Another Tribute Post-Merle Haggard

We’ve lost another music legend in Merle Haggard. You know, I have found myself playing his album with Willie Nelson (on vinyl because I’m a purist), Django and Jimmie quite a bit lately. Talking with my wife today, she mentioned that it must be hard for Willie Nelson..he’s buried so many friends. But I seem to think a little more positively about it I guess. How cool is it that Willie has gotten to stick around and play with so many  amazing artists in his lifetime? Cash, Haggard, Jennings, Kristofferson; the list goes ON AND ON…can’t imagine who he hasn’t played with!

One of our pals is currently touring in Europe and he is probably the biggest fan of Merle Haggard that I know of. Trey Hensley, guitar phenom and artist that will become a legend himself one day, was really shaken by the passing. I read his post about it..and how proud he was to have received an endorsement for his album from Merle. Makes me think that Merle must’ve been a class act.

And so I’m blogging another tribute, because I feel compelled to do so. As we lose touch with even more of our musical heritage and “old ways” to new technologies, I hope and pray that good old fashioned guitar playing never gets upgraded by the stroke of a keyboard on some “mixers” laptop. Looking ahead, with pickers like Trey Hensley still around, I feel pretty comforted knowing that probably isn’t the case.

As I listen to the record on our turntable, I hear the sound of two men (Haggard and Nelson) paying tribute to each other, to the friends they’ve lost, but more importantly to the music they love. Again, I feel better about the future..knowing somewhere there’s a kid who’s picked up a guitar somewhere and  tuned into the radio where he heard the name of Merle Haggard last week. Maybe..just maybe, there’s another Okie out there ready to continue the old ways of country with great lyrics, real pickin and a sincere love of music without any technology involved.

RIP Merle…Cash…Jennings… No better tribute I can think of than leaving you with words straight from Merle himself-

Whiskey goes down
Like cold, spring water
Over rocks, and the close of the day
When you’re flying like Eagles
Down American highways
You lose a lot of friends along the way
But we just keep on moving
And rolling along
Can’t look back
We might turn to stone
But we would’ve taking much better care of ourselves
If we would have known we was gonna live this long

I still get calls for guitars, and I keep thinking that one day I’ll build again. But I’m not sure about how much time I can devote to it. I do miss it though, more than I realize sometimes.

Life keeps us busy, so it’s hard to always make the time. All this music is inspiring though..almost makes one want to get into the shop and build. Maybe I’ll make me an all black model..a playable tribute to one of my favorites?