June 12, 2009 Bon­na­roo Music & Arts Fes­ti­val, Man­ches­ter, Ten­nessee
Moon­al­ice poster by Chris Shaw

Accord­ing to Moon­al­ice leg­end, back before the War of North­ern Aggres­sion this area — now known as Cof­fee County — was called Smokin’ Bud County. It was home to a matri­arch named Bon­na­roo Moon­al­ice, who served the finest bar­be­cue any­body ever tasted. The secret, of course, was in the smok­ing. Bon­na­roo invented a mul­ti­pur­pose smoker fueled by hemp buds. The smoker cooked ribs on the inside, but also had hoses to cook lots of peo­ple on the out­side. Bonnaroo’s bar­be­cue was so pop­u­lar that it drew musi­cians and tens of thou­sands of peo­ple from all over. Then came the war of North­ern Aggres­sion. As soon as she heard the news from Fort Sumter, Bon­na­roo formed up a 420 Moon­al­ice Sig­nal Brigade of Ten­nessee. Her smoker proved instru­men­tal in pro­tect­ing con­fed­er­ate troops from reality.

Accord­ing to Moon­al­ice leg­end, Man­ches­ter, TN is mid­way between the town that hosted the Scopes Mon­key Trial and the island where Jack Daniel made his whiskey. Coin­ci­dence? We think not.

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