boogieongtr
Active member
- Joined
- May 16, 2006
- Messages
- 938
I thought I’d share the back story and pics of my day playing my ’60 Burst on stage with Greg Martin and The Kentucky Headhunters, on July 29, 2016. About three years ago, I got a phone call, and the caller introduced himself as Greg Martin, guitar player for the Kentucky Headhunters. Before he could finish his introduction, I blurted out, “Oh yeah, the Hank Plank!” I told Greg that the pic of his ‘58 LP has been hanging in my shop since it was pictured in Vintage Guitar magazine. I have always loved Greg’s tone and playing, especially his slide work. Greg had a 1955 Goldtop he wanted converted to a ‘57 but didn’t know who could do the work. He called his friend, Ed King, to see if he knew anyone who could do the conversion. (Greg had filled in for Ed with Lynyrd Skynyrd when Ed was sidelined with an injury). Having done 3 conversions for Ed, he recommended me for the job. I did the conversion and shipped it back to Greg. He liked the guitar but wanted a set of pickups with outputs close to the ones in Hank. I had my friend, Mark Stow (owner of OX4 pickups), wind a set to the Hank specs. After receiving the pickups, I called Greg and we made arrangements to meet at a show he was doing near my home so I could install the new pickups. I asked Greg if he ever took Hank on the road, and he blew me away by graciously offering to bring it to the show. OK, now it’s the day of the show and here’s where the fun begins. There’s a knock on my hotel door and it’s Greg with the ‘55 Goldtop and another case in hand. We meet, talked and I swapped out the pickups and did a set up so Greg could play it that night on stage. With business done, it’s time to open the other case—(drumroll)—OMG it’s the Hank Plank in all its glory! We jammed for a while and then Greg said, “Here, keep Hank until after the show,” and he left. I was in awe and spent a couple of hours going over and measuring Hank’s specs and playing it. The show that night was the first time I had seen the Kentucky Headhunters live, and they didn’t disappoint. Greg’s tone and playing left me admiring him even more. Fast forward a year …. a good friend of mine, Jay, stops by my shop and notices the autographed picture of the Kentucky Headhunters hanging right below the pic of Hank. He asks me if I know the band and I told him I had done a conversion for Greg Martin, the guitar player. He shared that the following year was his 20th year anniversary of being in business and he wanted to do something special. (Jay owns a business that does commercial & residential overhead doors. Every year he puts on a classic car show, does a hog roast, and provides free food for everyone, plus, hires a couple local bands for entertainment. My band, Signature, has played the event for the past 8 years.) Being a big fan of Southern Rock, Jay asked me if I could get a hold of The Headhunters and get some prices to see if he could bring them to Northwest Ohio in the summer of 2016. It’s now fall of 2015 and we’ve worked out the date, Jay has signed the contract, and we’ve worked out the event details. This was going to be a free concert with my band, Signature, opening up for the Headhunters. This next part I’m including only because it’s how life can throw you a curve ball when you least expect it. In February of 2016, I was diagnosed with Stage 1 squamous cell tongue cancer. What a shocker as I don’t smoke, dip, or chew. April 1, I had surgery where they removed 1/3 of my tongue and did reconstruction surgery on my tongue. I also had a neck dissection (removed my right neck muscle and lymph glands). Six weeks after the surgery, all margins and pathology were clear so I started radiation treatments. I went thru 10 of the scheduled 30 sessions and decided to stop the treatments. The radiation and terrible side effects were really kicking my butt. Now, it’s 7 weeks until the show and I’m a mess. I had lost 25 pounds from being on a liquid diet, lost a lot of hair from the radiation beams entrance and exit, lost all taste, had mouth sores, sore throat and my energy level was down to around 50%. I decided that no matter what, I was going to get healthy enough to open up for the Headhunters. I started pushing myself to walk a mile a day, did a daily light exercise routine, added protein shakes to my diet, and forced myself to eat, even though it was difficult. I rested more, which is very unusual for me, and worked only 6 hours a day in my shop. The first month was tough as I saw very little progress. As it got closer to the concert, Greg and I were talking on the phone and he asked me to sit in with the Headhunters on a couple blues tunes. (One Way Out & Let’s work Together). Needless to say, that gave me the push to keep trying to get better. This was going to be a once in a lifetime happening for me, so now I had a new goal and 3 weeks to get there. To top it off, I would be playing my ’60 Burst and Greg would play Hank. On the day of the concert, everything came together, I felt great, and I was so stoked to be playing with Greg, it was an epic day! But enough said, I’ll let the pics finish the story. Greg, thank you again Bro, for your friendship and encouragement. This was a very special day and a highlight in my life!
Greg digging into the Goldtop conversion
Greg digging into the Goldtop conversion
