It was a steamy Sunday to remember at Morris Farm in Currituck County, as what was originally just a return engagement turned into a crowd of several thousand from every corner of North Carolina, and all over the country, to see and hear the latest viral internet sensation in a free, live performance.
Oliver Anthony, a former factory worker from Farmville, Virginia, exploded on the Itunes charts late last week with the most downloaded song, “Rich Men North of Richmond”, which Billboard magazine says “funnel(s) the pain, frustration and angst of the working class into lines that rage against greedy rich men.”
Along with the blue collar anthem, Anthony’s “Ain’t Gotta Dollar” and “I’ve Got To Get Sober” were second and third as of Sunday night, putting him ahead of Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” at number four.
And video of Anthony performing “Rich Men North of Richmond” posted by ‘radiowv’ on August 9 has more than 8 million views on Youtube.
In a video posted on his just-launched Youtube channel, Oliver said it was his “first song to get out there that has been recorded on a real microphone and a real camera, and not just on my cell phone.”
But it turns out, Anthony is no stranger to Morris Farm located along N.C. 168 just north of Barco, thanks to a happenstance occurrence.
“A couple of months ago, our bar manager, Tony, heard him playing at a friend’s house in their neighborhood,’ said Chet Morris, co-owner of Morris Farm. “Tony gave him a chance for an open mic for a couple of songs in between some of our other gigs back in June.”
That was one of Anthony’s first-ever live performances before an audience, according to Morris. They liked him so much at the time, they booked him to come back. And then social media lightning struck.
“His life changed and so did everybody else’s,” Morris said.
Their regular business of selling produce, baked goods, tractor-churned ice cream, beer and wines to Outer Banks visitors and locals, along with food trucks from Coinjock Catering Company and Mr. Joe’s Fun Food, had to all but take a back seat for the day.
Car loads of locals, OBX visitors, and even music fans who flew in from around the country just for the one hour show, were lined up along Caratoke Highway well ahead of the scheduled performance, waiting to get a spot.
Morris estimates they nearly filled their 25 acres of parking, and had anywhere from 4,000 to 6,000 people show up. And then Oliver made his way to the little covered stage surrounded by his new-found fans.
Not only did they get to see Oliver, but even an established star of country music made a surprise guest appearance.
Morris said that if it wasn’t for all the staff, family, friends and the Currituck community, including the sheriff’s department and EMS, that turned out to help, it wouldn’t have been possible to pull off the event.
“We had less than two days to plan for this, and that’s a huge thing to take on for a mom-and-pop operation,” Morris said by phone Sunday night while recovering from a long, hot day that required him to get IV fluids on-site from Currituck EMS at one point.
“It was overwhelming and heartwarming at the same time,” Morris said.
And Anthony is coming back to Currituck this coming weekend. But due to his meteoric rise in popularity, the performance has been moved from the waterfront venue at Currituck Trading Post in Maple to Eagle Creek Golf Club in Moyock.
