“Nate Gibson is a man I admire and a rare bird, indeed. Nate is a singer, picker, explorer, preservationist, musical scholar, author and all around natural born cat. His mission during this chapter of his life is mining the legacy of the eternally hip Starday Records and its stars of the 1950s-1960s, re-energizing the brand and bringing the Starday story into the presence of a newly minted twenty-first-century audience.” – Marty Stuart, Musician
Join heralded musician and storyteller Nate Gibson and his band the Stardazers, for an all new, one-night only tribute to the best honky-tonk, bluegrass, and rockabilly music from the Golden Era of country music. Featuring special guests Eddie Rivers (Asleep at the Wheel, Best Westerns) and Art Stevenson (Art Stevenson & High Water), Gibson and the Stardazers will guide you through a multimedia experience of the songs and stories that made Starday Records–country music’s largest independent record company in the 1950s and ‘60s.
Perhaps best known for releasing the first recordings by Willie Nelson, Roger Miller, Link Wray, Dottie West, and George Jones, Starday was also the largest bluegrass label of the 1950s and ‘60s and released more rockabilly recordings than any other independent label. Gibson wrote the award-winning book, The Starday Story, and for the past twenty years has been performing and promoting the label and its significant contributions to country music. Gibson’s most recent recording project, Nate Gibson and the Stars of Starday (Bear Family Records), paired Gibson with 14 country music, bluegrass, and rockabilly legends from the 1950s and ‘60s, with backing by Marty Stuart and members of his Fabulous Superlatives, and was chosen as one of the “Top 10 Country Music Releases of 2019” by Country Music People.
Since 2022, Nate Gibson and the Stardazers (Andrew Harrison, Mike Hobson, and Eric Salisbury), have been spreading the Starday gospel throughout the Upper Midwest to enthusiastic audiences of all ages. They have opened the Ghost Light Lounge for many of Stoughton Opera House’s biggest shows over the last two years, entertained at the Catfish River Music Festival each of the last two years, and are excited to bring their all-new show, Y’all Come: Starday Records In Story and Song to the main stage.