Brad Paisley's All-Star Instrumental Album

Brad Paisley photo courtesy of Arista Nashville.

June 16, 2008 — Brad Paisley’s been working for several months on an instrumental album that promises to be quite good for a number of reasons — not the least of which is the stellar cast of guest musicians that appear on the disc.

One track has Brad swapping solos with the seven guitarists who were his biggest influence on the Telecaster: Vince Gill, Steve Wariner, ex-Desert Rose Band member John Jorgenson, Brent Mason (who played on "Chattahoochee"), Albert Lee ("Two More Bottles Of Wine"), James Burton ("Burning Love") and Redd Volkaert, of Merle Haggard’s Strangers.

"You’d think that could be a disaster," Brad says of the crowded lineup, "but it worked out really well the way everything’s arranged. There’s enough room for everybody to show off a little bit."

One of Brad’s favorite moments came when he recorded "More Than Just A Song" with longtime friend Steve Wariner. The song is a tribute to two of their guitar teachers: Hank Goddard, who taught Brad in West Virginia; and Chet Atkins, who employed Steve and produced his first RCA recordings.

"He played Chet’s guitar, and then I played Hank’s," Brad notes. "The song ends with those two guitars playing finger-style together and fades out, and it’s one of my favorite pieces of romance that I’ve ever captured on tape."

The session also included one of those this-was-meant-to-be moments. Both of their mentors have passed away, and Brad opened up Hank’s guitar case for the first time at the recording session.

"In the case, right there sitting on it, was the bulleting from his funeral service," Brad recalls. "When Steve saw it opened — he was just carrying in Chet’s guitar — he said, ‘Oh, you are gonna flip out.’ He opened up Chet’s guitar and in it was his funeral service from where Steve was the music director for it, and they’re sitting there, both of them identical looking, both of them a black-and-white bulletin with their photo."

Those two pictures will likely be incorporated in the artwork for the album, which will also pair Brad up with the late Buck Owens and with blues legend B.B. King. A release date has yet to be announced.