There’s a moment right at the very beginning of any Twitty & Lynn show that affords country music fans the chance to lookback in time. Just after the band has played the signature intro to “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man,” Tre Twitty and Tayla Lynn shoot each other a glance that summons the electrifying chemistry of their grandparents: Tre is the grandson of Conway Twitty, Tayla is the granddaughter of Loretta Lynn.
Audiences can’t believe their eyes. From that moment, for the next 90 minutes, they’re in the presence of living country music history.
“Fans have told Tayla and me that when they see us onstage singing, talking, and just looking at each other, they think, ‘Wow, there must be something genetic in those two families,’” Tre says. “It validates the experience of the concert for them. We’re telling our grandparents’ story through our story.”
But Twitty & Lynn — and their internationally popular show “A Salute to Conway & Loretta” — aren’t impersonators. Tre doesn’t groom Seventies sideburns and perm his hair; Tayla doesn’t mimic her grandmother’s mannerisms. Rather, they are onstage celebrating country music, the lost art of duet singing, and the two beloved icons they refer to as “Poppy” and“ Memaw.”
Loretta herself was impressed. The Country Music Hall of Fame member helped her granddaughter and Tre with their show and had the same time-traveling experience that today’s audiences do while watching them perform. “Memaw just loved it. It brought up so many memories of Conway for her and took her back to a place in her life when they were building their careers. She’d always say that Tre has Conway’s heart,” says Tayla, who lives at Lynn’s Tennessee ranch and used to tour with her grandmother, cuddling up together in the bus’s bedroom to watch old movies while on the road. “We were very close,” she says.
Now together as “Twitty & Lynn” for five years and poised to launch a huge summertime tour, the duo has cultivated an audience and caught the attention of Nashville along the way. In 2022, they made their debut on the world-famous Grand Ole Opry, singing “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man” on the very same circle of wood where Conway and Loretta once stood.
The duo credits their show’s popularity to the timeless songs of Conway and Loretta — duets like “After the Fire Is Gone” and “You’re the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly” are all in the set, along with Conway and Loretta solo hits like “Hello, Darlin’” and “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” But they’re also giving audiences a chance to relive a moment in time that ended far too soon: Conway and Loretta stopped touring together full-time in 1981, and Conway died in 1993. “Conway has been gone 30 years,” Tre says. “Had Poppy lived, I think there would have been a great second act for him and Loretta. There’s a lot of people that wanted to see that, and we’re able to let them hear those songs and stories again.”
Honest emotion, along with Tre and Tayla’s innate chemistry, is what defines their onstage performances. Whether they’re singing to each other or interacting with the audience, there’s an easygoing authenticity that comes across.