“I had this vision of building this great, great stage … and inviting the whole town, actually everybody from all around. In the nearest 3,000 seats to the stage were all these people who I grew up with, people I hadn’t seen in years. Whenever I recognized someone, I just called out their name. It was a great experience.”

After a production deal had been initiated with CBS, a stage was built on a cotton gin near the singer’s former school. Some 30,000 of his fans crowded into the temporary amphitheater. With the technology of television enhancing the show, it was a step up from the annual concerts McGraw performs in Start.

McGraw TV special a hometown hoot
Tuesday, November 26, 2002
By John Hayes, Post-Gazette Staff Writer