On Monday 29 August 2022, Gene Watson reflected on meeting Jamie Dailey (of Dailey & Vincent) and Darin Shiflett & Kelcey O’Neil (of the Buddy Emmons brand) at The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on Tuesday 16 August 2022.
‘It was 16 August 2022, a Tuesday night at The Opry – we were proud to be in the original Roy Acuff (Tuesday 15 September 1903 – Monday 23 November 1992) dressing room, which is right next to the stage.
That night we were unveiling our new Emmons Steel Guitar that our extraordinary steel player, Boo Miller, would be playing for the first time on The Opry (his first time at The Opry, as well as the new steel guitar).
The esteemed Emmons brand is now under new ownership by Darin Shiflett and Kelcey O’Neil. They continue to honour the legacy of Buddy Emmons (Wednesday 27 January 1937 – Wednesday 29 July 2015), producing the world’s best-sounding pedal steel guitar.
One of the many wonderful things backstage at The Opry is getting to visit with other Opry members and friends we don’t see often enough.
Our buddy, Jamie Dailey of the great Dailey & Vincent, stopped by, and we snapped this photo’
Source
• Gene Watson on Facebook
Buddy Emmons (Wednesday 27 January 1937 – Wednesday 29 July 2015) was one of the steel guitar playing elite within the country music industry in Nashville and, between 1993 and 1997, left his indelible steel guitar sound on a number of Gene Watson’s albums, including ‘Uncharted Mind‘ (Step One Records, 1993), ‘The Good Ole Days‘ (Step One Records, 1996), ‘Jesus is All I Need‘ (Step One Records, 1997) and ‘A Way to Survive‘ (Step One Records, 1997).
In 2001, Buddy Emmons came out of retirement to play steel guitar, on all tracks, on Gene Watson’s ‘From The Heart‘ (RMG Records, 2001).
On Thursday 24 September 2004, Buddy Emmons (Wednesday 27 January 1937 – Wednesday 29 July 2015) graciously contributed a ‘Peer’s Quote’ about Gene Watson.