 Lee Street in downtown Greenville is currently undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation and is scheduled to reopen October 24 with a concert by Asleep at the Wheel.
Opening night of the Bob Wills Fiddle Festival & Contest, Friday October 31 will feature a kick-off party at the Texan Theater featuring the Jason Robert Band.
Preliminary rounds of the fiddle contest will be Saturday, November 1 from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. at the Texan Theater.
The action switches to Greenville Municipal Auditorium on Saturday evening for a concert by The Time Jumpers at 7:30 p.m.
Finals of the inaugural Bob Wills Fiddle Festival & Contest are set for 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. Sunday, November 2 at Greenville Municipal Auditorium, with the awards ceremony to follow at 5:30 p.m.
If you want to make a list of the top 10 cities in North Texas that have learned to stimulate tourism by bringing the very best musicians to town, the debate starts at number 2, because Greenville has the top spot locked up. And, when the inaugural Bob Wills Fiddle Festival & Contest hits town, the bar gets raised a lot higher.
