Champ Hollers With ‘Amazing Grace’

Most anybody can hum “Amazing Grace,” and a few can even muster the gumption to stand up in front of an audience and sing it a cappella.

That’s too tame for Gregory Jackson. He opens up his throat, cranks up the volume and hollers.

And judges were so impressed when they heard him whoop-whoop-whoop and wha-hoo-hoo his way through the old hymn that they made him the winner of the 1996 National Hollerin’ Contest.

That victory on Saturday makes Jackson the first three-time winner of the contest in his hometown, a crossroads community of 49. He also holds the 1992 and 1994 titles.

“My grandfather taught me all about hollerin’,” Jackson said.

Contest president and founder Ermon Godwin put the competition together in 1968, thinking it would be a one-time event just for fun.

“Back then we planned on it being a front yard thing with barbecue and a few neighbors,” Godwin said.

“On The Road With Charles Kuralt” changed all that. After the CBS show covered the first contest, yearly crowds have grown to around 3,000. And over the years, the event has raised $300,000 for the local volunteer fire department.