Ya’ll ever wonder how it is that everyone that comes to see the Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Show never has any trouble hearing any one of the over 20 people we got on stage? How about the instruments? You never really see any speakers or nothin’, do you? Allow us to tinker with yer thinker for just a spell. Seeing as how just about everybody in our show needs a little amplification at one point or another the technical staff at the theater had to make sure that each of them gets exactly what they need when they need it. So in order for you to hear every note, understand every word, feel the bass fiddle deep in your chest and pick up on each and every little click of our clogger’s shoes we’ve brought in some of the most advanced soup cans and strings this side of the Mississippi.

“Big” Frank is the orchestrator of all this mess and he broke it all down and explained how it works as if we were third graders so ya’ll could understand it too. The largest component is the mixer. A fully automated 2008 model Yamaha PM1D with digital scene recall and motorized faders able to handle 48 separate inputs with ease. It is a behemoth of a device with more buttons, lights and whiz-bangs than the inside of a rocket ship. There are 18 head microphones and about a dozen or so instruments that all have to be wireless so that calls for a whole ton of transmitters and receivers as well. In addition to the performers there is the sound within the theater to contend with as well as sound effects during the show, video screens with accompanying audio, individual hand held microphones the pre-show festivities..it’s a world where anything can and will go wrong which is why Ole’ Frank always has a backup plan. As a matter of fact, after doing this for about 20 plus years Frank brings in his own computer and software that monitors the total ambient sound inside the theater at all times. This allows him to make adjustments on the fly, to isolate noises he doesn’t want and to give more of the stuff he does.

Four different video screens from MAC to PC, an interface that tells him when problems occur with the microphones, the ability to preset audio levels for over 50 individual scenes, spectrum analyzers and a special piece of software giving him ultimate control the media “LON”  which synchronizes everything to one digital clock. Through all these machines, after all the programming, believe it or not, every change comes down to one simple action. Hitting the “GO” button. We figured you might not believe it so we even got a picture of it. Next time YOU are at the Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Show walk and see Frank. Tell him “Hi” and ask to see his “GO” button. He’ll be mighty obliged to show it to you.

Down at the Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Show folks are treated to a rip roarin’ good time. An evening of Feud’n, Feast’n, Family Fun is what they pride themselves on and the folks that have experienced this one of a kind production have great things to say. Some of the best talent in Pigeon Forge graces it’s stage two times daily and in some cases a third show is added to handle the large amounts of spectators lining up to buy tickets to, “See what all the Fuss is about”!

But beneath the belly of the beast, the underlying truth remains. Every family has a black sheep. In this case there are two. The notorious Hatfield Boys, Cletus and Jebby, have returned to the area after having been on the lam for quite some time. Charges against them included everything from aiding and abetting to the distillation of illegal spirits. That’s moonshine to all you flatlanders. So while out taking in the sights of our beautiful city beware: “CLE-BBY” is out there too. You can’t miss em’.

Should you have to pick, Cletus would be the wiser of the two and therefore does most of the driving and major decision making whereas Jebby is the brawn of the operation. Hence, when the all too familiar “AAOOOGAHH” horn was mounted on their truck it was neither of them that had any input whatsoever. They merely sat upon the rear tailgate, picked a little music and harassed innocent passersby. These actions have led them into a life of skullduggery and tomfoolery and sadly you are likely to bear the brunt of it and bear it you will. From both barrels.

So consider yourselves warned folks. Keep them eyes peeled good, an ear to the ground and an open mind because you just never know when “CLE-BBY” and the Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Show truck will pull up alongside you and mutter something completely incoherent or ridiculous. But oddly enough, we’re bettin’ you’ll laugh. Shucks, you may even get your picture taken with em’. In any case Cletus and Jebby are harmless and do love to jaw with visitors so when you see them be sure and wave. Then run.

Uncle Sonny “Surreal” McCoy is a well-respected man around here due in part to his ability to communicate with folks from the afterlife. He developed this skill as a youngster about the same time he took a likin’ to Ma McCoy’s banjo. Trouble was Ma didn’t let NOBODY touch her banjo. When she’d put it in the closet she’d tell young Sonny, “Don’t you go a touchin’ this here thing. It ain’t fer you!” But the urge was too much to bear as one day him and his cousin Tucker “Tiny” McCoy snuck in, grabbed the banjo and ran fer the hills. Now “Tiny” was somethin’ of a mandolin player so as luck would have it,  them two became thick as thieves and from dusk til’ dawn they’d practice, later on playin’ every bluegrass gig and competition they could. As a matter of fact, Ole Sonny became the National Banjo Champion of these here United States with his good buddy cousin “Tiny” Tucker right by his side.

After 15 years of playin’ every arena for miles around Sonny returned here to the homestead as the wild late night nights of the touring bluegrass picker were too much for his body to bear. Finally settling down, he took up talkin’ to folks from beyond the grave again as he had a real knack fer it. It was about this time he said that he got his inspiration for his own model of banjo and so it was that the Model B160 was born. Some say that havin’ his own line of banjo is what made Sonny even more powerful as a ghost-talker. It all makes sense when you think about it. His fingers do the walkin’ and the spirits start a talkin’. Just you wait and see…there’s no TELLIN’ who he’ll speak to next!

The Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Show is undoubtedly a one of a kind production that offers up a tale of the  Hatfield's and McCoy's, two feuding families trying to make peace during the course of the evening while guests of the theater are treated to a family style dinner being presented to them in large pewter buckets. It's no wonder why this show is quickly becoming one of the hottest tickets in Pigeon Forge and has a reputation for being a "must see" show while visiting the area. Seems like the word has gotten out and now every newspaper, radio station and TV talk show wants a piece of what we're selling.

A while back, the theater hosted channel 13 WLOS from Asheville, NC as they came to "See what all the fuss was about". In this segment we find the host of one of channel 13's shows "Road Trippin'", Ken Ulmer, meeting up with distant McCoy relative and active moonshiner Eustice "Useless" McCoy to discuss what folks can expect from an evening at the Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Show. Poor Ken. He never saw this coming.