God Bless America and Marty Stuart

Laurette was in class all day today and I needed to get away from the slumber party going on at our house (Laurette will fill you all in on that), so I decided to head downtown. I had planned on making the trek downtown earlier this week because I had heard that Ron Paul would be speaking at a rally. Ron Paul is a presidential candidate and although I agree with him on some issues, I can't say I agree on them all, but I will keep my politics out of this blog. Nonetheless, I was very interested in going to a political rally for event production notes and also I just wanted a chance to see a presidential candidate in action. The following is a photo log of my day, I hope you enjoy.


On my way to the rally I passed the State Museum and I remembered that Marty Stuart is currently showing select items from his Country Music memorabilia collection. Marty has over 20,000 historic items that he has collected through the years. Since it was free and I had some time I decided to stop in. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the history of country music. It was unbelievable! The photo above is Earl Scruggs' banjo and Lester Flatt's guitar, in the middle is one of Marty's first performance shirts when he was touring with the group as a kid. Needless to say I bit off more then I could chew and there was no way I could make it through the exhibit in 30 minutes, so I told myself I would come back after the rally.


The crowd was pretty bare inside 30 minutes before the start and I was beginning to worry about ole Ron, so I decided to venture outside for a while and see what was happening. I had no idea what I was in for. Of course like any great thing in Tennessee, it isn't a party till someone pulls out the guitar and banjo.


Ain't no party like a Tennessee party cause a Tennessee party don't stop...Not even if you are a crazy mountain man with signs.


After seeing this guy I was a little ticked off that I had left my revolutionary war outfit at home on account of the warm weather.



A hippy in her natural habitat. I had to get a picture of her shirt, if you can't read the bottom, click on the photo for a closer view it's worth it.


The man of the hour, Ron Paul. He was received with a loud crowd screaming his name. What the photo does not show was he was outfitted in a nice black suit and some lovely velcro laced tennis shoes. I guess the guy walks a lot, I will let him pass on that one, at least the shoes were black as well.

After we all headed into the venue we were treated to the candidates bumper music. I always find this funny in campaigns, all the candidates have special songs that are supposed to stand for their campaign, blah, blah, blah. Ron's were pretty typical until Motley Crue came over the loudspeakers. At first I was shocked that someone would pick Motley Crue, and then it got worse. I realized the song was "Dr. Feelgood" are you kidding me? that was both creepy and weird. You see Ron Paul is an OB GYN and has delivered over 4,000 babies. I don't really think the campaign staff have ever truly listened to the lyrics of that song, nor do I believe they have ever put 2 and 2 together...well I did. YIKES!


After that some artist performed and we all sang "God Bless America". I got major chills, just because it is so cool that we live in a country where we do have the freedom to assemble. We live in a country where a guy can where velcro shoes if he would like, and play completely awkward songs during political rallies. Ron then got on stage and presented a 45 minute speech. It was a little long winded but you got the feel that this guy had so many things he wants to share and just not enough time. He was very very smart and he isn't a cheerleader type of politician. I enjoyed his speech and respect his commitment to upholding the constitution. In closing, it was very neat to be able to see our political process in action and Paul was a well versed speaker that did a very good job at presenting his message. It was a reminder to me of what a great country we live in. Below are some additional photos from my trip back to the Marty Stuart Collection. If anyone needs me I will be writing the next Toby Keith hit. America Rocks!!!!


Johnny Cash Stage Outfit, he also has several original lyric sheets from Cash, I was awestruck.


A stage outfit from Hank Williams, to me the coolest thing in the exhibit, they also had his 3 grade report card. Hank was not a very smart student, but later on in life he apparently loved the double-breasted suit, don't we all... Also according to this replica, Hank Williams had a 3 foot head judging by how high they placed the cowboy hat on top.


A stage outfit from one of my favorites, "the Singing Fisherman" Johnny Horton. This outfit just goes back to the flashy days of country music. Buck Owens, Porter Wagner, Ernest Tubb, Bob Wills, I could go on and on, I love every bit of it.

On a side note, both Hank Williams and Johnny Horton were married to the same woman at the time of their deaths. Horton was struck by a drunk driver in 1960 and killed in his car just like Hank. In addition Hank and Johnny both died in Cadillacs, both played their last shows at the Skyline Club in Austin, Texas, and years before in 1953 Johnny was returning from a gig, when he heard over the radio about the death of Hank Williams. He was on Highway 79 going through the town of Milano, Texas - the same town where Johnny would lose his life 7 years later. Crazy stuff huh?



One of Johnny Cash's favorite guitars. This was at the end of the exhibit and when I saw this I got a few more chills. Just like Mother Maybelle's Guitar, the heart of country music lives inside that guitar and I am thankful to Marty for his passion to preserve all this wonderful history. Well if you made it this far, thanks for reading, and I guess it goes without saying, but today was a good day.