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3 introDUction The house lights go dark. In less than a second, the once ambient noise generated by the venue’s approximately eight thousand fans crescendos into the immediate foreground of my attention. The sudden wall of sound sends a chill down my spine. Cowboy Troy slowly announces through a backstage microphone, “Ladies . . . and . . . Gentlemen . . .” in a style better suited to a professional wrestling match. The crowd responds with more sonic intensity. Many camera flashes appear amidst the now thunderous applause from the screaming fans. John Rich of Big & Rich is standing directly in front of me, and he gives his assistant road manager a slow “high five” in the darkness behind the stage’s backdrop. Troy, who is standing to my immediate right, concludes his introduction with the words, “And now . . . Big . . . & . . . Rich,” drawing out each syllable as long as possible. The fans respond with more screams, whistles, and catcalls. The band hits and sustains a loud fermata as Big & Rich make their way from opposite ends of the sixty-foot long, elevated stage. The fireworks display of camera flashes along with the two spotlights on John and Kenny (a.k.a. Big & Rich), respectively, are enough to illuminate the entire venue. By now, the noise from the crowd has reached a deafening level, and I struggle with my video camera in an effort to cover my ears. The venue’s large size is ironic. Approximately one month earlier, the MuzikMafia had performed for free at a small Nashville club for a few hundred local fans. Tonight’s MuzikMafia show (November 20, 2004) is for a sold-out crowd at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee , one of thirteen stops on the Chevrolet American Revolution Tour. Most fans have paid between twenty-five and seventy-five dollars a ticket. Many had stood in line at the box office since early morning to insure getting a ticket and a good seat. INTRoDUCTIoN 4 Forty-five minutes later, the MuzikMafia’s saxophone player Max Abrams and I were both standing on the audience level adjacent stage left. John and Kenny had just finished their set and were headed back to the dressing rooms. The house lights went up, signaling the second of three intermissions that evening. Gretchen Wilson’s crew was already setting the stage for her upcoming segment of the show. Somewhat numbed by the previous forty-five minutes of nonstop musical excitement, I turned to Max and asked him what he thought of the sold out event. “Wait ’til 2006,” he replied. “In 2006 this is gonna be thirty thousand people.” I was taken aback by Max’s response. The MuzikMafia had undergone considerable changes in the few short months leading up to this evening ’s performance—moving beyond its local Nashville roots and onto the national music scene, with platinum album successes by Gretchen and Big & Rich. MuzikMafia artists, who had once defined themselves by their common marginalization from Nashville’s commercial music industry, were now part of the popular mainstream. But Max’s response did not reveal the MuzikMafia’s desire merely for acceptance by Music Row, where Nashville’s commercial music industry is located. Instead, it hinted at further growth and change in the MuzikMafia and its popularity—what Cory Gierman, one of the MuzikMafia’s founding members, had described to me earlier that year as “global domination.” I pointed out to Max the stage’s backdrop that contained the single word muzikmafia in thick, white letters, each of which were approximately eight feet tall. The black background extended the entire length of the stage and was approximately twenty feet high. I asked Max if he ever thought that the MuzikMafia would reach such a level of popularity. He replied: Oh yeah, I knew. I didn’t doubt that it would come this far. I think that if you look at what James Otto and Jon Nicholson are gonna do next year [2005], Big & Rich’s second record, Gretchen’s second record, you’ll see it all come back together in two years [2006]. It’s going to be a whole different playing field. I don’t think that the friendships are going to be less than they are now, but I do think that there’s going to be a much broader awareness of what Mafia really is and what it really means, especially when you’ve got Gretchen Wilson and Big Kenny and John Rich singing on Jon Nicholson’s record. Suddenly, you’ve got a...

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