"A Dog, a Gypsy, and a Boy Named Jack"

It's that time of year again, when The Smoky Mountain Gypsy packs his bags and heads out on that ole jet plane again!  As sure as lightening bugs come on a summer evening, Shadow knows the time is coming for Jerry to leave, and he becomes a little more attentive, and ever more watchful. There is no need to use the word "master" when talking about the relationship these two share. It's not about Jerry being Shadow's master! The truth is, it would be quite the other way around! We all know that Shadow rules the house with quiet dignity and patient understanding. Perhaps more than anyone Shadow will feel the absence in the Great Smoky Mountains when the Gypsy dons that old civil war coat and with hat in hand, hits that trail again.

Fans await and Jerry is ready to meet them at Festivals and pubs and schools across the U.K. Very soon at places and events with names like Broadstairs, Chase Folk club and Queens Church, the Gypsy will walk across the stage, sit down on a stool, and pick up his guitar. Then, like an engineer throttling the controls of a train, he will take those lucky enough to  have a ticket on a journey that spans more than space and land and mass.  Our Gypsy will take them back in time to a quieter place where smoke rises from mountain tops. There, the sounds of evening fire and crackling wood merge with the rhythmic sounds of shuttle and beating bar,  of a weaving loom meeting out the sounds of life on the mountain. It's in this time that the magic begins, when a boy named Jack sets out on a road encountering robbers and giants.  The Gypsy will not stop until the travelers with him have shared an adventure and walked a dusty mountain road.

As the journey turns the bend, reveling travelers will tap their feet to authentic bluegrass mountain music. They will laugh at the ole time Appalachian humor that Jerry will bring. Many a fair maiden will lift gilded heart strings to a lonesome love song. As the mountain whippoorwill gives a final call, the Gypsy will return the train to the station and the travelers will know that for some magic moments with some magic beans, while they never left the building-- they all took a journey.

For those of us left behind on the Smoky Mountain, summer will turn to fall, before the Gypsy will return home to changing leaves and a friend named Shadow.   Travel well, our friend, travel well.