‘A moment I will never forget’
Fort Dodge woman sings with Reba McEntire
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When Reba McEntire took the stage Wednesday night to sing Dolly Parton's gospel classic "He's Alive," a group of 25 singers accompanied her.
One of them was Grace Casciato, of Fort Dodge.
The Belmont University senior was in the front row of the students singing with the country music legend on the stage at the Fisher Center on the university's campus in Nashville, Tennessee.
On Thursday, Casciato said she was grateful to be part of the group chosen to accompany McEntire. She added that she was especially pleased that she sang a gospel song because her faith is very important to her.
McEntire, she said, "was so very kind to each of us."
The audience in the Fisher Auditorium honored McEntire and her backup singers with one of two standing ovations that night.
"That was a moment I will never forget," Casciato said.
She is a senior majoring in commercial music at Belmont University. There she is part of an all female ensemble called Voxology that sings gospel and rhythm and blues songs.
Representatives of the Country Music Association contacted the university's music directors in advance of the Parton tribute, looking for suitable backup singers. Casciato was one of the students who was picked.
She said they started rehearsing the song about a week and a half before the show.
"It was a very quick turnaround," she said.
The day before the show, the university singers rehearsed with McEntire. Casciato recalled that they did the song three times and after each time McEntire turned around and applauded the students. The day of the show, they rehearsed the song once with her.
Casciato said on Wednesday, the day of the show, she went to the Fisher Center at about 1:30 p.m She said much of the day was spent in the dressing room area. When the time for their number drew close, they were escorted back stage. While waiting back stage, they met Lainey Wilson, Amy Grant and several other country stars.
"All of them were so nice to us," Casciato said.
After their performance was over and as the standing ovation wound down, the tribute program, which was being broadcast live, went to a commercial break. Casciato said during that break the students "stood on stage and soaked in the moment."
By the time she got off stage it was about 10 p.m. , so Casciato went home. She took a lot of good memories with her.
"It was the experience of being alongside all of these top names in country music and realizing that we are all just people who love what we do," she said.