From Russell Moore, of "Third Tyme Out"…

THE MAN BEHIND THE GUITAR

The guitar I play is a 1938 Martin D-28 (herringbone), #71111. I've been playing this guitar (except when we fly) for about six years now. It has also been the guitar I've done almost all my recording with since I acquired it (I used a different guitar on the song 'New Faces In the Fields' from the 'Letter to Home' recording). It is a wonderful guitar with a full, rich, dry tone that some guitars never achieve, even after sixty-two years of aging!

I've been asked, by several people, where the guitar came from, so I'll do my best to tell the story here. Around 1982 or 1983, I was performing with a band called Southern Connection that consisted of Scott and Curtis Vestal, Marc Keller and myself. We were playing at the Strange Family Bluegrass Festival in Texarkana, TX. when I met a man by the name of Doug Cole. Doug had a sound company called 'C and N Sound' and was running audio at this festival. He expressed his admiration for our band and I talked to him about how much we enjoyed performing over his sound system and what a great job he was doing. As I recall, we talked quite a bit at this festival and we both seemed to enjoy each other's company. Our friendship started there. Doug ran sound for several festivals in the area that Southern Connection performed in, so our paths seemed to cross quite a bit.

It wasn't long after we met in Texarkana that we were performing at a festival in Arkansas (I think it was called the Apple Family Bluegrass Festival) and Doug was running sound for this show. Before the show started that day, we were talking at Doug's campsite when he told me he had a guitar he wanted me to look at. This was the first time that I laid eyes on the guitar that I'm playing now. I was in awe of the sound coming from the guitar and asked if he was in the mood to sell it. With a short laugh, he told me it was not for sale. I remember telling him that if he ever wanted to get 'rid' of it that I would like to know.

Over the next several years, we would see each other at festivals and concerts and talked to each other on the phone from time to time and our friendship grew. Every now and then, I would ask Doug if he still had that 'guitar' that I played in Arkansas. I couldn't get it out of my mind! About 1994, we were on our way to Tulsa, OK. for a performance at the Bluegrass Festival and Chili Cook-off. Doug was running a show in Memphis, TN. called the Lucy Opry and we stopped by for a short visit on our way through. When we got there, Doug and I talked for a while, catching up on the latest and reminiscing some old times, when he asked if I remembered that 'guitar' that I played in Arkansas. He pointed to a table and told me it was under there in 'that black case' and told me to check it out and see what I thought about it now. I just thought I liked the guitar before!! It sounded better than I had remembered and my mouth watered from the excitement of playing such a fine instrument. Then Doug blew me away when he told me to take the guitar with me and play it and record with it and 'treat it like it was mine'!! I couldn't believe it! I asked if he was sure that was okay with him and he assured me that it was. I was excited and scared to death to be playing this guitar and, at the same time, to be entrusted with it. I later found out that Doug and Ray Deaton had been talking about the guitar prior to that night and had already arranged for Doug to bring it out to me. I had spoken many times with Ray about my infatuation for the guitar and he relayed this to Doug. So Ray is, at least, partly responsible for this taking place. THANKS RAY!!!

Over the next three years, I played and recorded with the guitar and talked to Doug often about it. I asked him if he would be interested in selling it during this time and he still said no, but that IF he ever did decide to sell it, I would be the first one to know. That call came in 1997/98. He told me if I still wanted it, that he was ready to sell. Can you guess what my answer was??!!

While talking to Doug on the phone just the other night. I asked about how he acquired the guitar. He said he bought it from the Melody Music store in Memphis around 1962/63. It was traded in for a new Yamaha guitar. Doug had told the owner to call him if he ever got in a used Martin. He paid $250.00 dollars for the guitar and case.

I would like to share with you some things about Doug that some people don't know (this is for the people that don't know him). His love for bluegrass music is as real as the music itself. If there's a finer gentleman in this world, I don't know him! He has worked hard at promoting bluegrass (he ran the Lucy Opry for thirty-two years, until about three years ago) and has provided great sound for festivals and concerts, even in other types of music. Some of the people that he has known, picked with or ran sound for are: Jake Tullock, Don Gibson, Lois Adkins, the Webster Bros., Hank (Sugarfoot) Garland, Dale Potter, Paul Justice, the Platters and Chubby Checker, just to name a few. In the 1940's, while living in Trenton, GA., Doug also played in a band with Norman Blake called the Dixieland Drifters. He speaks of his musical life with an excitement that some of us may never know. There is much more to his 'story' than written here.

I am proud to know Doug as well as I do and I am thankful for the friendship that we share. The guitar is a symbol of that friendship and means much more than the money that it's worth and I'm glad to have been able to share a little bit of information about 'the man behind the guitar'.

Russell

**** Note: After a long illness, Doug Cole passed away June 5, 2001. He is missed by all who knew and loved him. He is survived by his wife of many years, Ramona, and his two sons, Douglas B. "Tommy" Cole and Scott Michael Cole.