Musings

I’m so happy to report that I just got off the phone with the legendary Ray Sharpe! Ray’s fate and health status has been a mystery for several years.

I always make terrible time on road trips. Today, on my way from El Paso to Phoenix, I made a long detour in Tucson to visit a couple friends.

I always like to listen to regional music as I’m passing through a particular region. On this stretch of highway, I’ve been playing lots of Buddy Holly and the Bobby Fuller Four.

“HORSES, MAN, HORSES! Y’ALL NEED TO BE TRAVELING ON HORSES!”

I stopped in Eastland, Texas, on the way into Fort Worth, to see an old friend: Old Rip!

There’s so many weird and cool parts of El Paso. It’s funky, it’s kind of dangerous, it’s right on the border of Mexico. It’s just a really interesting place.

The original “The Thing” exhibit was one of THE great American roadside attractions. It’s kind of difficult to explain to people who weren’t there just how demented it was.

The Woody Pro amplifier is what the Bob Wills band played through in the 1940s. It was a custom-built, limited-run amp made by Leo Fender for the top professional acts that he sponsored.

This is Tiny Moore’s 1948 Gibson EM-150 electric mandolin. Tiny played with Bob Wills for most of the 1940s, then joined Bob’s youngest brother’s Billy Jack Wills band (based out of Sacramento) for most of the 1950s.

People spend STOOOPID money on vintage Fender tweed amps, but tonight I’d like to raise a glass for the mighty Supro Thunderbolt.