Bluegrass Show - Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN on July 25, 2000

On July 25, 2000, a very special event took place at the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. A bluegrass concert was held there featuring Jerry and Tammy Sullivan, and Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. As many of you may know, Jerry and Tammy are a father and daughter duo that Marty has known since childhood. In fact, Marty actually started out with the Sullivan Family Singers when he was twelve years old.

My parents and I arrived about thirty minutes prior to showtime. As we found our seats, we could hear the different murmurs from the crowd getting excited as the time was drawing closer. I happened to meet a lady who came all the way from Seattle just to see the Sullivans! Then at 8:00p.m., Mr.. Kyle Cantrell from WSM came out to introduce the acts. Jerry and Tammy were on first. Who should come out with them but Marty himself along with a wonderful fiddle player by the name of Stuart Duncan. Stuart has played on many of Jerry and Tammy's recordings. It was fun just listening to the crowd as they realized, "Hey that's Marty Stuart!". The thing that really impressed me was that Marty was just being a sideman that night. There was no introduction for him. He was just part of the band.

They started things out with the very powerful, "Church Keep Movin' On", followed by a song from Jerry and Tammy's new CD, "You Never Mentioned Him To Me", both with Tammy singing the lead part. Then Jerry sang lead on another new song called, "When I Tell This World Goodbye". After that, Jerry welcomed everyone and told the audience how exciting it was for him to play at the Ryman. Then. he mentioned some people that were visiting backstage. Two of my personal favorites. Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, came out and waved to the audience. Then, Jerry played an instrumental on the acoustic guitar called "The Gloryland March". Then came a song that Marty was supposed to kick off on the mandolin entitled. "Steer Me On The Righteous Pathway". Marty kicked it off in the key of G. Jerry and Tammy looked at him a little funny. Marty said, "Isn't that in G?" Together, Jerry and Tammy both said, "That's a C!" Marty looked down at his songlist and said, "Oh, excuse me. Watch this". He then kicked it off perfectly.

One of the most special points in the evening was when Marty and Jerry performed a song together. The song is entitled. "Show Me The Way Home". It featured Jerry singing and playing acoustic guitar and Marty playing acoustic guitar. Jerry sang with such emotion. It was a very powerful moment.

After that, Stuart and Tammy came back out on stage and they finished the show out with the old song, "Workin' On A Building" and the brand new song which Marty wrote called "Tomorrow". That one brought tears to my eyes. Tammy Sullivan has such an awesome voice! They then left the stage. Mr. Cantrell came back out on stage to introduce the next act but the crowd was roaring! They loved Jerry and Tammy and they wanted more. They all came back out and did an old song that Marty sang the lead on which he used to do when he toured with them. It was called, "Walking In Jerusalem Just Like John". It had the audience clapping and stomping their feet! It was a perfect way to end the show.