
Growing up in a musical family, Nashville session ace Sonny Garrish was surrounded by musical ambition at an early age. His father, who wanted to be a professional musician, began using Sonny in his various bands when he was as young as seven. By fifteen Sonny was no longer singing with his father, but backing him on steel guitar. While still a senior in high school, Sonny started playing with a group of musicians from nearby Washington, DC A standing gig in Fairfax, Virginia at Hunter's Lodge, which often hired Nashville talent such as Johnny Paycheck for weekend gigs, led Garrish to his first job in Nashville. After giving his number to members of Bill Anderson's band, the bandleader called Garrish and offered him a job. That opportunity led to session work and for the next several years, Sonny slowly built a name for himself around Nashville. In 1975, Sonny recorded an album titled, Country Soul Stew. That album (LP) has never been reissued on CD. The liner notes tell Sonny's story in his own words. Sonny wrote or co-wrote nine of the fourteen pedal steel instrumental songs on the album. Sonny is a pedal steel guitarist who is able to hear more in a tune than the person who wrote it. In his own compositions he is able to build on the musical ideas that trace through his mind and then capture those thoughts with his guitar. Not an overnight success by any stretch of the imagination, Sonny often put his name on substitute lists, filling in for the first choice musicians <b>...</b>
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