‘Mountain Homecoming’ to bring Gospel staples to county
Fontana Dam – The hills around Fontana Lake will be reverberating next week.
The four-day Mountain Homecoming kicks off at Fontana Village Resort on Thursday, Aug. 18, and ends Sunday, Aug. 21. Performing will be The Inspirations – a Southern gospel stalwart out of Bryson City, with special guest Archie Watkins for the Friday and Saturday shows – and The Primitive Quartet, another Southern gospel staple that can trace its roots back to a 1973 camping trip to the Cable Cove area of Graham County.
“Norman (Wilson) and Reagan (Riddle) both built houses together – they were brickmasons,” said Jeff Tolbert, who joined The Primitive Quartet as a fiddle player in 1997, after stints with The Isaacs and Ricky Skaggs were already on his resume.
“They decided to take a camping trip to Cable Cove, so they grabbed their guitar and mandolin. Furman (Wilson) did not play an instrument, but he loved to sing, so he took a few songbooks and off they went. They sang songs like, ‘It’s Love’ and ‘The Great Beyond’ while sitting around a campfire.
“When they got back from the trip, they were asked to sing at their home church. One thing led to another, and other folks just kept asking them to come sing at their church. It just grew from there; it was never intended to be a full-time group.”
Originally dubbed the Riddle-Wilson Quartet, the band soon adopted their current name. Their debut album, When Jesus Brings Sweet Glory Down, was released in 1975 and within two weeks of the first shipment of 500 copies, more 45’s had to be pressed to meet the demand.
The Primitive Quartet later began touring full-time in 1978, when The Inspirations opened up the doors of the gospel powerhouse’s bus for an 18-month tour.
Today, Reagan and Larry are still a part of the lineup, along with another brother – Michael, who joined the group in 1976 – plus fiddle player Tolbert and Randy Fox, who became the band’s bass player in 1986.
Furman passed away in 2013, while Norman suffered a fatal heart attack during a hunting expedition near Fontana Lake in 2014.
“You knew he had something in his life – in his heart – that he was looking toward, and it was far beyond this world,” Tolbert said of Furman, while echoing the same sentiments about Norman.
“Furman actually preached my dad’s funeral earlier that year, and came on stage to sing with Norman and the group at Hominy Valley at our annual festival in July. After he came off stage, I told him I loved him and he said, ‘I love you, too. I’ll see you soon.’
“He went home, went to bed and sometime in the night, went on to be with the Lord.”
There is always a challenge presented to musicians as their careers flourish: how long can I stay current and successful?
For The Primitives – who host a yearly music festival at their home base in Candler, affectionally known as “Hominy Valley” – consistency has been the key to their reach.
“God has been so good to us,” Tolbert said. “This group has not changed for anything. It’s faithfulness. The goal is to brag about Him, so that folks will want to seek Him.
“Not to mention, our wives have been so amazing for this ministry. There’s a lot of sacrifice and support from them that a lot of people never think about.”
The gathering will also feature two, free worship services each day – at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. – with four guest preachers throughout: the Rev. Coy Adams (Dry Creek Baptist Church in Stecoah); Dr. Joe Arthur (Harvest Baptist Tabernacle, Jonesboro, Ga.); the Rev. Chad Edwards (Bethesda Missionary Baptist in Candler); and the Rev. Bryan Simmons (Blessed Hope Baptist, Sparta, Tenn.) There will also be a special service Saturday, Aug. 20, at Powell Branch Church in Cable Cove.
Tickets to the concerts, which will be held in the Event Hall at Fontana, are $20 and will be available before each evening’s performances begin at 7:30 p.m.
“We’ve got a lot of calls about this,” Tolbert said of the homecoming’s reach. “Folks are coming all the way from Maine and Texas.”
For details, call 828-712-3720 or email info@mountainhomecoming.com.