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BamaJam is coming to Enterprise, and it could be the start of something big. The Wiregrass is an area where people have a passion for country music. I greatly admire their passion, because they are truly critics when it comes to the stuff. Sure, you have the trendy country music people who dig on Rascal Flatts and the mainstream pop country sound, but mostly, they’re very traditional lovers of the genre and call it like it is. When you drive by Cowboys in Dothan, don’t let its simple exterior fool you. It has served as a venue for country icons ranging from Hank Williams, Jr. to Merle Haggard. It is not surprising that this area of Alabama has caught the eye of such country artists as George Jones and Toby Keith, but it seemed like they couldn’t quite make up their mind what they want to do with the area.

I first began to hear various rumors about two years ago. One of the first to which I was privy was Jones’ plans to open a restaurant called “Possum Holler”and bringing in Toby Keith as a business partner, but it never seemed to come to fruition. The next thing that I heard was that George Jones was planning on buying up the “downtown” area of the quaint village of New Brockton, AL (just outside of Enterprise) as well as a ton of the surrounding property. It was said that it would be remodeled as a real-life Mayberry (seriously like The Andy Griffith Show) and serve as a backwoods, country version of the Seaside community on the Florida coast. However, our friends in New Brockton never got a call from Jones with a can’t-resist offer.

Just when I began thinking that this gossip was going to remain as such, BamaJam’s website featured an informative press release in their News section. As of March 10, it seems as if a country conglomerate headed by that has had its sights set on the Wiregrass has decided to create a “Nashville in Alabama,” and it will be located “near Dothan, AL.” Spearheading this idea is Ronnie Gilley (Ronnie Gilley Properties, LLC) and his business partner Kix Brooks (Brooks and Dunn). I have heard that there are other interests in the project that are extremely recognizable names in country music, but I have no way of confirming this.

So, what do Brooks and Gilley have planned for this new country music Mecca? They have expectations of this place being a neo-Branson. It will be a $300 million dollar complex featuring more venues than you can handle, hotels (including the Nashville Grand), possibly a theme park, a midway and an RV park. This duo has even recruited some of the designers behind theme parks such as EPCOT and Universal Studios for conceptual drawings. The restaurants come courtesy of some well-known country stars and will include Tracy Lawrence’s Barbecue and Opry House, John Anderson’s Seminole Wind Grill, The Worley Bird Cafe (Darryl Worley and (finally) the George Jones’ Possum Holler dinner theater (seating for 700-800). The local economy is already making predictions involving thousands of jobs an millions of dollars, and the name of this country music juggernaut, this new and improved Branson, this shining pearl that all other music meccas will bow effortlessly to will be (as of March 10, 2008):

“COUNTRY CROSSING!”

As BamaJam marks the possible beginning of something big in the Wiregrass, it will be nice to sit in the crotch of the state and watch from afar as this Nashville in Alabama gets on its feet. However, when it comes to this stuff, I won’t believe it till I see it. Remember the NASCAR race track in Saraland and all the hoopla over that? What happened to it? Remember the numerous theme parks that were SUPPOSED to be built around here? Hell, I’ve always heard the Port City urban legend that Walt Disney’s original and top choice for Disney World’s location was actually in Theodore, but the local politicians didn’t want to play ball (go fig). As of now, it sure seems like coastal Alabama is getting shown up by the Wiregrass.