Sam Bray (center)
Billy Ray Cyrus &
Sam Bray |
Event/Site:
Country, Bluegrass, and Gospel Music at Hillbilly
Hideaway Restaurant in Walnut Cove
Date: Music on Saturday night; 6:00pm
- 9:00pm. Dinner on Friday and Saturday, 4:00pm -
9:00pm; Sunday breakfast 8:00am - 11:00am, Sunday
lunch and dinner 11:00am - 8:30pm.
Type: Weekly stage performance of
country, bluegrass and gospel music by regional musicians
in a family-style restaurant and music hall.
Location: Hillbilly
Hideaway is located at 4335 Pine Hall Road in Walnut
Cove, NC.
From Winston-Salem, take I-40 east to Exit #8, the
Walkertown/Reidsville exit. Go three stop lights and
take Bellwes Creek Road. Go 4 miles until you
intersect with Hwy 65 West. Turn left on 65 West.
Drive 1 1/2 miles. Take a right at Pinehall Road at
the Hillbilly Hideaway sign. The restaurant is 1/2
mile on the right.
From Greensboro, take I-40 West to the Airport/NC
Hwy 68 exit. Go north on NC Hwy 68 to Stokesdale. Go
left at the stoplight onto US Hwy 158. Go under the
next stoplight and follow NC Hwy 65 for 8 miles to
Pine Hall Road. Take a right onto Pine Hall Road.
There is a sign for Hillbilly Hideaway pointing to the
right. Go 1 mile on Pine Hall Road to the restaurant.
Hillbilly Hideaway is a log building on the right.
Click
here for a map.
Cost: Music comes with dinner free
of charge. Dinner is $13.50 for meal and drink,
$16.00
for meal, drink and dessert.
Parking: Free. Parking adequate for
bus tours.
Special Needs Access: Venue is fully
accessible.
Signage: Signs at location and en
route.
Sponsor: Sam and Louise Bray
Contact:
Sam and Louise Bray
Hillbilly Hideaway
4335 Pine Hall Road
Walnut Cove, NC 27052
(336) 591-4861
Description of Event: Sam Bray says
he hasn't missed Saturday night being the front man
at his music hall since 1987. He and the High Tech
Hillbillies are the house band, and provide traditional
bluegrass, gospel and country music for the many guests
that drop by to eat and listen. Many are regular diners,
and others are newcomers to the region or restaurant.
As diners finish dinner, they move over to the music
hall for the evening's entertainment. Bray, who writes
and publishes music, and fiddler Gilbert Priddy of
Walnut Cove have been playing together since the 1960s,
and are joined by Roy Stuart on steel, Bobby Shackleford
on bass, Matt Hopson on banjo, and Cherrie Hopson
on mandolin. Talented young singer Amy Jones often
joins them, and occasionally Bray invites visiting
musicians to the stage. Audience members may come
and go during the program.
History
of Site/Event: Sam and Louise Bray first built
their Hillbilly Hideaway in 1978, pouring a concrete
slab "way out in the woods" and setting on
top two put-together tobacco barns. On the day they
opened, Louise "cooked enough food for a corn
shucking," and only a friend showed up. She
filled his plate, stuffed his pockets with biscuits
and pork chops, and told him to tell everyone he knew
she and Sam were in business. Hillbilly Hideaway
realized long-held dreams for each of the Brays. Sam
wanted a stage with a curtain from the time he first
saw the curtains open at a schoolhouse performance
when he was about six years old. And Louise came home
from a trip to DisneyWorld so excited about the
Country Bear Jamboree, Sam went back with her two
weeks later to see it. After another visit, they
decided to borrow money and start their restaurant.
Description
of Site/Facility: When the original Hillbilly
Hideaway burned in 1980, Sam and Louise Bray
constructed a rustic new restaurant and remodeled the
old building to be a separate music hall. Inside the
music hall are rows of school bus seats facing a stage
with a curtain. It can accommodate an audience of 300,
and the restaurant can seat 150-200, "depending
on how desperate you are." Meals are served
family style, and the Brays roll out bowls and
platters piled high with home-cooked specialties.
Holler when your bowl is empty, and they'll refill it.
Significance of Site/Event to the Community:
For more than 20 years, Hillbilly Hideaway has been a
favorite among hungry diners and traditional music
enthusiasts. The Brays seem to have hit on a
successful combination by joining family-style dining
with a staged opry-house type of show featuring
regional music. The venue is well-established, family
oriented–no
smoking nor alcohol–and
intergenerational. If measured by the numbers of
people Louise and Sam Bray feed and entertain each
week, community support for the Hideaway appears
strong and visitors are intrigued as well.
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