Every fall, the small town of Mason in Tipton County, Tennessee holds an annual fall festival with vendors food trucks and live music. It generally takes place along Front Street in an area traditionally known as the Lower End, where a number of juke joints locally called “cafés” used to exist. Only two of the old jukes remain, along with a couple of newer clubs that were built to replace older ones that collapsed. But this year’s festival was extremely well attended, and I was surprised to be recognized by a number of people whom I did not know, because of my previous photographs of Mason that I have shared on the Mason History and Heritage group which I started on Facebook.
In all years, the festival features custom cars, motorcycles and slingshots, as well as tents selling all kinds of clothes, gifts and baked goods, and food trucks. I was especially intrigued by one food truck which proclaimed itself “Home of Fried Biscuits,” whose proprietor graciously gave me a couple of them to try for free. They came with packets of honey, and when that was squeezed onto the golden brown biscuits, they were absolutely delicious.
There was a stage set up, and Memphis blues/soul singer Bird Williams had been booked to perform, but he and his band had not taken the stage before I had to leave for a gig of my own with Big Don Valentine in Bolivar, Tennessee. Williams was headed on to a sort of trailride on Feathers Chapel Road outside of Oakland later in the day, but everyone had a good deal of fun, and the rain held off long enough for everyone to have a good time.