Merle Travis
Michael O’Dorn still remembers the moment he met one of his musical heroes, Merle Travis. Mr. Travis flicked a thumb pick to young Michael, who soon developed an even greater appreciation for the man and his music. The two became friends and Michael worked long and hard to understand and later...
Terry Oliver grew up in Southern California and remembers the day his father took him for guitar lessons at RC Allen’s guitar shop in 1964. The famous luthier had dozens of projects in the works including building a hollow body guitar and a banjo. In 1967, Terry’s father requested that Mr. Allen...
Deke Dickerson began his musical career when he started playing the saxophone, but quickly realized he was much more adept at playing the guitar. As a part of the affectionately named “68 Club” Deke reflects on how his formative year coincided with the revival of Rockabilly, which provided him with...
Donnie Wade "borrowed" his parent’s car when he was 14 years old to drive to a bar so he could hear Freddie King play the guitar! That experience and an earlier encounter with Merle Travis marked the beginning of his passion for the guitar! That passion took him from his own retail shop in Texas to...
Thom Bresh was a Grammy Award nominated country music singer and guitarist. In the early part of his life, Thom worked as an actor and stuntman. He gained stage presence early on, acting as soon as three years old, and starring in Las Vegas at 15. He later found himself into music after portraying...
R.C. Allen was a guitar luthier that used the style of his many friends of the era in the early 1950s in Southern California when guitar innovators were reshaping the instrument and grooming it for a new birth. RC was building his own unique instruments when Leo Fender and Lowell Kiesel of Carvin...