Cole Chaney Y’all
Photograph by Leslie Clifton McClellan
One week ago today, I witnessed something incredible… It was Saturday night at the Laurel Cove Music festival. One of my favorite artists alive (Arlo Mckinley) took the stage at 8:30PM. It was my first time seeing him in person, and he threw down the gauntlet. His live act was everything I was expecting and more. Arlo is one of the few artists with the ability to rip your soul to shreds, then carefully reassemble it over the course of his set. When he walked off stage, I was damn near speechless. Little did I know, it wouldn’t be the highlight of my night.
There was no time to bask in the glory of the show that Arlo had just put on. It was 9:30PM now, and the race to the campfire stage to see Cole Chaney perform was on. This was a sprint that I had planned for, but I failed to take into account the possibility of blistered feet, sore knees, strained calves, and other maladies that can affect a 39 year old man that has been standing on his feet for 30 hours over the previous two days. No matter, I started my march. Running at a nice half jog through the darkness, I took the path through the woods and headed towards the sound of voices. It was dimly lit. A soft yellow glow every 10-15 feet showed me the way.
Along the journey, I heard the Kentucky wilderness all around me. I felt almost as if I was walking through a portal of some kind. Swallowed whole by the dark green abyss. Deep down I knew that when this portal spit me out on the other side of that narrow, winding path that something special was waiting for me. Then in the distance, I saw the light. This light was wrapped around a tall figure whose voice at this point was already filling the holler with sound. The crisp air of the open field hit my lungs and before I knew it, I was standing about 25 feet from the stage, transfixed.
Immediately I took a look around to gauge the crowd. The electricity was palpable. There, bathed in Kentucky moonlight, myself and everyone in attendance were treated to something that we will never forget. Hypnotized by the raw talent that Chaney possesses, we sang aloud to every word. We hollered at the top of our lungs between songs. Our pupils were dilated. Our Pulses ran high. We were witnessing destiny itself tap Cole Chaney on the shoulder and whisper into his ear, “You were born for this.”. You felt like Cole understood the sheer gravity of what was taking place. His voice permeated everything within striking distance. We were soaked in its silky smooth raspiness. Time sped up. It was as if the space time continuum couldn’t contain the energy in that field. 45 minutes passed in the blink of an eye. It was a euphoric 45 minutes. It was a blissful 45 minutes. It was 45 minutes that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Cole Chaney Y’all.