-New Album-

"Some Kinda Summer"

“Richard creates real atmosphere and ambience with his compositions. This collection was not just a labor of love for Richard but a work that reaches across generations and creates a soundtrack for so many to enjoy.”

— Jim Carlton

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Sep 25, 2025

Some Kinda Summer

Sep 25, 2025

Anybody still out there? I’m a little embarrassed that it’s been well over a year since posting an update. Sixteen months in fact. All’s well on this side and hope the same for all of you.

I’ll begin where I left off the last time with The Volcano Brothers, the Hawaiian group I play with. We play 1920s through 1930s jazz influenced Hawaiian instrumentals. We were just getting started back in the Spring of 2024 but we are now a fully formed high flying unit. We play gigs regularly around town with two just last week. The band always has a good crowd and plenty of musicians, Nashville’s finest, coming by to hear what all the fuss is about. The Volcanos have an article in this month’s Vintage Guitar Magazine written by the great Jim Carlton. And…. we’ve just recorded an album, 18 songs done over three afternoons, seated in a semi-circle in the studio, no headphones and no overdubbing. We simply played each tune until we all felt we had a take and moved on to the next. By 4 o’clock of the third afternoon we were raising cocktails and toasts to a well made album. Steve Dawson who heads up the group is mixing it now and I’ll let you know when and where it’s available.

I received a call out of the blue last Autumn from a musician and record producer in Memphis named Scott Bomar. He explained he was in charge of the music for a film called Song Sung Blue and might I be interested in coming to Memphis for a few days to do it? The film is based on a true story that came out as a documentary of the same name back in 2008. It’s about a guy and girl who form a group called Thunder and Lightening and perform Neil Diamond’s music. They fall in love, get married and then things begin getting pretty dark. The movie stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. The director wanted Neil’s music to sound as close to the records as possible and that’s why I got the call. Any chance I have to go to Memphis, I take. Since the two main actors would be singing the songs themselves, we first had to record all those songs to be in the film. I have to say everybody on the sessions really hit a home run in that department. When the filming was finished and edited, I went back for another day of various other music cues and scene linking music. Craig Brewer who wrote the script and directed the film told me they had a test screening in LA and it received a 95% approval rating which earned it a Christmas day theatrical release. Having only seen bits and pieces of the movie, I can’t vouch for it but I’m sure proud of the job we all did with the soundtrack. So if you’re at loose ends this Christmas……Song Sung Blue from Focus Features.

It’s been some kinda summer, hey wait a minute, that’s the name of my brand new record, Some Kinda Summer. I finished it all up last Winter but there’s just been a little delay releasing it in order to do so in a coordinated way with interviews, press and the like. I’m really very pleased with how it all turned out and proud of the tunes I wrote. As October 24th gets closer I’ll let you know how to get a copy.

Back to summer, it’s been a good one and I’m enjoying these late summer days, cook outs, a couple of weeks down on the Gulf of Mexico and feeling like a very lucky guy all around.

OK, I’ll be chiming back in soon with more details about the Some Kinda Summer album. Meantime, here’s wishing you all a good autumn.

Be well,

Richard

Sep 25, 2025

The Volcano Brothers in Vintage Guitar Magazine

Carlton, Jim. "The Volcano Brothers: Lei’d Back Jazz." Vintage Guitar Magazine, Sep. 2025, p. 19.

Via Steve Dawson …

The Henhouse Hang is a unique 3-day music recording seminar in the heart of East Nashville, focused on recording and mixing Roots music from the ground up at Steve Dawson’s Henhouse Studio. This is your chance to experience the process of producing music in a room full of well-seasoned veterans. Steve has dedicated the last 20 years of his life to making records, and the skills and experience of working in this style are totally unique. Steve will be joined by his long-time friend and recording engineer Sheldon Zaharko, and a cast of world-class Nashville session musicians. The goal will be to produce and record 2 songs for a guest artist, from the ground up in that time, and showing you recording and production techniques along the way. The Americana/Roots genre is unique in that recording a live band performance is an accepted and preferred way to work. We don’t make bed tracks and add instruments one at a time. We get the whole band in the room and play some music! You’ll see how Nashville Number charts get written and used while the band hears the song for the first time, how lyric sheets get referenced, how instrumental parts are developed, and how the band works together to create music that is both respectful to the song but also an inspired performance by all those involved. You’ll see how we get sounds from various instruments and the techniques involved in capturing them in a recording using various microphones and other equipment. All of these skills take a long time to learn and to master, and it’s almost impossible to find a way to experience a recording session like this first-hand without being one of the musicians on the session. We hope to change that by opening the doors to a small group of people who want to learn this engaging, interactive and unique way of making music.

The Grand Ole Opry House announces,“Titan of Twang: A Celebration of Duane Eddy,” a one-night-only tribute to the legendary “Titan of Twang,” Duane Eddy. This special evening will take place on Sunday, April 13 at the iconic Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10:00 a.m. CST on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, at opry.com.

Presented by Opry Entertainment Group, the tribute concert will feature an all-star lineup of special guests and musical performances by Peter Frampton, Vince Gill, Albert Lee, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Earle, Buddy Miller, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Molly Tuttle, JD McPherson, Slim Jim Phantom, Jennie Vee and Toby Lee each honoring the lasting influence of Eddy, whose groundbreaking guitar style has influenced generations of artists. The evening will be hosted by Jim Lauderdale and anchored by a house band led by Musical Director Jim Hoke, with Mark Beckett, Dave Pomeroy, Randy Leago, Garry Tallent, Dan Dugmore, Terry Adams, Richard Bennett, The McCrary Sisters and Siobhan Maher-Kennedy.

“Duane Eddy was the first rock and roll guitar god.” — John Fogerty

Eddy is widely regarded as one of the most influential guitarists in modern music, credited with creating the signature “twang” that became synonymous with rock and roll. His unique sound, shaped by the reverberating tones of his Gretsch guitar, produced iconic hits like “Rebel Rouser,” “Peter Gunn” and “Forty Miles of Bad Road,” influencing a diverse range of artists, from George Harrison and Hank Marvin to Keith Richards and Jimmy Page. You can hear Eddy’s influence on Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” the theme from Twin Peaks, and countless other recordings that turned to “twang” for a hint of cool menace. Over his career, he’s collaborated with musical legends, Paul McCartney, Elvis, The Everly Brothers, Phil Everly, George Harrison, Carl Perkins, Brian Setzer, The Mavericks, Waylon Jennings, Emmylou Harris, Ry Cooder, Foreigner, Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins and Beth Nielsen Chapman, solidifying his place as a pioneering force in rock and roll.

About Duane Eddy:
Duane will be forever revered as an original guitar hero who put a deep and resounding twang into Rock ‘n Roll. On a string of late 1950s and early ’60s instrumental hits, he used dramatic single-note melodies on the lower strings of his guitar, pronounced tremolo and vibrato, and liberal doses of echo to produce a signature sound that evoked everything from souped-up cars on Saturday night, to the wide-open vistas of the Wild West. Duane became the most successful instrumentalist in rock history, charting 15 Top 40 singles from 1958 through 1963, and selling more than 100 million records worldwide. In 1994, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2008, Eddy was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and received The Lifetime Achievement for Instrumentalist Award from The Americana Music Association, in 2014.

Guitarist and session ace Richard Bennett joins me on the show this week. Originally from Phoenix, Richard spent the first big chunk of his career in the 70’s LA studio scene, before moving to Nashville in the 80’s where he’s been a mainstay in studios ever since. Richard is known as one of the ultimate sidemen and spent 17 years in Neil Diamond’s band, playing on all of his records and tours from ’71 to ’87. Richard has had another long-term sideman gig playing guitar in Mark Knopfler’s band since '94, and that continues to this day, touring in his band and playing on all of his records, including the latest “One Deep River” from this year. Aside from those impressive long-term gigs, Richard has played on countless sessions and gigs for artists like Roseanne Cash, Marty Stuart, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, Iris Dement, and Waylon Jennings. He also loves to write and record his own music, and is constantly working on the next set of tunes to get into the studio to document. His latest is called “Talltale Tunes” and it’s a killer record of great playing, tone and creativity. Richard is also an in-demand producer and has helmed an impressive list of albums in the last few decades as well. He had a huge role in the Nashville session scene of the 80’s and 90’s that continues to thrive, and I loved getting a chance to hear about that era of Nashville. I’ve spent the last year playing in a band with Richard called The Volcano Brothers, playing all 1920’s and 30’s Hawaiian music, with Richard playing ukulele. While we just play tiny local gigs around Nashville with that band, I still get to see and hear Richard’s amazing touch on his instruments, and the dedication and the preparation that he puts into every show, no matter how small! He’s an incredible musician, an encouraging band-mate, and an inspiring person to be around, and we had a very enjoyable conversation about his history in music and the recording studio. You can get all the latest on Richard at richard-bennett.com - Enjoy my conversation with Richard Bennett!

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Jazz Weekly: Richard Bennett: Ballads in Otherness

George W. Harris

January 21, 2019

While making a successful living as the first call guitarist for the likes of Mark Knopfler and Neil Diamond, Richard Bennett has also quietly amassed an impressive catalogue of his own. Classy and understated, his albums are reminiscent of the days when instrumental bands such as The Ventures, The Shadows, Santo and Johnny or Johnny and the Hurricane’s ruled the airwaves in the 50s and 60s. His latest release is a glowing gem, as he calls up his friends on his iphone for a polished and classy read of originals. Bennet plays guitar and steel, adroitly mixing and matching with a string section as well as Roger Spencer/b, Ted Tretiak/dr, Nick Bennett-Andy Reiss/g, spooner Oldham/B3, Lindsay Bennett/p-key, Charlie McCoy/vib, a handful of horns, strings and even VOX.

His guitar voice and style evokes the lyricism of Johnny Smith, as on the warm “No Matter The Odds” and relaxed “This Love Remembered” while he hiply swings on a jazzy “Intermezzo.” Hints of the Everly Brothers are strummed during “Come Summer’s Sun,” Roy Orbison’d nostalgia with horns create a gently dramatic “Dauphine Noir,” and some Duane Eddy twang rockabillies for “Eye For Hire.” Piano and ethereal voice make for a pastoral “Pretty Pillow” with Bennett taking you to the local VFW on the rural “Waltz For A Wayard.” Obviously, he knows how to boogie the blues, and gets juke jointy for “”Bo-Kay,” but for the most part, Bennet takes you to the local lounge of second sets of the night, as on the relaxed “This Side of Truth.” Charming in its gorgeous and elegant simplicity-the more you listen the more you appreciate it. Any chance for So Cal gigs with this band on a night off from Knopfler?

Premier Guitar Album Spotlight: Richard Bennett’s 'Ballads in Otherness'

Andy Ellis

October 29, 2018

A studio veteran with thousands of sessions to his credit, Richard Bennett is also an ace producer and Mark Knopfler’s longtime guitar foil. But to instrumental guitar fanatics, he’s the keeper of the flame for a style of guitar instrumental music that’s been largely forgotten. It emerged in the late ’50s as electric guitar and stereo vinyl first gained popularity, and—until it was swept away by the British Invasion—permeated movie soundtracks and TV themes. For a refresher course, check out Tony Mottola’s Mr. Big (1959) and Al Caiola’s Golden Hit Instrumentals (1961). These guitarists had serious jazz chops, yet embraced twang and tremolo, and made LPs using cutting-edge studio technology of the time.

Which brings us back to Bennett’s Ballads in Otherness. Echoes of these greats, as well as Duane Eddy and the Shadows’ Hank Marvin, resound in the album’s 13 originals. The tunes evoke saguaro, chaparral, and wide-open roads—the call of the West half a century ago. But for me, the most compelling aspect of Bennett’s music is his gift for writing memorable melodies and executing them with ringing, old-school tones and impeccable technique, whether on electric 6-string or sweet steel guitar.

Ballads in Otherness is also filled with superb chord-melody playing—another skill that’s on the brink of extinction. “Al Casey was my good friend and mentor,” Bennett says of the Wrecking Crew guitarist, “my entree into the Hollywood studio world of the swinging ’60s. He opened my ears to people like Barney Kessel, Howard Roberts, and Johnny Smith. The chord-solo pieces are my nod to those guitarists.”

Bennett is a time traveler, bringing vintage instrumental guitar into the 21st century. If you lived through that earlier era, Ballads in Otherness will take you back. But if you’ve never absorbed these sounds, it makes a fabulous introduction.

Must-hear tracks: “Come Summer’s Sun,” “Eye for Hire,” “This Love Remembered”