Ray Price
Trip was so worth all the miles and hotel rooms and idle moments, once Ray Price opened his mouth on his first song. Allen Hurt is from Sherman, and he and his bluegrass band opened the show. Greatness
A couple of weeks ago, local bluegrass musician Allen Hurt invited me to be at a concert in which he opened for the legendary Ray Price. This was in the new Callioux Theater in Kerrville, my old boot-stompin’ grounds, and so of course I decided to make a weekend of it.
Camera in tow, I headed back to my previous home sweet home. Saw several good ol’ friends, ate a great grilled catfish at the Cowboy Steak House, shopped at the original, albeit rebuilt and modernized, H-E-B, and heard a new band,The Finger Pistols out of Austin, playing Saturday night. All that would have made the trip worthwhile, but then it came time for Ray Price.
After Hurt’s band finished a solid set of bluegrass classics, Ray Price walked onto the stage. It was set with a dining room chair and a side table holding a glass of water and his hand-held microphone, that was all. Behind the honky-tonker was his band, and behind them was the Kerrville Symphony Orchestra, in all probably 10 fiddles/violins. Lots of musicians, but when he came on stage, they all seemed to just fade into the background, figuratively. He was the star, the legend.
Price sat with a sweet demeanor very common to those in their mid-80s (he’s 86, he said), and in a crackly old voice told a few jokes and stories. He said he’s going back into the studio again soon, to cut another record. He commented tongue-in-cheek about the current music coming out of Nashville and he thanked the supporters of the classic country, his sound. It felt like he was talking to his cronies in his living room.
But, when that man opened his voice and sang, it was the old Ray Price back again. His voice rang with purity, strength, and clarity for nearly two hours as he belted out hit after hit after masterpiece.
Then, just about as suddenly as he appeared, he was gone. He walked backstage, turned the corner, and left the building. But not a one of us left disappointed. It was perhaps the more refreshing concert I’ve been to in a long time, and I go to a lot of them.
If the music-lover in you gets the chance to hear this giant of a man perform, take it. Drive to Albuquerque, Kansas City, Tahachapie or Tonopah, wherever you have to go to see him live. It’s well worth the trip! Oh my!