John Marshall Carter writes from Greenville that he and Ron Martin, who have written many well-known songs about the Leaksville, Spray, and Draper areas, were joined onstage by their studio band known as the Wampus Cats, namely, Mike Gallimore (of Chapel Hill) on bass; Larry Hutcherson (of Raleigh) on guitar, Hawaiian steel guitar, and harmonica; and Mike Turner on drums.  Larry's wife, Mary Ellen, also sang backing vocals and added a haunting recorder solo to John Marshall's A Summertime Time.

The five Edenites played together in local bands in the 1960s and in the 1970s--John Marshall, Ron and Mike forming one of the better Leaksville bands in the 1960s known as the Kaleidoscope.  Then Larry played guitar with John Marshall, Ron and Mike in the Five Forks Folk Ensemble in the 1970s.  But since 1972 the group had not played together until the local concert.  In fact, it was John Marshall and Ron's decision to record two of their songs which reunited the group.

The group now will appear on April 28 at the annual Rockingham County Awards Day celebration and on June 1-2 at the Eden Heritage Festival. 

Incidentally, Ron's Olden Days and John Marshall Carter's The Ballad of Leaksville, Spray and Draper, a lament about the consolidation of the three towns, will be their first 45 RPM, according to our friend from Greenville.

This article was written in 1985.