Horns Up in the Smokies: Three Days Inside The Mountain Music Festival

Related Stories

Conversations with Missy: Rick Springfield

Nestled in downtown Gatlinburg, Tennessee, The Mountain Music Festival — formerly known as Monsters on the Mountain — took over the Gatlinburg Convention Center August 21–23, 2026, and turned the heart of the Smokies into a three-day celebration of the songs that first grabbed so many of us years ago. The festival is fully indoors and air-conditioned, with multiple stages just steps apart, so fans could come and go, catch guitar clinics, wander the Rock N’ Roll Vendor Marketplace and Art Gallery, and still make it back before the next set. Shows ran from about noon until 11 p.m. each night. That freedom was part of the magic.

The weekend kicked off with a pre-show Night of Comedy from Punchlines and Backlines at Smith & Sons restaurant, featuring Courtney Cronin and Don Jamieson of VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show. We arrived a little late, but we made it in time to see our friends do what they do best. Their crowd-participation comebacks were lightning-fast and had us in tears from laughing so hard. It was the perfect warm-up: rock fans, rock comics, and a room already buzzing before the first riff of the festival.

Outside the Convention Center, the annual Great Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion was rolling through the area at the same time, filling the Parkway with Jeeps and giving the whole weekend a wild, slightly chaotic extra layer. Inside, the look of the crowd told the story just as clearly as the music. Band T-shirts everywhere. Black fishnets. Leather and vinyl pants. Boots, studs, chains, big hair, bright colors, and never-ending smiles. We were all there to watch the bands that first captivated us take the stage again.

Even the Monkee Bois were part of this year’s festival. Tai and Donnie, the two brothers known for living the full 1980s rock lifestyle, made some of the most special little moments of the weekend. They took time to pose with anyone who wanted a picture: the ladies, the hot moms, the beefcake dads, all of us stopping for a good pose. Seriously, I cannot thank Tai and Donnie enough for hanging out with us. In a weekend packed with legends onstage, that kind of easy, generous fan energy offstage is what makes a festival feel like family.

The stage setup itself was unlike anything I’d seen. Think of one giant room with alternating sides: Creekside and Mountain stages working in tandem so one act could finish while the next was already coming up on the other side. Fans simply shifted with the bands for the best views, photos, and video. By evening each night we made sure we had a good spot to capture as much as we could for people who couldn’t be there. Thankfully I was not the one in charge of video. At 5'3", that would have been a nightmare.

Day One was a rush from the start. We caught No Love Lost, Soto/Bieler, Tora Tora, The Cruel Intentions, Reb Beach, Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts, Lynch Mob, Sebastian Bach, and Pearcy / DeMartini performing the music of Ratt, none of whom I had ever seen live before. The excitement around Lynch Mob was intense, and it was hard not to feel it just standing there watching George Lynch. Guitar clinics hosted by Lynch, Reb Beach, and Joel Hoekstra gave fans a closer look at the players behind the songs, another reminder that this festival is built as much for community as for spectacle.

Day Two did not pale in comparison. Watching Lita Ford pay tribute to Ozzy was breathtakingly beautiful. I could not have asked for more, and then we got more. With Bret Michaels forced to cancel his appearance at the last minute so he could rest and recover after recent surgeries, Jackyl’s Jesse James Dupree stepped in with a rendition of “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” He admitted he didn’t know all the words and reminded the crowd, with a grin, that he is the singer for Jackyl, not Poison. It was a beautiful, human moment. Music heals, and sometimes the people who heal us need healing too. The room sang the chorus so loud I know Bret would have felt it. We also caught strong sets from Night Ranger, White Lion (Mike Tramp), Dangerous Toys, and Hoekstra / Gibbs.

Day Three brought an entirely new wave of fans, and I was not prepared for it. The headliner was Rick Springfield, who turned 77 that very day. Maybe it was because I had only ever seen him at what used to be the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville, but the flood of matching T-shirts, bundles of roses, and birthday gifts was a standout. So many people kept pointing out how young, energetic, fit, and yes, smoking hot, he looked at 77. I cannot lie. I was one of those people.

We kicked off the final day with The Cruel Intentions, then Steelheart, Vixen, John Waite, Warrant, 38 Special, and Rick Springfield. Each act blew me away. John Waite looked and sounded like it was still 1984. Vixen brought much-needed female badassery. 38 Special looked and sounded fantastic. Warrant took me straight back to 1989, when I bought the Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich cassette off a friend at school for five dollars.

Between sets there was time for the rest of Gatlinburg: black bears near the hotels, breakfast at Flapjack’s or The Pancake Pantry, a tucked-away sandwich shop with paninis worth hunting down. Whatever you were craving was within reach.This festival was pure nostalgia and complete joy. For me it was also an escape. For three days the rest of the world went quiet. It was no longer dark or depressing or filled with hurt and a loss of hope. We were all one. We were loud, grateful, submerged in bliss and coated with extra sass in our best outfits. Together we shined and fed every artist an insurmountable amount of energy that they fed right back. We got high on guitar shredding, spot-on vocals, unbelievable high notes, and the stories each artist took time to share. It was beautiful.

For many of us it was also a reminder that you don’t have to look or act a certain way because you are older. Some of us needed the push to be ourselves, to rock whatever style made us feel young, and to shout to the world with horns up that we will never stop rocking loud. Special thanks to each of the vendors for their unique contributions to the Rock World including the custom jackets, beautifully made guitar string jewelry, rare and collectible items, second chance band tees, and so much more! I may or may not have left with a whole suitcase full of amazing finds.

Mountain Music Festival, we will be back. And it will be greater than ever. ~Missy