I stopped in at the Nashville Musicians Association to talk to Willie Cantu, the drummer for Buck Owens and the Buckaroos in the golden mid-1960s era of the band (that’s teenage Willie on the left!).
I heard he did a jam session at the musicians union on Thursdays at noon, so I thought it would be a no-brainer to go in and ask him if he had any memories of Semie Moseley and Mosrite guitars from that era. Sadly, he said, “ We were on the road so much during that time, I never really spent any time in Bakersfield, and when I did, I was hanging out with jazz musicians.”
Well, it was a bust, but it was still really cool to talk to the legendary Willie Cantu. Bonus, he plays a gold sparkle Gretsch drum kit, just like the one that I have in my studio at home! What a cool guy.
Extra bonus, as I was pulling out of the alley behind the musicians union, I realized that I was looking at the former location of Owen Bradley’s Quonset hut recording studios (and before that, the original Bradley Film and Television Recording Studios, on the same lot, in the front house on the street). You know, the place where all your favorite Gene Vincent/Patsy Cline/Johnny Horton/Johnny Burnette Trio/etc etc etc records were recorded! I always get goosebumps when I see that little tiny corner of the Quonset hut peeking out from the new additions they have built around it.
