The Oconee Bells, a small flowering plant with saw-toothed leaves, grows only in the Jocassee area and in a few counties in the North Carolina foothills.

The Red Wolf was most prevalent in the once extensive bottomland river forests and swamps of the Carolinas, and throughout the Southeast. By the 1930's it had been totally wiped out east of the Mississippi.

The eastern panther is thought to be extinct. The last confirmed sightings were in 1975 in the Great Smokes. With the exception of the Florida panther, a virtually extinct subspecies, these large cats are only a memory.

The Asian chestnut blight was first discovered in 1904 in New York City. It spread quickly, and by 1950, the huge American Chestnut Trees had disappeared from some nine million acres of eastern forests.

Oconee Bells

Sunrise, solitude
The stillness speaks
Follow Foothills Trail
By the crooked creek
Sweet scent of April rain
Still in the air
A time when flowers bloom
The fairest of the fair

(Chorus)
Oconee Bells
Beautiful & rare
Where are you hiding?
Are you still there?
Oconee Bells

Ancient sacred land
Of the Cherokee
Where red wolf and panther once
Roamed wild and free
Carolina parakeets
Made this their home
Like the forest of chestnut trees
They've come and gone

(Chorus)

 

Tammy Heard - Lead & Background Vocals
Bobby Holliday - Lead & Background Vocals, 6 & 12 string Guitars "F Wahine Tuning" (C,F,C,G,C,E ) Viktor Krauss - Acoustic Bass
Randy Kohrs - Dobro
Tom Roady - Percussion
Robert Bowlin - Mandolin
Joe Wehunt - Flute