Nashville Music Classic

Ridgetop, TN

October 7, 2006

Review By: Cole


This is a hard review to write. I've sat down and tried about four times, and didn't succeed. It's hard to put into words how wonderful the past weekend has been, and how much it meant to get to see & meet Patty again.

2006 has been the most boring year of my life. My bosses picked on me periodically throughout the year about being in a horrible mood, which I informed them had I seen Patty this year, I would have been MUCH happier. So when I got the call around the end of May informing me about Patty playing at the Nashville Music Classic, I was beyond ecstatic! I immediately called everyone I knew to let them know...and then waited...and waited....and waited. October seemed like such a long way off from May, but it was all we had to go on! Since we had such a large group of folks coming in, we decided that we'd have a PLN Get Together the Friday night before for those who would be here. It would be something fun- and something to keep me busy planning!

When the week got here, it almost didn't feel real. I took most of the week off work (trust me, with my boss's BLESSING!!), and anxiously awaited the moment to arrive. I was so antsy- on days off I normally sleep until 10 or 11. The first week of october, however, I awoke at 4, 5, and 6! Since I noted the gates opened on Wednesday, I got a hold of Chris and asked if he'd want to ride out there with me to check it out. We loaded the car with a few chairs that morning, and set out on a mission. Indeed, the gates were open, and I saw that some folks had already put their chairs up. There were only two of us, not to mention there was a small amount of seating- and we weren't going to be there that first night of the festival, so we opted only for a few chairs, and put them in the third row.

I've never been so ready for a Patty show in my life. When Friday the 6th arrived, I went to my hair appointment and came home, and around 11 am I got ready. The party didn't even start until 6, but I was SO anxious. Anita arrived around 1 pm, and not longer after, we headed out for a little bit of shopping and to get prepared to head out to Santa Fe for our party. Lucky for us- time went by pretty quickly, and before we knew it, we had to head over to the hotel and pick up Richard and Patti and head to Santa Fe.

When we arrived at Santa Fe, we immediately ran into Dennis, and the 5 of us headed into the room. Now's a good time to mention that we "attempted" a dress code-- Patty shirts! I didn't really tell the manager what the party was for- but by the time Tammie arrived sporting her Patty tee- they asked her if she was with the Patty Loveless party! We had about 17 folks show up for the party, which went over PERFECTLY! (Side note...thanks for coming out "Cliff", even though you had a busy schedule ahead of you! You're better than Charlie Hodge!) Everyone had a great time chatting about Patty, and it was nice for those who really didn't know eachother to become acquainted-- I think we'll be seeing eachother on the road next year;) I announced we had a huge card for Patty, and I wanted everyone to sign it. By the time I got the card back, it was pretty full-- I was really excited!

From L-R (back row): Chris, Doug, Mary Ellen, Barry, Cole, Tammie
From L-R (middle row): Anita, Kathy, Kelly Ann, Leslie, Richard, Dennis
From L-R (front row): Mike H, Teresa, Patti, Jackie

Thanks to everyone who came out to join us, we've decided to make it an annual event! Following the party, Anita, Jackie, Richard, Patti and I decided to go downtown (where we also ran into Dennis, Doug, Mary Ellen and Barry!). After we got a few drinks in Anita (damn this designated driver role!), we headed to "Wanna Be's" for karaoke, where Richard, Anita and Jackie serenaded us with "The Boys Are Back in Town", while Patti and I cheered them on. It felt like a Patty concert. Okay, not quite, but hey...

Our last stop was Ernest Tubb record shop, which proved to be a wise choice! The second we walked in the door, we stopped in our tracks. "Soul of Constant Sorrow" was playing over the loud speaker. We were instantly in heaven, and immediately started singing along. Lucky for us, they were playing Mountain Soul! Unfortunately for the cashier- we stayed and sang along to the entire rest of the record. However, in support- Anita and I DID purchase extra copies of "Bluegrass, White Snow". Thanks ETRS!


The morning of the "big day", Anita and I woke up, turned on some Patty music and got ready. The 'dress code' for the festival was our shiny new "PLN" Loveless Lunatic shirts, which were excited about, because others at the festival would be wearing them. All the months of anticipation, and I just knew the show was going to fly by. We headed out to grab a quick bite to eat and back to the hotel to pick up Richard and Patti--and it was off to Ridgetop we went!

Now, I'm not a fan of Bluegrass Festivals. The last one I attended, the setup was horrible, and the crowd was horrid and they were so hateful to Patty, and I didn't think I'd want to attend anymore. The cool thing about this one is it was completely different-- the set up is really cool. I really loved that the venue itself was covered. The stage was pretty small, and in front of it sat a small chair section. Surrounding those areas were picnic tables, which was pretty cool. During some of the performances, we sat in the back at a table and just observed. Not long after we got there, Patty and Emory did. They stood to the side of the stage and watched a little bit of the show before Patty left, and Emory stayed and watched the band that was performing. That was a nice way to start off the day- a glimpse of her, since we hadn't seen her in what seemed like forever!

For the most part, however, we stayed outside and just hung out. It wasn't that we didn't want to watch the music, it was just that so many of us didn't get to see eachother throughout the year like we're used to that it was just nice to have that time together. Anita, Kathy, Richard, Patti, Teresa and I found a nice spot outside where it wasn't too busy and stood around, catching up, while Kathy's girls (Leslie & Kelly Ann) scoped out the area and kept up with their football game. By the time Tammie arrived, Richard, Anita and I were being interviewed by a gentleman named Paul, who runs Hot Media, and was hoping to get an interview with Patty. He talked with us for a little bit, questioning what it was about Patty that kept us coming around for more, what our favorites of hers were, and what she was doing recently. He never did get his interview with Patty. He knew absolutely nothing about her, so hopefully we educated him and he'll at least pick up something by her to understand what we were telling him!

Hanging outside gave us a chance to chat with some of the band members when they got there (although, since it was Deanie's festival, we'd chatted with her quite a bit throughout the day), so it was nice to be able to chat. I've kept in contact with Travis Toy and his sweet wife Jenn, so I was really looking forward to meeting their new little princess- 8 month old Adrianna, since I'd only seen photos and not met her yet, and of course, Anita was looking forward to seeing Garry (after 2 years!)

Once they had a "supper break"at the festival, we decided that when everyone started going back in, we'd do the same. Becky had come out to visit with us a few times when she had a chance, and warned us about when it would start to get really busy in there, so we thought it would be the smartest idea to get in there prior to Cherryholmes taking the stage, so we'd be there, in the chairs and situated for Patty's performance. Once they came onstage, I noticed that people were going to the space in front of the stage- not just for photos, but to sit there for the show. I figured once they were over, I'd try going down there for Patty!

Patty was slated to hit the stage around 7:40, immediately following Cherryholmes. When they were over, Teresa and I headed down to the front and sat down. After a few minutes, just a couple more people came and sat down, so I called Anita down to come sit down there with us. By the time the band started to come out, we were pysched. The emcee talked about a few of Patty's accolades and then announced her!

Naturally, we screamed like crazy--and then she stepped onstage. From that moment on-- we were all on cloud nine. She walked out with a new haircut and a huge smile on her face-- she looked fantastic. We didn't get a set list, and unfortunately I was just so absorbed into Patty and the show- I can't even remember what order she sang everything in!! Her set list was a normal acoustic set, including all the faves- "Pretty Little Miss", "Harlan", "The Boys are Back in Town", "Daniel Prayed", "Big Chance", "Cheap Whiskey", "Never Ending Love" and then she also threw in "I'll Never Grow Tired of You", "Handful of Dust", "If My Heart Had Windows", "Here I Am", "Someone I Used to Know" and an acoustic "Blame".

Her band consisted of: Deanie, Deanie's business partner Cheryl Chunn, Travis Toy, Garry Murray, Emory, Marcia Ramirez, Tim Hensley, and Mike Bub. They were all fantastic! I must admit, Garry Murray was totally a different person-- we almost didn't recognize him when he got there! It was nice to see some of the '04 band back together- the only thing that we weren't crazy about was Garry singing on "Never Ending Love"-- we really missed hearing Troy on that one! Travis did a really cool new intro to "Harlan", which we thought sounded awesome! Deanie, as usual-- was amazing. Seriously- out of every person that Patty's had in that band-- Deanie's the one who feels that music just as much as Patty does. I'm glad she comes back year after year! And poor Miss Marcia had sprained her ankle and was on crutches. She braved it with no crutches during the show, and Patty didn't have her playing anything- she was just going to provide background vocals! And, I, of course, was ecstatic that Emory was playing! She had him doing acoustic guitar, and Mike Bub did the upright bass. I loved having Emory up front for a change--- it was nice to get pics of he and Patty together.

Patty remarked that it was her first show since February, and it felt wonderful to be onstage with all the band. It showed. You could tell she was genuinely happy to be onstage and performing-- she's missed making music this year that's for sure. She nailed each and every song. It seemed like Anita and I took turns crying during songs- she'd cry during one, then I'd cry at the next. I was in heaven the second she started into "Handful of Dust". The two I wanted to hear the most were "Some Morning Soon" and "Handful...", so I was thrilled to have one of them! I miss that song being in the set list, and I love when she throws it into an acoustic set.

Before "Here I Am", Patty kept talking and talking (yes, our girl definitely has missed being onstage!!), and Deanie finally laughed and had her be quiet so she could start the intro to the song! The band had as much of a good time as Patty did....Garry flubbed the words at the end of "Big Chance", so before doing her infamous "Another one gone" line she said, "Aw, and you messed up the words!"

At one point during the show, Patty introduced the band and when she got to Travis, she asked where Jenn and the baby were, explaining to the audience that they had a new baby girl that was just precious and she "couldn't believe Travis was a part in that!", and had Jenn bring the baby up to him. Little Adrianna just looked around at the audience, unphased, and then Patty took her from Travis for a moment, squealing about her being such a little baby, and told everyone how Adrianna was bouncing on the bus. It was precious! She's a sucker for kids and babies!

When she was done with her set, we immediately rose to give her a standing O and the emcee had us cheer for her to sing one more--- making us chant "Patty" over and over. She and the band came back out, and she said that Emory's aunt was there. As soon as she started talking about him, I knew she was going to launch into "The Grandpa That I Know"-- which she NAILED- I thought it was one of the best performances I've ever seen her do of that one. The emcee wanted her to come BACK out for another one after that, but I think he waited too late, she was already away from the stage area. The show was over before we knew it-- funny how you have literally months of anticipation and literally count down the days- and the moment is over before you know it.

We all headed out back to play the waiting game and talk about how wonderful she sounded--- and how good it felt to finally see her. Deanie came out and announced that if we wanted to meet her, to form a line, and they'd bring a couple folks up to the bus door at a time. So, we formed a line as quick as possible, and Patty stepped off the bus. Now, when I say Patty was in a good mood-- she was in a good mood. She looked tired, but she definitely made it a point to come out there and sign autos and pose for photos, and took her time doing so. She was extremely gracious for everyone coming out to see her. She was little Chatty Cathy when Anita and I got to her! Once again, I didn't want an autograph-- just wanted my usual hug, and this night it was really important to me to get my photo taken with her, as it was my first since I had all my teeth pulled. Prior to our photo, she looked to inspect my smile and then posed for a GREAT photo with me. (I'm so proud of that damned thing- I've shown it to everyone in the world!) She was very appreciative-- and repeated thank you quite a few times for various gifts before thanking me for my continuous support. Seriously-- and people wonder why I continue to follow and support this woman. She told Anita and I twice how much she loved our shirts before finally telling Deanie again how much she loved them! She told me that she thought she would be touring next year, that she wanted to get out there. I got my hug (my long hug this time! It was so awesome to see her!), and my night was complete!

Afterwards, I hated having to say goodbye to everyone. Some folks were leaving, and bless Kelly Ann and Leslie- they were tired, so Kathy was going to take them back to the hotel. One of the things asked in our interview was what all we got out of following & supporting Patty, and aside from all the wonderful music, etc, we had to answer that it's also how we all met. I missed my Patty family as much as I missed Patty this year-- here's to tour 2007-- where I'm certainly hitting as many shows as possible!





A few quick shouts and thanks (wow...I sure miss doing reviews!)...

Thanks to EVERYONE who came out for the PLN party & had such a great time! I'm so glad it was such a great success and everyone enjoyed themself--- and support PLN so much! I enjoyed putting faces with names for those I hadn't met yet!

My "Surrogate" Parents, Richard & Patti, thanks for letting the kid take care of YOU for a change-- we had a good time with you & miss y'all already! & finally, the best friend ever- Anita, thanks for the best weekend ever! It felt just like 2004 for a brief moment!

Deanie, for bringing us the highlight of 2006. For all the hard work you put into this-- we greatly appreciated it!



And I'd include Patty, but couldn't quite find the words right now......