Cable's Hampton Family Restaurant hosts weekend bluegrass music

Photo by Rick Harris Cable's Hampton Family Restaurant offers homestyle cooking every day and free bluegrass and gospel music on the weekends.

By Julie Fann
star staff
jfann@starhq.com

   If you're hungry for homestyle Appalachian cooking and bluegrass music, Cable's Hampton Family Restaurant offers an authentic cultural experience.
   Bright orange tabletops and chairs circa 1972 lit by faux chandeliers provide a perfect atmosphere for eating tasty entreés like frog leg and crawfish dinners. The restaurant is located across the street from Hampton Elementary School on the banks of Laurel Fork, a creek that joins the Doe River.
   Cable's began offering free bluegrass and gospel music on weekends just four months ago.
   "We just had people start comin' in and pickin'. A lot of guys around here play. We've got a lot of local bands," said Jesse Cable, the restaurant's soft-spoken owner and a bluegrass guitar player himself.
   Cable said sometimes he and his wife play music with other family members while customers enjoy a meal. All bands play in a space set up in the back of the restaurant, and Cable will occasionally provide a tip jar for customers to offer donations.
   With tobacco juice wedged in the corners of his mouth and wearing a camouflage baseball cap, Cable said he and his wife, E.M. Cable, recently returned to Carter County after living in Louisiana for the past 22 years. The couple opened the restaurant two years ago.
   "Bluegrass music is traditional mountain music that's been around for a couple hundred years. We've got a lot of older people who come in who sing a lot of traditional bluegrass from the late 1800s and early 1900s," Cable said. "Hopefully, it'll stay alive. I don't care much for progressive bluegrass. Old ballad bluegrass is my kind of music."
   Some of Cable's favorite traditional bluegrass tunes include "Cripple Creek," "Boiling Cabbage Down," "Uncle Ben," and "Little Maggie."
   Bands like The Birch Springs Band, Generation Gap, The Chariot Trio, and Pilgrim's Journey frequently play at the restaurant. Another popular group is The Rock Hill Band, Cable said. "They's born on a rock pile, and they'll probably die on a rock pile, so -- The Rock Hill Band."
   Cable said he is concerned that Appalachian culture as he remembers it will completely disappear.
   "We're starting to lose the Appalachian tradition. A lot of people are moving in, and the culture is changing. I think that Appalachia as I knew it when I was small isn't here anymore. I could see a big change when I came back," Cable said.
   Also Relay for Life sponsors, Cable and his daughter, Janet Dugger, who helps her mother manage the restaurant, said they are very grateful to loyal customers who have welcomed them home, and they also encourage others to visit.
   For more information about upcoming music and menu items, call 725-2311.