For many, the memories of grandparents are shared by families with photos and stories, but musical performers Tayla Lynn and Tre Twitty get to share their personal memories with theatres full of their grandparents’ fans.
Tayla Lynn is the granddaughter of the famous country singer Loretta Lynn and Tre Twitty is the grandson of country and western singing star Conway Twitty.
Lynn and Twitty were together on the Portage college McGrane Theatre stage Thursday night to sing their grandparents' hit songs — a show they’ve been doing all over North America.
Throughout the concerts, both Tayla and Tre share personal experiences of what it was like growing up with a famous grandparent.
The two artists had chart-topping solo careers, with Lynn — known worldwide for albums like Coal Miner's Daughter — first entering the recording studio in 1963, and Twitty who released albums from 1959 to 1992, including his 1970 hit Hello Darlin' that was certified gold for selling more than half a million copies.
But it was the duets of the two stars that many fans remember.
Between 1971 and 1988 Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn collaborated to create 11 studio albums and had five of them make it to the number one spot on the charts.
Twitty passed away in 1993 and Lynn, now 87 lives on a family ranch near Nashville.
Last Thursday night on the McGrane stage, Tayla said she wanted to duplicate those collaboration albums with Twitty's grandson after first hearing Tre sing at a family gathering at at her grandmother's Tennessee ranch.
“Tre had done a couple shows there, and when I heard him sing I was really blown away I thought he was so good!” she said.
At the time, Tre had just got out the air force and was more focused on his photography but a week later he took Tayla up on her offer and the two set out to perform 200 concerts.
The realization
Throughout their recent shows both performers have learned a lot about each other and even more so about their grandparents.
“I never realized how many hits Conway and [Loretta] had until we went on the road together and it's one right after another,” says Tayla.
Although the two are not singing their own original songs Tre made it clear that it’s not an impersonation act of their grandparents.
When Conway Twitty passed away in 1993, it was just a couple of months short of his 60th birthday.
“The thing about Conway is there’s nothing about him out there. There’s no movies or documentaries so this information that I tell is things that people have never heard before,” says Tre.
The whole show is meant to showcase Loretta and Conway’s story through the eyes of their grandkids as they grew up in the musical families.
Tre says the first time he went to see his grandfather perform was when he was 13 years old. During that performance, he got to witness just how crazy the ladies would go when his grandpa was on stage — a situation he found to be bizarre at the time.
Now older, Tre appreciates his grandfather’s fans and enjoys meeting and talking to them about his legacy.
It’s genetics
Regardless of their grandparents' history, the two performers say they were happy to find that the connection on stage is something that's in their blood.
“It could have gone so bad, it could have gone so wrong, but instead it’s been really easy,” says Tayla, who describes their relationship as being like brother and sister. Stating that they’re always on each other’s cases but that they share great chemistry both on and off the stage.
“I mean, we’re great friends and you know I think people can see that on stage,” says Lynn.
Loretta and Conway shared a similar relationship, but fans and even family members always wondered if there was more to it.
Tayla said her grandmother —memaw to the family — and Tre's grandfather were always "just friends" and thought highly of each other — the same link as the current pairing.
Whether it’s written in the stars or just a “genetic thing” as Tre puts it, both sets of friends have managed to bring crowds of people together to celebrate joy, heartache, love, and family for more than four decades.
Next show Tickets
Thursday’s show played to about 150 appreciative fans. Anyone wanting to catch the duo again can head to Fort McMurray for a November 27 show.
A ticket link can be found HERE
By the end of the year, the duo will have played more than 60 shows across Canada and the US.
