Note: This is part of a series on bands in Transylvania County. 

Transylvania County has been a center for old-time music for decades. The beauty of the mountains inspired song and personal expression, and the unforgiving landscape meant that early mountaineers gathered together for community and celebration in order to build the bonds and joy that endure beyond hardship.

Many musical groups have performed traditional mountain music over the years, and none is more important than the other. The Penrose Band stands out because of their long history and many permutations.

The Penrose Band was started by Tom Anderson, a schoolteacher who moved to Transylvania County with wife Teresa Cotham Anderson in 1974. The couple married in the bride’s family’s yard in eastern Tennessee and drove a rental truck to Brevard the next day. They started out both teaching in the Transylvania County School system and had full careers as teachers at various schools in Transylvania County.

Tom Anderson came from a family of educators. He started teaching at Brevard Middle School in 1976 before being invited to teach at the county’s alternative secondary school, the Davidson River School, in 1983 when it was still known as The Opportunity Class, which began in 1978. He was there for the transition to DRS in 1997 when it became a more fully staffed school in the system. Tom retired after teaching for 30 years in February 2006.

Tom had an interest in old-time music and when he moved to the area, he quickly found his way into the circle of traditional music enthusiasts in Transylvania County at places like the Parks & Recreation department hosted Mountain Music night at Silvermont, where local “pickers” would gather to play old-time music. Tom began playing banjo here but also moved on to other instruments such as guitar and fiddle.

Social gatherings such as these are where he met other players who would eventually form a band.  The original lineup included Tad Wright on banjo, Rob Olrich on guitar, Gary Wells on mandolin, John von Stein on accordion, and Tom Anderson on fiddle. The first iteration of the group was called “The Penrose Band” because they met to practice at Wells’ woodworking shop in Penrose. The band didn’t settle on a name right away and would sometimes give themselves a humorous name for the evening at a paid gig, such as the Pigtown Jiggers.

The Penrose Band were interested in performing live, and when the Little River Community Center (LRCC) organized dances starting in 1989, and the band formed by Tom Anderson quickly became the house band for the monthly event. These LRCC dances were known as the “Hogtown Hoedown.”

Why the unusual name, other than the obvious rural charm? Little River was also once known as “Hogtown”. This fertile agricultural area of Transylvania County was a major route for hog-drovers in the 1800s. Drovers would pen their livestock overnight near the intersection of present-day Crab Creek and Cascade Lake roads. The Hogtown Hoedown was a nod to this old-fashioned moniker.

The band played at larger street-festival events, such as the Headwaters Heritage Folk Festival, the Earth Day celebration, and a benefit carnival for the local hospital, gaining skill and popularity. When they competed and won first place honors at the Asheville-based 67^th annual Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in the old-time bands division in August 1994, they officially changed their name from The Penrose Band to “The Hogtown Squealers,” at which time the lineup also included Michael Rein.

The band had many interesting gigs over the years, including performing in the Asheville Community Theater play “The Grapes of Wrath” and a live radio show broadcast on WSQL. They were frequent performers for Fourth of July events, the holiday Twilight Tour, the Forest Festival at the Cradle of Forestry, and played many, many community benefits over time. They continued to play at square dances and other social events until they dissolved in 2019 as changing priorities and membership led the group to play in other lineups. Many of the same players are still performing together in the group Gary Wells & The Outside Dogs.

What does the band sound like? They’ve been described as a unique take on old-time music, classic honky-tonk, and obscure musical miscellany. They were influenced by Red Clay Ramblers, Uncle Dave Macon, Gid Tanner, and Charlie Poole. Any reader who wants to sample their music for themselves can find their one recorded album at the library: “Embrace the Pig” (2002) among other musical CDs designated with the NC/Local label.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. This article was written by Local History Librarian Laura Sperry. Sources available upon request.