Musician’s Hall of Fame Announces 2016 Inductees
Jerry Reed and Ricky Skaggs may still be on the outside looking in when it comes to the Country Music Hall of Fame, but the Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville, located on the other side of downtown in the Municipal Auditorium, has decided these two country music superpickers are worthy of induction. And along with Garth Brooks and his ‘G’ Men—the studio players who’ve appeared on every one of his albums—they comprise the country music inductees in the Hall of Fame’s 2016 class.
Not exclusively a country music institution, the Musician’s Hall of Fame has also announced that the soul hitmakers of the Sigma Sound Studio will also be part of the 2016 class, and estranged Eagles guitarist Don Felder will receive the “Iconic Riff Award” for his work on the guitar solo for “Hotel California”—possibly the most well-recognized extended guitar solo in American music.
Engineer Awards were also announced for Lou Bradley, Mark Miller, Ron “Snake” Reynolds and Joe Tarsia, and the Producer Award is going to long-time Garth Brooks collaborator Allen Reynolds, making Garth and his studio support staff the marquee inductees in 2016. Garth’s studio players are scheduled to give a rare performance with him for the October 26th induction ceremony.
Though known by most as performers, both Jerry Reed and Ricky Skaggs are recognized as being masters of their instruments of guitar and mandolin respectively. Both can be found on countless recordings without their names on the covers, and have great respect among their musician peers. Both have also been mentioned as finalists for the Country Music Hall of Fame for the last few years.
Garth Brooks, though an attention-grabbing pick, has been a long supporter of the Musicians Hall of Fame and shining a spotlight on the side men and session players who many times go unheralded in music.
The Musicians Hall of Fame was formed in 2006, and also houses a world-class collection of musical instruments and memorabilia. In 2010 they were forced to move from their original location after local authorities issued an eminent domain notice on the property, ultimately resulting in numerous instruments getting damaged in Nashville’s 2010 floods as the institution searched for a new home.
September 7, 2016 @ 8:41 am
Pretty cool article.
September 7, 2016 @ 8:45 am
Glad to hear this. Jerry Reed has got to be the most underrated guitarist of all time.
September 7, 2016 @ 12:05 pm
nah, it’s either Roy Clark, Don Rich or Buckethead. but Jerry Reed has got to be in the top ten, he was s a pretty groovy pciker with some real unqique chops
September 7, 2016 @ 10:04 am
Note to anyone visiting Nashville: the Musicians Hall of Fame is definitely worth a stop, despite its somewhat out of the way location and off-the-radar status. A friend recommended it to me and I made a point of getting there on my last trip–very impressive place and well-done. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.
September 7, 2016 @ 11:07 am
Congrats both to Jerry Reed and Ricky Skaggs.
I’m particular happy about Ricky Skaggs. Here’s a young Ricky Skaggs then he was part of Emmylou’s “Hot Band” : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6-WAS5cUus
Love to see these old filmclips. Saw her and the Hot band Gothenburg in the end of the seventies. Bring back so many good memories…
Don Felder was also a great choice that solo in “Hotel California” It’s absolutely amazing….
September 7, 2016 @ 11:25 am
“Garth Brooks, though an attention grabbing pick”. You left out the “r”.
September 13, 2016 @ 5:10 pm
Yeah why don’t I take that ‘r’ and shove it up your ass.
September 9, 2016 @ 8:11 am
Joe Tarsia of Sigma Sound in Philly is a good choice. As Motown’s influence faded, Philadelphia International Records picked up the slack. Producers (Kenny) Gamble & (Leon) Huff, and Bunny Sigler worked with Joe on many soul classics like The Intruders “Cowboys to Girls”, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”, the Spinners “Rubberband Man”, and the classic ” Me and Mrs Jones” by Billy Paul. Sigma Sound had one of the first 24 track set ups in the country.