The Crowe Hollerers’ Medicine Show is pulling into the Marion farmers market space on Saturday, Aug. 28.
Patterned after old time medicine shows where snake oil salesmen pitched patent medicine with a healthy side dose of singing, dancing and performing, The Crowe Hollerers’ Medicine Show promises to be a cure for whatever ails you.
Folks around the West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia areas may have caught country jug punk band the Crowe Hollerers singing, shouting and carrying on at restaurants, bars and along street corners.
“I’m an entertainer,” said Luke Sage, founder of the Crowe Hollerers Medicine Show and one third of the Crowe Hollerers band. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. Music, theatre, art, storytelling – and it’s all there.”
Sage, 19, is a Marion Senior High School graduate and current student at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. In addition to playing with the band he formed with his younger brother in their Atkins, Virginia, bedroom, Sage has been acting on stage and on screen since elementary school. He’s worked on several professional stage productions, most notably in the role of Cap Hatfield in the Appalachian Center for Arts’ production of “Sally McCoy” in Pikeville, Kentucky. He can also be seen in several Cross Purposes Productions. The latest film, “Royal Ashes,” recently wrapped up filming in Abingdon and St. Paul.
Along with two short plays, the medicine show will feature several local and regional bands and a growing list of vendors selling food, jewelry, crafts, herbs and more.
Back in the old days, touring acts would travel the country in medicine shows, peddling miracle cures between various bits of entertainment. The shows, some of which continued until World War II, were especially common in the 19 th century old west.
The old time medicine shows promised a cure for disease, wrinkles, a longer life and any number of ailments.
Sage notes that his show isn’t selling patent medicine or miracle elixirs, but promises that it’s “a cure for what ails you” nonetheless.
He points out that music, storytelling, art and theatre might not add years on to your life – and may even contribute to wrinkles, what with all the smiling and laughing – but they will add life to your years.
The Marion medicine show, set for 1 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 28, is the first of what Sage hopes is a long line of shows.
Luke Sage and his younger brother, Blane, began playing on Marion’s street corners several years back. Cutting their teeth on the sounds of Johnny Cash, the two fell in love with punk rock, classic country music and the jug band sounds of 1927 Beale Street.
Before long, the two took their good-timing sounds indoors and and began to get serious about the business of making music. With Blane holding down the guitar runs, Luke adds in some banjo, harmonica, washboard, jug, kazoo, drums and dancing.
Blane, a 2021 graduate of Rural Retreat High School, is also a student at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. The younger Sage is an emerging regional visual artist specializing in oil and pastel portraits.
After trying out several bassists, the group of young musicians finally found what they were looking for in Ashlyn Mullins, a graduate of Central Wise High School and current student at UVA-Wise. Mullins, who holds down the doghouse bass, is also a professional actor, recently finishing up a turn in “The Marvelous Wonderettes.”
In 2020, the Crowe Hollerers released their debut album “Mother’s Other Son.”
Contact Luke Sage at [email protected].
