0:29
well hello friends and welcome to ask
0:30
Zack today we're going to talk
0:33
about the Don Kelly Band and the reason
0:36
we're doing this is because on August
0:39
5th which was just you know on Monday of
0:42
I guess probably last week now when
0:45
you're watching this I saw one of the
0:47
greatest shows I've ever seen in my life
0:50
one of the greatest uh musical
0:54
events uh that that could have been
0:57
could have gone horribly wrong with all
0:59
of the guitar players playing but it was
1:01
a reunion of the majority of the
1:04
guitarists that played in the Don Kelly
1:07
Band starting in the early 80s all the
1:09
way up until uh today and it was amazing
1:14
so I'm going to talk about the concert
1:16
and I'm going to talk about just the
1:18
impact the legacy of Don Kelly and the
1:21
guitar players in his band and um yeah
1:25
I'm really excited to do this because of
1:28
course I've been a huge fan of Don Kelly
1:30
and his guitar players and of course
1:33
I've interviewed Don and if you want to
1:35
take a deep dive I'll put some links in
1:37
the description uh you know to the
1:39
interviews I've done with Don and then
1:41
with the uh some of the other guitar
1:43
players in Don's band like red volkart
1:47
and Brent Mason and others but uh yeah
1:49
I'm a huge fan and uh and these guys are
1:52
really important you know Don is really
1:55
important and all the guys in his band
1:56
are really important guitar players for
1:59
uh for Nashville and impacting the use
2:01
of the Telecaster and and such
2:03
especially kind of in the last 40 years
2:07
so yeah all right first I need to thank
2:11
my patreon members that is if you want
2:14
to support the channel which I
2:15
appreciate if you do uh the best way is
2:18
through patreon and of course you can
2:20
find out all about that also in the
2:22
description there's a link also just uh
2:25
just so you know I you know do a fair
2:27
amount of posting on Instagram and such
2:29
also I do you know some on Tik Tok and
2:32
and Facebook so uh if you want to really
2:34
keep up to date with me I'd suggest you
2:37
follow me on one of those especially
2:39
Instagram that's one I probably do the
2:41
most posting all
2:43
right let's dive in
2:46
so let's see a couple months ago JD Simo
2:50
who's of course a good friend of mine he
2:52
contacted me and he said it's finally
2:53
going to happen he said we're going to
2:55
have a reunion show uh it's going to be
2:59
for the the anniversary of Robert's
3:01
Western World which is of course Where
3:04
Da has played for many years and they're
3:08
going to block off you know part of
3:11
Broadway downtown
3:13
Nashville and they're going to set up a
3:15
big stage and they're going to have
3:17
music all day
3:18
long and then the
3:21
headliner is going to be Don Kelly with
3:24
all his uh guitar players that have
3:27
played with him through the years and so
3:29
I was just blown away I couldn't believe
3:32
it because I mean this is something we
3:34
kind of had all been kind of hoping
3:37
for and even with some of the interviews
3:40
and such like you know my interview with
3:42
Don you know there was part of me that
3:44
had hoped that we could uh you know get
3:46
a bunch of the you know guitar players
3:49
to to come to the the filming of that
3:51
and have them you know kind of interview
3:53
them some too about Dawn but it ended up
3:56
not working out so to me this was just
3:59
an amazing event and of course I had to
4:00
be there so finally the the date came
4:04
and I'll do a quick aside and and that's
4:08
two nights before I went and saw Vince
4:10
Gil at the Ryman and Vince hasn't played
4:12
one of his own shows in quite a while
4:14
because he's been busy with the Eagles
4:17
and so I went and saw Vince on Friday
4:21
night so of course I saw Don and the and
4:24
the guys on Monday but I saw Vince and
4:28
he had an amazing band and he had Tom
4:31
bukovac and Jed Hughes playing guit you
4:33
know playing guitar with him playing
4:35
mostly Rhythm and and uh you know of
4:38
course playing some phills and a solo
4:40
every once in a while but uh it was an
4:43
amazing 4-Hour show yes they did take
4:45
like a 30 minute break but still it was
4:48
at least two 90minut sets uh if not
4:53
longer and you know Vince is in his late
4:56
60s and uh I kind of expected some of
5:00
the songs to be in lower Keys or you
5:03
know I don't know but but he more than
5:06
lived up to uh he lived way beyond my
5:09
expectations all the songs were in the
5:11
same Keys uh I think he even told me
5:14
that one of the one of the songs he put
5:16
in a hierarch key just cuz he liked it
5:17
for the guitar
5:19
better and uh it was just an amazing
5:22
show so if you have a chance to see
5:25
Vince Gil go see him he's in his he's
5:28
still playing and singing like ever
5:31
before and he always has an amazing band
5:34
all right back to Don Kelly so Monday
5:37
night they have uh you know the the
5:41
concerts kind of going on all day long
5:44
and you know there's like the French
5:46
family band with Stewie French and sunny
5:49
French playing and uh you know Ronda
5:52
Vincent was playing when JD and I
5:54
arrived I uh decided to hitch a ride
5:57
with JD cuz I I just didn't want to go
5:59
by myself to Downtown Nashville with a
6:02
lot of people and dealing with parking
6:03
so we decided to just we met up and took
6:06
an Uber which ended up being the best
6:08
thing to do uh you know we took an Uber
6:11
to you know which they were able to drop
6:13
us off right near the stage and of
6:15
course we had uh you know I was helping
6:17
JD out with the you know I I carried his
6:20
guitar in a gig bag and he had his
6:22
headstrong little King amp and uh yeah
6:27
we got there and Ronda Vincent was
6:29
playing you know Bluegrass and it was
6:31
amazing and all of a sudden the other
6:33
guitar players started showing up and
6:34
there's red volkart and Brent Mason and
6:38
all you know Daniel Donado and uh you
6:41
know Luke mcquery and everyone's kind of
6:44
showing up and hanging out there's not
6:45
really a backstage area cuz you know
6:47
it's it's a a street concert so you know
6:50
it's a you know stage setup you know in
6:52
in the middle of the street so we're
6:54
just kind of hanging out and people are
6:55
saying hi and people are you know taking
6:58
photos and stuff like that and saying
7:00
hey you know hey red let me take a photo
7:02
with you and stuff like that and uh it
7:06
was just a really cool Vibe uh everyone
7:09
was just really happy to be there and
7:10
Don Kelly showed up and he you could
7:12
tell he was in high Spirits because this
7:14
was a tribute to him and this is
7:17
celebrating Dawn so he was uh he was
7:20
very uh grateful and and in High Spirits
7:24
and Joe Fick his bass player and and uh
7:28
Bill van vet the uh drummer they all you
7:32
know they were all
7:33
there and I was really wondering how the
7:36
concert was going to go and so I asked
7:38
JD and he said well I had made some
7:41
suggestions but it's just going to it's
7:42
Don's show and so he's going to do
7:44
whatever he wants I said great so all of
7:47
a sudden you know Ronda Vince's done
7:50
they've cleared the stage they've set up
7:52
you know all the guitar players and you
7:54
know you've got all these you know
7:55
Fender amps set up and the headstrong
7:58
that uh
8:00
brought and uh and Don says okay we're
8:04
going to start off with the main you
8:07
know the the last incarnation of the
8:09
band which of course is Joe Fick on bass
8:12
Bill van vet on drums and Luke mcquery
8:16
on guitar along with Don and then we're
8:18
going to have Brent Mason and red
8:20
volkart come out and
8:23
so wow I mean this was just amazing and
8:28
so you had red volkart and Brent Mason
8:31
of course Brent was the original guitar
8:32
player in the band he was actually in
8:34
the band Before Dawn but Don kind of
8:36
took it over and it was just ridiculous
8:41
um hearing Luke you know who's of course
8:45
the youngest he's the kid you know he
8:47
more than held his own with the other
8:49
guys and read with his just such an
8:53
individualistic you know kind of way of
8:56
playing and his kind of quirkiness
8:59
that's beautiful and Brent who is just
9:02
you know still at the top of his game uh
9:06
you know after 30 or 40 years as a
9:08
session guitar player uh it was an
9:12
amazing display and these guys there was
9:14
mutual respect you know when when one of
9:17
them was
9:18
soloing uh you know they would kind of
9:21
see if one of the other guitar players
9:22
was kind of playing Rhythm and the other
9:24
one would kind of really hold back and
9:26
they would really watch and pay
9:27
attention and listen of course they were
9:29
paying attention to Don because Don's
9:32
you know calling the shots and pointing
9:34
at them and telling them you know when
9:35
it's their turn to solo and so they went
9:38
you know round and round you know Brent
9:41
red and Luke you know playing solos and
9:44
it was
9:45
really uh a musical conversation you
9:48
know it wasn't just like you know here I
9:50
am and I'm going to play my hot
9:52
solo they would listen to what the
9:54
person had done before them and at times
9:57
they would kind of um respond to that
10:00
and they would play something in a
10:01
similar vein and other times you know
10:04
kind of that paragraph would they would
10:05
put a you know a period at the end of it
10:08
and someone would start something new
10:10
and then again it would happen and uh it
10:13
was a really really beautiful artistic
10:18
you know cuz you think it's just going
10:19
to be a bunch of guitar players playing
10:21
a bunch of notes but those guys really
10:25
really cared and they really wanted to
10:28
be there I you know
10:31
without giving up too much you know
10:33
Brent Mason was not feeling well that
10:36
night and uh and he showed up anyway and
10:40
just played amazing and of course red
10:43
had flown in you know he does he doesn't
10:45
live in Nashville he lives in Virginia
10:46
now and so he had uh he had flown or
10:49
drove in you know just just for this so
10:52
it was really really special so after
10:57
you know and of course Brent was playing
11:00
uh he had a roadworn Telly with a with a
11:02
bender on it that's kind of like it's
11:04
been kind of a backup guitar for him for
11:06
years and he had a twin and a pedal
11:08
board and red volkart he had you know he
11:11
it looked like a real black guard that
11:13
he had along with a grammatico amp with
11:16
JBL speakers like a like a Tweed twin
11:19
type thing you know 100 watt job and uh
11:23
even with that you know and Luke was
11:26
playing through a uh a backline deluxe
11:28
Reaver but all of them you know kind of
11:31
held their volume well Luke had that
11:33
kind of signature model well it's not
11:35
really a signature model yet but it's
11:36
you know a guitar that the custom shop
11:39
made for him that's a thin line with a a
11:41
mini humbucker in the neck and a regular
11:43
Telly Bridge
11:44
pickup so uh minimal you know pedals uh
11:49
yeah they just played beautifully
11:51
together and it was just a beautiful
11:53
moment and so those guys meaning Brent
11:57
and red they came off off the stage and
12:01
then Johnny Highland and JD Simo came up
12:05
and that was fantastic too you know just
12:08
in its own way and JD knowing that there
12:11
was going to be a lot of kind of
12:12
standard guitar playing JD purposefully
12:16
played a lot of slide just to do
12:18
something different because you know he
12:20
knew you know what Johnny Highland was
12:22
kind of going to do and you know and
12:24
Johnny does it so well plays so fast and
12:26
so
12:27
cleanly that uh he did he did more slide
12:30
and of course Johnny did some slide
12:32
playing too which was fun and uh and
12:34
that was a really you know special
12:36
moment and then you know the last kind
12:40
of lineup uh was Daniel Donado along
12:44
with David Graham got up and and they
12:47
did uh they did their thing and I really
12:50
you know I didn't know David very well
12:52
but he certainly played great Daniel
12:54
denado I've been uh I've really enjoyed
12:56
his playing and I've gotten to see him
12:58
you know grow up through the years I
12:59
remember him coming to the true tone
13:01
offices when he was like 13 or 14 years
13:03
old and he was an amazing guitar player
13:06
and I remember going and seeing Daniel
13:08
play with
13:12
um with Don Kelly and in the beginning
13:16
he was
13:18
good uh when he first started the gig
13:20
but then after you do that gig for a
13:23
while and again you're playing four or
13:25
five nights a week 4 hours a night and
13:27
you're the only soloist in the the band
13:30
well 6 months later when I I went again
13:33
and I think I took you know my my niece
13:35
was in town and so I took her with us
13:38
and we went and saw Daniel with the Don
13:41
Kelly Band and Daniel was jaw-dropping
13:45
good and he had improved so much just
13:48
his musicality the flow of his playing
13:50
you know muscle memory all those things
13:53
had really come together his chops were
13:55
just at an amazing level and that's what
13:56
happens with every guitar player that
13:58
plays in that band is they get amazingly
14:01
better and that's part of the the Don
14:03
Kelly thing was he would take these
14:05
guitar players that were really really
14:09
good and then he would make them great
14:11
by putting them through the paces and he
14:14
would tell them you know what he wanted
14:18
them to sound like and uh and I think
14:21
you that's part of his legacy is you
14:24
know pushing the uh you know people
14:26
think of Nashville as a telec in a
14:29
deluxe Reverb you know kind of town but
14:31
I mean part of it is Don Kelly kind of
14:35
pushed that especially kind of the whole
14:37
Gunslinger Telecaster guy Don Kelly is a
14:41
big part of that because he's done that
14:44
for 40 years he's had those Gunslingers
14:46
in his band and forever you know before
14:50
I moved here in the early 90s it's
14:51
always been who's playing who's in Don
14:54
Kelly's band now who's the hot new
14:56
guitar player and they always played a
14:57
Telecaster and they played a Telecaster
14:59
because of dawn you know and they and
15:02
even the reason Brent Mason Brent
15:04
Mason has to be one of the most
15:07
important guitar players and session
15:09
guitar players you know of the last you
15:12
know 40 years and such a huge influence
15:15
on the Nashville sound and the way the
15:18
Telecaster is used in country music and
15:22
the reason he plays a Telecaster is
15:24
because of Don Kelly you know Brent was
15:27
playing a hagstrom s which if you're not
15:29
familiar with it it's this you know kind
15:31
of less Paul Custom looking kind of
15:33
thing and Don was the one that convinced
15:37
him it's like hey you know you've got to
15:38
get a Telly and so they went both of
15:40
them got a
15:41
Telecaster uh you know Brent got a
15:43
blonde one and Don got the the gray one
15:48
and you know Brent ended up liking the
15:51
gray one better and so they swapped out
15:53
and that's that's the way it's been ever
15:55
since you know Brent Mason has been
15:57
playing that that a primer 67 Telly you
16:01
know that of course he added a bender
16:02
and multiple pickups and stuff like that
16:04
too but uh yeah and so I think you know
16:07
Dawn deserves you know some credit there
16:10
too and helping
16:11
making helping in making the Telecaster
16:15
really um synonymous with Nashville and
16:19
really making that a big part of the
16:21
sound you know because he put that in
16:23
Brent's hand and then in the 90s Brent
16:26
made the Telecaster sound just a big
16:29
part of 9s country which was really the
16:32
Zenith of the popularity of country
16:35
music and you know think about all the
16:37
Allen Jackson and you know Brooks and
16:40
Dunn and George straight and on and on
16:43
and on things that that Brent did but uh
16:47
yeah so it was a it was a killer show
16:51
and they ended it with playing Ghost
16:54
Riders in the Sky and you know really
16:58
that song
16:59
kind of got its legs when uh when JD
17:03
Simo was in the Don Kelly Band he's the
17:05
one that really turned it into like the
17:07
big showcase and you know of course JD
17:10
would go off into psychedelic land and
17:12
he'd you know sometimes bring like a
17:14
fuzz pedal or do something crazy and uh
17:18
you know uh so they they ended the night
17:21
with that song and everyone of course
17:23
took a great solo on that and there's uh
17:26
I think Premier Guitar uh has some video
17:30
of uh of them doing Ghost Riders in the
17:32
Sky and it was just a really cool ending
17:36
and uh a really great tribute to Dawn
17:40
and of course all the guitar players
17:42
that have been in the band uh there was
17:45
uh we were missing you know Guthrie trap
17:47
he had a scheduling conflict and so he
17:49
wasn't able to uh to be there and uh you
17:52
know he's another important chapter in
17:55
The Don Kelly band but uh the rest of
17:58
the guys were able to be there and it
17:59
was a really great celebration and uh I
18:04
was just delighted to be there and I you
18:07
know I was I was you know kind of s
18:09
stage with Joe Glazer and some other
18:11
guys and and uh you know we we just
18:13
marveled marveled as we uh you know
18:15
watched these Masters all get up there
18:18
with the great coach Don Kelly you know
18:21
it's kind of like it's kind of like all
18:23
these quarterbacks you know that are all
18:25
all all stars and they are all you know
18:27
getting up there with their Co one more
18:29
time and playing a game and you get to
18:30
watch it and it's just it was
18:33
amazing so yeah all right well I hope
18:39
you enjoyed today's episode just wanted
18:41
to give uh don Kelly and and his uh band
18:45
guys some love special love to JD Simo
18:47
my buddy that uh I'm especially proud of
18:51
his accomplishments uh with Don Kelly
18:54
and and and afterwards and of course his
18:56
friendship and uh I hope you guys are
18:59
all well and I'll see you next time
19:02
bye-bye