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Have a cup of joe with Joe

A person with a backpack is walking up a rocky path in the woods.

“Please turn that TV off….I didn’t come to the mountains to see Charlotte”

This heartfelt comment uttered in a local restaurant years ago resonates in my unawakened brain.


This fine gentleman was called to the North Carolina high country simply to take in all the beauty and positive energy a funky town called Banner Elk had to offer. I will never forget it because his “burst” was real true raw emotion. All he wanted was to “take in” a breakfast experience with a big ole bronze elk statue outside the door not unwarranted car dealership advertising. All he wanted was to take in was an uninhibited mountain breakfast experience to nourish his soul. As the stickers promote “The Mountains are Calling and I must Go” and he went.


It is with this thought that I pontificate. You see… the website you are viewing today is the culmination of years of visual, mental and spiritual high country experience. It’s been in my thought pattern for a while. But after our recent “biblical hurricane experience” its time has come to bring the “mountain dream” alive for one and all. 


So the purpose will be to promote all our special Appalachians have to offer. But I don’t want it to be about me. I want it to be a site that calls to the souls that have the spirit of this special mystical place in their heart…..that just say Ahhh when seeing the mountains appear in their windshield. I desire through my stories, poems and heartfelt narratives to showcase the uninformed to what my Bride and I have found….the special “warmth” of true mountain friendship.


So please travel with me in my old Jeep with my invisible time traveling beagle puppy named “Puppy” at my side. We will venture over the hills and into the hollers. All the while seeking out the fine souls that inhabit our blessed mountain space. We will shoot their guns, tell their Jack stories, drink their moonshine and pray over Confederate and Union soldiers alike that once called our mystical space home. All the while my prized clawhammer banjo will hang over shoulder and blues harmonica tucked away in pocket….. Just waiting for the time to praise the lord and those that have passed before with spoken word, poems and song.


I remain,


HighCountry Joe®

A drawing of a banjo and a feather on a green background.
A black and white drawing of a banjo with music notes coming out of it.

HighCountry Joe's®

MUSIC BARN

Coming Soon!

An historic barn sits lonely high in the Appalachians. Its silent now, but soon the sound of music will reverberate through its old beams and worn floors. Where John Deere tractors once stood, a stage will stand. A welcoming stage for all that will offer musicians, poets and artists alike to express themselves in the way they know best. The old battered floor will be accented with bales of straw … all in a circle for jams …. The stage adorned with mikes, amps and speakers fitted for “open mikes” and ample space for an occasional band or two. The vintage church pews situated just right await lovers of old time, bluegrass, country, blues, gospel and funk. And did I forget the “old time” barn dance.

Yes the stage is set…

I can hear the fiddles now. 

HighCountry Joe®


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High Country Stories, Songs, & Words from the Woods

Pendants with a Story

Wear a Piece of the High Country

Mountain Musings

Fresh stories, poems, and more added to the site daily.

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An american flag is hanging from a pole on a balcony

Stringin' & Singin'

HighCountry Joe's® Music Barn coming soon!

Connect with Joe

Call or text 828-803-4680 and let's meet for a coffee or hang at a local spot.

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Fresh Daily

Visions of Denim and Lace

Walking through a comforting flowing field of grass on a mountain top high in the Appalachians I have visions of denim and lace. I have visions of a mortal man,  with the God given name of Moses Cone,  who met all his dreams, married the love of his life Bertha and now rests in peace in a glorious place called Flat Top. It was there that this scene was captured.  It was there when I dreamed and had Visions of Denim and Lace.

Moses Cone had it all when he constructed his retreat called Cone Manor. Called the Denim King,  he owned the largest fabric producing company in the world. His classically lovely bride Bertha surely felt comforted with their accomplishments and accented her mortal body with fine lace. They lived a good life. They loved each other. They had achieved their dreams.

But being mortals they now lie side by side under a clear blue Appalachian sky and  only steps from where I stood. Unlike the man Tom Hanks portrayed in the Green Mile they didn’t have immortal life. But It seems so very comforting each time I sit on Cone Manor's porch where the last scenes of the film was produced,  that their spirits are still alive. 

So as a mortal man, I stroll  slowly by with my time traveling Puppy  at my side. And under a glorious sky of blue, and the whispering of the mountain spirits ,  I dream of visions of Denim and Lace. 


HighCountry Joe®

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Two men are sitting at a table with one playing a banjo and the other playing a guitar
A man with a beard is playing a banjo in front of a pile of logs.
A black and white drawing of a banjo on a white background.

The Porch is Always Open

Reach out to meet for a cup of joe or to hang at a local spot.

Let's Chew the Fat