Marty Stuart's Late Night Jam

Marty Stuart's Late Night Jam Photos

Marty Stuart celebrated his sixth successful Late Night Jam with one-thousand six hundred and seventy-six audience members watching in 2007. Stuart knows how to entertain a crowd, even if he's sitting in the audience, and he didn't disappoint those attending this year. When you walk into an auditorium and the first thing you see if a beaming Eddie Stubbs, you know it will be a fun night.

Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives, consisting of Brian Glenn, Harry Stinson, Kenny Vaughan and a borrowed emcee with Stubbs on fiddle, kicked off the night with their version of the "Orange Blossom Special." The real stunner came with Stuart's discussion of his neighbor, Barry Gibb - Gibb plans to rebuild the home he and his wife lost that belonged to the late Johnny Cash - Stuart decided that the proper thing to do tonight was to do a Bee Gee's song. If you weren't listening to the live feed on WSM-AM 650, you really missed a treat as the Superlatives launched into "Stayin' Alive." The Superlatives would go on to back the majority of the acts throughout the night, though some did bring their own back-up musicians.

The radio audience tends to miss out on moments such as Stuart introducing Josh Osborne from the front row. Those who aren't in Tennessee wouldn't necessarily know who Osborne is, the seventeen year-old was being starved by his father and stepmother until the age of fifteen. When he was found by police he weighed about fifty pounds and has now just about doubled that weight. He has professed often in the press for his love for country music and Stuart made sure that he was treated to an ample supply.

John Stone and his band performing the first of his two-song set with his son Jackson by his side. Ashley Monroe performed a beautiful version of "In The Garden" with Stuart slyly coming in on mandolin and followed with "Hank's Cadillac" which seemed appropriate for the Ryman Auditorium stage.

The biggest surprise of the night, was not that John Rich was there as a solo performer, because he was listed on the line-up - he has released solo projects in the past - but the audience's reaction to Rich. The majority of your Big & Rich fans tend to be on the younger side and this was a large mixture. Even the more mature members of the audience were whistling and applauding following Rich's performance. He seemed to have come in with just the right material to reach the entire building. Pulling out a couple of Johnny Horton songs ("North To Alaska" and "Battle Of New Orleans") and that of Roger Miller (Chug-A-Lug, which drew a lot of laughter when he said that his preacher father was the one who taught him the classic). Stuart didn't allow Rich to leave the stage quite yet with the building almost rocking with applause. He had Rich perform one more of his choice with just himself an his rhinestone-bordered guitar. His selection was a song he penned for Faith Hill, "Like We Never Loved At All" and you could've heard a pin drop.

Pam Tillis may not have taken the trademark stutter from her Dad, Mel Tillis' stage show, but she definitely took his stage presence. Tillis owns a stage when she walks onto it, no matter where she is. She performed a little of the old and a little of the new and returned to perform "High On A Mountain Top" with Stuart and the Superlatives.

Charley Pride can still take over a room as well. Seamlessly gliding through five of his hits garnered standing ovations for the performance. The cute moment of the night came when Stuart returned to the stage to request one more song as a duet. Pride quickly fumbled for his pocket to pull out his Tic-Tacs to make sure that they were fresh for singing face-to-face! After freshening their breath, Stuart and Pride performed "All I Have To Offer You Is Me."

Showing the diversity in the performance roster, Stuart also requested Neko Case come in. Case exclaimed at the end of her performance that she was going to the back to cry because she was so moved by the experience.