The Freebird Foundation, Inc. was at the Rock The Smokies concert on July 6, 1996 in Newport, Tennessee. The show was at the Forks of the River concert park with around 100,000 people in attendance. The show included the Marshall Tucker Band, .38 Special, the Charlie Daniels Band, Marty Stuart, Travis Tritt and Hank Williams, Jr.

Sponsored by Skoal Music, the show also served as a great introduction for Freebird... The Movie. Cabin Fever Entertainment had a large booth displaying merchandise and a special "jumbotron" screen showcasing clips from the movie. A special feature of Cabin Fever's display was a contest awarding two lucky fans an all expense paid trip to the film's premiere at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio on August 14, 1996. Thousands of people signed up.

Charlie Daniels (who has been promoting Freebird... The Movie at every one of his concerts) invited Judy onstage to tell the thousands of fans at the show about the film and the Freebird Foundation, Inc. But we almost didn't make it.

The concert was designed to attract a hundred thousand people (Skoal sent out 275,000 free tickets across the country) and the promoters decided that the best place to bring a hundred thousand people together was at the end of a 4 and a half mile long single lane country road. From Interstate 40 to the show site ( a total of 9 miles) it was a complete, standstill parking lot. We -- Judy VanZant Jenness, Jim Jenness, Matt Grondin and William Jordan -- started out from our hotel in Newport, Tennessee at 11:30 am; an hour and a half later we had moved about 3/4 of a mile. Not a good sign. Three hours and a quarter of a mile later, Will had a brainstorm and took over the wheel. Honking the horn and flashing our VIP passes we went down the shoulder of the road for the next six miles. Luckily we didn't hit anyone or end up in the ditch.

With about three minutes to spare, Judy had just enough time to check in with Charlie Daniels as he headed toward the stage for his show. After playing most of his set, Charlie called out to the crowd, "Anybody out there remember the Lynyrd Skynyrd band?" Of course everyone did and the place exploded. Charlie told the crowd that he wanted them to meet a very special lady -- and introduced Judy VanZant. Judy spoke about the many fans that never had the opportunity to experience the original Lynyrd Skynyrd band. "Now, with Freebird... The Movie" she said, "all that will change." Charlie then kicked into "The South's Gonna Do It Again" -- the song he kicked off with at the movie premiere celebration at the Fox Theatre on December 29, 1995.

We were all mobbed as we set out through the crowd passing out Foundation flyers. Even though Lynyrd Skynyrd didn't play at this year's concert there were so many Skynyrd shirts in the audience you would have thought they were the headliners.

We stayed through Charlie's and Marty Stuart's sets, then saw Travis Tritt start his show. After the long trip up from Florida and the hassle of trying to get to the show, we were exhausted. When we were leaving, the line to get into the show site was still 2 1/2 miles long. Judy and Jim headed to Nashville for a few days highlighted by Judy's appearance on Prime Time Country with Charlie Daniels as the guest host.

Judy VanZant and Artimus Pyle were on The Nashville Network's Prime Time Country on Tuesday, July 9, 1996. Original plans called for Lynyrd Skynyrd to guest on Wednesday's show, but they had to cancel at the last minute.

The program airs at 9 o'clock every weekday, but is recorded at 4:30 in the afternoon. Artimus and Judy had to be at Opryland's TNN's studios by 3:30 for instructions and makeup.

Charlie gave a very emotional introduction saying some bands sear the public conciousness with their music and then talked about Freebird... The Movie . Everything was unscripted and from the heart. When Judy and Artimus came on the set, Charlie chatted about the Rock The Smokies concert from the weekend and then moved right into the movie. Then the fans were treated to a special clip of the movie.

At the end of the set, Judy and Artimus presented Charlie with a special Freebird... The Movie production jacket for all his help. Charlie has promoted the movie at all of his shows and has worked selflessly to help Judy and the Freebird Foundation. With Charlie, its always -- "What can I do for you?"

While in Nashville, Judy visited with Ed King at his home. His health, while serious, remains manageable. Some days he tires easily, but other days he says he feels fine. One thing that helped him considerably was giving up cigarettes cold turkey. He realized that they wouldn't let him smoke in the hospital, so he might as well stop. A new procedure is under development allowing the doctors to laser-cut the damaged part of the heart away and then reconstruct the organ rather than transplanting. Ed and his doctors have been researching this option in case an heart transplant does not develop.