Local musicians with gigs at the Smokin’ Hot BBQ on Hwy. 60, have been up in arms over complaints that saw the music part of the venue temporarily shut down.
Accusations began flying in every direction and many took to social media angered that anyone would complain about the sound and shut down a venue for their music.
For local musicians thwarted by lockdowns and restrictions over the past two years, the venue became critically important to re-establishing professional activities. Starved to return to work, many local acts had booked their summer schedule around appearances at Smokin’ Hot BBQ. Finding consistent work with an appreciative audience and a pleasant environment is hard at the best times.
The outdoor restaurant, which is only open Friday to Sunday, has augmented its popular menu of burgers, with sixteen-hour smoked ribs, brisket, and other treats. They have featured live music for the past two summers. Encouraged by the response to live performances, co-owner Larry Moore added a stage and expanded the schedule to include bands. On the weekend in question, they were staging two acts per day, ending the music by 7:30 p.m.
Even though the scheduled bands at Smokin’ Hot BBQ were typically country or soft rock in nature, amplified sound carries and neighbours were impacted.
Moore told Huntsville Doppler that the problem began on July 3 during the final set of Hillbilly Martini. It is unclear how many complaints were made, but on the advice of his landlord, Moore asked the band to stop playing and later that week cancelled all live bookings for the remainder of the summer.
Frantic local musicians took to social media, adamantly voicing their discontent. Fans and musicians alike bantered back and forth about losing work and the perceived unfairness of the decision. Moore also received many comments from dismayed patrons, who loved the family-friendly ambiance coupled with good food and music.
Finally, after much thought, Moore responded on all fronts. He has reinstated a more subdued summer music schedule, including a full-day, free event on August 6, called ‘Let Em Play,’ at the Huntsville Fairgrounds.
The family day picnic will feature live bands, BBQ, and fun. Originally planned for their site on Highway 60, as support for a local motorcycle poker run fundraiser, the Moore family recognized their popular outdoor restaurant’s site might not be suited to such a large gathering and moved the event to the Fairgrounds. Admission is free and hot dogs will be too! The day’s celebration is called, ‘Let EM Play!’ Bands will get to perform from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Moore said it’s an opportunity for local bands to play and be heard and for attendees to savour some of his great pit BBQ.
Smokin’ Hot BBQ is an entrepreneurial dream story and another successful Huntsville business. Success is always about creative solutions in resolving issues, not only for customers but for all stakeholders including the community at large.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox so you don’t miss anything!
Click here to support local news
Larry says
Since this was posted our landlord has again cancelled all music, if you can believe it..
Sad,.
We had an artist playing an acoustic guitar with a sort of soft bongo drums in the back ground.it was actually really nice, soothing relaxing music.. in fact our expo person commented that she would fall asleep it so relaxing.
A very sad , lonely woman came to me and actually raised her voice complaining that they were ruining her day on the lake.
Wow!
I do however really appreciate the article Doug wrote, was very clear and transparent defining the events.
All I can do is sigh, and smile and say that I feel sorry for her.
Margaret Brown says
Wow! That’s very sad . I am so sorry to hear that. What a unbelievably intolerant world we are living in . I hope it changes soon.