Musings

I decided to pull out some of my absolute favorite country album covers to share with you. These are the creme-de-la-creme, the blue-ribbon trophy winners, the gold bullion of country music album cover design.

I finally finished a cabinet restoration project I started about a month ago. My 1957 house has all-original bathrooms and kitchen. It’s always been a struggle to keep things original but looking nice.

“Why don’t you ask those guys? They study this shit. All I did was LIVE IT.” We laughed about that line for years.

It’s record organizing time at home, and I’ve been going through my albums, pulling the autographed ones so I can display some of them. I thought I’d shoot a video with some fun stories.

Reprinting Ward Meeker’s interview with Deke for Vintage Guitar magazine

Finally getting around to a project I’ve been putting off for years: restoring the Ampex 3-track machine! It basically works, but not up to snuff.

They started playing “Why Do I Cry” and the three of us bystanders looked at each other with disbelief. It sounded EXACTLY like their original record. It was freakin’ unbelievable!

If you’re of a certain age, you will remember the airwaves crammed full of advertisements for “Boxcar Willie” albums. Boxcar was one of the earliest investors in his own country music theater in Branson.

RIP to my friend Scott Kempner, aka “Top Ten,” who passed away today. Scott was a great guitarist who played with two of my favorite bands, the Dictators and the Del-Lords.

I spent the afternoon with my buddy Bill Turner, looking through old photos of his parents, who were country-western musicians in the 1950s through the 1970s. How many people can hold up a 1950s photo of Merle Travis holding a baby and say, “See that baby Merle’s holding? THAT’S ME!”