So I get a phone call from my good friend Becki on Sunday night-

"So, listen - Bill and I were wondering if you and Bud are free Monday night - Stuart is in town and we're going to go see him in Wilmington.  He's playing with Lyle Lovett - filling in for a few weeks...."

My eyes snapped open wide - listening...

"Oh, and Stuart can probably get us some back stage passes too...."  Becki continues nonchalantly, "If we're lucky, maybe we'll get to meet Lyle after the show..."

"What!!  Hell yes!" I replied before she had a chance to finish and not knowing if my schedule was even clear - but it was going to be - no matter what, I thought to myself.

"Great! "Then I'll call you later with details." Becki replied, and hung up the phone.

And before I know it  - I am standing along side a great tour bus, in the middle of Wilmington, meeting Stuart Duncan for the first time. He steps off the bus, still a bit sleepy looking from his nap, his fiddle case slug lazily over his shoulder.   Stuart - is a celebrity in his own right - child prodigy, award winning blue grass musician, having played with numerous bands throughout his career - most recently with Alison Krauss and Robert Plant...yes, that Stuart Duncan...

Stuart - the quiet, friendly, unassuming, gentleman master musician, son-in-law of Becki - welcomes us and thanks us for coming,  and proceeds to show us in through the back door of the opera house -

Not just any back door mind you - the back door....where only the famous people get to pass through...

like Stuart Duncan...

like, Lyle Lovett....

this was going to be a night of magic, a really magical night...I could already tell.

~Yes, indeed...