The Cadillac Three’s Jaren Johnston Recalls Childhood Run-in With Porter Wagoner

The Cadillac Three's Jaren Johnston practically grew up at the Grand Ole Opry, and the singer and guitarist has a lot of memories of meeting some of country music's biggest stars. Johnston specifically recalls a funny (in hindsight) run-in with country legend Porter Wagoner.

Johnston's father is drummer Jerry Ray Johnston, who was a regular player on the Opry stage, giving his son the opportunity to meet a lot of his idols -- including Don Williams and Garth Brooks, who Johnston says signed his autograph book when he was a youngster. But one night, Johnston managed to get kicked out of Wagoner's dressing room.

"I was just a kid, so my dad would be like, ‘Hey, hang back in here,'" Johnston tells ColumbusAlive.com. "I was sitting in the dressing room, and Porter got pissed and said, ‘Who the hell are you? Get the hell out of here!’ After the show, Dad went and chewed Porter's a-- pretty good because he was so mad he did that to me.”

The Cadillac Three made their own Grand Ole Opry debut in 2014, and Johnston says being out on the hallowed stage -- as opposed to backstage as one of the musicians' kids -- was an incredible experience.

“I remember saying, ‘I feel like I'm on the moon. I feel like Neil Armstrong right now,’” he says. “You wait your whole life to get in the center of that circle, and then you're standing there looking out at the Opry, and it's like, ‘Shoot, this is actually happening.’ It was definitely one of those bucket list moments, man.”

The group is getting ready to release their sophomore album, a followup to 2013's Tennessee Mojo. Their Aviators and Radiators Tour kicked off on Jan. 30, with dates scheduled through March 1. After their solo tour, they’ll be joining Eric Church on the road for some of his Outsiders World Tour dates.