The tiny, way-western-Oklahoma town of Erick was brim-full of celebrity before Harley and Annabelle Russell ever set up shop.
Erick was home to Roger Miller (he wrote "King of the Road" and the musical Big River) and Sheb Wooley (known for "Purple People Eater" and his rolls in High Noon and the TV show Rawhide).
That's about all a Route 66 town of 1,076 would ever be expected to handle.
But a few blocks down from the intersection of Roger Miller Boulevard and Sheb Wooley Avenue, you'll find what currently keeps Erick highlighted on the map: Harley and Annabelle, the self-proclaimed Mediocre Music Makers, performing at their Sandhills Curiosity Shop.
The Russell's business venture in this spot began as a health food store, morphed into a music store, then an antique store.
"From 1986 until 1999, two or three people a year walked into this building," says Harley. "And that included me and Annabelle."
One day in '99, the Russells were in the shop playing their guitars, and a guy walked up and asked if a tour could come in and watch.
"I said, 'Hell yeah!'" screams Harley. "Before we got the next song finished, the building was full of people. They were shaking and playing tambourines and maracas; jumping up and down hollerin' and kickin' and screamin' and having the dadgummin-est time you ever seen."
According to Harley, that group was with the biggest tour company in the UK, and they were crisscrossing America. Today over 100 overseas tours visit the shop.
Disney imagineers have been their guests. (Harley was the inspiration for Mater, the tow truck in the movie Cars.) There's even a documentary on the couple called Harley and Annabelle: Living Legends in Erick, OK.
Harley always asks visitors, especially from other countries, what their attraction is to Route 66.
"90% of the time they say, 'Old Authentic American Culture,'" he remarks. "And we happen to be all of those things."
