Heavy Rebel Weekender 14 Was As Epic As Ever

The Mud Rasslin' was alive and well at Heavy Rebel 2014

If you want to know about a good time to be had every July 4th weekend, then look no further than attending the Heavy Rebel Weekender, in Winston-Salem, NC. Three days of great music, incredible people and one of the best ride in car and bike shows on the east coast. Events go on far and wide, but not much can compare to the level of hospitality that is presented by all the staff of the Millennium Center and especially Greg the owner along with festival guru's Dave Quick, Courtney Southern and Scott Allen. They make this event what it is and now five years in a row, we are damn proud to be solid supporters of it. 

Check out some of the bands below we got to check out along with some photos from the event. Would have enjoyed taking a bunch more photos, but duty called and our booth was busy all weekend. 

Heavy Rebel Weekender 2013

Let's just get things started off correct by saying, damn do we enjoy being a part of Heavy Rebel Weekender. Mucho thanks to Dave Quick and Courtney Southern for making a great event even better by really keeping it all running smooth and efficient. Also a huge thank you to Greg who owns the Millenium Center in downtown Winston-Salem for all the great food and hospitality that they provide. Can't say enough folks, if ya haven't been to the event, mark it on your mental calendar as one of those festivals that is all about the down home vibe.

Check out more of our photos on Flickr

Had to hop off the Wheelin' Towards Willie tour to head back to NC for Heavy Rebel, leavin' Dallas on a jet plane

Road Devils Car Club radiator sign

Hangin' with the one and only Billy Velvet of Crank County Daredevils and Holy Rollin' Hellfires

Pure and classic, what could be better than an original Knucklehead

Futuramic fender with style for miles

This belly tanker was the highlight of the day, damn great to see a car built for racing and done DIY

So the story goes a Knuckle and Flathead show up...

Old man Fred and his beard ride are always a hit

American Speedway are damn great live and the beer was flying

Trailer queen? Broken down or maybe just not done yet, you be the judge.

Might Need A Tetanus Shot While Riding This Custom

If you attend enough events there will always be one build that just defies comparison. At this year's Heavy Rebel in Winston-Salem a bike pulled up that defied the odds and then some. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and there I was staring and taking in all the angles of this particular bike. It's long, it's low and most of all it was all hand built. Maybe this bike is not to the perfection of the normal standards but this one got more photos than any other bike out front and for that we dig it. 

Thankfully some folks dare to be different and use what they have on hand or readily available to make something new and different out of. Congrats on the interesting build and yes it does run and sound good.

Heavy gauge chain for handle bars, yes indeed.

Custom front end with dirt bike tire and wheel

Is that by chance a digital speedo on the tank?

Bias ply tires on a motorcycle, what?

Heavy Rebel 2012 Was A Damn Good Time

When we set up our booth at Heavy Rebel every year, it makes us damn proud to be able to talk on all the new projects, the great bands we work with and most of all to be able to hang with so many cool folks. This year was another scorcher of a good time. Whether it be wandering the streets checking out the rides, talking shop in our DIY booth lounge or just catching as many bands as we can, the good times are always at hand.

Huge shout out to Courtney, Dave and Mike for putting on such a great event and most of all to everyone that hung out in our booth or we shared drinks with. The list is long and strong, so to all of yall, cant wait for the next time around. Maybe next year we won't have to get keep getting kicked out of the hotel pool at 5am every morning either.

Some sttand out sets that we were able to catch: American Speedway, Peewee Moore, Cutthroat Shamrock, Southbound Turnaround, Dielectrics, Carolina Still and Kenneth Brian

HeavyRebel.net

Here are some photos taken by yours truly, Mopar Rob and various others by friends on Facebook

Peewee Moore killed it on Saturday Night

Need some leg?

89 Speed Shop Gasser style setup

Ford truck brown and low

Yamaha XS650 by Butchers Chop

Ace Speed Shop with tilt hood

The Wiggle Room had plenty of dancing ladies

Butcher Chop custom leather seat

Clean Shovelhead with Split Tanks

The mud wrestling cooled things off for many

Hot Rods and classic rides lined the street for blocks upon blocks

Carolina Still had a great set

Video Footage From Heavy Rebel 2011

Thanks to Jefe of the Road Devils for posting up the footage from this years Heavy Rebel in Winston-Salem, NC. Once again it was another great fest and lookin' forward to 2012 but rollin' up in our '51 Chevy Shop Truck.

Heavy Rebel Weekender 2011

Every year that we have been attending the Heavy Rebel Weekender, which is for the last three years, it seems to be growing quite nicely. The car and bike show on Saturday has more attendees and more rides and on this past Saturday night, the main hall seemed to be more packed than in years past. This makes us quite proud as our booth is directly across from the main stage so we get to see all the action front and center. Unfortunately we then miss out on all the bands and burlesque that are also going on downstairs, unless we can run down and catch a few minutes of certain sets.

Another aspect we have been noticing more at shows are the amount of custom built metric bikes and this is a sign of the times. Not only is tough out there to be able to buy and customize bikes, but why spend so much money on a build when you can get a great run around town bike on the cheap and really put some creativity into it. We enjoy all things motorized and seeing some of the cool rides that showed up between cages and bikes was bad ass. I have seen enough retro 60's and 70's "period correct" rides to last a lifetime. What I dig seeing is just something different and innovative that shows skill and a testament to craftsmanship. Yes, this is asking a lot, but so does life so make it unique and make it your own regardless of trends.

We did one thing this year that could have gotten us into hot water but we timed it out and went for broke. While the mainstage was breaking down between sets, I noticed that there was consistently a 15 minute lull before the next sound check. I rounded up the posse and we set up a PA and got it all mic'd and soundchecked as the best we could and had impromptu shows in between the main stage bands. We made sure to not interfere with their sound checks so we wouldn't get shut down and the powers that be let it ride. Some of the sound levels could have been tidied up a bit better but Sammy is going to give me the run down on the PA and we will have it nailed for the next show hijacking. Look out Muddy Roots fest, we have quite a bit up our sleeve so be ready for late night shows with Hellbound Glory, Ronnie Hymes, Southbound Turnaround and quite a few more special guests stoked to play the secret "Rusty Knuckles Stage".

After all was said and done from the weekend we saw quite a few stand out sets from Jayke Orvis, James Hunnicutt, Southbound Turnaround, Ronnie Hymes, Octane Saints, Ten Foot Polecats and the swamp pounding sound of Confused Little Girls. Missed out on sets from the Dielectrics, The Defilers and God Damn Gallows but hopefully we can see all of them sooner than later.

Huge thanks to Mike Martin, Dave Quick and Courtney Southern for puttin' on one hell of a shindig year after year. See ya next year with a bigger booth, more bands and a few more rabbits up our sleeve.

Scotty P of Crank County Daredevils jammin' with his new outfit Southbound Turnaround