Click on the green thumbpick to launch a flash player of my impromptu studio jam session with Ben Owens on Sunday July 22, 2007. This should launch a flash player in a seperate window which you can listen to while browsing the rest of the site. Be sure you give it time to load...

Ben and I had never met until the day before this was recorded. He and his family were returning to California after the annual Chet Atkins Appreciation Society convention in Nashville. The Owens family stayed with us and Ben gave me a good schooling in how to fingerpick a guitar. Ben is a fantastic player, has his own CD out, and you can learn more about him and how to get a copy at

http://www.benowensguitar.com

As you can tell, Ben and I have a common love of fingerstyle guitar and were both raised on Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, Jerry Reed, and others. We also have newer heros in common like Tommy Emmanuel, Doyle Dykes, Richard Smith, etc.

What we don't have in common is that Ben is 18 years old, and I am - uh - just a little more than that. And Ben is leaving me in the dust - I think you will agree his picking is incredible. I just ran around behind him with a flashlight trying to keep up in the dark.

Ben's family arrived at our house Saturday afternoon. After getting acquainted, we practiced a couple tunes to play together at church the next morning. We stayed up too late, of course, and had to get up early. Sunday, we played at two church services - then it was off to a 2 1/2 hour gig at Ziggi's Coffee House. The recording you are listening to now was made late Sunday night after all of that. Mostly I wanted Ben to meet Paul Andrews and see the studio. But when the guitars came out, the red light was left on and what you hear is the result. Obviously it's not polished or rehearsed. I hope what you will enjoy hearing is two Chet nuts having fun finding out what all they had in common.

So here are the track descriptions you will hear from our unrehearsed night at the studio:

(Song titles are in quotes. Dialog tracks start with ****)

1. "I'll See You In My Dreams" - This is a great old tune made popular as a guitar instrumental, first by Merle Travis and later Chet Atkins.

2. **** Do you know Avalon?

3. "Avalon" - I had always wanted to learn Avalon. Ben gave me a crash course.

4. **** We don't know Mr. Sandman!

5. **** Digital is free.

6. "Windy And Warm" - Another mandatory classic for Chet pickers everywhere.

7. **** The Song That Never Ends...

8. **** Cartoon Theme and more silliness. - By now it was late, and we were getting a little punchy...

9. "Old Smokey Mountains"

10. **** Chopsticks

11. "Blue Moon"

12. **** Two endings for the price of one.

13. "Stompin' At The Savoy" - Ben took this one solo and had just started learning it the week before.

14. **** At a reasonable tempo...

15. "Jerry's Breakdown" - Proof that this session was unrehearsed. This is a song I really do know but between playing it on a steel rather than nylon string guitar, and playing it at warp speed, I truly did break down on this one.

16. **** I didn't mean to go that fast!

17. "Deep Deep Love Of Jesus - Battle Of Jericho" - This is a little medley we played at church. Although I enjoyed sitting in, the arrangement of Deep Deep Love is entirely Ben's and is on his album which you should go buy right now. http://www.benowensguitar.com

18. **** Studio musicians.

19. "Soldier Medley"

20. "Jordan's Stormy Banks"

21. "Walzing Matilda" - Wherein we learn that I can't sing - or shouldn't.

22. **** Almost a CD!

23. **** Cascade practice

24. "Cascade" - Another tune on my "that's a nylon string song" excuse list.

25. "Blackberry Blossom" - I actually do know this tune on the banjo, but something got lost in the translation trying to keep up with Ben on the guitar. For a fingerpicker, Ben has more than his fair share of flatpicking skills.

26. "Lonesome Fiddle Blues" - OK, that's it. When nobody's looking, I'm gonna start getting a flatpick out once in awhile and work on this one. Thanks for the lesson Ben!