![]() Stuart, the jive-talking showman, bantered with his more solemn emcee, Grand Ole Opry host, WSM DJ and walking encyclopedia of country music history Eddie Stubbs, his band members and folks in the crowd, including the woman in the balcony who cheered especially long and loud after Stuart’s solo mandolin rendition of the standard “Orange Blossom Special.”Ī big believer in making the show a multi-generational occasion, Stuart reminded the audience that he’d been given his first big musical break, on that same hallowed stage, at the age of 13. ![]() There was a pronounced sense of familiarity to the proceedings, and no formal script whatsoever. “Do you trust me?” he asked the audience, as he kicked off the show with his flashily dressed band the Fabulous Superlatives, all three of whom would take a brief turn as front man by the end of the night. Stuart has been organizing the show, a benefit for MusicCares, for 13 years, and he never reveals the entire lineup ahead of time. Stuart positioned his multi-performer show at downtown Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium as a traditionalist alternative to the CMT Awards that kicked off two hours earlier directly across the street at the Bridgestone Arena, and to more or less everything else going on during the festival. The original spirit of Fan Fair could be felt at Marty Stuart’s Late Night Jam, held Wednesday night, and that was by design. For decades before CMA Music Festival assumed its current, rebranded form, it was known as Fan Fair, a comparatively homier, humbler production that offered fans ample opportunity to get up close and personal with their favorite stars.
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