Thousands Turn Out For A 'Marty Party'

Singer wows crowd at annual concert

Rising country superstar Marty Stuart rocked a crowd of several thousand with his "Hillbilly Rock," "Now That's Country," and "If I Ain't Got You." The two-time Grammy award winner and his band, the Rock and Roll Cowboys, headlined the eighth annual Everly Brothers concert.

The concert started with newcomers Kentucky Thunder of Owensboro, followed my Muhlenberg's own Brian O'Neal. Both names delivered tight sets of rock-flavored country.

Then Stuart raised the standards--and the volume--a bit with his band. "Since it's a Saturday night and the moon is high, we may as well do some honky tonkin'," Stuart told the crowd, then launched into "The Wild One."

His fans packed the rows of lawn chairs set up in front of the big stage erected behind Central City Elementary School. Many of them, like Jill Meister of Greenville, had already seen the country rocker dozens of times at other venues.

It's not just the music--it's the man, Meister said. "It's the way he treats people," the Greenville woman said. "He always makes time for the fans. I've seen him stay two hours after a show to sign autographs."

But for the second year, the Everly Brothers did not perform, although their fans from as far as England and Holland were there. Muhlenberg natives Don and Phil Everly headlined the first six shows of the festival that bears their name, and crowds grew to as large as 22,000 in 1991.

Don Everly attended a meeting with media and fans before Saturday's concert and made no predictions about when the brothers would reunite in Muhlenberg.

"You can sing 'Bye, Bye Love' every year," Everly said, but the fans deserve to hear some new music from performers such as Marty Stuart, who he called "a consummate entertainer." Don said his brother was in California getting ready for their upcoming tour of Europe and England.

When that tour begins September 15 in Scarborough, England, Janet Dalgliesh of Lincoln, England will be there. Dalgliesh and four others from England made the trip across the Atlantic to be at the Central City festival knowing full well Don and Phil would not perform.

"We could have canceled, but we'd heard what a friendly town it was," Dalgliesh said. And she hasn't been disappointed by Muhlenberg's hospitality. She saw Marty Stuart in Nashville on the first stop of her trip and will see the Everly Brothers 10 times in September and October on their tour through Europe.

Stuart and the Rock and Roll Cowboys toured Europe in April and have maintained a busy schedule in the U.S. since early May.

By Stewart Jennison