Perhaps one of the reasons that I enjoyed the concert so much was that it felt personal to me on a number of levels: both my parents and my grandparents were married at Greater Warner, but back then it was McCalla Avenue Baptist Church and was a completely white congregation. On Sunday afternoon, I mentioned to my mother that I was headed to the concert, and she told me a story about attending McCalla as a young girl that I thought readers of this blog might enjoy.

Although my parents did not attend McCalla Avenue as adults, my grandparents were members there during the 1960’s. My grandmother, who is the pianist at the Orangery, was also the church pianist. My mother has an incredibly vivid memory of sitting on the second or third row at McCalla (up near the front so she could be close to the piano) and a very well-dressed African American woman coming to sit down beside her. Shortly after the woman was seated, several ushers came to the front of the church and escorted the woman out of the church simply because she was black.

This was, of course, my mother’s first vivid and personal memory of the Civil Rights era. Sunday afternoon was the culmination of a number of things for me - the marriage of two types of music that, like Brian Salesky, I grew up hearing. Further, those who were there can appreciate what I mean when I say that this was a moment that was just very - Knoxville. Sunday afternoon, quite frankly, was just plain fun; and it served as a pleasant reminder of yet another reason why I’m glad to call Knoxville home.