RIP Toby Keith

 As I get older, I have a tendency to pay better attention to famous people who are passing. I am not so old at 66 to have many contemporaries dying, but more people I know and remember have died recently. The latest was country singer and guitarist Toby Keith. He was only 62. Now, people younger than me are leaving the earth and it makes me wonder and a little nervous.

I do have a connection and memory of Toby Keith. Back in January of 1994, just over 30 years ago, I took my mom to a concert at the King Center. Back then it was on the campus of BCC, Brevard Community College. It is now on the campus of EFSC, Eastern Florida State College, although it is in the same exact building.

My dad had only been gone a few years and I was trying to keep my mom busy with activity. I knew she liked Kenny Rogers, and he was playing at  the King Center, which is only about 10 minutes from where Mom & Dad lived. So I got the tickets and we went to the concert.

The opening act was a large man, singing loud country rock. The average age of the crowd was in the 50s and 60s (and maybe even higher) and this young man came out a blazing, playing some great songs at very high decibels. You could see the shock of most patrons, some ladies covering their ears, and some even walking out. Toby was new on the scene, having just released his first album in 1993. He was NOT a Kenny Rogers clone... I leaned over to my Mom and asked her what she thought and she responded "I really like him."

After a small break and some equipment changes on stage, the headliner was set to play. Out comes Kenny Rogers who was about 55 at the time, and my mom was near 66, the same age as me now.

Now, I knew of Kenny Rogers, I knew lots of his songs, but I was not a follower of his music. What I learned that night was that Kenny Rogers was a great entertainer. The first thing he asked the crowd was what did they think of my opener? He said he liked Toby Keith to open because he knew the crowd would be wide awake when he was ready to start.

RIP Toby Keith, and thanks for waking me and my Mom up all those years ago!