I half expected Travis to jump out on stage for a special appearance being a Georgia native himself. You could have sworn there was a double neck pedal steel on the stage, Marty and Kenny both playing their respective B-benders. Marty then led the audience in a ‘Happy Birthday’ to Travis Tritt prior to performing ‘The Whiskey Ain’t Working Anymore’ with a special ending, ‘Medicare is just around the corner’. They each took turns showcasing their individual skill sets solo and together gathered around a single mic with innovative body percussion on the upright bass, and a single snare drum with some beat-box sounds from Harry. Harry Stinson on drums at one time played in Dottie West and Steve Earle’s bands with album work for too many well known artists and too many songs written to list. Chris Scruggs on bass is Earl Scruggs grandson and a former member of BR549 and Ray Price and Suzy Bogguss bands. For Handsome Harry it was, ‘layin it down where it stays down, till he leaves town then he sneaks out without a sound, going round and round’ and Cousin Kenny ‘the coolest cat in town, best guitar player in the world of all cousins here on the silver sparkle telecaster guitar’, audience chants ‘Kenny, Kenny, Kenny’! So much can be said about his band ‘The Fabulous Superlatives’, each member having an extensive resume along with their own solo album or two: Kenny Vaughn on guitar since ’02 was briefly a member of McBride & The Ride and in addition has appeared on albums by artists such as Alan Jackson, Eric Church and even The Pretenders. For some surf music, he renamed ‘Wipe Out’ ‘Black Out’ and strapped on his infamous 2 toned ’67 B-bender Tele ‘Clarence’, what a sound! The band intros were creatively done, for Professor Chris as Marty labeled him, He is ‘the bishop of twang, the captain of cool, the wabash cannonball rock ’n roll fool’. They served us some key lime pie, it’s a wonder we’re alive, we might be over that by Christmas.’ Next was Lead Belly’s ‘In The Pines’ where he swapped out lyrics for the GA crowd from ‘You caused me to weep, you caused me to mourn, you caused me to leave my home’ to ‘caused me to leave this old Georgia home.’ There were more covers, Waylon’s ‘Just To Satisfy You’ and Robbin’s ‘El Paso’, Stuart making us aware of the fact, ‘My mama named me after a great country singer named Marty Robbins, it wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair.’ Also covered were Wills ‘Brain Cloudy Blues’, Guthrie’s ‘Pretty Boy Floyd’, and Monroe’s ‘Get Down On Your Knees And Pray’. Moving right into his first top 5 hit ‘Tempted’ he briefly addressing the audience, ‘We went to Bo Weevil’s for lunch, it was great. His once jet black hair is now gray albeit still full, as is his voice, one percent strong and resounding! His band The Superlatives all wore traditional wonderfully designed and colorful tailored nudie suits. The 64 year old’s singer was dressed all in black with classic scarf and leather pants. Marty came on at precisely 7:43 for 1.35 hour / 20 song set opening with ‘Tear The Woodpile Down’. Upon taking my seat I took in my first glance of the stage: A blue/green sunburst backdrop, vintage floor lamps in the forefront, (L to R) Kenny’s guitars, Marty’s mic and instruments, drum kit with an Indian head on the drumhead, bass (upright and electric), fender amps to the left and right all separated from the orchestra seating by a very large, deep, and empty pit. It was the second night of his 2023 tour consisting of 37 shows (some dates with Chris Stapleton) extending into September. John Marty, a rockabilly-country-bluegrass 5 Grammy Philadelphia native first gained notoriety playing in Johnny Cash’s band in 1980 and has since recorded 19 solo albums with 30 charted singles. The 853 seat 105 year old art deco iconic venue has always intrigued me, primarily by how they are able to offer ticket prices at such a lower price than similar sized establishments within my self-designated 125 mile radius of travel so I was super-enthused to be there. It was my second time seeing Marty LIVE (the first being 3/12/20, row M in Atlanta) and my first time at Georgia’s very own Imperial Theatre. Marty Stuart: 2/10/23 “Marty Stuart brought his very own brand of hillbilly rock to Augusta GA and the DAve Show rolled in for a front row experience to the sold out show.
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