Jerry Douglas

Everyone has that friend, THE guy, who always has the insider’s edge on divine music. The highest quality bootlegs, the forgotten concert from 1972. Sometime in the mid 90’s my “guy” showed up with a shit-eating grin and a look of entitled excitement. He reached his doughy hand into a well worn black down jacket and emerged with two burned CDs. One of them was a live performance of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, and the other was a live performance of Bill Frisell. Bill was accompanied by a bass player I can't recall, and Jerry Douglas. At the time I didn’t know either of them but I have been a fiend of a fan ever since. I have listened to that recording, a fundraiser for WFUV in NYC, 100 times or more and gone on to explore their music collectively and individually. Two masters, three really, but unsure of the third.

I think what makes Jerry Douglas so unique is, first and foremost, his choice of instrument – The Dobro. I bet if you asked my mother what a dobro is she would tell you it was some kind of expensive designer purse. The second thing is his mastery of the instrument. In short, he rips! Finally, and arguably most importantly, he has a voice. He has a truly unique and expressive way of communicating musically, and as such, will be remembered in the hallowed halls of music’s greats.

In my clamoring to win artists’ interest to perform on Some Assembly Required – Jerry Douglas was again amongst the first I thought of. Trouble was I didn’t know him, and really didn’t have a credible way to reach out to him. Lightning struck one Tuesday afternoon. I was chatting with a rep at Fishman Transducers – the technology firm that makes the electronics I use to amplify my acoustic guitars. The artist rep there was describing a custom build they did for Dave Matthews’s “blah blah blah” for “XYZ” and for Jerry Douglas. I politely listened to him describe the device in terms that were far beyond my meager and confused mind, and then I struck. “Hey man – I'm putting together this record...”

A few weeks later I was scanning my inbox and there sat a shimmering email from sender: Jerry Douglas. “Hey Reid, thanks for thinking of me...” And so came my introduction to Jerry Douglas, and my chance to collaborate with a truly unique and inspired ambassador of American music.