An early  Mardi Gras celebration with The River City Red Hots Dixieland Band will be held on Monday, Jan. 13, at 7:30 p.m. The Camp House will be serving New Orleans hot chicory coffee.  

The River City Red Hots Dixieland Band is unique a combination of local musicians who have been performing together in the tri-state area since 2002. Although the group has undergone some personnel changes since their first performance for the Downtown Partnership at the Convention and Trade Center, three of the original five are still together: Ralph Miller, Doug Womack and Mike deYampert. 

Mr. Miller is the leader playing clarinet and soprano saxophone. East Ridge High School and UTC graduate, Mr. Womack plays trombone.  Mr. Womack is currently teaching at Hunter Middle School. Chattanooga High School and UTC grad Mr. deYampert, a retired art instructor for the Dade County Schools, plays banjo, but will be missing this performance to visit his grandchildren in Kentucky. Chris Haley, who graduated from East Ridge and UTC, is the former pianist for the Walden Club and an accountant with the city of Chattanooga.  Mr. Haley will be filling the keyboard duties on piano. Rick Grammer, Lakeview High and UTC graduate and well known minister of music in the North Georgia area and performer with Civil War re-enactment bands, will be on trumpet.  Johnny Adams, Brainerd High and UTC grad, who is a retired band director from Red Bank Middle School and local professional musician will be performing on the tenor sax. David Butler will be playing the tuba. Mr. is a Tyner High and Tennessee Tech grad and is currently band director at CSAS. Dr. Monte Coulter, Central High, UTC, UTK and University of Memphis graduate, as well as director of percussion studies at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will be on drums.

The Red Hots have performed for the Hamilton County Fair, the Dalton Creative Arts Guild, the Mentone Arts and Crafts Weekend, the re-opening of Chattanooga City Hall, for conventions and events at the Trade and Convention Center, the Memorial Hospital employees family picnic, for three months on the Delta Queen, on the Southern Belle Riverboat, for the grand opening of Marshalls and Bed, Bath and Beyond, the 4th of July at Hamilton Place Mall, the last three years for the Bach Choir's Mardi Gras Parade on Chestnut St., SPARK, and many more events around the area.

The last day of Christmas (called Twelfth Night) is the first day of Carnival Season which culminates with Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras). So to kick off the Carnival or Mardi Gras season in Chattanooga, the River City Red Hots will be performing the music of Carnival in America, the music of New Orleans Dixieland. The band will be playing tunes like Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey, Royal Garden Blues, Ain't Misbehavin', Tin Roof Blues, Sugar, Wolverine Blues, St. James Infirmary, and many more including a parade around the Camp House led by Ralph Miller to our street parade medley-Bourbon St. Parade, Joe Avery and When the Saint's go marchin' In.

This will be a family oriented evening of jazz music. Participants are encouraged to bring beads and a white napkin to wave when they promenade around the Camp House kicking off the Mardi Gras Season in Chattanooga.