CARBONDALE - Audrey Booth of Elkville has been a Crystal Gayle fan for ages. So she bought her daughter, also a fan, tickets for her birthday. In turn, her daughter brought her own daughter, too.

As the three generations of women sat in Shryock Auditorium on Saturday night waiting for Gayle to take the stage, the common feeling was excitement. The performance, "A Crystal Christmas," saw Gayle performing classic Christmas songs and a few of her old hits as well.

Booth said it has been years since she has seen the country singer live, but she was glad to be able to see her again.

"I'm very much into country music," Booth said. "I'm just excited."

Her daughter, Barb Reardon of Murphysboro, said she remembers being a teenager and listening to Gayle on the radio. She said she had been looking forward to the show for several weeks.

Reardon's daughter, Autumn Doan of De Soto, said she is just thankful Shryock brought Gayle to Carbondale.

"It's nice of Shryock to bring a lot of the classics here," Doan said.

Marlene Seymour of Chester said she hasn't seen Gayle live in about 20 years and was thrilled that she finally got another chance. She said she has always admired Gayle and her older sister, Loretta Lynn.

After a few instrumental numbers by the band, Gayle came onto the stage complete with her trademark hair down to her ankles. She started with a few Christmas tunes and moved on to some of her signature songs.

That was exactly what Bill and Glenda Colp of Herrin were hoping for. Bill said before the show that he was hoping to hear "her old standards" and some good holiday tunes.

Glenda said she is a big country music fan and was happy she only had to drive as far as Carbondale to see one of her favorite artists.

"I'm just happy we have the opportunity to see her," Glenda said. "We didn't have to drive to Nashville or anything."

A Grammy winner for "Don't it Make My Brown Eyes Blue," Gayle has also won several Academy of Country Music Awards, as well as American Music Awards.

codell.rodriguez@thesouthern.com / 351-5804