Emmy hasn’t performed publicly since the 90s, so I know how big of a deal this is. Known as the Stevie Nicks of Nashville, she left the good old boys club of Tennessee for LA in the early 80s and made an incredible genre shift. First of her kind, really. Choosing a quiet rose garden over Madison Square Garden, she sort of disappeared into the mountains after her first successful rock album.
I’m honored to have been given the chance to play alongside her.
Less than 24 hours away, and the whole crew is finally ready to put it all together. We’ve waited until both teams have finished practice, and now the stage is being hastily put together. I have the task of starting at one of the smaller stages thrust out in the field of dancers before moving in and up onto the big one to pass the spotlight over to Emmy.
Each artist has marked their performance and rehearsed a few times but this is the first of only a few chances to do it all together. I wouldn’t say I’m nervous; luckily, my band is here, and above all, it’s simply good fun for us. I’ve met a few peers and we’ve gotten to collaborate with ideas and different instruments.
As the performance begins, my band is ushered underneath our stage where we jam out to the first half of the show. Theresa and I have a lip synch battle between us while we wait for the boys, always business, to run through their parts silently.
When our queue comes, we take our places. An assistant hands me my guitar, and the entire stage starts to move upward. We’re counted in and on Joe’s first beat, the lights spasm, and our part of the performance begins.
Throughout the first verse and chorus, we give them a good old-fashioned barn stomping full of banjo, guitar, mandolin, and fiddle. As we transition into the second verse, the country aspects start to be stripped away until there’s nothing but guitar, drums, and a bit of fiddle.
Going to the edge of the stage, still playing and careful to map where the cameras are, I wink and then tilt back into the hands of the awaiting dancers. A camera hovers overhead as I play through an instrumental of the second chorus. I’m placed back on the ground as the camera’s focus turns to Theresa, who has done the same thing as me, except she’s absolutely slaying hersolo. My acoustic guitar is taken from me, and in its place is a black electric.
Theresa joins my side, and the two of us get to show off our skills as musicians while interacting on our way up to the stage. When we reach the ramp, Theresa gives a sassy flick of her bow, and then she’s hustled off camera. No instrument is playing in the entire stadium except for mine but that only lasts a moment because, from up on the stage, Emmy has taken her place. Looking up, I see a director urging me forward, so I take it as my move. Skipping up the ramp totheEmmy Tenny’s side, I sync up with her playing, and we effortlessly transition the inflections of my song into hers.
The stage explodes as her band comes to life behind her. It’s like they’re following her into battle as her strong vocals overtake the song. I nearly trip up watching Emmy work the stage, but I hold strong in my progression as I take my spot back with the musicians.
As Emmy finishes her set, we’re ushered down and out of sight. Once out of earshot and no longer in the view of cameras, I rush over to my band where we share a huge group hug. By my standard, we did our job perfectly. Honestly, the whole show almost went off without a hitch. A line of dancers went down over a loose piece of turf but it wasn’t even picked up by the cameras.
My suspicion of us having a phenomenal performance is confirmed by Raleigh and a director, at which point we only celebrate harder. In another group huddle, we’re interrupted by Emmy who has wandered over to us.
For someone who’s been out of the game for quite a few years, she has an aura of calm about her. I suppose that’s a testament to how much of a natural she is. She was born for this kind of thing.
“Emmy!” Theresa gushes, reaching out to shake her hand. “We are such big fans of you and your music.”
“You are such an inspiration,” I say, hoping we’re not crowding her.
The older woman just laughs and greets us both with handshakes. Her hand is slim and bony, and yet the grip is relentless. “It was an honor to perform with you ladies.” She leans in with a sly wink. “I’ve been following your career for quite a while now.”
My hands go to my chest as I try to take her quote to heart. “That truly means the world to me.”
“I’m glad to hear that you hold me in such high regard,” she says with a laugh. Her curly, dark hair has grayed over time but it still holds that unrelinquishing bounce to it.
“Listen, when they asked who I would be willing to perform with, the list was very short. So short that there was only one name -”
“Who backed out that you got stuck with me?” I blurt. Emmy flicks her eyes to mine and I instantly sober up.
“You were the one name, young lady.” She reaches into her back pocket. “I’ve recently been thinking about getting back into the studio. As a vocalist or just a producer, I don’t know yet, but I would love to collaborate sometime.” My mouth falls to the floor. “No, no, you mustn't give the cameras that shot of you,” she jokes. My mouth snaps shut, and then she’s waving at someone from her team to come forward. Her photographer snaps a few pictures of us standing near one another. “Give me a call, and we’ll set up some studio time in Colorado.”
I feel Raleigh swoop in when I can’t find my words. She takes the card from my hand and tucks it away. “We’ll be in touch,” she says with her easy smile and managing demeanor.
Only as Emmy retreats to the field for another rehearsal can I finally breathe again. “Did that just freaking happen?” I ask in a daze.
“Yeah, that totally happened,” Theresa says, equally starstruck.
“I’ve gotta call Wyatt!” I exclaim, searching myself for my phone. It’s not until Raleigh hands it to me that I remember that this outfit has absolutely no room for that kind of thing.
“Five minutes until call time!” Raleigh reminds me as I click his contact icon and slip away to a quiet part of the staging area.
The phone rings a few times, and then it goes to his voicemail. I try not to be disappointed. I promised him I’d be more respectful of his time. I know it’s late and he’s probably turned in already, so instead of calling again, I take a breath and click it off.
I can be present here at this moment with my band and Emmy Tenny. There will be time to share it with Wyatt soon, and I can’t wait.
***
Rehearsal goes well into the night, but at the end of it, everyone seems content. I know I am. The band and I killed it, and I have to admit that flying across the field in the arms of muscular stuntmen and dancers is quite a thrill. It’s also a challenge to follow the choreography and complicated musical aspects, but I enjoy it. I’m so used to performing on the fly and having my band and I be spontaneous but the change has been a diversifying element to my stage presence, and I kind of love it.
