07/15/2013
10th Annual Pinto Bennett & The Famous Motel Cowboys Reunion!
Special Guests: Tarwater, Hard Country Music!
Friday & Saturday, July 19 & 20, 5:00 Bloody Mary Sunday, July 21, 3:00
$10 Cover Fri & Sat, Sunday Free - BBQ by Mickey Ray!
A very special performance at this year’s FMC will be the reunion, after four decades, of the Idaho Superstars band, Tarwater! Tarwater, an Americana bluegrass and country rock band, formed in Mountain Home, Idaho in 1974. Their fan base and concert experience has been compared to that of the Grateful Dead, and their periodic reunion concerts continue to attract fans, old and new. They are especially known for headlining annual Woodstock-style concerts in places like Featherville and Idaho City, notably the 3rd Annual Tarwater Festival at the Klam Ranch on Grimes Creek, near Idaho City, in 1976. They toured the Western US, playing over 300 club jobs per year. The original five members were Teddy Ray Jones, David Lyle David Lyle Pops Evans, Pinto Bennett, Dennis “Ollie” Ashley, Larry Baun, and Jake Hoffman.
Rob Quist, of Montana’s Mission Mountain Wood Band, offers this perspective on Tarwater:
“Back in the day when I was on tour with Mission Mountain Wood Band, every mountain state had one country band that represented and somehow became emblematic of their home ground, and in Idaho, that band was Tarwater. These boys were serious pickers and when we first began to share the stage with them, we were blown away with their friendliness, irresistible energy, musical prowess, and Idaho cowboy sensibilities. As bands of brothers and kindred spirits from our respective states, we ran wild and free up and down the mountain corridors of the West, pickin’ our way through the great outdoor festivals of the summer; jammin’ and skiing the resorts buried in snow in the winter. We all developed a fraternity of sorts, sharing stages, songs, whiskey, hot licks, great stories, and whatever else seemed appropriate at the time...Though much time has passed, recognition of the important contributions of Tarwater and those other bands has begun to surface throughout the West, and they represent a strong musical connection for many of us to some of the greatest moments in our colorful history.”