Mountain Heart picked up an unusual last minute gig this past weekend that turned out to be something of a spooky good time for all concerned.

Jim VanCleve tells us that they were returning home from Ashland, KY late Friday night, anticipating a rare Saturday off at home, when they got a call from country star and successful author Naomi Judd’s management asking if the band was free the following night.

“It turns out that Naomi Judd is a big fan of Mountain Heart and wanted to see if we could come and play for a Halloween Costume Party she was having at her farm near Franklin, TN. We got back to town and ran down there to play, and it was absolutely a blast! It was the first party crowd we’ve ever had where everybody sat down in chairs to actually watch the show.

It was kind of funny. Here’s all these very influential people…in Halloween costumes sitting there and taking in a Mountain Heart show. Surreal might be the word.

We even took part in the large scale photo shoot after the “Best Costume Awards,” where they attempted to photograph roughly 60 people dressed up as airline pilots and vikings and vampires and hippies… and a bluegrass band.”

Jim said that unfortunately, Adam Steffey had plans for Saturday evening and wasn’t able to make the show, so Aaron Ramsey filled in on mandolin.

Don’t forget that we are still accepting entries to win a free, autographed copy of the new Mountain Heart CD, Road That Never Ends: the live album. Other Mountain Heart merchandise, such as t-shirts and ball caps, will also be given away.

If you downloaded the free audio track from this CD last week, you are already registered for the CD giveaway. Everyone else can simply visit this page to register.

Registration will remain open through Friday of this week (Nov 2, 2007). Six winners will be notified by email early next week.