Joe, You are one of the best !

Thanks for the warm welcome ! Yes, I am a music lover and I am sorry I never learned to play guitar. A little more about my dad, who I worshiped the ground he walked on.

My dad was a pretty damn good "Guitar Picker" and had only a 4th grade education. He was a child during the hard times and had to quit school early to help the family. He was plowing fields at 9 years old. He was a Hard Workin' Kid. But a lot of em' were back in those days.

Even after childhood he never had a easy life due to his lack of education. He Bought his first guitar, the 53 Gibson J-45 I mentioned above, brand new in 1953. And once he picked it up he never let it go.

I remember as a child growing up watching my "Good Old Pop" playing that guitar every chance he got. He loved Gibson & Martin Guitars, talked about em' a lot. He also liked Martin Strings the best.

He was a Alabama Boy and a self taught old school front porch picker. He never knew how to read music but he learned by watching other pickers and he picked up on it fast, he was a natural. And every weekend when he was off work you would find him sitting out on the porch with either his glass of ice tea or a cold beer picking away on that guitar.

He was really in to the Johnny Cash stuff and lots of other old tunes as well. The song I remember the most of him playing was "Folsom Prison Blues". He would really get in to the lead licks on that one, LOL !

He made it look pretty easy and had the Rockabilly style. Although he was a good guitar player he didn't have the patience to teach others to play so I never did learn. But now that I look back on it all, I feel pretty good that I had the gift of watching my Poppa Play! In his later life he bought a Banjo and was teaching himself to play it too, and he was getting pretty good on it as well. He was a good man and I will forever be grateful of all the good times I had growing up and watching him play. Love You Pop, RIP.

Welling Up, better stop !

As for me, I have been thinking about starting to play lately but finding the time would be hard for me. My wife & I have a Horse ranch with over 40 horses so I am pretty busy working. But I have been thinking about learning guitar as it would be a bit of a tribute to my dad if I were to learn to play. I definitely am like my dad as Guitar is my favorite instrument, I just love the sound of a guitar and there is so much you can do with one musically.

Thanks again for the warm welcome and I am looking forward to learning from and contributing to this site as time allows. Happy New Year To All!