The Steel Guitar Forum

Who was Genes' steel player on the opry tonight? That guitar sounded great. On "Take as I am" they had him just right in the mix. Was he playing a Franklin? I couldn't read the name but I thought it was a Franklin logo. I'm a P/P player but I thought that guitar really had a nice tone. LH

I didn't see the show, but I know my good friend Corky Owens is playing with Gene. He was with Gene several years ago and then played with Perfect Stranger in their hayday. We did several shows with Perfect Stranger while Corky was playing steel. That is how I got to know him. I saw Corky at a Gene Watson show recently and we had a great time talking about old memories. He still plays that Franklin he has had for a long time. He is a VERY commercial player is the nicest guy. If you can get out to a Gene Watson show, go up and tell him I said hello. The rest of his band is a hoot as well.

Corky Owens did a fine job with Gene. I met Corky while fronting a show with Perfect Stranger and Sawyer Brown. That meeting left an impression on me that I remember to this day. He was very freindly and outgoing. We discussed his favorite player at that time (Tommy White) as well as other bits of information. What really impressed me about Corky (besides his great playing)was the fact he mentioned that he had met a lot of players that just would not talk to a person or answer questions they had. He said he did not want to be like that and always tried to be friendly to anyone wanting to talk to him. He did a great job of doing it!

Hey, Terry Downs!! Are you still doing the Night Shift??? Drop me an e-mail, and let's catch up on steels and Teles and Jason Scott.

--Jason Stillwell
OKlahoma