Wednesday, 21 November. Woke up to a
very foggy morning today, and it got foggier the closer we got to downtown
Branson. We had tickets for a 10am show
– A Tribute to John Denver – at the
Little Opry House (LOH), and by the time we got out at noon, the fog had burned
off. Ended up being another pretty nice
day in the Missouri Ozarks. The John Denver
tribute starred James Garrett, a long-time personal friend of Denver, and
Garret interspersed his songs with anecdotes with his first-hand experiences
with the famed singer and songwriter from Colorado. Garrett admitted he was
fighting a cold or something, and his voice sounded like it. Too bad, since he probably has a good voice
to perform many of Denver’s songs, and LOH is a small intimate theater – an
almost perfect setting to perform John Denver songs. Garrett was, however, backed up by a very capable
group of bluegrass musicians, most notably Jim Glasby, a world champion
bluegrass guitar and dobro player. His
rendition of Orange Blossom Special was
absolutely incredible. I’d never seen a
guitar player’s hands move as fast as his during this number.
James Garrett on guitar, Jim Glasby on banjo
In the evening we went to the
Shoji Tabuchi Holiday Show starring Shoji and his equally-talented daughter,
Christina. For those blog readers who’ve
never heard of Shoji Tabuchi, this Japanese-born fiddler ranks among the most
popular musicians in the US and his shows are some of the most popular in all
of Branson. Shoji arrived in Branson in
the early 1980’s and after performing successfully for a few years he took a
gamble and built one of the most elaborate theaters in town. The theater was
finished in 1990, and Shoji has been performing his shows ever since. Ever the showman, Lynette counted 11
jacket/costume changes during our show -- Shoji obviously loves his colorful
jackets! Besides traditional holiday
music, the show also paid tribute to our servicemen and women. BTW, the Shoji
Tabuchi Show gives a very hefty discount on tickets to veterans. We really enjoyed his elaborate, Las
Vegas-style show that incorporated a variety of holiday songs and dance
routines. Shoji’s back-up band was
terrific and several of the musicians have been with him for many years.
Shoji Tabuchi in action
Christina Tabuchi -- Knock-out looks, knock-out voice
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