The Ohio River Music Festival got its start in 1980 but reached its peak at the 3rd annual concert, 42 years ago TODAY. On August 22, 1982, a rising country music superstar by the name of Hank Williams, Jr. made his first and only appearance on a Sunday afternoon at Windy Hollow Speedway. He was accompanied by artists Merle Kilgore and Connie Cato. Kilgore, who was Hank’s manager for over thirty years, and was co-writer of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”
With his latest album, High Notes rising on the charts and his biographical movie Living Proof in the making, Hank Williams Jr. signed onto the Ohio River Music Festival for a price of approximately $17,000. Tickets purchased in advance were $9.50 with a gate price of $10.00. Tickets could be purchased at Wax Works, Sound of Music, Sound Shop, Disc Jockey and Record Cellar. Tickets were also available by mail, not online at Ticketmaster where most tickets are purchased now.
In the current day and time, Hank Williams Jr. charges approximately $500,000 for a one hour and 20 minute performance. The rising cost of entertainers has caused ticket prices to exceed well over $50 and sometimes as much as $250 for current concerts. T-shirt costs have also doubled. At a pair of recent concerts that I attended, t-shirt prices varied from $30.00 to $35.00 and had fans lined up to buy them.
Evelyn “Rooster” Miller remembers that nearly 10,000 people attended the Ohio River Festival that day, despite it being the eve of the school year starting back. At one point in time, traffic was backed up from Windy Hollow Speedway to St. Martin’s Church on Highway 81 – nearly 5 miles and that was just one way of many to get to the speedway. This traffic jam eventually led to the 30 acre parking lot being completely full. According to area residents, Hank’s tour bus took an alternate route that day, taking Highway 554 to Highway 1514 to Windy Hollow Road. Although Hank’s bus took an alternate route, Hank had a direct flight on a helicopter landing at the speedway and flying out immediately following the show.
The promoting company, Professional Artists sub-leased the property from the Speedway to host the event. Contrary to popular belief, this was not a Windy Hollow Speedway event. The site was chosen to be a convenient location for “rowdy friends” to party with Bocephus. Fans could bring in a cooler for an extra charge for $1.00, and barbequed chickens were sold at the concession stand. T-shirts and merchandise booths were also placed throughout the crowd at the speedway property.
You can check out the original concert poster hanging in the main hall way of the Windy Hollow Biscuit House in Owensboro.
BS
