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Old-Time Nashville hits Georgian stage

Hear the music of Johnny and June, Loretta Lynn, Ray Price, Willie Nelson and many others
2017-11-01 Naomi Bristow
Naomi Bristow performs in 'Welcome to Nashville'. Photo provided

Country music singers make up one big family, and it’s important to honour the elders of the form. While this generation grooves on the likes of Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood and Lady Antebellum, older folks – or folks with older tastes in music – are invited to the Georgian Theatre Saturday, Nov. 25 for Welcome to Nashville, a guide to Music City, U.S.A. as it used to be.

Jimmy Prevost represents Curtain Call Entertainment, the group putting the show on, cites the need for nostalgia among folks who for decades have followed country music (“country-and-western” as it was called then), and long to hear the likes of Johnny and June, Loretta Lynn, Ray Price, and the earliest works of a young whippersnapper named Willie Nelson.

Prevost says Willie’s music, which first made its bow in the early 1960s, would be welcome in any age.

“No surprise that Willie is still on the scene today as he is synonymous with country music and a very gifted songwriter.”

The coal miner’s daughter Loretta Lynn is revered for making inroads for female artists (when they were first known as “girl singers”).

“Like most of the artists on Welcome to Nashville, Loretta is still important because she takes us back to our younger, more carefree days… That and because she has a ton of talent.”

But one cannot escape the era when country music was budding without considering the Lovesick Blues boy himself.

“Hank Williams could ‘cry’ a country song like no other,” Jimmy tells BarrieToday. “Without Hank Williams, the Grand Ole Opry would have been a different place. He was an amazing songwriter and his songs will last as long as there is country music.”

But country music has featured more just than the tears; there’s been a lot of laughter, too. How else to explain the rise of comedians like Don Bowman, Tommy Collins, Ray Stevens, Roger Miller, and one uninhibited comic known for her call to the audience of “Howww-DEE!”

“Minnie Pearl was the ‘Aw-shucks’ girl-next-door that everyone loved. She was funny and vulnerable at the same time. She had an extremely high likability factor on and off stage and a point not to be dismissed in that era. She was a successful woman.”

Also on the bill, Beeton-based Naomi Bristow, teen yodeling champion.

Welcome to Nashville welcomes you to Georgian Theatre Saturday, Nov. 25. To learn more, click here.


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Glenn Wilkins

About the Author: Glenn Wilkins

Glenn Wilkins, in a 30-year media career, has written for print and electronic media, as well as for TV and radio. Glenn has two books under his belt, profiling Canadian actors on Broadway and NHL coaches.
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