The Midnight Cowboy and The Round Up
Both clubs were in Wilkes County North Carolina. The Midnight Cowboy was in Roaring River NC on the Red White and Blue Road right where a big cement slab is now and a huge Propane Storage tank sits. The Round Up was several miles south of US 421 Highway down NC Hwy 115 on the top of a big hill. There was competition in the county so if a band performed at one club they weren't allowed to perform at the other.
We started performing at The Midnight Cowboy first and had very large crowds for several years. The club was managed by The Mathis Brothers. We performed at The Midnight Cowboy until the crowds began to dwindle down and then we started performing at The Round Up. It was managed by the Curry Brothers. We always held the main spot of the first weekend of each month and we always had a very large crowd. The Round Up was a money maker for us. We got the wages we ask for, it was local, and the crowds were always large which means a lot to a Band. It is hard to perform to an empty room. This went on several years. The owner said he would pay us what we ask as long as we had the crowd. After a few years the crowds began to go down but he paid us a little less but by then we had went down to a three piece band and basically made the same amount of money.
Here is a couple of quotes by a few people on a local forum about Wilkes County Night Clubs.
"THE ROUNDUP , ESPECIALLY WHEN SHOTGUN BAND WAS THERE , USED TO HAVE PARK HALFWAY DOWN THE HILL AND IT WAS STANDING ROOM ONLY . THE ROUNDUP USED TO GET A BAD RAP , ALWAYS HAD A GREAT TIME AND NEVER HAD ANY TROUBLE "
Here is another quote:
I remember it and the midnight cowboy, ShotGun was the best back in the day too."
It makes you feel good to know someone enjoyed your music and what you were doing and is written about
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