Grandchildren, Community Keep Suwanee Bluegrass Tradition Alive

“It’s real simple. We keep a good clean decent place. You know, we don’t allow any drinking or any rowdiness,” he said. “We don’t want to hurt your feelings, but we just, all we do is ask you respect our ways down here. That’s all we ask.”

It’s all his grandparents, firm Southern Baptists, asked when they began hosting bluegrass performances back in the ‘60s. Though their rules, admittedly, were stricter.

“My grandma didn’t believe in nakedness. She didn’t believe in short dresses. She didn’t believe in sundresses,” he said.

His grandparents didn’t believe in men wearing long hair either. And that meant that, as a teenager, Russell Everett wasn’t even allowed in — his hair was over his ears.

“Oh no, it couldn’t be over your ears, no. If it touched your collar, Lord have mercy, my granddaddy would have a fit. Mopheads, hippies — that’s what he called them,” he said.

But his grandparents did love bluegrass. And the Saturday night music shows, which always start with the house band and sometimes end with the biggest names in bluegrass, are something he and his siblings grew up with.

“I’ve run the sound just about my entire life,” said Tommy Everett, Russell’s brother.

Inside his grandparents’ former home on the property, the “homeplace,” Tommy points to a picture of his grandmother, who they called “Ma Everett.”

The weekly tradition of Saturday bluegrass shows started when she lost her son.

“April 1964, there was a murder of the three Gwinnett County police officers,” Tommy said. “Jerry Everett was one of the officers, that was my dad’s brother.”

In the wake of the murder, people started gathering at the Everett house every week to play bluegrass. It helped Tommy’s grandparents with their grief.

“So after all that drama, the music just got bigger and bigger, and it outgrew the little simple room we had in here, so we built a music room in the back of the house,” Tommy said.

But it wasn’t long before they outgrew that, too. So Tommy’s father, along with his uncles and grandfather, built a barn with a stage and filled it with church pews just for the weekly shows.

“It was completed in ’70, and we’ve been playing in it ever since,” Tommy said. “And it’s just all done with love and support, but a place that was actually kind of formed out of tragedy.”

The family would experience more loss. Tommy and his siblings’ mother died in childbirth and, shortly after the barn was finished, they lost their dad, too.

But the music was always there, every Saturday night.

Today, the original family members have all passed and the barn has different owners. But the Everett grandchildren are still running it even though, unlike their father and uncles, none of them play music.

Rena Everett McDaniel, who now does the booking, is the youngest sister of Tommy and Russell. She says it’s her heritage.

“This is my family: my grandmother, my uncles, my dad, my brothers, my sisters. You know, just being here, it’s just my life. I know that when I’m here, I am with them at the same time because I know my dad touched every board in that barn,” Rena said.

She hopes they can keep it going. All this time, it’s survived on whatever donations people put into an old coffee tin near the concession stand. Back in the day, they passed around their grandfather’s hat.

“We’ve found a way for 51 years, and I hope we can, you know, we can see it as long as we can,” Rena said. “You know forever is a long time.”

The Everett grandchildren aren’t the only ones hoping the tradition can continue. A community has formed around the red and white barn.

Some nights, hundreds of people will cram into it. Though, on this Saturday, there are just a dozen or so.

Sitting in the back, behind the last row, is Agnes English. She’s watching a new band set up on stage.

“I don’t know who it is, but it’ll be good,” English said.

English grew up across the street and sang with one of the Everett brothers as a little girl. Now, 80 years old, she said she hates to miss a Saturday night.

“I enjoy every minute of it,” English said. “And they are so nice, everybody here is nice. I just feel like part of the family.”

The Everett family may have lost a lot of members over the years, but they’ve gained a few, too.

This Saturday, Everett’s Music Barn will be hosting an all-day event with live music from 1 to 10 p.m.