The Steel Guitar Forum

AWESOME!!!!!!Thanks Ray, Leland and the rest of the staff for a great time and some great music, not to mention great food and some beautiful ladys serving.
Count me in for next year.
Bill the Twang Man Dobkins..

Bill, you are sure right on!! I want to add that the house band was just awesome!! These guy played the the fire out of it all weekend!! And what a great list of players!! Ray and Lee and staff, Thanx for your hard work to put on this awesomw down home relaxed show!!

Congrats to Curt "the Shoe" Shoemaker, on being inducted into the Kansas Steel Guitar Hall of Fame!! You 'de man!!

Would like to add my thanks to Kansas for letting us play. We had a GREAT time. Thanks to the band and staff for all their HARD work!!!!!!!! Jerry and Austin had a very good time & we had a lot of GOOD food. Can't wait till next year.


Donna

What an absolutely awesome weekend. We were able to get there Friday afternoon and had a ball all three days. So good to see all our friends from around the country. I think Austin wore his fingers to the bone and played so great! We heard tons of great pickin had some great food compliments of the girls and Randys BBQ grill. (Happy B-day buddy!)The Newberrys and the Stewarts are first rate folks and these shows would never be the same without them. Great picking and loved the vocals. Many thanks to the band for a long hard job well done! Larry, Bob, Jerry, and Floyd you were excellent! And thanks to Kyle for bringing the ol doghouse in too!! Sounded great buddy. Rob Parker you're the best at keeping us on time and adding some beautiful vocals to the mix. Happy Birthday to my good friend Jerry Hubbell!
I can't tell you how proud and excited I am for "The Shoe" for his induction to the Hall of Fame. I know how it feels when Lee Ogle grabs your arm and tells you "You ain't going nowwhere!" It is a great honor and I know Curt will be a shining example of a Hall of Fame caliber player. ( And thanks for bringing Uncle Dugg. It was great to see him) Such a great time and not enough time to type all my thanks from Teresa and Me. Thank you KSGA for a great weekend and let's do it again next year.
Oh Clovis! For the record She's my HERO too!!!

Ray and the gang did it again! We want to say thank you for the welcome we received and the sustaining friendship! The food was excellent! Randy Stewart was so kind to help with the hamburgers. We count it an honor to be a part of that great convention! When we concluded the church service, Lee saw to it that we got our equipment put together and loaded and put in the car! I teased him a little and said, "Hey, you're really wanting us to get out of town quick!!" But with a smile on his face and compassion in his eyes, and sweat dripping from his brow, he assured me that he didn't want us to leave. Boy, I wish I was big and strong like him! I sure enjoyed all the steel players and the band and Rob Parker did a masterful job as MC. Doug Hudson started Saturday morning off just right and big Scotty Henderson concluded it superbly! We're already looking forward to next year!

Sounds like a great time was had by all. So sorry I had to miss it. Good Lord Willing, I be there next year. alan

I also wanted to add my thanks to the KSGA for allowing me to be a part of the show. I look forward to this show very much and enjoy seeing everyone. Ray,Lee,Doug and the whole gang really outdid themselves. It was a great time. The back up band was great as always and I thank them very much. Also a big congrats to Curt on the Hall of Fame. You are very deserving.Great food and great fellowship. I too am looking forward to next year. Thanks again.

I too would like to jump in here and say a great big THANK YOU to Ray and the KSGA for the invite. The Country Classics and myself had a very LARGE time Saturday night playing some shuffles for the folks. John Terry and Larry King literally out did themselves on the vocals and John III on rhythm guitar with Dewayne Carger (our drummist:)! (Thanks to Justin Trevino for loaning Dewayne to me for the show!)The fellowship was incredible.
Also a very big thank you to Hank Ruf, Pres. of the Branson association for the invitation to play on their great show in Feb. '08. I am deeply honored to have been asked. The CC's and myself are already looking forward to this great event. After playing Saturday night with the guys, now most steel players see why I say I have the idea dream job of a steel player. Texas shuffles - it don't get any better than that and with my two hero's John and Larry singing and playing 'em, Trey and Dewayne's support what more could I say - these guy's are the greatest.
We're looking forward to being back next year.

John Buffington, Pres. OSGA

Just wanted to add my THANKS! to the K.S.G.A. group for letting me be part of the show. I would also like to THANK Fred Justice for putting on the teaching seminar and sharing some of his licks with us. It made my weekend getting to pick on Scotty Henderson. (Scotty and Teresa are very special people). Also I would like to thank everyone that endured my attempt to play and complimented me on my set. To have such great players as Mike Mcgee, Jeremiah Hanley, and Curt Shoemaker telling me that my tone was really good, made my day. I owe a very special thank you to my very dear friends Clark and Patsy Cox for all their help (drums & vocals), and Bob, Floyd and Jerry for backing me. And one more thank you to all the ladies for the great food and Randy Stewart for grilling the burgers and hot dogs.

Sorry for the double post

We would like to add our thanks to the KSGA. Getting to show off my boys was a lot of fun this weekend.

We enjoyed ALL of the great music. One of my favorite this time was Allen Cain. He played some different songs and I really enjoyed them.

Scotty, Randy says thanks for his birthday song. We think the world of you and Teresa and always enjoy hearing you play and sing.

The church service Sunday was so wonderful. Austin even commented on how much he enjoyed it. Venda and Jerry, we love you both.

Thanks to all the band members who played behind Austin this weekend. It makes it much easier to play, when you have good people backing you up. Thanks also to Terry Bethel for driving all the way to Baxter Springs, and give up half his set to my boys. What a guy and what an outstanding player.

I could go on and on about who all we enjoyed. The whole weekend was so much fun. Thanks Ray and Lee for all your hard work. Ray, I told your sisters, you owed them a meal out for all their work. For some reason they all snickered and shared a look. You better treat those girls good, they would do anything for their brother.

Dana & Randy

I made the return trip home safely, and although tired, I was very elated over the Kansas show..
We had a large time, and listened to some great artisis perform some fine music.
My deepest thanks to the Kansas Steel Guitar Association and Mr.Ray Qualls, and his staff, and the crew of volunteers who worked diligently the entire weekend to help serve the many people.The crew of ladies and guys who worked behind the counter were busy as bees to help feed the appetites of so many people.
We had some super food to share, and Randy ,thanks to you and your family for the great hamburgers, and hotdogs from your grill.Such a treat..and he pulled the B-B-Que pit from Mulberry ,Kansas.
I am proud for Curt Shoemaker for his selection as this years Kansas Steel Guitar Hall Of Famer. Good choice to a talented, and deserving player..
Those that were unable, or did not attend, missed a barnburner..So try to make your plans to join us next year...
My thanks and kudos to the stage musicians..you playey superbly, and helped to make us other pickers sound better..
And thanks to ALL the musicians who played or sang and helped to make this years show the best ever...
Thanks a big bunch to the fans, and supporters who came and offered their support and encouragement.
And I appreciate so much the invite, and I hope to be included in next years show..
Peace and love to all of you..
And remember..keep your 'G' string in tune...
RP...'come on in'...

Without all of you we wouldn't have the Route 66 Show. The first weekend of Oct. is a special time when we can see friends we don't get to see very often and to hear some great music. There are too many people to thank individually, so just a big thank you to all of those involved and all who came to the show. Curt sure is deserving of the Hall of Fame Award.
Lee
PS. I sure wished I had some more hamburgers with some of Donna's soup on the side.

I would like to add my thanks to all who were involved in putting on the great show in Baxter Springs. I really enjoyed the weekend. The line-up was great, and all the players did a super job. I didn't hear a bad set all weekend. I also enjoyed Rob Parker's singing and M.C. work. Also a big surprise was his steel playing. I have seen him in St. Louis for years and didn't know he played steel. Again thanks to all in Kansas.I am already looking forward to next year.

Ray and others of the Kansas group, sounds like your show is getting bigger and better every year.
And my hat is off to my mentor, the Great Curt Shoemaker!! Congratulations Shoe
You are very much a World Class Picker!
Hope to meet all of you Jayhawkers sometime soon.

I would like to thank Ray and all the gang at the KSGA for putting on a great show this year. All the players did a great job. Thanks to the back-up band,great job guys! I would like to thank my friends, Dugg Collins and Rob Parker, for singing on my sets. Now that the shock is over, thank you so much for awarding me this year's Hall of Fame and to each one of you for your kind words. I just want you to know there are many special people through the years that had a part in this great award. This is one show I will never forget!

Gotta put my 2cents worth in here! Like Lee said, there's just to many to say "Thank You's" to. Everyone just did a tremendous job. From the players, to the ladies in the kitchen, to the guys helping to carry and set up the musicians instruments. We had players from Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky, Colorado & Arizona. Not bad for a little old sleepy town of 5,000. What inspired me the most was the people who were there for the first time and stayed the whole weekend. We had people who had never been to a show and they just thought it was "awesome". We even had a couple from Sweden who stopped in for a couple of hours and come to find out, their son has just started playing steel guitar. So, Thank You, guys and gals for making this the best weekend of all. We love you all! Ray

Howdy everybody, I got home this evening in one piece and wore out. Been a long two weeks but what a great time I have had. I am so blessed to have so many good friends from coast to coast.
It was a great show Ray, thanks for haveing me there.
More later, its off to bed for me.

Many thanks to Ray, Lee, Randy and all of the KSGA folks for inviting the Colorado boys to this show. We had a great time playing licks on Route 66. Hope to see you all soon.
Bob

Congrats Curt, Did I see a little tear when you got your award.Thanks for letting me pick with you.
I would also like to thank so many of you, including the house band, for letting me play guitar with you.Especially Jerry Forster during Fred Justice set.
You kept giving me the thumbs up,,That made this old country boy feel good, And I still think Mrs, Hanley looks like Naomi Judd. I would also like to thank my buddy Scotty Henderson for including me on his set. It was an honor just to be involved with the show. What a great bunch of folks. I love you'all.

Thanks Ray and the KSGA for all the work you did to put on this GREAT show. The people were all very friendly. The musicians and food was also outstanding. It's was great to be a part of the show. Thank's for the invite. Hope to see you guy's soon.

Bill, thanks for helping on my set. What you saw was a tear and I won't apolgize. I guess alot of years of playing all came together within a few short seconds for me. I believe it's called "overwhelmed". I will never be able to thank each of you enough.

Curt,It was a well derserved award and I'm happy for you. The KSGA made a good choice. I'm glad I got to meet you and your wife, you are both wonderful people.
By the way I love the CD.....It's great !

Bill,
Bless your heart! I believe you need your eyes tested. You're not seeing too good these days!
Venda

Just wanted to add my thanks Ray for the invite and the great time. Lila and I sure enjoyed the music, friendly people, and good food and all the rest. It was good to see old friends and get to make some new ones. What a great weekend! Thanks again..Vance