NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Back in the 1990s some friends and I used to attend Fan Fair that was held at the Tennessee Fairgrounds in Nashville every June.
Fans would gather and attend concerts, fan club parties, softball games, award shows and more.
It was a great time in country music. We saw LeAnn Rimes perform “Blue” as her career was starting.
John Berry was starting his career; Brooks and Dunn was at the top of the charts; James Bonamy was singing about “The Swing”
Wade Hayes thought he was “Old Enough to Know Better”
Ricochet had formed in Oklahoma and made their way to Nashville and Sawyer Brown was as energized as ever.
We chased our fan club favorites, Sawyer Brown, Ricochet, and Neal McCoy. We obtained their autographs many times and attended events.
Over those few years, there are many moments that live on in my memory, like meeting Trace Adkins at a Cracker Barrel.
But the top of all surprise moments was when Dolly Parton came out on stage and joined LeAnn Womack.
It was June 22, 1998.
If I remember correctly it was the afternoon show.
We had spent the morning getting autographs before making our way out to the concerts.
Our favorites were not scheduled to perform so we didn’t battle our way to the front, we settled for the back rows.
Shane Stockton took the stage followed by Gary Allen and then Womack.
At that time “A Little Passed Little Rock” was her hit.
She took the stage and started to perform.
Then as she started singing a Dolly song, I believe it was “Jolene” Dolly appeared.
The crowd was yelling, screaming, cheering, as everyone was stunned and excited that the legend was on stage.
My friend and I smiled with excitement and started taking photos.
Back then it wasn’t phone pics it was cameras and we had the works. Zoom lenses, flashes and of course the 400 and 800 speed film.
We aimed our lenses and snapped pics and tried to soak up the moment.
Dolly wasn’t on our list of stars to see and for me I would not see her perform again.
We couldn’t wait to get the film developed and prayed the images would turn out.
That was photography in the 1990s. Even if you knew what you were doing, sometimes things didn’t work right.
The images did turn out and 28 years later I have eight photos of the great one.
I wish I would have taken notes on what all Dolly said and what the pair performed together, but in my youth, I only used film to document life.
These were the type of moments that created my desire to study journalism. I wanted that degree and to go back to Nashville as a country music reporter or to Atlanta as a baseball reporter.
When the dust settled, I settled for small town news reporter. But at least I had some big time moments before and during my career including Dolly Parton.
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