With its red barn backdrop and a stage featuring signature microphone stands plus the familiar radio station call letters of the Grand Ole Opry, WSM 650, a galaxy of stars from the venerable Tennessee music showcase — Ricky Skaggs and Patti Loveless, the Del McCoury Band, Riders in the Sky and Old Crow Medicine Show — rolled into town for Friday night’s performance at Wolf Trap.
The applause was thunderous, but the evening’s biggest ovation was reserved for master of ceremonies Eddie Stubbs, for whom Friday’s show was something of a homecoming. After finding success as the fiddle player for the Johnson Mountain Boys, Mr. Stubbs, a Gaithersburg native, moved on to host country and bluegrass programs at the District’s WAMU-FM (88.5).
He started as a substitute disc jockey in the 1980s, but by 1990 had his own show. Mr. Stubbs moved to Nashville, Tenn., to work for the Grand Ole Opry 10 years ago, but kept his two-hour slot at WAMU, where his taped program can still be heard Sunday afternoons.
Between acts, WAMU General Manager Karen Mathis and Program Manager Lettie Holman presented Mr. Stubbs with an inscribed fiddle to honor his 15 years on public radio. Another tribute came at the end of the night when Jason Carter — the reigning International Bluegrass Music Association’s fiddle player of the year and a member of the Del McCoury Band — handed his instrument to Mr. Stubbs so he could join in on “Y’all Come,” a stirring encore featuring the entire cast.
It was a fitting finale and an invitation to the audience to listen to the Grand Ole Opry, which is celebrating 80 years on the air and is believed to be the longest running live radio program in history.
If Mr. Stubbs was lauded as something of a returning hero, Mr. Skaggs was presented as an all-around mandolin virtuoso. He sat in for one song with each artist and also performed with his own band, Kentucky Thunder. Among the highlights was an impromptu performance of Bill Monroe’s “The Old Crossroads,” with Mr. McCoury on guitar taking the high tenor and Mr. Skaggs on mandolin with the melody.
The crowd’s enthusiasm continued throughout the evening.
Old Crow Medicine Show had a show of support from some vocal young fans on the lawn. The traditional string band represents both the past and the future of the Grand Ole Opry, introducing a new generation of fans to the old-time music that the Opry first starting broadcasting in 1925.
Riders in the Sky, those cowboy swing comedians, performed a lineup of old favorites including “Cool Water” and “Woody’s Roundup” along with a medley of cowboy songs from the movie “Toy Story.” Mr. Skaggs sat in on the group’s blistering swing version of “Sweet Georgia Brown.”
The Del McCoury Band performed several songs from its upcoming release, “Nothin’ Special,” including the title track and “She Can’t Burn Me Now.”
Patti Loveless kicked off the second half of the program with “Nothing Like the Lonely” from her 2003 LP, “On Your Way Home.” She also performed songs from her upcoming CD “Dreaming My Dreams,” including the title track (written by the late Waylon Jennings) and the new single “Keep Your Distance,” due out next month.
Mr. Skaggs and his band performed several songs from his latest recording, the Grammy-winning “Brand New Strings.” He also brought Miss Loveless to the stage to sing “Close By,” a Bill Monroe song she performed on “Big Mon,” a 2000 tribute album produced by Mr. Skaggs.
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