Nashville, August, 2019
I just returned from four days in Nashville. I didn’t bring any hardware to show; it was a people trip. I was expecting to meet some great people and have some great things happen. The trip far exceeded my expectations.
I had scheduled the trip because I knew Lucky Oceans, PSG player extraordinaire and one of the co-founders of Asleep At The Wheel, would be in town, heck, in this hemisphere!, for some recording. I spent a day with Lucky.
At 2 pm, we had a date to attend a session at Imagine Recordings (check out Steve Fishell’s studio experience). Ernesto Lago and his band were recording. By some amazing chance, they played a tune I hadn't heard since listening to my dad's LPs of Cuban music as a kid, Son de la Loma.
Before the Imagine experience, we figured we'd kill time by checking out Gruhn Guitars and Carter Vintage Guitars in the morning. Lucky, whose CD of reimagined Hank Williams music will be out in September, 2019, wanted some background photos and video. (Later in the day we found the buildings that once were the Acuff-Rose office and Hank's home).
Lucky had also made a date to interview Buddy Miller about Hank's influence, on Buddy in particular and in general. Since I was essentially Lucky’s chauffeur for the day, I tagged along and was fortunate enough to be a fly on the wall for their meeting. It was a true honor to meet Buddy!
The next day, I hit the Country Music Hall of Fame museum for the last day of the Emmylou Harris exhibit and also saw many famous instruments and artifacts (e.g., the pedal steel Lloyd Green played on the Sweetheart of the Rodeo album, Nudie’s sewing machine, Cindy Walker's typewriter ....).
From the museum, I headed off to have lunch with Steve, Lucky, and that most interesting and innovative steel player, Russ Pahl. Lucky and Russ had one fantastically interesting idea after another for future iterations of the OnePSG, things I'd never thought of. Wow.
That night I headed out to The Local to see the Stone Fox Five with Chris Scruggs, Kenny Vaughn, Billy Contreras, and Pete Finney. When I walked in the bar, I was transported to 1949 by the music and the patter. To make things more interesting, Lloyd Green was in the audience. Pete introduced me to him. I had trouble keeping my jaw off the floor. It's a steelist's dream to meet and talk with Lloyd Green.
The next day, after breakfast with Steve, I met Russ Pahl at a demo session of A-list players he'd invited me to attend at Beaird Music Group. Larry Beaird is a master. I watched the very best craftsmen doing their jobs. Chart, quick run through, record, fix a couple of measures, next song. Amazing. In between songs, I chatted with Russ who, as I mentioned, has fascinating ideas about what a pedal steel can/should be able to do. Russ introduced me to Jim Hoke.
That night, I went to see the Time Jumpers with Vince Gill and Paul Franklin. Holy cow. The band was great of course, but the best part for this PSG player was experiencing Paul's playing which was, as always, deep and flawless.
The next morning, a visit to Steel Guitars of Nashville because ..., well, because. Then on a plane home. A whirlwind.
In one trip, I'd met and talked about the OnePSG with Lucky Oceans, Steve Fishell, Buddy Miller, Russ Pahl, Jim Hoke, Paul Franklin, and Lloyd Green.