Monday, April 16, 2007

Redd Volkert

Yet another great telecaster player that many have heard, but few have heard of. Redd Volkert took Roy Nichols' place in Merle Haggard's band, and has done a countless amount of studio work in the country genre. His playing is a bit more twisted than Nichols, and he is cited by Brad Paisley as his main influence.

A great example of Redd's twisted take on country guitar can be heard on Brad Paisley's instrumental on the "Mud on the Tires" album titled "Spaghetti Western Swing." Volkert and Paisley trade leads back and forth, and with the exception of Paisley's unmistakable tone, become nearly indistinguishable. Crazy, way-outside-the-box modal stuff, with insane chops on top of it. Very cool.

Also, there is a Merle Haggard album on which he re-cuts his hits with a new band, and they are all fantastic players. Redd is featured very well on that album. A truely talented and tasteful player.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Redd spells his name Volkaert and everything you said is true.

Lost_N_Austin

Karl Straub said...

hi eric,

just wanted to tell you about my telecaster instruction site,

www.karlstraubcountryguitar.blogspot.com/

it has transcriptions, recordings, and discussions about telecaster music.
thanks!

karlstraub@hotmail.com