I am sorry it has been awhile since my last post, of course it’s not like very many people visit this blog, ha ha, but recently the news has just been so depressing it’s just not easy writing about it. It seems all I hear lately is bad or sad news. Issac Hayes passed away at age 65 on Sunday August 10, 2008. I can remember him from the 70`s some of the best years I have memories of, his Academy award winning theme from ‘Shaft’ not to mention the career stretched far beyond soundtracks. For much of the 1960s and into the ’70s he was one of the principal songwriters and performers for Stax Records, the trailblazing Memphis R&B label, and in the 1990s he revived his career by providing the voice for the amorous and wise Chef on the cable television show “South Park.” Seems he was found next to a running treadmill, most likely a heart attack. sad news indeed.

Then there was the news of Jerry Reed passing way.Brings back memories of Amos Moses, The Bird, When you`re Hot you`re Hot, She got the Goldmine, I got the shaft, the list just goes on and on, not to mention all the tracks of him and Chet Atkins, who was his mentor, what an artist and guitar legend. One of my guitar heroes, was not good news to me at all. His parents separated 4 months after his birth and he and his sister spent seven years in foster homes or orphanages and he used to run around playing the guitar and was quoted to have said “”I am gonna be a star. I’m gonna go to Nashville and be a star.” Reed was reunited with his mother and stepfather in 1944. Music and impromptu performances helped ease the stressful times the new family was under.After a two-year stint in the military, Reed moved to Nashville in 1961 to continue his songwriting career, which had continued to gather steam while he was in the armed forces, thanks to Brenda Lee’s (my cousin who shares my last name, Tarpley) 1960 cover of his “That’s All You Got to Do.” He also became a popular session and tour guitarist. In 1962, he scored some success with the singles “Goodnight Irene” and “Hully Gully Guitar,” which found their way to Chet Atkins, who produced Reed’s 1965 “If I Don’t Live Up to It.” Such a unique hybrid style of ‘Swampabilly, Rockabilly, Cajun’ style of playing he created; I remember “Guitar Man” and sitting for hours as a kid trying to duplicate his licks, he will be sorely missed by this guitar player for sure. Seems he died of complications due to emphysema (smoke smoke smoke those cigarettes people).

Then there was the death of the wife of a Trail Angel friend of mine, Gloria Peoples, who died suddenly of cancer, wife of Bob Peoples who has done so much for the Appalachian Trail community that I am so close to. Also another close friend of mine who hiked the whole trail back in the 90`s whose dear canine friend “Nicky” who hiked at least 1000 miles of it with him, including parts of New Hampshire recently died basically of old age. Such a dear friend, such a perfect dog, the world wont be the same without her.

Not to mention the recent gas prices, hurricanes and presidential election issues that are going on right now, nothing positive in the news that I can find. When I hear something good I will post it here asap, until then keep you chin up, things will have to get better to get worse ! HAIRNT !

I finally got around to uploading some jams so you can now hear the RAT doin’ his thing! This first track was done about 10 years ago when I was playing locally with a 3 piece band called the Tommy Lyons Band.

The following recording was done very primitively in a basement with no effects simply for a homemade demo tape:

More to come,,,,,

Music legend Eddy Arnold died Thursday, one week before his 90th birthday. He was married and influenced by the same lady (Miss Sally) since 1942 (nearly 66 years) who died only 2 months earlier after hip replacement surgery at age 87. Not many people in this day and time will even know who he is (part of that’s surely due to him having outlived his commercial peak by so many decades — refusing to die young does diminish one’s legend, right?) but in my opinion he should be considered the most successful country singer of all time, if you combine record sales (85 million sold) with radio successes (145 chart hits, including 28 No. 1s) spanning 7 decades. Starting off and often being considered a country singer he went on to cross over into the pop world and he was the first country singer to become renowned as a Vegas headliner. Wearing a tuxedo and singing from the diaphragm and not through his nose he was Influenced by crooners like Bing Crosby and Gene Autry, he favored romantic ballads and novelties over songs about drinking and cheating. Intimacy was his calling card. Some may remember not too long ago when LeAnn Rimes did a duet with him doing the famous ‘Cattle Call’ song although I remember him in his first band ‘The Tennessee Plowboys’ and such hits as “Make The World go Away” penned by Hank Cochran. Now them’s real lyrics right there ! Others include “I’ll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)” and “I Wanna Play House With You,” were later recorded by Elvis Presley, who patterned his crooning style after Mr. Arnold’s. Born in Tennessee, inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1966, recorded his last album in 2005, he will be remembered as a one of a kind, unique, singer songwriter and just another one of those sounds I heard as a kid growing up that I learned to sing and play to. He is survived by his two children, son Richard and daughter Jo Ann. Another one my musical influences that I will surely miss.

Sad news came to me today. Blind guitar wizard Jeff Healey of Toronto died Sunday of cancer. He was 41. Arguably one of the most distinctive jazz and blues rock guitar players of our time has left our midst to join that all star band in the great hall of fame in the sky. Healey had battled with cancer since the age of one when a rare form of retinal cancer known as Retinoblastoma claimed his eyesight. Healey had undergone numerous operations in recent years to remove tumours from his lungs and leg. This comes on the eve of the release of a brand new blues rock album “Mess of Blues”. He started to play guitar when he was three, holding the instrument unconventionally across his lap. He formed his first band at 17, but soon formed a trio which was named the Jeff Healey Band. I have enjoyed his playing ever since. He will be sorely missed by this fellow guitarist. This spikes my awareness to cancer, something we all try not to think about as we hope it wont happen to us or anyone we know but after my dad’s recent bout with throat cancer I am all too aware of it and it seems every day we read about another victim claimed by this dreaded killer. Healey died Sunday evening in a Toronto hospital surrounded by family and a bandmate, Colin Bray. May he rest in peace.

I just helped a friend of mine with a new website and Blog ! Check out http://www.trailstealth.com. It’s all about wilderness trail adventures, past and future hiking experiences, events and other things involved in the trail and hiking community. The website is nice too, well it ought to be, I built it ;-)  !!!! Check it out !!!

A concert to mark the 40th anniversary of a famous performance by late country legend Johnny Cash at a Californian prison has been cancelled.

The gig, scheduled for Sunday, was to have been staged in Folsom State Prison canteen, where Cash sang in 1968.

Prison officials called off the concert, blaming problems with filming rights, media access and security.

In 1956, the star recorded the song Folsom Prison Blues and staged his gig at the prison 12 years later.

The performance was later released as a live album and became one of his most famous works.

The anniversary concert was due to have featured Cash’s music and one of his original backing musicians, drummer WS “Fluke” Holland.

Check out our tribute page here: http://guitar-antics.com/johnny_cash.html

I can remember like it was yesterday when I was less than 10 years old sitting in front of the TV trying to reach around my dads J-50 Gibson accoustic guitar playing along to the tunes every week on the Porter Wagoner show, the Grand Ole Opry show, and many others that used to come on back then. It was those soon to become legends including Dolly Parton who he is solely responsible for bringing to the stage that were my mentors to inspire me to go on to become the musician I am today.

Wagoner, a Grand Ole Opry institution and member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, died Sunday (Oct. 28) at 8:25 p.m. at Alive Hospice in Nashville. He was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Known as “The Thin Man From West Plains,” Mr. Wagoner’s contributions to country music are manifold and consequential. Marty Stuart, who produced this year’s much-heralded comeback album Wagonmaster, calls him “an American master and a cornerstone of our music.”

A hit-maker for more than a quarter-century, he was a Country Music Hall of Famer and a three-time Grammy winner whose best-loved singles included “A Satisfied Mind,” “Misery Loves Company” and “Green, Green Grass of Home.”

One of my favorites was “The Cold Hard Facts of Life” and “The Caroll County Accident”.

He will be sorely missed by not only his three surviving children but the fans of the music as well.

While we’re all waiting for the new Led Zep album “Mothersip” to come out, we can enjoy now a new album just out by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. The Plant and Krauss album ‘Raising Sand’ is expected to be a Top 5 debut in the USA next week. It may even come in at number two.

The Plant and Krauss album was produced by T-Bone Burnett (’O Brother, Where Are Thou’ and ‘Walk The Line’). ‘Raising Sand’ is a collection of covers of songs from artists like The Everly Brothers, Tom Waits, and Mel Tillis.

Plant’s previous diversion this far from Led Zeppelin was when he recorded the classic ‘Sea of Love’ for The Honeydrippers EP in the 80s.

The three surviving members of Led Zeppelin are finally getting back together! According to NME.com, frontman Robert Plant is in talks this week with fellow Led Zep legends Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones about a one-off Zeppelin gig that’ll hopefully take place in London this November. Presumably late drummer John Bonham’s son, Jason Bonham (last seen banging skins for celebreality band Damnocracy on VH1’s Supergroup with Ted Nugent), will fill in behind the drumkit for the Zep trek  since Damnocracy mouthpiece Sebastian Bach is busy trying to launch a hip-hop career on MTV’s Celebrity Rap Superstars , we’re guessing Damnocracy are on indefinite hiatus and Jason will therefore thankfully be free…

One of the greatest tenors in operatic history has passed away at age 71 from pancreatic cancer. He sold 100 million albums during his decade-straddling career (let’s see Garth Brooks top that !) and he was beloved by millions more. Pav, you shall be missed…