The Steel Guitar Forum

Confirmed today, we will have Wayne Gray as our MSP MC at our shows. Also on board is Dennis Williams, President of the Ms. Guitar Players Association. Dennis will be performing and promoting the MGPA,as well as the MSP. Dennis is a nephew of Chet Atkins and plays with Wayne and Bob Saxon at times. More later!

Billy, I'm looking forward to it, and I appreciate the invitation to play. I think this will be a great thing, for not only Mississippi players, but those in adjoining states as well!

You welcome Lem, we're glad to have you on the show. Our MSP Club is Mississippi based but we encourage players from neighboring states to come join our brotherhood of steel guitar also. Each day more players are joining and our local folks are increasing so quickly, we may have the first show sold out before long. One slot remains for the 8-3 show. We're already filling slots for the 12-7 show, this early believe or not. More later!

Hi Billy, This is good news. Mr. Bill Stafford has done a tremendous job here trying to keep steel guitar in missisippi going. since we are going to two shows a year, i would love to join up with your group as well. Also if you did not know I purchased the Steel guitar rig from Jim's widow Through Mr. Bill Stafford that Jim was playing when he passed.
in the rack jim played was his settings. the equipment is a Stereo steel processor, 1 MXH 200 Lexicon guitar processor, power supply and a PCM peavey 1000 watt power amp, the sound being delivered by twin peavey Blackwidow 1504's in an evans style cabinet. I have one of the greatest sounds ever and a memorial to treasure. Since my Mother and father in law live in laurel i have a place to stay and can be of whatever assistance to you that you would need. Also dennis williams, myself and Bob Saxton or the original owners of the {Uncle Chester} Guitars named for chet at his passing. I am proud to own #4 Bob has #6 and dennis has #1. Bob and I have just finished a ten song project that is now out and doing well i will bring you and glenda a copy.

Good Luck and God bless you in this adventure to further the importance of such a great instrument ' the steel guitar.

Your Gulf coast Friend;

R J Buras 228-669-0553

Hey RJ, glad to hear from you. Come on and join us, we'll be glad to have you. All 17 slots on the show are filled now but I'll work a spot in for you to pick with some of the guys/gals. Email me and I'll let you know how to join us. Just thought I'd let you know that this is partly coming together because of the first night I visited your fishcamp when Hal was playing. That opened the door for me to everybody on the Gulf Coast and the DSSGA. With the support that's coming from the coast, especially you and Bill, the MPS Club is growing daily and I do mean each day players and non-players are joining. Aug.3rd is our first show, followed by Dec.7th with the second show. Dec.7th show will be dedicated to the Pearl Harbor veterans and all armed forces, past and present. Having you join us means a lot, as MPS is already supporting DDSGA. With two groups like DDSGA & MPS helping each other the steel guitar events and shows will be around a long, long time in Mississippi. Thanks again, my friend!

Ok. All 17 slots on the 8-3 show aer confirmed. Here's the list.
2:00pm - doors open to the public.
3:00pm to 3:25pm - Warren Griffin opens show with a Floyd Cramer set on the piano.
3:30pm to 3:55pm - Bobby Ray on steel guitar
4:00pm to 4:25pm - Eddie Freeman on steel guitar
4:30pm to 4:55pm - Doc Rickles on vocals with Jim Parker featured on steel guitar.
5:00pm to 5:25pm - Tom Harris on vocals featuring Winston Street on steel guitar.
5:30pm to 5:55pm - Crystal Graham on vocals featuring Winston Street on steel guitar.
6:00pm to 6:25pm - Ellis Olsen on vocals featuring Billy Carr on steel guitar.
6:30pm to 6:55pm - Bill Stafford featured on steel guitar
7:00pm to 7:55pm - Western Swing set featuring Bill Stafford on steel, Paul Phillips on fiddle, Bob Saxon and Wayne Gray on guitars, plus other players.
8:00pm to 8:15pm - Awards presentation
8:20pm to 8:45pm - Dennis Williams, Bob Saxon and Wayne Gray perform on guitars.
9:00pm to 9:25pm - Flo Holloway on vocals featuring Billy Carr on steel.
9:30pm to 9:55pm - Buck Grantham featured on steel guitar.
10:00pm to 10:25pm - Julie Musgrove on vocals featuring Winston Street on steel guitar.
10:30pm to 10:55pm - Peggy Breland on vocals featuring Billy Carr on steel guitar.
11:00pm to 11:25pm - Lem Smith on steel guitar.
11:30pm to 11:55pm Marty Windham on vocals with Jim Parker on steel guitar.
Midnight to close - Michael Courtney finishes show on vocals with Billy Carr on steel.

Hey Billy,
boy you are doing a great job on putting all of this together. I know for a fact that you have put a lot of work into this project. This is going to be a great thing for the Steel Guitar Players of Mississippi and our friends in adjoining states. I like the way you are scheduling the players ahead of time. This way everyone know's exactly when they are playing. Our buddy Bill Stafford does a great job at this also. Glad to see we have his support but there was never any doubt in my mind that Bill will bend over backwards to promote the Steel Guitar anywhere and anytime.

If you have them in stock, I would like to donate two of the Curly Chalker video's to be raffled off to help raise some money for the club. You can decide what you will sell the chances for.

Newsletter and Programs. I have a couple of company's so far that would like to advertise in your show program/bulletin. This is a very good way to raise operating expenses for the club and shows. We may could also have a section in the newsletter on "war stories" of the steel players. Also a section on tablature and licks. I know there has to be some interesting tales out there about our experiences in the clubs. Just tossing some idea's out for feedback.

I love the idea of dedicating the first show to your Dad and my buddy Bill Carr Sr.. Also to my/our friend Jimmy Dale Welborne.

Friends forever,
Winston

Yes sir WS, Aug.3rd is going to be a good day for everybody. I've started working on our Dec.7th show. At this time we have two steel players confirmed to play. Danny Harrell from Livingston , La. and Jimmy Powell from Westville, Fl. will be on the schedule. Also waiting to see if Hank Corwin is available on the 7th. Tickets are available starting today on a chance on a new S-10D Fessy. Email me at carr@bayspringstel.net for more info. More later!

More players joining today and our following is growing daily in our area. We plan on giving away a new PSG at each show. Any players wanting to play or attend any our shows are welcome. Our MSP policy is that no musician's, regardless of what instrument they play will be charged to get in at any our shows. Once we fill our slots on each show, we start filling slots on the next one. Come join us, mix and mingle, and enjoy an afternoon and evening of PSG.

More folks joining today and wanting tickets to the first show. MSP Club is growing fast. More later!

DadGummit! I would love to see this show. I love the idea of a Mississippi organization. Lem, it has been a while, man. I would love to hear you play.
We manage to play to play here, [/url]www.bollingerfamilytheatre.com Every Saturday night, so that takes me ... ! Eddie

Hey Eddie, we'd love to have you come down. All of our shows will be scheduled on Fridays from 3pm to midnight or so. I done this purposely because a lot of players are playing every Saturday. If your available on Friday, 12-7, our next show, we can put you on early in the line up. Thanks.

Everything's moving right along. Still have folks joining daily. As a part of the MS.STEEL PLAYERS CLUB, I'm also accepting memberships into the Ms. Musician's Directory. MSP will have it's website up after the 8-3 show. As a part of MSP Club this directory is available to all Mississippi musician's regardless of what instrument they play. Names will be listed under each instrument. Vocalists are also welcome. This way anyone that needs a musician or singer can get on the MSP website and find them. There personal information will be through MSP only. Must be a member to get on the directory. Email me or call me at 601-752-2037 for more info. There's a one time fee for the directory and then the names remain there unless someone wants there name removed. Names listed in the order they join. Thanks.

More good news. Joining our MSP staff as a vocalists is Jeannie (Ezell) Wooten, formerly from Laurel and now living in Vicksburg, MS. Jeannie in the past has won several talent contests including the B95 Country Music Showdown and also has won 1st place at the Jimmy Rodgers Memorial Shows in Meridian, MS. She will be featured during our Western Swing set on 8-3 and has the 6:00pm slot on the Dec.7th show. Glad to have you on board with MSP Jeannie!

Been a few changes. I've decided to give away a Carter Starter at each show starting with the Aug.3rd show. At this time, we won't be giving away any other guitars other than the CS. I've had some folks calling about the MS. MUSICIAN'S DIRECTORY which is a part of the MSP Club. The directory is not limited to steel players. This for all musician's, regardless of what instrument they play. Includes singers also. Anyone will have access to the directory on the MSP website, when it's up sometime after Aug.3rd. Players' names and the town they live in will be posted. A person will go through MSP to get more info. The MMD is for Mississippi players only. Anyone can join MSP Club though. Thanks.

More folks joining MSP today and more vocalists being added to our MSP staff. Our Ms. Musician's Directory(MMD) is starting to get new members signed on also. Our shows home base area, Laurel, MS. has been needing some type of entertainment to attract middle aged to older folks and apparently our Classic Country , Western Swing and Steel Guitar shows may fill that spot. We hadn't even started ads locally for the shows and already it's taking off quickly. Our female singer, Flo Holloway has withdrawn from the show. She's been replaced by Odessa Gant, who will do our Patsy Cline part of the show on Aug.3rd. Our slots for the Dec.7th show are starting to fill up already. Thank you to everyone that's helping make our MSP Club a success. For our members, these are your shows, I'm only leading the way and keeping everything organized and together so we can continue on. Thanks again. More later!

People still signing up for memberships and several folks are helping us get the first MSP show off to a big start. I honestly had no idea this many folks would want to be involved and help in anyway they can. This is great. Another part of the MSP Club that I'm starting to work on tomorrow is our talent contest. The winner of this contest will be given a slot to perform on the Dec.7th show and will also be recognized and perform at the Aug.3rd show. One of our goals with MSP is to seek out and showcase Mississippi talent. We only have 5 slots left for the Dec.7th show already. The Ms. Musician's Directory is also starting to get members signed on. The date for the talent contest has not been set yet but it will be scheduled on a Friday night. I'll post the date later.

Well another day and more folks joining the MSP Club as members. Later this week MSP staff will start selling tickets to the general public for the 8-3 show. MSP flyers will be ready shortly and those will be given away with each ticket that's sold and they'll also be posted locally at locations promoting the show. Sponsors are coming on board as well. We'll save 100 tickets to be sold at the door. This is the first show of it's kind to ever come to Laurel, MS. and local folks are excited and ready to get behind it. The Laurel area is saturated with musician's with very few places to play and nowhere to attend this type show. We're expecting around 25 to 50 local players to be at the show in attendance in addition to the general public. More later!

Each day brings new events. Steelers Jim Parker and Marty Windham spent the afternoon with me at the steel shop. At our Aug.3rd show, Jim will be playing his new D-10 Fessy, he just ordered this afternoon. Royal blue mica with 8 & 5. He'll more than likely have it on the Gulf Coast on June 30th at that show we're all going down for. We also have more new members in the MSP Club , as well as the Ms. Musician's Directory. Some slots were filled today on the Dec.7th also. Our first show in 2008 is looking like April 4th at this time. Not confirmed yet. Just a reminder, players that want to join MSP that reside outside of MS. are welcome. The MMD is only for those who reside inside the state. Thanks again to everybody , as the MSP & MMD continue to get more members. More later!

Billy, This is sounding so great....I'd love to help in any way possible.....just let me know what you need me to do.......HAL

Hey Hal, you have an open invitation to any of our shows, anytime. Call or email me for one of the slots. (I've misplaced your phone number I had somewhere. Email it to me. We have 17 slots on each show available. We'll be using 3 to 5 slots on each show for steel sets. Classic country and western swing featuring steel will fill the others. Our following likes it mixed with the vocals/music, so that's what we're going for. More new members coming on board with MSP & MMD today. We do still have 3 or 4 slots open for our Dec.7th show. More later!

Hey guys i have already joined the MSP and also the Mississippi Musicians Directory as well and looking forward to seeing everyone at all of the shows and just going to be a great time with everyone. Also Lem we encourage people to join and lets all fellowship and have a great time and looking forward to the Fulton Ms show as well in a week. Jim

More members joining again today with the MSP & MMD. Tickets are going fast. We're expecting a complete sellout for our first show. Our support base is expanding also. Folks from about everywhere in the southeast are calling and emailing about MSP shows. Thanks again to everyone. More later!

Another day and as usual more members signing on for MSP & MMD. MS. steeler, Buddy McCardle from Hazelhurst, Ms. is now the proud owner of a brand new S-12 Extended Fessenden. Blue marble mica, beautiful guitar. Jim Parker played on it while Buddy was at the steel shop and couldn't believe it was so smooth. Buddy wouldn't let ole Jimbo take it with him though! Legendary bassman, The Legend, Tommy Fortenberry also dropped in during the pickin' and had a ball. The next arrival will be next week, a S-10D Fessy, black mica, already sold though. Getting back to the MSP Club agenda, it's really attracting a lot of folks for Aug.3rd. More later!

Another day and the phone started at 8AM this morning. More folks signing up for memberships. The hot topic now that everybody is talking about is, will Jim Parker have his new D-10 Fessy at the Aug.3rd show and why a Fessy? Well why is easy. Jerry builds a great guitar and it's a matter of personal choice for ole JP. JP will be playing behind several singers on the 8-3 show and will have his own set on 12-7. Gotta go now, someone on the phone about a new Fessy. More later!