A decade ago around this time of year, the world was supposed to end.
Singer-songwriter/guitarist Mike McGill and then-manager of Barley’s Rodney Lee got to
talking in December 2011 about all the hubbub surrounding an interpretation of the
ancient Mayan calendar that seemed to hint at apocalyptic events that were to happen
in late 2012.
“[Lee told me], ‘Hey, we should put on a big show since it’s gonna be the end of the
world,’” McGill laughs, recollecting the memory. “And we all got up and had a bunch of
fun.”
The event, which featured some of Knoxville’s finest local artists performing holiday
classics and more with an ace backing band, was a smashing success, and it became
an annual tradition. By the fourth year, it became a benefit event for the Second Harvest
Food Bank of East Tennessee, raising proceeds that were distributed to 18 participating
counties.
“Basically, $1 creates three meals,” McGill explains. “They run at 95 percent efficiency.”
By the seventh year, the line for the show was out the door, and 400-plus paying
customers were packing out Barley’s. “At that point,” McGill says, “we realized it was too
big for Barley’s anymore. So after the seventh year, of course the pandemic hit, solo
thing online eighth,” and the event shifted last year to a grand stage: the Historic Bijou
Theatre, every Knoxville musician’s dream venue.
“We’re really happy to be partnered with them and glad to be there,” McGill says,
beaming with pride.
The Mike McGill Christmas Spectacular, as it’s come to be known, celebrates its 10th
anniversary this year, with the festivities going down at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 18.
Single tickets can be purchased for just $20 each. This year’s event is sponsored by
Harby’s Pizza and Chop Shop Hair Studio.
“I went back and forth on maybe trying to get bigger names, but it just seems like this is
the way it is supposed to be,” McGill says of the local focus within the lineup. “[We want]
people who are out there working hard and trying to do something.”
Sometimes McGill gets sentimental about the early days of the event at Barley’s, but he
appreciates all that the Bijou does for the event, the crowd it brings in and the artists
who get involved.
“There’s a lot of us, we miss it being at Barley’s. It was such an atmosphere for the fans
especially – you’re probably around everyone in town who you want to be around for
Christmas,” McGill reminisces.
Still, he references Marshall McLuhan’s old adage about the medium being the
message in his description of how the new environs help the optics and perception of
the skilled local artists when they are presented in a professional setting. “Actually being
on the Bijou stage last year, the majority of comments that I got afterwards was [along
the lines of], ‘Oh my God, we didn’t know you were that good or [that] those guys could
play that well!’”
Framing artists properly allows the audience to see them at the higher level they aspire
to and work for, McGill says. “In the music business, people know that you’re good
when they hear you, but if you’ve got someone telling them you’re good, that’s what
matters to the industry side of this. And there is a percentage of those folks that would
never get the opportunity to be on a stage like that unless you’ve got someone who
knows they’re good and doesn’t need all that. If you’re talented enough to do it, you
should get the opportunity to get it. Everybody up there deserves it.”
This year’s guest performers include local indie impresario/internationally known wizard
rapper/avant-garde composer Wil Wright, Thrift Store Cowboys’ frontman Daniel Fluitt,
vocalist Cookie Hopper, old-time revivalists Red Shoes and Rosin (also supplying
harmony for everyone) and songwriter Barrett Burcham.
“We’ll have a whole stage full of folks, and it’s a good program – always the Sunday
before Christmas,” McGill says.
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Other area holiday shows/events/etc.:
Dolly Parton’s “Mountain Magic Christmas” aired Dec. 1 on NBC and is now available to
stream via Peacock. The special features noted Knoxville musicians Christina Horn,
Kelle Jolly, Sarah Phillips Monroe and Addie Levy, and it includes appearances by
Willie Nelson and Miley Cyrus among several others.
Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam and Christmas Day Jam, Asheville, North Carolina,
Dec. 10.
WUTK will throw a Forty For 40 Wrap-Up Party and Holiday Hurrah on Wednesday,
Dec. 14, at 6 p.m. at Alliance Brewing for one last pint-night fundraiser that will include
giveaways, updated info about the fundraiser and hopefully some live music. Station
director Benny Smith was still booking talent at press time.
A Very Southern Cities X-Mas benefiting the Love Kitchen, Corner Lounge, Dec. 16.
Knoxvollidays Vol. 5 comprising Knox music all-stars, also benefiting the Love Kitchen
and featuring the MMK Carol Cart members as guest emcees, Corner Lounge, Dec. 19.
Mountain Empire All-Stars at Market Street Social benefiting Hope Haven, Kingsport, Dec. 22
