Today's Country

SEEING STARS (WITH GUITARS)
by S. Parks

The guitar lovers brigade formed in the aisles of Nashville’s Summer NAMM show and headed across the street to the historic Ryman Auditorium for Muriel Anderson’s “All Star Guitar Night”.  The stunning event, held across the country since the early 1990s, has presented top players from Steve Cropper to Phil Keaggy.

 This summer’s edition was presented by Yamaha Guitars, celebrating their 40^th Anniversary, and sponsored by Guitar Player magazine, Sony, NAMM, St. Blues Guitars and many others.  The show and silent auction are for the benefit of “Music for Life Alliance”, the charity founded by Muriel, which promotes music education among those who might otherwise not have that opportunity.

The mood was serious, appreciative and joyful as a non-stop display of musicians took the stage.  As players always arrive with their own gear, the mismatched stacks of amps made an eclectic stage backdrop for the equally eclectic presentation under the screen which allowed us to watch the intricacies of the playing.

Muriel, once honored for her fingerpicking virtuosity by Chet Atkins, gathered the finest players for this long-established show.  The award-winning classical fingerstyle guitarist, who began playing at age six, has also published music for voice, guitar and orchestra while hopping across genres of classical, folk, bluegrass and jazz.  How many can say their music has been played in space?

Leaving ashes from the hottest of guitar playing on the Ryman stage were:

Pete Huttlinger - Playing around the world with the likes of John Denver and LeAnn Rimes, this Berklee School of Music grad won the 2000 National Fingerstyle Championship and enjoyed a solo concert at Carnegie Hall in 2008.

James Burton - Sharing the stage since the 1950s with Elvis Presley, John Denver, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Costello, this ace guitarist has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.

Tommy Emmanuel - This two-time Grammy nominee and Guitar Player magazine Legend Award winner was honored by Chet Atkins in 1999 for his lifetime contribution to the instrument.

Duane Eddy - Who hasn’t heard of Duane Eddy?  This Grammy winner and R & R Hall of Fame member since 1994 established a signature sound so unique that we easily recognize it on thirty-four chart singles, fifteen of which sold over 100 million worldwide.  He has a way of bending the low strings during dramatic single note melodies and combining them with echo, vibrato and tremolo.

Greg Bennett - Greg is a fingerstyle virtuoso who has held hundreds of concert clinics explaining what drives the performance characteristics of various guitars.

Rick Vito - Rick’s slide guitar has enriched rock and blues in the studio with musicians from Bonnie Raitt to Fleetwood Mac.  He’s playing the slide solo on Bob Seger’s “Like a Rock” and can be heard on over a hundred records.  .

Thom Bresh - Thom is the son of Merle Travis who grew from playing a ukulele at age three to the famous two-sided Langejans “Super Dualette” guitar and has received lifetime achievement awards.

Strunz and Farah - This duet took the Billboard Award for World Music Album of the Year when they originated their own exotic style of instrumental music rich in their native culture and rhythmic compositions.

Billy Sheehan - David Lee Roth and Mr. Big will swear by their favorite bassist who won the Best Rock Bass Player’s poll in Guitar Player magazine five times for his unique lead bass playing style.  His 4-string bass solos are compared to the finer 5-string guitar solos by the best.

Ladd Smith - This young singer/songwriter and guitar player emits the virtuosity, chops and experience of a veteran as he reaches out and touches your soul.  He is Guitar Player magazine’s Guitar Hero of 2007.

Don Alder - Often called the “Acoustic Hendrix”, Don is a premier harp guitarist with a unique and passionate style, performing his own music around the world.

Johnny Hiland Band - Johnny and his band enjoy combining country chicken pickin’ with blues, metal and jazz for artists such as Toby Keith, Ricky Skaggs and Randy Travis.  

Adam Nitti - This Nashville bassist/producer/composer is well know for recording and producing independent artists and is the Chief Learning Officer for MusicDojo.com, an interactive online music school.

Eddie Bayers - Every great guitar mix needs the pulse of an equally great drummer.  Eddie is one of the top studio drummers working with Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Steve Winwood, Peter Frampton, Trisha Yearwood, Garth Brooks and Kenny Chesney, being the backbone of hundreds of gold and platinum albums and movie soundtracks.  He has won the Academy of Country Music Drummer of the Year Award for eleven years in a row.

Randy Leago  - This creative Nashvillian is in great demand and has performed on tour and recorded with Rodney Crowell, Waylon Jennings and the Dixie Chicks, not to mention Steve Cropper, Duane Eddy, Englebert Humperdinck, Aretha Franklin, and Paul Williams.

Nokie Edwards - One of the highlights of the evening was the presentation of Guitar Player magazine’s 2009 Legend Award to Nokie Edwards of the Ventures, who, along with Dick Dale, put surf guitar on the map. The Ventures were the first to use “reverse-tracking”, a technique used very effectively in the late 1960s by the Beatles.  They were the inspiration to guitarists from Kiss, Deep Purple, the Who, Alabama and countless more.  In the day when an instrumental could be number one on the charts, “Walk Don’t Run” became one of many timeless classics. This “Best Instrumental Band of All Time” has sold over 100 million records and has been listed in encyclopedias as the prototype for guitar-based groups.

The fans were also treated to an amazing performance by the Little Kids Rock band, made up of local students for the organization that promotes music education with free lessons and instruments.  The group has been mentored by the legendary Les Paul as a member of the Board of Directors.  You can find out how to be a part of these efforts on line and learn more about the various artists who performed as well.

As the merchandise tablemates prepared for the after-show onslaught of CD sales and autograph signings, Rick Vito’s playing was so hot that his shirt turned bright red (or was it red all along?).  He was happy to sign autographs at the edge of the stage after the finale.

Don’t forget to put the All Star Guitar Night on your calendar for next summer.  Who knows which guitar aces Muriel will line up for the next event where you’ll learn more about the musicians behind the musicians.  We couldn’t have Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride, Keith Urban, Sugarland, Julianne Hough or any of our favorite artists without them.

http://us.mc1801.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=musicmusicmusic100@hotmail.com

photo credit:  © 2009 S-Parks Creative and Custom Guitars

other NAMM articles:

http://www.todayscountrymag.com/nammdrummersevent.htm

http://www.todayscountrymag.com/nammmainevent.htm