Well.

The election’s over, what is there to talk about?

Oh! The concert! The Marty Stuart Travis Tritt concert! At the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona! It rocked.

Tell me – can you be twenty-plus years older than your kids, go to a concert together, and all of you know all the words to all the songs? Music makes this family’s world go round, I promise, and it sure keeps us together, when we’re together! These young men are getting older by the minute and it’s times like these I treasure and will always remember.

Travis Tritt was awesome and worth the money, no doubt, but Marty Stuart was simply amazing. Travis has an amazing voice, which I knew from his recording, but in person, that boy has some pipes. And Marty Stuart? Oh, Lord. That man can play a mandolin like nobody’s business. He would play mandolin, then guitar, then mandolin, then sing. Travis mostly played acoustic guitar, absolutely phenomenally, and it was a gift just to be able to watch him pick. These guys flat burned up their instruments. Elder Son and Younger Son, both avid guitarists in their own right, were absolutely spellbound (as they sat on the first row, spoiled, spoiled, spoiled!).

Marty and Travis would sing harmony for each other, and it was beautiful. It was the best of the best of the best, unplugged. You can tell these guys are close friends, and they talked about their wives as they are precious jewels. (By the way, Marty is married to country legend Connie Smith.)

Both of these guys run true to their country roots, and are avid disciples of the old country traditions. They both played songs of their own, as well as covered those of other artists. They did a long, slow version of “I Walk The Line” by Johnny Cash, and it was absolutely beautiful.

Stuart started out touring with Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass at age 13, and later joined the Johnny Cash Band. He credits all his success to the people that mentored him along the way, which was greatly refreshing. You can tell Tritt is a lover of all types of music, but blues and country just shine in him. He’s an amazing artist in his own right, and has enjoyed mentors in the business, as well.

Elder Son was talking to the couple behind him, and it turned out the man was raised in Big Spring, and knew brother Scott and myself. So we had a little mini-reunion at the concert, which was a cool thing! Shout out to Robert if you’re reading this!

The historic Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix is really neat, and is a theatre in the round, with a rotating stage, that first opened in 1963. The owner came out and visited with everyone, and had his dog with him. Everybody loved that! The crowd was pretty eclectic, and covered all ages. The people sitting around us were very nice, but I think it blew people’s minds that we flew from Texas to Phoenix just to watch this show.

Believe me, a fairly intimate concert with Marty Stuart and Travis Tritt, with my two bestest favorite sons? Honey, you just can’t go wrong there.

You just can’t go wrong.

By Janie