Tracy Byrd and Cam Shelton Deliver

Cam Shelton has grown up listening to and playing music with his dad Dustin Shelton. In 2018, Cam won the Arkansas Country Music Awards Young Artist of the Year award. He hasn’t looked back. You can see him regularly at Open Season in Stuttgart, or any event that happens in Casscoe.

Friday night, Shelton opened for Tracy Byrd. Backed up by his Dad, Dustin, on bass guitar, Jerod Vanderheiden on guitar and Guy Halbert on drums  It can easily be argued that Cam has come a long way since 2018. He certainly showed it Friday night.

Tracy Byrd was the headliner though, and he proved what a role model for someone like Cam, that he is. He was professional and friendly during not one, but two meet and greets held.

What a show he put on when he came on at about 8 p.m. and performed until about 10:15 p.m. Byrd played many of his older hits, “Keeper of the Stars”, “Two Rounds of Jose Cuervo”, Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous”, “I’m from the Country”, “Drinkin’ Bone”, “Don’t Take Her, She’s All I’ve Got”, he even did some Marty Robbins and Charlie Rich. 

The audience were dancing in the aisles and down front before he started winding it up. Of course they were yelling for him to sing “Watermelon Crawl”, which he did last It was worth waiting for!

While on stage, Byrd said he had been to Stuttgart before duck hunting, int the “Duck Capitol of the World.” 

Byrd also introduced a couple Edna and Glen Coonrod who Friday night was their 449th time to see him in concert. They saw him first on July 27, 1994.

Glen said to Byrd,  “If you do well tonight we will make it to 450!” Afterwards Byrd asked how he did and Glen said they would see him at 450 on August 1.  Now that’s a real fan.

There was also a lady named Marlene Freburger who has seen him 59 times in concert and came all the way from Baltimore, Maryland on Friday night to see him. She and her 79 year old aunt, Marree Paszkiewicc. Byrd has some dedicated fans.Marlene chatted with me before the show and told me she had gone to a fan club party some years ago and Byrd went and grabbed some items to auction off for charity. Marlene bought his loofah that he had showered with. She even has it in a shadow box on her wall.

Speaking with him afterwards, he was asked if he had ever been here during the Wings Over the Prairie Festival, to which he responded, “No, but I would sure like to!”

When asked if he had ever been to duck gumbo or performed there, he said have them call his people and maybe that could happen.

Robert Spellmeyer and Sullivan Ford were the ones behind Byrd coming to Stuttgart through their stuttgartconcerts.com venture.

If Stuttgart wants to continue to have great talent come here, they will have to support it by purchasing tickets and coming to the events.