Tin Cup Gypsy

by Bob Payne

All this talk about a mystery guest at the Riverbend Festival has the rumor mills churning like crazy.  Metallica, U2, Col. Bruce Hampton, Bruce Springsteen, The Beastie Boys, Phish, Snoop Dog.  It’s funny how people make the connections in their guesses.

Bettye LeVette, who just played on the Unum stage last night, played with 1?2 of the Beatles earlier this year, so maybe Paul and Ringo are coming to join her in a concert.  Elvis has retired and is living in Kalamazoo, Mich., so it can’t be him. Besides, you won’t ever get him away from the Kalamazoo Burger King, the place where he has been spotted so many times.  Michael Jackson may have some outstanding warrants in the U.S., so it probably isn’t him.  Bill Payne, my brother from Roanoke, has already been announced as an act for next Friday, so it isn’t him.

Want some better guesses?

Here is a riddle. Josh Turner is playing tonight in Myrtle Beach.  His bus would come right through Chattanooga on its
return to Nashville. Sara Evans lives pretty close to Chattanooga, and doesn’t play until June 12. Josh played on the Coke stage last year. The mystery guest of whom I speak also was on that stage. Sara Evans played the Coke stage a
couple years ago.  These are facts, folks.  Go to youtube and pull up some Josh Turner and Sara Evans videos. I promise you will see a few of the possible mystery guests. There are some handsome guys coming, and one fine
looking, musically talented lady.

That’s about all I can say right now, but if I were you, I would be under the bridge at the Tennessee Valley Credit Union Stage on Sunday night at 6:15 p.m. Bring an autograph pen and a camera and get some pictures with them.

And, yes, the answer lies within this column.