Community waits anxiously for Mountain Faith. Photo by Bradley Lucore.
People from the community packed Main Street in Sylva, Thursday, Sept. 10, with the hopes of getting just a glimmer of the returning hometown band, Mountain Faith.
Firetrucks, Triple Threat dancers, and finally Mountain Faith paraded down Main Street toward Bridge Park. The band was welcomed with open arms by approximately 1,500 people, according to police.
The Sylva-based band was the first musical group from Jackson County to be featured prominently in prime-time television on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” They were eliminated in the semi-finals on Sept. 2.
“We’re big fans of Mountain Faith. We just wanted to come out and support the band and their success,” David Huffman, a local resident of several years, said.
After the parade, the band was greeted at Bridge Park with a performance by the Triple Threat dancers and some kind words by Julie Spiro, lead organizer of the homecoming parade.
Sam McMahan waves to fans during the parade. Photo by Bradley Lucore.
The return was full of surprises starting with a proclamation honoring the band delivered by Jackson County Commissioner Mark Jones.
“Mountain Faith demonstrates commitment to the county by creating beautiful music that represents important aspects of the culture and mountain heritage of Jackson County,” Jones said.
The band was also recognized for “serving as Jackson County’s ambassador.”
“We’re so thankful and we really appreciate all of your support. If it hadn’t been for all of your comments and emails, I don’t think we would have made it because we were so homesick and we were missing everybody. We’re so glad to be back home,” Summer, the band’s lead vocalist and fiddle player, said.
The band members profusely expressed how grateful and humbled they were by the welcome, and how happy they were to be home.
“We’re back here now. We get to play the music we love for the people we love,” Sam McMahan, the band’s bassist and father of Summer and Brayden McMahan, said.
Mountain Faith addresses crowd at Bridge Park. Photo by Bradley Lucore.
The community was overjoyed to see the return of their favorite bluegrass band regardless of how far they made it on “America’s Got Talent”.
“We’re just thrilled that they got to do something this fantastic,” Donna Watson, a local resident member, said. Watson has a special connection with the band because they played at her daughter’s wedding a few years ago.
The biggest surprise of the night came from Sam McMahan. An Air Force General called the band after one of their televised performances, Sam said, asking them to perform live for the troops in the Persian Gulf. The band was overwhelmed by the request and immediately said it would be their pleasure to go. The band will travel to the Persian Gulf for the first two weeks in November.
“I think that they have a new audience now so anything can happen. I think it’s great that we’ve been able to introduce bluegrass music to an audience, especially a younger audience, nationwide that might not have heard it before,” Spiro said.
Mountain Faith starts touring again on Sept. 11, with their performance at First Baptist Church Runnelstown in Petal, Miss. Click here to see their full tour schedule.
