It’s Wednesday afternoon and Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue Awards Ceremony Emcee Chip Chapman is knee deep in spare ribs. He and Chris Schafer, the pitmaster of Heavy Smoke – the 2024 winner of The Jack – stand shoulder-to-shoulder getting ready for the Champion’s Dinner, which will take place at Miss Mary Bobo’s Restaurant later that evening. The air’s thick with hickory smoke and anticipation.
It’s just one of the many duties the Chattanooga resident will take on this week for the 36th annual event that’s known around the globe as the Super Bowl of Barbecue. He’s not just the voice behind the mic on Awards Night, he’s the guy hauling tables, taking notes, and keeping the barbecue circus spinning.
Chip’s face may look familiar – especially to those from East Tennessee. He anchors weekday morning and noon news broadcasts for WDEF-TV Channel 12 – sharing everything from weather forecasts to interviews with famous musicians in his signature deep raspy voice and good hair…