Clayton Homes

Our first gig of 2016 was a two day trip to Maryville TN, for a corporate meeting at Clayton Homes.

The company was celebrating their 60th anniversary with an employee party based on a 60's theme. We would discover more after we arrived.

As usual, our journey started at Nathan's house to load our gear, this time into the fancy new white van recently purchased by our sound man Allan.

Dennis hands over mic stand to Nathan

It was a crisp January day. Our show was scheduled for 7:30 am Friday morning, so left early Thursday to arrive in east Tennessee in time for an afternoon set up and sound check, to get everything ready for the Friday morning show.

After the Thursday afternoon set up, we had a fun group dinner at a local Cheddar's, then spent the night in a local hotel.

Allan and Bryan admire massive

apple pie and ice cream dessert

(one serving shared with entire group)

We discovered Clayton Homes to be a large, well run company. Loading in, we noticed that the corporate campus included volleyball courts as part of a comprehensive policy of treating the employees well.

We saw the poster that announced the theme, with a design suggesting an Austin Powers vibe.

Going "Mod" celebrating fourth quarter results

The 60's theme meant employees dressing up in costumes.

It also included a spoofy youtube video featuring their CEO, Kevin Clayton, son of founder Jim Clayton, dressed up in an Austin Powers costume. The video was shown on a screen over the stage before we came on to play.

But before we played, as the video ended, Kevin, fully attired in his Austin Powers outfit, entered the room for the rally that preceded our performance.

CEO Kevin Clayton dressed up as Austin Powers

It was impressive to see how much effort had been put into producing this party, and how willing the company president was to act silly while reporting the all the positive news about the business.

Kevin reporting good results, including employee bonuses

A video slide that included a photo

of an early Clayton sales event

And a closeup of that slide,

revealing a band onstage under a sign that says

"Country Western Shindig Y'all Come"

We were impressed, and we are grateful for the extra photos from the event. Thanks to Morgan Trinker at Clayton Homes for providing them.

It's hard to imagine a more enthusiastic crowd.