The Carter Brothers recently signed an endorsement agreement with with famed handmade guitar crafter's J.W. Gallagher & Son. This is Doc Watson's original Gallagher G-50 'Ol Hoss that Danny plays, a guitar he grew up listening to in NC. I custom dreadnaught design 'Danny Reid Carter Signature' model will be available Summer 2009.

As a kid growing up in North Carolina I used to watch the masterful and gifted guitarist Doc Watson. We grew up not far from Doc’s home in Deep Gap in the northwest
mountains of NC. I would always get a seat on the side of the stage as close to ‘ol Doc as I could and laser my vision on his hands and listen to his guitar and the rich beautiful tones that swirled about the stage and watch the
fireworks commence. As time went on we eventually became acquainted and the Carter Brothers have done many shows with him since then. Doc played, and still
does play, J.W. Gallagher & Son Guitars. The instrument was dubbed ‘Ol Hoss’ by Doc and became synonymous and almost as famous as Doc himself. This was in the late 1960’s when he played his first Gallagher, then a fledgling
business making totally hand crafted guitars. I used to stand backstage with Doc sometimes and always wanted to reach out, grab ‘Ol Hoss’ and play that beautiful thing. I probably could have done that too but I was to shy(if you can believe that) and in awe of the great man. He never offered and I never asked. The guitar was retired a few years ago and has done time at the Smithsonian and the Country Music Hall of Fame. It is now back, sitting in a little dusty climate controlled room at the Gallagher shop in a magical little
village named Wartrace, TN (pop. 476). This is where the Gallagher family has been making world class custom hand made instruments for three generations. Some even refer to the guitars as the Stradivarius of acoustic guitars!.

Yesterday, Thursday March 12 2009 I was standing alone in that dusty little room in the dusty but immaculate shop in Wartrace playing ‘Ol Hoss’. It was kind of like an out of
body experience is the only way I can describe it. I was just recently blessed, from out of left field, to have Stephen Gallagher offer me an artist endorsement deal to design my very own ‘Danny Reid Carter Signature’ model instrument. I was down there checking on the progress of the guitar. I was spellbound holding the body in my hand(they’re building two indentical) as I looked around the shop at only five artisans working on guitars in the different stages of construction…and it is true folks, these things are made totally built and tuned by hand. I designed my guitar a couple of months ago with Stephen(beautiful person and has become a great friend). I chose the Doc Watson
model that has been in their catalogue for many years as the basic design. A custom Dreadnaught and a perfect replica of ‘Ol Hoss’, easily the best sounding instrument they make.
I added scalloped bracing on the inside, an ‘invisible’ armrest, tortoise shell binding and a totally custom mother-of-pearl inlay on the fretboard reflecting my obsession with outer space and the planetary system. The sides and back are African mahogany, the top is Sitka spruce while the neck is a solid piece of Honduran rosewood with ebony finger board. I did not stray far from ‘Ol Hoss’ for the
basics. My brother Tim, who also signed a deal, brought home a brand new Doc Watson model a few weeks ago we were down designing my guitar. My friend George Harper came along for the ride yesterday and videotaped everything along with me and Tim’s friend, business partner and president of our Tree O Records music label Brian Budzinski. When you ever see the video(it will be posted soon after editing at different locations) you may notice my hovering about 2 inches off the floor as I was introduced the super talented craftsmen in the shop and into the dusty little climate controlled room where ‘Ol Hoss’ and other guitars that are in the last stages of completion live. My heart was beating pretty fast as I thought of my instrument being in there beside Doc’s as it cures out forfinal touches. Man, unreal!....

While Tim and myselfendorse some really fine internationally known instrument makers and other
music related companies this day will live deep in my heart forever. My signature model will be ready in about six more weeks and Gallagher will have it permanently in their catalogue starting this summer 2009. I’ll also be representing Gallagher Guitars as a home dealer out of our Tree O Studios here in our home, the magical TreeHouse. I am humbled and at the same time so honored and blessed at my good fortune. It really is a dream come true. ....

Thanks to all of our Carter Brothers
friends and fans across the planet and Much Love and Peace To Us All…!

Danny....

Part 2: The Storms

Historically, ....Key West....
doesn't get full blown(pardon the pun) direct hits when hurricanes are
blowing all around the tiny island. Although the island sits in the
center of the Florida Straits, where the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico.. and the north Caribbean Sea converge. Cuba lies just 90 miles south of Key West and acts somewhat as a barrier as most storms are coming out of the
south and east. For the past 12 or so years it has been pretty quiet
except for the occasional tropical storm which everyone down there is
pretty much used to(they can still get pretty exciting). I've joked
with friends before that a good storm is necessary there now and then
to wash the beer, blood, urine, vomit and other matter off the
sidewalks and streets.

A lot of my friends in Key West are business owners and/or service industry related
employees(bartenders, waiters, bar backs etc…). They all work very
hard. They have to as it is costly to live down there in 'Paradise'.
Thank goodness it's sunny 95% of the time at any given time of the
year. The island depends primarily on tourism to generate working
capital especially in the civic realm. There have been quite a few
instances, especially in the last 5 years when evacuations of the
island due to approaching hurricanes and tropical storms have forced
the tourists off the island for their own safety. This creates a
massive slowdown if not a complete shutdown in income as it takes a
long time to get the tourist to return.

2005
was what is called a "hyperactive" hurricane season with 15 named
hurricanes during the season. Three of those hurricanes, Dennis (July 8), Katrina(August 14) and Wilma(Oct. 23) were three of the worst storms to hit Key West
in almost 100 years. We just happened to be down there during all
three. Dennis and Katrina we couldn't evacuate because they veered from
their paths so quickly and not enough time to warn the residents and
tourists. Wilma was moving very slowly north from the Caribbean but
USAir, whom we were flying on that trip, stopped their flights 3 days
before she made landfall. We discovered later the reason they did that
was because they didn't want the expense of flying empty planes into Key West…not a good thing but that's the way it is these days in the airline industry. We did accept an offer to be driven to Ft.Lauderdale to catch a connecting flight to Nashville and readily accepted the kindness of a friend. We walked into our house outside Nashville
just in time to turn on the tv and see the 14 foot wall of water from
the massive storm surge coming onto the island. Katrina was just plain
scary. When we went to the Breath to perform that night she was
crossing the Florida peninsula around West Palm Beach
250 miles north of us. She was supposed to keep going west through the
Ft. Myers area and on into the Gulf of Mexico. After the gig we went,
as we always do, to our favorite locals bar the Green Parrot to 'wind
down'. We walked in, sat down and looked up at the bar tv only to see a
huge red/purple glob moving south…fast! Katrina had made and
unprecedented 90 degree turn south suddenly. About that time we saw
huge quarter sized raindrops falling slowly outside the bar on
Whitehead St. I awoke several hours later with what sounded like a 747
at full throttle outside my bedroom window, house shaking violently and
rain so hard blowing sideways it was forced through the storm windows.
Katrina was visiting us as a cat. 2 hurricane…then she skirted off to New Orleans.
No power and water waist deep outside our back door. Later that night
when the storm subsided a friend came to check on us (suv high off the
ground) and took us to what used to be Billie's Bar who had a generator
and was pumping out the drinks as fast as the nerve rattled patrons(all
locals) could self medicate ourselves from that long and harrowing
day.

We recently flew to ....Key West....
(Sept. 1 2008) just in time for Fay AND Gustav's departure from Key
West in the Gulf and Hannah's unpredictability to our east in the
Atlantic and the approaching of Ike, who is scheduled to make landfall
today near Galveston/Houston. We evacuated on Sunday as Ike was approaching as a cat. 4. Once again we were driven to Ft.Lauderdale,
stayed with a friend that night and she took us to the airport Monday
for a flight to Raleigh/Durham, NC as were performing the next night,
Tuesday in Greensboro. We left there Wednesday and drove to our home in Nashville arriving around midnight. Today is Friday September 12 and it's good to be home. Of course Ike turned out to be a 'non-event' in Key West, just flooding and 45 mph winds for 3 days as he stalled over ....Cuba.... before moving on into the Gulf.

We're back in Key West on April 16 for 12 days. Come on down and join us!

Oh...and
if you're ever down there during a 'good blow' and can't evacuate, go
to the Schooner Wharf Bar, roll up your pants legs, find a good stool
at the bar, get a good solid grip with one hand and drink heavily!

Best


Danny

Part 1: Debauchery

The Carter Brothers have been performing in historic Key West since 1988…21 years.  We
began our now legendary KW career at the famed Sloppy Joe's bar on the
corners of Duval and Greene St. Sloppy's was known then, and before,
for bringing in world class music for the locals and the tourists
alike. Bands such as Little Feat, early Allman Brothers and the Neville
Bros. graced the stage. Nothing like the 'dog and pony' spectacles you
see now down there now but of course it is mainly a tourist haunt
and operated by a large family corporation. But we met and made a lot
of great friends in those days that continue to last to this day. We
reveled in the debauchery that continues to fuel the bars in Old Town
and all up and down Duval St. Sort of like Mardi Gras 365 days a year
although I've seen things in KW that makes New Orleans look like a
kindergarten(I mean that in a most affectionate way). We met our first
hurricane then…his name was Andrew and he virtually destroyed South Florida totally wiping out the city of Homestead. Well, after that experience we were accepted into Key West as "one of their own" and it has been that way ever since.

When
we get off the plane there these days cab drivers, rental car
employees, airline personel, even TSA etc all have a nice "welcome home
Brothers" after walking across the hot and steaming tarmac, dodging the
chickens and into the small, charming little terminal to retrieve our
baggage. These days and for the past twelve years we have performed at
the now infamous Hogs Breath Saloon, now the premier live music venue,
spending anywhere from 5-9 weeks a year on the charming little island
we call our 'second home'. The debauchery still continues these days as
well….even more so. We'll get into more of that stuff later(see Key West.
pics here). Oh okay…I'll give you an example. 'Fantasy Fest' takes
place the last week of October each year. It is a combination of Mardi
Gras and Halloween. There are parades up and down Duval St.
preceding the crowning of the King and Queen of the festival and a mass
of humanity in the streets ingesting massive quantities of alcohol and
other substances. You see things like overweight married couples
walking down the street in nothing more than a coat of gold paint, for
example. Things that I don't particularly care to witness again but
it's all in good fun and sportsmanship. There are clothing optional
bars. The last thing that I care about seeing is a naked 325 pound
hairy human being from the male species sitting naked at the bar while I'm
eating and trying to digest a cheeseburger. I don't go there. Maybe if
it were young nubile 20'something humans from the female gender I might
reconsider but that's probably not going to happen. But that's okay,
it's my island and I understand that one has to keep an open mind in Key West about everything that is non-violent.

Read Part 2…>