The Steel Guitar Forum

I walked away from my guitar,,,but it
followed me,,,,,it had legs.

Just to be Brett's age again. I said that a long time ago. Since then I've quit twice and retired once. Thank God, Gene Watson called and talked me into playing on the road again. I never quit totally, but i love what i do and the guy's i work with. That means a lot to someone that just wants to play and enjoy every minute i sit behind my guitar. Corky.

Carter S-10 DB 4X5
Franklin DB-10 8X4

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i like what you're puttin' down Eric.
i never walked away from Musik in 30 years but i do let it lay...
(i'm no Pro tho' makin'a livin' on it)<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by CrowBear Schmitt on 04 November 2002 at 12:19 AM.]</p></FONT>

One thing about "Earache"...CrowBear, is that he does know what he's talking about. Sometimes one might have to read it over 3 or 4 times to figure out exactly what he said but ultimately it will make sense to you. (I think)

Ray, i dug what he was sayin' the first time i read his post !
like i dig what he's puttin' down...

..Eric said..."I hate it when people say they have "paid their dues".... I'm saying it FOR Eric.....from his post I believe he HAS "Paid his dues"..... www.genejones.com

Jody: 3 or 4 ???

Regards, Paul

New Years Eve my Sho Bud goes in the case and under the bed. I'm in the process of selling everything else including my 76 Vette. The only reason the Sho Bud stays is because it was willed to me by my mentor. I just came to a crossroads in my life where it wasn't fun anymore. I have played with Tim McGraw 2 years, Ty England 3 years, Opryland USA, Marty Haggard, BB Watson, Always Patsy Cline Show,Alan Jackson etc. just to name a few. You know that line in Alan Jackson's "Chasin that Neon Rainbow" "(five pickers in an old dodge truck) well one of them was me and it wasn't a truck it was a Dodge Transvan. Anyway I've lived the so called "Honky Tonk Dream" which at times seemed more like a Honky Tonk Nightmare! Even on the local scene about anywhere across this great land you could pick 4 or 5 nites a week till the law started cracking down on Drinking and Driving and now even Grandma and Grampa are afraid to go to the American Legion to play Bingo on Saturday Nites. Add to that all the fickle people in the business that always tell you to your face they'll call you but never have the balls to. And then there's this "Fratdaddy Horsecrap music" that Nashville is trying to pass off as Country Music, and how about the opry and all it's PoP country BS. It just never ends. I can't even find a real country station anymore. So I decided to get out of the steel end of it and start my own show. I had moved to Nashville in 89 and hung around with friends like Tracy Lawrence and Daryl Singletary and tried to get an Artist deal but it never happened so I'm giving it another try. All the money from my equipment is going for my MCI Tour Bus and sound and lights and with the help of my banker, I'll have my own brand of "Gut Country" coming to a town near you real soon. I still love the steel guitar but not all the crap that goes with it these days. God Bless Twang. Have a great day, WC Edgar

...."Dodge Transvan", I had one of those. I can still remember the rain coming in around the air-conditioner while parked two days in an RV park somewhere in Missouri! That discouraged me too!!!.... www.genejones.com

Right on WC!

Gene, CrowBear, Ray, et al:

Thanks for the kind words, and understanding. I think losing Don West, My mentor, and namesake ( with his full permission) kind of tweaked my butt.

It's always best to make sure one has enough money not to be at the mercy of the elements, and not to have to "go downhill" at a lousy turn in the music industry. I think a lot of those who perhaps against their "thoughts of purity" make money in other angles of the Biz.
I thank god for them. If Chet Atkins had "just played guitar" We'd be sorely missing a lot! Same goes for Mr Emmons. More power to 'em.

Also those that are strugglin' at their "gigs". Hell, if all the cops, garbagemen, plumbers, dentists, teachers, backhoe operators, or truck drivers that "didn't like their jobs" quit, we'd be in "it" up to our ears. For me, it only takes one or two good sets in a otherwise miserable week to make it worthwhile.

Having Ray The Godfather, along with Doug Jones, Felix James, my local hero, and Wes Bakken, our most unsung local master come out and bust my balls over the last few months has given me the "jolt" Ive been needing to get out here and do some more and newer stuff this winter. Got a couple projects on the burner, and am working up some stuff I've let lay for way too long. Actually, building that old harley over the last two years as "my hobby" has helped refresh my mind. I needed a hobby, and even as a second job, music isn't, in my mind for me, "a hobby". It's just something that I have to do. I've never even tried to quit. Maybe I could...

No, I don't think I've "paid my dues". I like to think guys like Don West, Jimmy Patton, Jimmy Day, Curley Chalker, Danny Shields, and a few others have paid a lot of them "for us". Their lives, like their playing, are certainly something to learn from, if we are to honor them correctly.

Oh, and Gene, I work with a guy named Larry Jeffers here. I think of him as the best solid country vocalist/bass player that's left around these parts. I think you're the one he speaks highly of there in OK. Ever since Larry hit town in the 80s, his gigs are where I go to play the "real thing". Once you've been shuffled by Larry, you tend to want more. He knows me as one that speaks my mind, to be sure, possibly for better or..

Anyhow, thanks for understanding the "outburst".

It happens from time to time....

I just deal with the lows like they don't bother me much cause the <blink> HIGHS ARE SO FRIGGIN GREAT!!!!!

Thanks Folks.

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EJL63FLH
'78 Pro III Sho-Bud
'63FLH 90"Stroker
'80 Gold Wing
-Peavey: When it's *not* about "The Sound"-
"You can Smart Yourself Dumb.
Why Can't you Dumb yourself Smart?"-Me
"There are only so many ways to fry cat food."- Buster
"At my age, sometimes I run out of Adrenaline, but I've still got plenty of Gall.." -Me-

Paul Graupp

4 legs..who ever heard of a "middle leg" that could walk that fast and balance itself.

Hey LF,,,,,, Paul is picking on me again.

Its easy to get in trouble without these .
Can you dig it?? Later dude.

Puff Daddy

I have fewer regrets about having stopped playing for several years in the mid 70s (It taught me that I NEED to play, even if just as a hobby.) than I do about having let go of my gorgeous blond P/P D-10 that I loved.

On the bright side, I've somehow slept better since Herb Steiner told me that it was hearing Mike Hardwick play that guitar that led him to get the Emmons 'bug'.

I'm Bill's wife, and I am sooo glad he took up steel. I think his playing helps keep him sane after days working in the Silicon Valley and dealing with an exhausted wife and extremely social 5 year old. Those of you at last Saturday's jam will know what I mean about the 5 year old. I think the steel gives him a change of focus, a time to stir up the creative juices and recuperate from the day. Years ago I told him if he wanted to do music full time and quite the engineering, I'd support that decision. He said doing it as a job would take the fun out of it, so that's where we are--just having fun with it.
Karen

It's hard to believe how much heart, wisdom and wit come out in so many of the threads on this forum! My only real pro years were in the '60's, mostly on bass, but I built a steel in the mid-70's and played it "semi pro" for about 10 years. Finally the depressing effects of a long (ultimately 17 years) wrong marriage just dried up my music. I didn't just walk away from my steel, I was walking away from life. Life restarted for me almost 7 years ago with a wonderful woman - now my wife - and hey! the music started coming out again. So far I mostly just play for her, and she loves it. It isn't how good I am (not), it's just that I want to play for her and she listens so nicely -- it gives music a special meaning in our relationship. My "day" job often hardly leaves me time to say "good night" to her and our little boy, but by the time I retire in a few years, I intend to be playing "out" with someone -- and "in" for my sweetheart -- forever after.