Vassar Clements, Laurel Theater, Knoxville TN 3-8-97 (New and Improved!!)
Audience Recording: (analog cassette tape to digital transfer) 41.1khz, 16bit 
Recorded by David Emanuel 
New Transfer: Sony TC-WE 475 > Gemini DRP-1 


As far as I know I’m the only one who has this recording.  There was a listing for it on another torrent site by someone else but I have not had confirmation of it as of yet.  Anyway, I was the only one I knew of recording this unless the sound guy did and he let the recording out.  The Laurel theater was an old church near the University of Tennessee Campus in Knoxville, first built as the Fort Sanders Presbyterian Church, constructed in 1898. It was later used as the auditorium of the now defunct, alternative School, Laurel High School until about 10 years ago with it being shared as a community center, and it is used as the Jubilee Community Center today.  It is a small auditorium, at that time, with folding chairs.  The acoustics are very lively - you can hear a pen drop.  More information on this theater can be found here: http://www.jubileearts.org/laurel.htm

Recently I found more information in an article about the weekend that Vassar performed.  There was a 2 day festival (Friday and Saturday 3-7, and 3-8 1997) called the Jubilee Festival.  Vassar played on the second evening of this gathering of musicians at the Laurel Theater.  Others mentioned in the article who performed were Reggie Harris, Mark Harris and Boyd Derring (with Vassar Clements insinuated although they may have performed on their own too) as well as Paula Larke and the Golden Gospel Singers.  

I recall the evening that Vassar was at Laurel; a sunny, warm evening in early March - Spring was certainly on its way!  I’m not sure if there was another group playing this night or not because his performance was right at 80 minutes – somewhat short, but just enough to fit onto one CD.  However, he does say near the end of the recording to "stick around" because there was more to come (not him though).  There was a lot of clapping initially on the master tape I made, but thank to George, he worked some magic and was able to decrease it by quite a bit without impacting the rest of the volume. The master tape of this recording was found in my basement closet recently after a good friend of mine and I had discussed the “Old And In The Way” recordings with Garcia, Rowan, Clements and others, and we both recalled that Vassar had played in Knoxville where we live.  Upon finding the tape, I quickly transferred it to digital format, listening as I went- the first time this concert has been listened to in over 20 years!  I uploaded a digital copy to TTD initially, but in conversing with George who I sent a B.B. King and Buddy Guy recording, we decided to send him the master tape from this show too to see what he might could do with some new equipment he had just purchased.  There is no doubt that this rendering is superior.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!
 
Lineage/edits:  Audience recording – from the back (center) of the auditorium with Sony WMD-3 Pro Walkman with ECM-909 Microphone (120 degrees stereo separation on a mic stand) onto TDK SA-100 (Dolby B) with a quick flip to side B and immediately pressing record again > Sony TC-WE 475 > Gemini DRP-1 (SD Wave Recorder 44.1 kHz) & Editing to reduce clapping and normalization with Editing: Soundforge by George ("kingrue" at TTD).  A Very Big Thanks to George for his help!!! His rendering reduced hiss considerably!!!) > CD Wave Editor for slight editing (getting rid of some dead air) & Tracking > Trader’s Little Helper for FLAC level 8 Files, Fingerprints and the Torrent. 

The Show (and files):
1.  VC-97-3-8-01 Tuning
2.  VC-97-3-8-02 Hillbilly Jazz
3.  VC-97-3-8-03 Band Intro
4.  VC-97-3-8-04 Swing Street
5.  VC-97-3-8-05 Boogie
6.  VC-97-3-8-06 There Ain’t No Cows in Texas
7.  VC-97-3-8-07 (Banter)
8.  VC-97-3-8-08 Midnight Moonlight
9.  VC-97-3-8-09 Uncle Pen
10. VC-97-3-9-10 (Banter)
11. VC-97-3-8-11 Say Goodbye to The Blues
12. VC-97-3-8-12 High Lonesome Sound
13. VC-97-3-8-13 Catfish John
14. VC-97-3-8-14 Black Mountain Rag
15. VC-97-3-8-15 Bill Bailey (Won’t You Please Come Home)
16. VC-97-3-8-16 Lonesome Fiddle Blues
17. VC-97-3-8-17 (Banter)
18. VC-97-3-8-18 My Sweet Love Ain’t Around
19. VC-97-3-8-19 (Banter-Outro)
20. VC-97-3-8-20 Patty On The Turnpike	
18. VC-97-3-8-18 Patty On the Turnpike

**PLEASE TRADE ONLY IN LOSSLESS FORMAT!!!**

The Band:
Vassar Clements – Fiddle, Vocals
Reggie Harris- Guitar  
Boyd Derring – Bass (mandolin?)
Rich Campbell- Guitar, Vocals
Joe Turrey – Piano, Sax, Other Instruments?, Vocals