Music fans to be jamin’ in Coffee County

By Debbie Ingram

Published: May 31, 2008

ENTERPRISE - Wearing a blue cap and white T-shirt, Ronnie Gilley shakes hands and shoots the breeze with family, friends and sponsors Friday night during a barbecue at the site of the BamaJam Music & Arts Festival.

He seems at ease for a man putting on a $4 million event with nearly 40 acts and an anticipated crowd of 30,000-plus people – an event that starts in just four days.

Saturday he talked about the excitement that’s building over what could easily be the biggest outdoor festival this area has ever seen.

“I’ve been so focused on Country Crossing and bringing it to fruition, I have ignored BamaJam and allowed the guys to take care of things,” he said. “Yesterday, after going out there last night, I turned about nine backflips when I got home.”

Part of that reason to celebrate is because for the first time Gilley saw the hard figures on ticket sales Friday.

“It’s over 30,000 units total,” he said. “We are in the major seven digits in terms of ticket sales. Our objective was to set the pace for next year’s event. We honestly did not expect to get in the black this year. There is more than a remote possibility that we will hit in the black.”

Excited? You bet.

“It hit me for the first time. This will probably be the biggest thing that’s been done in this area.”

The Friday night event, which included a flag presentation from the Alabama Army National Guard, one of BamaJam’s primary sponsors, was a test run of sorts. At dark, the lights of the Bama Slam Saloon were turned on for the first time.

It was an appropriate move as even the trees which surround the 600-acre open field site seemed to acknowledge that something big is coming.

“This is the perfect place to have this,” said Gilley. From the saloon at the central village, all three stages are visible, with parking for 5,000 to the right and a sold out BamaJam Camping Park to the left.

Gilley takes it all in and can’t help but think the site itself is majestic.

“There is a natural amphitheater,” he says, looking towards the hill to where the main stage will be. More than anything he wants festivalgoers to know BamaJam is a family event where children are not only safe, but welcome.

“We are probably over secure,” he said. “We want families to come.”

The weather always makes outdoor events a little iffy, but a look at the Farmer’s Almanac by BamaJam staff shows this part of Coffee County gets rain once every nine years on the first weekend of June.

“We are in the fourth year,” said Ronnie Gilley Enterprises Vice President Billy Graham.

A week out, the forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and highs in the mid-90s. This far out, there is only a miniscule change of rain –- 20 percent.

“It is a rain or shine event so some people will wait until the day of,” Gilley said. “The show will go on.”

BamaJam Village acts as a central location at the festival and includes the Bluegrass stage, a variety of food and beverages, an assortment of quality arts and crafts from local and regional artisans, and official festival and artist merchandise.

In addition to the three stages, music will be ongoing at Bama Music Lounge.

There are three access gates for getting into the festival, one on Highway 167, one on Boy Scout Road and a third on Boy Scout Road for RVers, which also provides an entertainers’ access.

Gilley has built personal relationships with many in the country music arena, including producers, promoters, and entertainers, many of them becoming investors in Country Crossing, a new Gilley-conceived country music entertainment complex to be located just south of Dothan.

For the 43-year-old Gilley, BamaJam and the Country Crossing development could be the big time he’s been reaching for.

“We’ve made our own path,” he said. “We haven’t made it yet in the big picture, but we are looking forward to it. We are rolling the dice and it looks like it will pay off. Not just with BamaJam but with everything.”

Gilley, who now has his own song on the country charts, “Shortcut Home,” acknowledged he is the boy from across the tracks playing (literally) with the big boys. His story fits appropriately in the country music genre.

“I spent half of my adult life living in a trailer,” he says. “And I know – I remember – where I came from.”