The Comedy King of Music City will continue writing and recording.
Much like the show itself, the showroom must go on. Even when the showman takes a bow.
Country Music Hall of Famer and Comedy King of Music City Ray Stevens has announced his final run of live concerts at his popular CabaRay Showroom in West Nashville. The multitalented entertainer will resume performing shows there on Saturday, March 16, and plans to continue through December of this year.
Since opening CabaRay in 2018, Stevens has performed hundreds of shows at the venue with his A-Team Band. At age 85, however, he says he is ready to slow down a tad. But that doesn’t mean he’s entirely retiring.
“I plan to stop performing at my CabaRay Showroom here in Nashville at the end of 2024,” he said in a press release. “But I’ll be going to work every day in my recording studio. And maybe I’ll do a few — a very few — shows in some old familiar places.
“I’m definitely slowing down, but I haven’t come to a complete stop. Not yet, anyway!”
We recently chatted with Stevens about his last days at CabaRay. Here are some highlights from our conversation, edited for brevity and clarity.
Cowboys & Indians: So you’re heading for the last roundup at CabaRay?
Ray Stevens: [Laughs] Well, I don’t know. I first thought it was about time to plan to get out of performing on a rigid schedule at the CabaRay. I’m still going to maybe perform here, but it’ll be just from time to time instead of a yearly planned-out, one year at a time schedule. So I decided to call this my last scheduled season. And the CabaRay Showroom is still a great venue. Other folks might want to work here, and then I’ll work here some myself, but I won’t be the exclusive artist here.
C&I: Well, we’ve been there a couple of times, and it really is a terrific venue. Like an old-fashioned dinner theater. You get to dine at your table, then listen to some great music. You’ve got a nice little ensemble backing you or any other performer up there.
Stevens: And this year we added strings, so it’s kind of not an ensemble — it’s a 20-piece big band. Everybody that comes here loves it.
C&I: What do you think you’ll miss most about performing there regularly?
Stevens: Oh, I don’t know. I’m 85 now, and I kind of enjoy not having to work very much, I think.
C&I: You could probably still run for President. I mean, you’re not that much older than the two gentlemen running now.
Stevens: [Laughs] Well, I’d be a damn good one too, I think.
C&I: Do you have any special plans for this final year of regularly scheduled concertizing? You’re not going to streak or anything on stage, are you?
Stevens: [Laughs] I don’t think so, no. That would not be in the schedule. But I plan to maybe go out next year and do some outside shows on the road in other towns from time to time. So we’ll see.
C&I: Whether you’re performing at CabaRay or some other venue, are there some songs that you have to perform? Like, if you didn’t perform them, people in the audience might start yelling rude things at you?
Stevens: I don't know about that, but maybe “The Streak.” They don't want to see it, they just want to hear it, I think.
C&I: Well, we’d add “Everything is Beautiful” and “Misty” to the list.
Stevens: Yeah, those are very popular, too.
C&I: Do you ever wake up in the morning and find yourself surprised that not only are you still doing this, but there are still a lot of people who want to see and hear you doing it?
Stevens: Actually, I don’t wonder about that. I guess maybe I should. But I really am so busy, I just haven’t had time to really think about things like that. One of these days, I might go see a psychiatrist and find out the answers to all of these questions.
C&I: Do you ever still get stage fright?
Stevens: No, not really. It’s just that I do get apprehensive sometimes before I go on. But I’ve always overcome that, and went on stage anyway. Everything so far has worked out okay.
C&I: Do you still enjoy performing as much as you always have?
Stevens: Yeah, I do. I kind of like to perform. And, thank goodness, the audience seems to still like it, too. It's been a good life, I’ve had a good run — and I’m happy that I got to do this.
Tickets for Ray Stevens’ last run of concerts at CabaRay are available for purchase online at raystevenscabaray.com, or by calling 615-327-4630.
