RDG
In Lieu of a Bio
Ronny Dean Garrett was born and raised in Texas, and as he likes to put it, “all of Texas”! As far as bio, well, the usual. Family members played, sang in church, sang in talent shows, sang in the back rooms of truck stops (filling stations back in my day), joined bands, learned the trade the only right way. Gigs! Moved to Milwaukee, had a great time and played with some awesome cats.Moved to Nashville and learned to speak a little Nashvillian, but apparently not enough!! But, all in all, it was and is a good thing. Writes songs and sings them. Nuff sed!In lieu of a typical bio_______________________________________
PART ONE
PA” Around 1989 we moved to Nashville and commenced the long journey. The landlord of the house we rented was a cool guy and when he found out why I moved to Nashville, he mentioned that our neighbor was a musician. That’s all he said. a couple weeks went by and I was wiring up the muffler on my truck when a guy walked up and said,” Hey, I’m your neighbor, thought I’d say hi. I crawled out from under my truck and shook hands with Townes Van Zandt. Long story short, he ended up recording quite a bit in my studio. He liked it because it was comfortable, I got a killer sound, (he really liked the vocal sound), and I just treated him like any one else. There were quite a few ahem…….interesting times in dealing with Townes, but hey, those will go to my grave. One cool story tho. Around xmas time, that first year, me and Clay Williams were in my studio listening to songs and drinking some early xmas cheer when the phone rang. It was Townes, and he wanted me to come over and meet some people. It was Guy and Susan Clark. I had already met Susan cause she had recorded some demos with me and Guy wanted to check out my studio. So, we all went over and listened to songs and finished the rest of my whitskee and had a big old time. Several years later, after Townes passed, Jeanene called me and said they were using several of the songs he had recorded in my studio on a new project. She asked if I wanted to be mentioned and I said to give my studio a plug. The album is called “A Far Cry From Dead”. In the reviews written about it, I’m the “neighbor’s studio” mentioned. Only in Nashville!!!!”
PART TWO
“I thought I’d share a few choice events that I was a part of, from time to time. I hadn’t been in Nashville very long when I met Casey Kelly, (among many great songs, he wrote Cowboy Rides Away). He was sort of overseeing a writers show and after a couple of encounters, he asked if I wanted to do a showcase of about 5 songs. I jumped at the chance and we set the date and he told me there would be a couple other writers but I would go last. As I’m walking into the club that night, Ii hear someone singing “She Thinks I Still Care”!!! I’m thinking, I thought this was a writers’ show? what the hell? I get in and look up and you got it, Dickey Lee!!!! I’m thinking, damn, I’ve screwed up the dates or something. Casey says, nope, you’re up next. I said, “Casey, man, I don’t have any cuts or nothing. He says, no, but you will. ahhh good ole Casey. Thanks for believing man.
PART THREE
“. . . around 1997 Greg Koch had come to Nashville and thoroughly rocked a song my friend Cam King wrote called “Home Is Where My Harley Is“, and I had traveled to Milwaukee and sang some songs on Greg’s latest CD. That winter, I was in Milwaukee to participate in Greg’s CD release gig and Jeff Favre (Brett’s brother) was in the audience. One thing led to another and next thing you know, Greg’s trio and me were being flown to San Diego to play the Packer Backer”s party for the 98 Super Bowl. Well, as you can imagine, a good time was had by all. The things that happened that week can only be discussed in a sound-proof room. That crazy Favre family!!!! Anyways, while we were there, Greg and I were playing the Harley tune for various ears, and a germ of an idea began to form. When Greg got back to Milwaukee, he got it to a friend who got it to someone who finally got it to a certain Mr. Davidson himself!Time went by, and as the 95th Harley reunion started taking form, it was decided that the song should be featured in some local commercials in Milwaukee. Miller Beer and Harley-Davidson. I’m in my studio one day here in Nashville, when i get a call from a guy who has a ticket waiting for me at the airport to fly me to Milwaukee to be in a commercial. When Gregand I got to the location (an old motel), the director came up to me and said “so you’re the Harley man”. I recognized him and i said,” so you’re one of the cab drivers in Taxi-cab Confessions (HBO). He laughed, and said, “well, also the director”. That’s right, I was in a commercial directed by Todd Phillips. Of course, way before Old School and Hangover!!!! Well, even though, the commercials were supposed to be local, ours went national. I was watching the Bulls playing one night on tv, and bam!, there it was!. Oh yeah, as a resultwe got to open for the Doobies at the Harley fest. Way cool!
PART FOUR
” Well, as everyone knows, a lot of cool things happen in the fair city of Amarillo. Back in the 80’s, the Sheraton on I-40 was a good gig for local bands. I had played there with a couple of top 40 acts that consisted of Norris Mealer, Jay Weeks, Jerry Thompson, Steve Hathaway, and Joe Hendricks. The last band I was in that played there was a roots-rock trio with me, Kim Loe, and Skitty. . Among the stuff we were doing was about half a dozen Carl Perkins songs. Got there one night and the place was jumping. Packed! Western Merchandisers was having its yearly partay and the hotels were full. Well, we played the first set and I went to the bar, and a guy started asking me about my bass and being very complimentary about our song choice. He said he was a bass player and his name was Greg Perkins! I said, “your brother wouldn’t happen to play drums, would he”? He laughed and said, “yeah, he’ll be here in a minute”. So, the rest of the night, we kept talking during breaks, and before they left, they told me to hang around after the gig and see what happens. Wink, wink! Sure enuff, everyone was gone except me and the bartender, and Carl Perkins and sons walked in. I walked up and shook hands and he invited me to go eat breakfast with them. So we did. It was one of the coolest things ever!!! One of the original Sun Gods!!!”
