Tonight's special show began with Byron Jones and the Northtown Opry Band provding the entertainment the first half. Byron welcomed everyone with a Porter Wagoner classic "Country Music's Gone To Town" and joined by daughter-in-law Chastity Jones followed with Ernest Tubbs' "Waltz Across Texas" and Carl Smith's "If Teardrops Were Pennies." Chastity got a big hand as she sang a Carlene Carter hit, "I Fell In Love" and a bit later Sara Evans' "Three Chords And The Truth" and Kris Krisofferson's "Me And Bobby McGee." It's always great to see Jason Meyerkorth on fiddle and tonight he played one of our favorites, "Faded Love" and returned a bit later singing & playing Restless Heart's "Bluest Eyes In Texas." Stan Steele who plays a terrific keyboard here every Saturday night showed his vocal abilities, singing Merle Haggard's "Working Man Blues" as did bass player Mike Bush with Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman" and drummer Darrin Crumley who sang Garth Brooks' "Much Too Young To Feel This Damn Old." Lead & steel guitarist, band leader Kevin Jones stepped front and center to sing Tom T. Hall's "That's How I Got To Memphis" followed by Keith Whitley's "Would These Arms Be In The Way" and "The Crawdad Song" recorded by George Jones and many others. Byron closed the first half with a Del Reeves classic "There's A Diesel On My Tail."
The crowd greeted Branson-based country superstar Moe Bandy and his Americana band with a big hand as he chose to open his set with a Porter Wagoner tune, "Another Day Another Dollar" before launching into one of his own top-ten hits, 1981's "Someday Soon." Blockbuster hit, 1975's "Hank Williams You Wrote My Life" preceded 1987's "You Haven't Heard The Last Of Me" and one of many Moe Bandy/Joe Stampley duets, 81's "Hey Joe (Hey Moe) and one that we personally requested "The Biggest Airport In The World" followed by 1981's "Rodeo Romeo." A medley of crowd favorites ("If You're Gonna Play In Texas/Amarillo By Morning/Does Ft. Worth Ever Cross Your Mind/All My Ex's Live In Texas") gave way to the George Jones classic hit, "He Stopped Loving Her Today" and Moe's 1979 "Barstool Mountain."
Another pair of Moe/Joe compilations "Good Old Boys" and "Tell Ole I Ain't Here" gave way to 1990's "Many Mansions," 1993's "Picture In A Frame" and "A Few Stars Short Of The Moon." Next, Moe opted to remember several of his favorite country stars including Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire," Marty Robbins' "Devil Woman," Freddie Fender's "Before The Next Teardrop Falls" and George Jones' "White Lighting" before returning with his 1975 chart-topper written by Lefty Frizzell & others, "Bandy The Rodeo Clown" and 87's "Til I'm Too Old To Die Young." Closing out tonight's terrific entertainment package, Moe concluded with the 1987 smash, "Americana," a Moe/Joe duet of the whimiscal "Where's The Dress?" and 1979's "It's A Cheatin' Situation." (Below) Kevin (l.) and Byron Jones (r.) pose with country superstar Moe Bandy (c.)
