For the Love of Gatlinburg: S1, E10 — Stories from the Heart & Holler

Johnny Baker's family history in Gatlinburg starts with candy, not moonshine. His father moved to the area after World War II from Indiana, invited by a friend to help open Fireside Candies on the main strip. Johnny grew up technically living in Pigeon Forge — "a bed and breakfast," he jokes, since the family only came home to sleep — but considers Gatlinburg his true childhood playground, complete with water balloon ambushes on Highway 321 and trout fishing from Roaring Fork all the way downtown.

Today, Johnny runs Ole Smoky Moonshine, which in just 14 years has grown from a single 2,600-square-foot location with seven employees into the world's largest and leading moonshine company, distributed in dozens of countries and welcoming roughly 2.5 million visitors a year to its Gatlinburg location, "the Holler." The conversation traces that growth alongside Johnny's deep family roots in the area — including a remarkable story about his aunt, Myrtle Connor, a self-taught weaver who was invited to the Smithsonian in 1963 as a living Appalachian exhibit after two visiting curators discovered her intricate, self-devised patterns.

Johnny shares the history connecting moonshine running to the origins of NASCAR, a personal family connection to early stock car racing, and vivid stories from years of hosting international distributors experiencing Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge for the very first time. He closes with a reflection on the 2016 wildfires — not as a story of loss, but as the moment the phrase "Mountain Tough" was forged, when neighbors and friends showed up for each other without hesitation.

• From a candy shop to the world's largest moonshine company. Johnny's father moved to Gatlinburg after World War II to help a friend open Fireside Candies; today, Johnny helps run Ole Smoky Moonshine, which grew from 7 employees and one 2,600-square-foot location in 2010 to over 740 employees and distribution in more than 40 countries.
• A childhood spent as "redneck gypsies." With Gatlinburg's tourist season lasting only about three months, Johnny's father supplemented candy-making with construction work and travelling craft fairs across the South, borrowing a rolling loan from a local banker to bridge the family through each off-season.
• A family weaver's trip to the Smithsonian. Johnny's aunt, Myrtle Connor — a self-taught weaver with only a one-room schoolhouse education — was invited by Smithsonian curators to weave on a riser in Washington, D.C. in 1963 after they were captivated by the complex, self-devised patterns she calculated in her head.
• 2.5 million visitors a year at "the Holler." Ole Smoky's Gatlinburg location entertains roughly 2.5 million guests annually with daily bluegrass music, moonshine tastings, and story-driven tours — a nod to the Baker family's own moonshining and music heritage.
• A one-of-a-kind Soggy Bottom Boys reunion. In 2013, Johnny helped bring together the actual musicians behind "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" for their only live performance together, with Ralph Stanley and Alison Krauss also making surprise appearances.
• Moonshine's surprising link to NASCAR. Johnny explains how moonshine runners racing to make deliveries began betting pink slips over informal races — leading to early conversations with the France family that helped establish NASCAR's first rules, a history Johnny ties to a personal family friendship with an early Daytona competitor.
• International visitors, unfiltered reactions. Johnny shares candid, funny stories of first-time international guests — from French distributors startled by Pigeon Forge's roadside attractions to a Polish visitor who compared the drive along Highway 321 to the Austrian countryside.
• "Mountain Tough" wasn't just a slogan. Reflecting on the 2016 wildfires, Johnny recalls being genuinely surprised by how many people he knew stepped up to help in ways he hadn't expected — a defining moment that reaffirmed his sense of belonging in the community.