Riders In The Sky

"As a much younger man I was lucky enough to have met many of the great singing cowboys who inspired our career, including, of course, Gene and Roy, as well as Jimmy Wakely, Eddie Dean, Bob Nolan, Lloyd Perryman, and no one I enjoyed more than Ray Whitley and his vivacious wife Kay.  I was lucky enough to play Ray's historic 1937 custom made Gibson many times (it is now in the Country Music Hall of Fame) and always wished I could have one like it; to me it's the perfect singing cowboy guitar (Gene Autry, Tex Ritter, Jimmy Wakely, Rosalie Allen and many other legends later got one, although fewer than 90 were reportedly made before world war II).

My dreams came true the other day when Ren Ferguson, the master craftsman at Gibson's Montana plant, sent me a contemporary version of this historic guitar.  Out of the box it is drop dead gorgeous with a big sound which will ripen with age and playing time. I just thought I'd share with you a shot of Ray's original guitar, a publicity still of Ray, and me with my gorgeous new treasure, thanks to Ren Ferguson and Doug Koffinke at Gibson.  Hats off to you gentlemen for a modern masterpiece.

More good news yet: a Ranger Doug/Ren Ferguson designed Gibson archtop (as yet unnamed) prototype is in the works, and I'll share it with you when I get the guitar.

For now, when ever I need a flat top, I'll turn to the perfect cowboy guitar: my Ray Whitley