Levi Britton and Dan Myers met 26 summers ago as part of the cast of the Golden Garter Revue, the legendary troupe of college-aged entertainers that once thrilled the summer crowds at Traverse City’s Dill’s Olde Towne Saloon. This weekend, Britton and Myers will bring a little of that Golden Garter energy to one of American music’s most legendary stages.

Earlier this year, Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry – a hallowed country music institution with a history that dates back almost 100 years – announced plans to commemorate the 30-year anniversary of Forrest Gump. Released on July 6, 1994, that film achieved huge success at the box office and went on to win six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and a second consecutive Best Actor trophy for star Tom Hanks. Forrest Gump also spawned one of the most successful soundtrack albums in Hollywood history, a compilation of classic rock staples that sold more than 12 million copies. The Opry show, which starts at 7pm tomorrow (Sunday), is a celebration of both the film and the soundtrack.

“The Opry Celebrates 30 Years of Forrest Gump” will be a revue-style show with sets from nine different musical acts, as well as special guest appearances from several actors featured in the film. The performer slate encompasses numerous country music heavy-hitters, including 2011 American Idol champion Scotty McCreery, outlaw country legend Jamey Johnson, and Rascal Flatts frontman Gary LeVox. It also features Stolen Silver, the folk-rock band Britton and Myers formed together 13 years ago.

The two have come a long way since Dill’s Olde Town Saloon, whose 1999 closure spelled the end of the Golden Garter Revue’s 20-year legacy. Britton and Myers stayed friends, moving to Chicago and building upon the musical connection they’d forged during their 1998 summer at Dill’s. Soon, songwriting sessions in their shared Logan Square apartment coalesced into their first band, Down the Line, which released its debut album, Welcome to Flavortown (Guy Fieri reference not intended) in 2003.

The pair continue to collaborate to this day, making music under the Stolen Silver name and occasionally singing the national anthem together at Chicago Cubs games. According to Myers, those collaborations are less frequent than they once were – a product of life’s ever-changing rhythms. Both have kids, for one thing. Furthermore, while Britton is still a northern Michigan live music staple – upcoming gigs include dates at Brady’s Bar, the Delamar, and Rove Estate – Myers now resides in Tiffin, Ohio, where he serves as an assistant professor of professional music at Tiffin University. Myers is also a member of a second band – a connection that helped get Stolen Silver on the bill for tomorrow's Opry show.

Aside from Hanks, the most celebrated performance in Forrest Gump was that of Gary Sinise, who earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Lieutenant Dan Taylor. In the film, Sinise’s character is wounded in combat during the Vietnam War, losing both his legs. Playing the character inspired Sinise to pursue a life of humanitarian work, and in 2011, he founded the Gary Sinise Foundation, which seeks to “serve our nation by honoring our defenders, veterans, first responders, their families, and those in need.” He also leads the Lt. Dan Band, a cover band that performs primarily for service members on military bases, both domestically and abroad.

Myers joined the Lt. Dan Band 15 years ago as its fiddle player, striking up a friendship with Sinise in the process. Impressed by the alchemy that Britton and Myers achieved when they sang together, Sinise eventually tapped Stolen Silver as his de-facto opening act for Lt. Dan Band shows. And while Britton has never officially joined Lt. Dan Band, he’s definitely part of the inner circle. For instance, on a recently-released album by Mac Sinise – Gary’s son, who died of cancer earlier this year – Britton can be heard singing lead on the song “Eyes of Marigold.”

According to Myers, it was Sinise who cooked up the idea for the Forrest Gump tribute show.

“Gary likes to joke that you can turn on your TV pretty much any time and find Forrest Gump playing on some channel,” Myers tells The Ticker. “It's been such a staple in our in our viewing for the last 30 years, and he wanted to put together a celebration of that. And since his foundation recently moved from California to Nashville, he thought he'd reach out to the Opry.”

With the Lt. Dan Band in the headlining slot for the show, Sinise naturally wanted to bring his go-to opening act along for the ride – though, the Opry had to sign off on Stolen Silver to make it official.

“We had to run our music by the Opry, to see if we would be worthy of their curation,” Myers says. “And I guess they liked us, because we’re performing. Every act is covering one song from the Forrest Gump soundtrack – we’re doing Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” – but we get to do some of our original music, too. And that’s really exciting for me and Levi, because we’ve both done some co-writing down in Nashville, and we know that it’s a high honor to get to showcase your original music there on that stage.”

The show is set to begin at 7pm and should be available to livestream via the Opry’s Facebook and YouTube accounts, or through the Opry’s Circle Country channel/app. The concert will also be broadcast on Nashville radio, as with all Opry shows.

In other words, the event has the potential to reach a huge number of people – something that has both Britton and Myers feeling some butterflies.

“I haven’t been nervous about playing music in a long time, but I feel a little nervous about this,” Britton laughs. “But I’m also so pumped to be performing at the Opry, and I’m pumped that it’s a listening room. This is the kind of place where people go to really pay attention to the music. Getting to go down there and perform in front of a lot of music fans that have never seen us or even heard of us…man, that’s going to be fun.”