SHENANDOAH
Official Page
KEITH WHITLEY
Two weeks after we went #1 with ‘Church On Cumberland Road’ we were in Little Rock, AR at ‘Barton Coliseum’ opening up for the great Keith Whitley. Keith came from a bluegrass background as did Marty and they had done lots of bluegrass shows together over the years before either of them became successful in the mainstream.
Barton Coliseum where we played with Keith Whitley.
We had gotten there a little early and was still sitting in our van when Keith’s bus pulled up. He got off the bus and came right over to our van and just hopped in and started talking to us congratulating us on our recent success and telling us how much he was looking forward to hearing us play that night. He and Marty reminisced about their bluegrass days together and we all laughed and was just in awe that Keith Whitley was in our little van talking to us and giving us advice on things to do in our own career.
Later that night we played to a sold-out civic center there in Little Rock and Keith of course put on a terrific show. I can’t remember where we were headed that night for our show the next day. It seems like it might’ve been to west Texas, but I can still remember leaving Little Rock and following Keith’s bus for miles and miles and miles down I-30 and staring at the back of his bus for hours. He was on his way to Brazoria, TX to play the ‘Armadilla Ballroom’ . None of us knew it would be the last show of his short life. Once we got to Texarkana, we took the exit and I watched Keith’s bus keep going straight. I still remember that like it was yesterday.
This is Keith onstage the night after our show in Little Rock. It was his last show.
We got home from that run a couple of days later on Monday, May 9. After getting off the bus in Nashville, I went to my brother’s apartment over by the airport at Stewarts Ferry and when I walked in the door the first thing he asked me was, “Have you heard about Keith Whitley?”. I said, “No, what?” And he said they found Keith dead this morning at his house. I couldn’t believe it! We had just played with him a couple of nights earlier. He had just been in our van talking to us congratulating us on all our recent success. He was so proud for us and especially for Marty. But it was true. He was only 34 but the great Keith Whitley was gone and country music was never the same.
In 1994 one of Keith’s closest friends, Ricky Skaggs produced an album featuring a lot of Keith’s songs. Everyone from Alan Jackson and Alison Krauss to Lorrie Morgan and Diamond Rio were invited to sing on it.
Keith Whitley, A Tribute Album that we sang on.