The Dock Performers on High Falls Lake
By Mark Degostino
The locals in High Falls often refer to the High Falls Lake as Lake Serenity. And there are two features of this lake which bring about that feeling: the placid lake water…and the sound of putzing pontoon boats. Yes, there’s nothing that says, “be lazy, eat too much, and don’t forget the beer”, like the ever-present pontoon boat. And in High Falls, with a horsepower limit of 10, you can expect little more than a knot or so, but rushing to a destination misses the point.
Yet there are times when the venerable pontoon boat converts from an octogenarian’s dream, to a raging mash pit…and that’s when the Fools On Stools bring their rollicking rock-a-billy to High Falls Lake. The FOS (Fools On Stools) is the local trio- Jeff Peterson, Jeff Edson and Danny Smith- who play free concerts on the dock of one of the Fools, namely Jeff Peterson. Several times a year, this group of sagely musicians who began playing years ago, deciding to grace the shores of High Falls Lake (or in this case JP’s dock) with free concerts to the lake community, take up their instruments and bring their musical magic to the Lake.
How did The Fools On Stools come together? As it turns out Peterson and Edson knew each other from way back and began playing together over 20 years ago. Thanks to a dock builder who connected Peterson to Smith, the group became a trio. Danny, who is trained in classical guitar and Jazz improvisation, brought the ensemble to the next level. Danny has been playing music since he was a kid (at age 8, he begged his mom for drums, and luckily, she gave him a Western Auto guitar to scratch his musical itch). Danny has played with such marque acts as the Drifters, the Temptations and the 5th Dimension, not to mention Burt Bacharach.
How did they become the “Fools On Stools”? Edson was goofing around with some music and Peterson said, “that’s foolish!”…this started the foolishness. Then along came a pandemic. The Fools decided they had the means and the opportunity to do something valuable for the community. “Everyone’s stuck in their house…we can get them out on the lake and socialize while maintaining the isolation of their pontoon boat”. It was an instant success.
The fools realized they were on to something. Along with this, Danny has been active in the “ecology wars” around High Falls. The issues of overdevelopment, the disrespect of the Butts County Commissioners and the negligent lack of involvement of the Monroe County Commissioners lead to the citizens action group, “Save High Falls Lake”. The Fools offered to put on a concert for this important initiative to raise money. Smith jokes someone offered them $100 to play Proud Mary, which is now one of their staples. The money they brought in funded the production of the “SAVE THE LAKE” signs that dot the High Falls landscape.
When pressed for an answer to the painfully unanswerable question, “which is your favorite band and song”, Edson proffered, “The Beatles, with a favorite song of While My Guitar Gently Weeps…and Honky Tonk Woman a close second”. Peterson said, “I’m and Eagles guy, you know, Peaceful Easy Feeling”. After mucho mental machinations, Smith landed on Pat Metheny and his song was Turn, Turn, Turn by the Birds.
At the end of the interview, the state of modern music was discussed. Pete Towsend once sang, “Rock is Dead”. Will the artform ever surpass or MOVE past the Beatles, The Stones and Led Zeppelin? The fools opined on this esoteric subject: Edson responded, “Yes…Disco killed Rock and Roll”. Peterson, said yes and Smith offered, “it smells funny”.
If you’re ever going to catch a Fools concert, they don’t want money, but if you want to leave a few cold ones on the dock…they ain’t gonna stop y’all.
