Steel guitarist and dobro player Al Perkins is on the show today. Al is a true legend of the steel guitar, having played on hundreds of albums, including classics by Manassas, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, The Rolling Stones, as well as plenty of modern country hits through recent years. Al grew up playing steel guitar as a little tyke in country bands on radio and TV around his home state of Texas, and eventually moved out to California in the 60’s, where he encountered a young Kenny Rogers who brought him in on sessions for rock and country albums. Al was in a band at the time called Shiloh, and between his live work and sessions, his reputation led to him replacing Sneaky Pete in the Flying Burrito Brothers. His playing can be heard on classic albums of the time like GP, Grievous Angel and Exile on Main Street. Al stayed incredibly busy through the 80’s and 90’s as a session player, and then cropped up on my radar again as Emmylou Harris’ dobro player on the incredible Nash Ramblers “At The Ryman” album.

It was great to speak with Al about lots of these sessions, as well as hearing about some of the technical innovations he made to the steel guitar, customizing his own instrument as the need arose.

You can get info on Al at alperkinsmusic.com - Please enjoy my conversation with Al Perkins!

Be sure to listen to the Accompanying Songs Playlist which contains some of the artist’s work, plus many of the songs we discuss on the show:

Playlist on Spotify / Playlist on Apple Music

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Your fearless host, Steve Dawson can be found at www.stevedawson.ca

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