Gateway to the Smokies

Written by: Joseph Franklyn McElroy
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  • Summary

  • The Podcast That Starts Your Smoky Mountain Adventure

    Gateway to the Smokies is a podcast dedicated to memorable experiences in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Western North Carolina, and East Tennessee. This is not a travel tip show, though you will undoubtedly learn some good tips, it instead features personalities, experts, and locals who will expound upon the richness of culture, food, history, and adventure that awaits people who want to explore deeply this ancient mountain habitat where communities have existed for 3000 years.

     

    The podcast is hosted by Joseph Franklyn McElroy, who was born and raised in Haywood County, NC, the original “Gateway to the Smokies”, and whose family immigrated to the Smoky Mountains in the early 1800s. Each episode will feature a folktale or myth that sets the stage for the rest of the podcast, followed by guests who will enrich the listener with insights, experiences, and adventures gained from their life in and studies of the Smokies. At the end, Joseph will tie in annual events, places, experiences and adventures that relate to the overall theme of that episode. 

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    The themes and travel experiences expressed on the podcast are explored further on Joseph’s blog Smokies Adventure and his Smoky Mountains destination hub on Where Traveler Magazine. For authentic Smoky Mountain experiences, visit Joseph's classic roadside motel - the Meadowlark Motel - Your Smoky Mountain Adventure Starts with Where You Stay.
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Episodes
  • Episode 71: Musician's Creative Life on the Road with Andrew Wakefield

    Episode 71: Musician's Creative Life on the Road with Andrew Wakefield
    Nov 9 2023

    In this episode of "Gateway to the Smoky Podcast," host Joseph Franklyn McElroy introduces listeners to Andrew Wakefield, a Asheville-based musician known for blending traditional and modern sounds into his music. Andrew shares his global influences, from a childhood in Korea to Southern and Appalachian music. They discuss Andrew's journey through various music genres, his current bluegrass focus, and the importance of live performance energy. The conversation also touches on the challenges of a musician's life, including constant travel and the need for creative space. Andrew highlights Chimney Rock as a must-visit in the Smoky Mountains and recommends Gypsy Queen for dining in Asheville. Listeners can learn more about Andrew's work and upcoming gigs through his website.
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    21 mins
  • Episode 70: Cooking Authentically with Jennifer Cole

    Episode 70: Cooking Authentically with Jennifer Cole
    Mar 15 2023
    About this Episode:In this podcast episode, I interview Jennifer Cole, a successful chef who has won the competition show “Chopped” and has been cooking professionally for over 25 years. We discuss her career path, including working in Atlanta, New Orleans, Paris, and Spain before returning to her family farm in Haywood County. Cole emphasizes her interest in working with local farmers and using locally sourced ingredients in her cooking. The conversation also touches on topics such as the importance of creativity and understanding recipe rules as a chef, favorite ingredients like olive oil and heirloom beans, and the growing trend of farm weddings.Connect with Jennifer Cole:FacebookInstagramConnect with our host Joseph Franklyn McElroy:LinkedInBusiness Facebook PageWebsiteCheck out our Social Media:FacebookInstagramYoutubeTranscript:00:00: 27–00:01: 01 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Hello. This is Joseph Franklyn McElroy here with the Gateway to the Smokies podcast. I have with me today my guest Jennifer Cole, who is a native of western North Carolina. And her family has actually been in Haywood County for generations. And she’s had a successful career as a chef for over 20 years, including winning chopped on in season 8. Hello, Jennifer, how are you doing? 00:01:01–00:01: 02 Jennifer Cole:  Good, how are you? 00:01:02–00:01: 03 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Yeah, cool. 00:01:04–00:01: 05 Jennifer Cole: Good to be here. 00:01:05–00:01: 11 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: How was that how was that? Was that exciting to win the season? Was it a difficult challenge? 00:01:11–00:01: 20 Jennifer Cole: Well, you know, it was a lot of fun. I think a lot of people didn’t really expect an old gal to be able to win it. 00:01:20–00:01: 21 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Yeah. 00:01:21–00:01: 23 Jennifer Cole: Yeah, So it was a lot of fun. 00:01:24–00:01: 25 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: And what did you cook?00:01:25–00:01: 28 Jennifer Cole: Oh, God, it was a lot of stuff. Three different courses.00:01:29–00:01: 31 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:   Really? They give you the ingredients, say, make it.00:01:31–00:01: 40 Jennifer Cole: In a basket. It’s actually one of the few TV shows. It’s real. They actually give you a basket, and you don’t know until you open it.  00:01:41–00:01: 44 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Really? Wow. And then you have to figure out so can create and be able to fly. So creativity is very big.00:01:44–00:01: 45 Jennifer Cole: Very important.00:01:47–00:02: 13 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Well, when you reach out to us after moving here, I sort of gave you the challenge in a spot to come up with a guest chef menu here at the Homecraft at the Meadowlark Motel. And you did a really fantastic job. We had a lot of people show up. What were the three dishes were a moose. 00:02:13–00:02: 40 Jennifer Cole: I did a Mexican chocolate mousse is the dessert. For the appetizer, I did roasted beefs with field greens that I picked on my farm. That was with local trap that I cured overnight. And then for the entree, I did a red one braised local beef cheeks with goat cheese Ballinta. I mean, goat cheese risotto. 00:02:41–00:02: 53 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Wow. Yeah. That was really fantastic. That was good. Well, you said you’ve been cooking as a professional for 30 years. For 20. What was your first cooking job? 00:02:53–00:03: 18 Jennifer Cole:  Well, I put myself through college waiting tables and cooking. I was waiting tables, and they were short of line cooks, and they’re like they asked for a volunteer among the wait staff. And so I was like, I’ll go home. So started doing that. Also worked for a catering company in Chapel Hill. The Chapel Hill Catering Company, which still exists. And that’s how I got started. 00:03:18–00:03: 27 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Yeah. And then did you experiment with other careers for a little while or anything, or did you just go straight into cooking as a career?00:03:28–00:03: 45 Jennifer Cole:  Well, studying political science at Chapel Hill to go into law, and then decided the decided, there’s a lot of lawyers out there. I want to do this. I like the instant gratification of seeing people’s face light up when you let them try something new. 00:03:45–00:03: 46 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  Right. Yeah. 00:03:46–00:03: 57 Jennifer Cole:  So went to Atlanta and did an 18 month apprenticeship with a very well known at the time chef in Atlanta and started there. 00:03:57–00:04: 12 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:   Cool. And what do you think is more important in being a chef? Is it understanding the science and the rules of recipes or creativity?00:04:12–00:04: 20 Jennifer Cole:  Well, science and rules usually go more toward pastry or baking. You have to understand the rules so you can bend them. 00:04:20–00:04:21 Joseph Franklyn McElroy:   Right. 00:04:21–00:04: 26 Jennifer ...
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    14 mins
  • Episode 69: Darren Nicholson - The Intimacy of Bluegrass Culture

    Episode 69: Darren Nicholson - The Intimacy of Bluegrass Culture
    Feb 8 2023
    Our special guest in this episode is Darren Nicholson.Darren Nicholson ended his relationship with Balsam Range and has launched out in new directions with his music.Darren shares all about his new music, what he's been up to, and how the major life-changing events in his life have shaped him into who he is today.------------------------------------------------------------------------------Transcript:00:00: 27--00:00: 55 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Hi, this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy with the Gateway to the Smokies podcast, talking about the people and culture of the Smoky Mountains where my family has been around for a couple of hundred years. And I own a business here called the Meadowlark Motel as well as a restaurant called Homecraft. And I'm pretty proud to be back in the area and meeting and greeting, and talking to some wonderful people, like my guest today, Darren Nicholson. How are you doing, Darren? 00:00: 56--00:00: 58 Darren Nicholson:  Doing great, Joseph. Thank you so much for having me on. 00:00: 58--00:01: 12 Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Sure. Last time I had you on the previous podcast series and I did a whole intro. But why don't you do three sentences of what you think is your highlights of your bio? 00:01:14--00:01:20 Darren Nicholson:  I'm the world's foremost turkey hypnotist. 00:01: 20--00:01:21  Joseph Franklyn McElroy: There you go. 00:01:21--00:01:31 Darren Nicholson: I wear frilly leg warmers, and I have quite an impressive Beanie Baby collection. 00:01: 31--00:01:49  Joseph Franklyn McElroy: There you go. Let me tell you, I have to look at you quite a bit because you gave me a shirt with I think it was a picture of your album of you with a rose in your teeth doing a deep sort of lunge in your underwear, right? 00:01:50 --00:01:53 Darren Nicholson: Yes. It's a provocative pose for an early morning. 00:01: 53--00:02:14  Joseph Franklyn McElroy:  The problem is you put that on a T-shirt that's soft that my wife grabbed it and she wears it to bed about once a week. So I got to look at your face in a bone about once a week. 00:02:14 --00:02:58 Darren Nicholson: It's actually the evening before pill. It's not the morning-after pill. It's the evening before you put that on and make sure nothing happens in the bedroom. That was actually a graphic. A guy in Kentucky did that graphic. His name is Jonathan Carroll. He's a great graphic artist. He was nominated for an IBMA award this year for his graphic art. But he took me and it was the if you remember, the Seinfeld episode with George Costanza on the couch that pose in his underwear. It was basically kind of a spoof on that version of this. I still have a few of those left, believe it or not. I did not sell all of those. 00:02: 58--00:03:47  Joseph Franklyn McElroy: Well, for the folks out there who might not know, which I doubt, I think everybody's going to know. But Darren is one of the foremost musicians in American and bluegrass today, and he has a solo career, and he also has been a member of several bands. Most recently, he left Balsam Range, which is one of the top bluegrass bands in the world right now. I'm assuming that you were looking to pursue new opportunities and new opera things. So what is new with your career in that regard? And I guess you have a new bluegrass booze, right? 00:03:47 --00:06:26 Darren Nicholson: Yeah, got a brand new bluegrass record that I finished last year, actually. But the first single just came out on January 29. It's called Arkansas without you. And it's a host of hot young pickers and I'm really excited about the new bluegrass project. And so far the thing, it's got raised reviews. It's been a long time since Balsam Range. I've been in the studio, and my departure from Balsam Range is definitely not an end for me. It's a new beginning. I did 15 years. I was an original member, and I'm very grateful for those 15 years, but definitely got to a place professionally and personally where I wanted to do something different. Balsam Range, a lot of people don't realize, has always been well, not always, but for the last at least ten years has been a part-time band and so with every year, the dates have seemed to be doing less and less. And I think that's by choice. I think that's what they want to do. But they only did 30 dates last year. That was what was on the calendar, around 30 dates. And I did about 250 dates on my own, so I couldn't by the time it was the smoke cleared, I did about 290 performance dates last year. And so it got to it just got to a place in my career where instead of doing a couple of part-time things, the opportunity presented itself for me to play music full-time and focus on my full-time solo career. And to be honest with you, it was a no-brainer. I had to do it for my business, and then I had to do it for my mental health, too. It's hard juggling a schedule and setting a calendar because people would try to book me for the fall of next year. And I was constantly...
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    30 mins

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