Yesterday morning, the world lost a great musician, and I lost a dear friend.

Don Helms was the steel player in Hank Williams' Drifting Cowboys band (yes, that's Hank Williams Senior). He played on countless sessions with Hank and many other great country stars, past and present, including Ray Price, Loretta Lynn, Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizzell ("Long Black Veil"), and Patsy Cline ("Walking After Midnight").

It was Don Helms' steel guitar that graced "Walking After Midnight," "Long Black Veil," "Your Cheatin' Heart," and many other classics from the 1950s and 60s.

I had the great privilege of playing music with Don; for several years, he was an integral part of the Hank Williams and classic country tribute shows we played together at the Liberty Theater in Eunice, LA, as well as at the Manship Theater in Baton Rouge, and the Heymann Center in Lafayette, LA.

The shows will continue, as the show inevitably does, but they won't be the same without him.