Every August, the town of Challis, Idaho plays host to thousands of visitors for the annual Braun Brothers Reunion Festival. A family-friendly event for the music enthusiast, the BBR brings both well-loved and up and coming artists together with their fans in a picturesque setting for three unforgettable days. This year, the BBR will be held from August 10th-12th and will feature fourteen plus artists, including Micky & The Motorcars. In the conclusion of our series highlighting some of the artists at this year's Reunion, Micky Braun very kindly took some time to speak about his family's festival and more. Your family has been hosting the BBR for almost forty years now, do you recall any early memories? My earliest memory was from the late 80’s, around ‘88-‘89, when Dad was playing at a dance hall in Stanley. We played there three nights a week and Dad played five or six. The first year he did that I remember he had his brothers come up and do the Reunion. There are so many wonderful things about the Reunion from the location to the artists to seeing new friends. What makes it special for you? Even though I moved to Austin, Idaho is home and has always been my favorite place, so when the Reunion rolls around, I look forward to being home. I grew up here and have a cabin here now, so I enjoy seeing old friends and hanging out with my friends from the road. It’s nice to be able to spend time with such a good group of people, enjoy their company, and the Idaho weather. Besides the fact that the BBR has grown, has it changed for you in any other ways? It’s changed a little bit almost every year. With it growing, it’s more about trying to keep it at a place where everyone is happy. Our main goal is to have the right amount of people so that everyone can be comfortable, enjoy themselves, and not worry about being overrun with long lines or having nowhere to sit. A daily capacity of 3500 people is the number we feel comfortable with; we reached that number last year on Saturday, and it’s coming close on Thursday and Friday this year. It almost triples the size of Challis for those few days. It does, but I think it’s good for the town, not that they’re surviving on us, but it gives them a nudge – at least we hope it does anyway - in the middle of Summer which is nice for the restaurants, hotels, and the businesses in the community. It’s a cool thing to be able to do this in our neck of the woods and work with the city council and people from all over the town, many of whom I know from when I was a kid.
1 Comment
With the countdown to the 2017 Braun Brothers Reunion Festival well underway, the Brauns of Reckless Kelly and Micky & The Motorcars - Cody, Willy, Gary, and Micky - are getting you ready with a playlist chock full of their favorite tunes from the artists performing at this year's Reunion.
Stream the tracks while you pack for, and travel to, Challis, or if you're simply hanging out and in the mood to hear some great tunes. And if you like what you hear, be sure to visit the artist's website and pick up a CD or two. For all of the information on this year's BBR, which will be held August 10th-12th in Challis, Idaho, visit HERE. For a complete listing of song titles and artists, see below
Artists and Song Titles
Braun Brothers - 1000 Cups Of Coffee, Yankee Fork, The Cowboy From Mackay Reckless Kelly- Nobody’s Girl, Wicked Twisted Road, Ragged As The Road Micky and the Motorcars- Hearts From Above, Careless, Tonight We Ride Jack Ingram - Good Night Moon, Keep On Keepin’ On, Mustang Burn Old 97’s - Salome, Time Bomb, Victoria Blue Water Highway - Miss California and the Bad Man, Steamboat Song Lee Ann Womack - A Little Past Little Rock, Mendicino County Line, I Hope You Dance Dirty River Boys - Highway Love, Teenage Renegade Ned Ledoux - Brother Highway, We Ain’t Got It All Jeff Crosby And The Refugees - This Old Town, Silent Conversations Wade Bowen - Sun Shines on a Dreamer, Mood Ring, My California Randy Rogers - This Time Around, Kiss Me In The Dark, Neon Blues Hold My Beer and Watch This - I Had My Hopes Up High, In The Next Life Jamie Lin Wilson - Ordinary People, Seven Year Drought Turnpike Troubadours - Good Lord Lorrie, Gin, Smoke, and Lies Cody Canada and the Departed- All Nighter, True Love Never Dies Parker McCollum - High Above The Water, Meet You In The Middle
In anticipation of this year's Braun Brothers Reunion Festival, a few of the artists taking the stage contributed some of their favorite tracks from their fellow performers for an all new playlist guaranteed to get you ready for Challis! Stream the tunes below and then to head to the artist's website to learn more and pick up a CD or two.
The BBR will be held August 10th-12th in Challis, Idaho. For all the information visit HERE Artist & Songs Chosen Jamie Lin Wilson - Meet You In The Middle, We're All In This Together Blue Water Highway - Question, 1952 Vincent Black Lightning Parker McCollum - Diamonds & Gasoline, Mendocino County Line Dirty River Boys - Evangeline, Question Jeff Crosby - Volcano, You Had Me At My Best Jack Ingram - Let's Get Drunk & Get It On, I May Hate Myself In The Morning Wade Bowen - Radio, She Don't Love You |