I must confess it: two of the most faithful HSGA members went to "Scotty´s Bash" instead of to Joliet this year. The very first convention HSGA ever held was at St.Louis under Scotty´s umbrella, 1986. That´s when we decided on Joliet as our permanent annual meeting place. In 1993 Art and I went to Scotty´s Bash along with Merle and Ronnie Kekuku, when they inducted Merle´s uncle Joseph Kekuku, the inventor of the steel guitar, into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame. Since 1986 the hotel has changed its name from Regal Riverfront to Clarion to Millennium, and how it has grown!! More $$$ too.

Scotty and his family have been holding steel guitar conventions there since 1971. They own and manage Scotty´s Music store too. DeWitt Scott and his wife Mary made a very wise move. They produced a family - I think it´s 6 kids - who were trained to run the store and manage the steel guitar conventions before they learned their A B C´s.

Wherever we looked, there was a Scott of 1st, 2nd, or 3rd generation, by birth or by marriage, managing the stage, the sound system, the business desks, the hosting, the PA announcements, the food and beverages, and we heard hints about all the other services they were prepared to offer, but I think those kids were just joking. Just having a yuk yuk at grampaw. We never met a more friendly, hard working family. Good looking too ... on Mary´s side. Yuk! Yuk!

"So, what caused this truant behavior?" you ask. Why did Art and I make the long trek Vancouver to Toronto to St.Louis over night? It was a phonecall from Scotty saying that an award was about to be made in my honor. I couldn´t fail to turn up in that case, could I??? Would you?

Scotty´s Bash lasts four days. Here´s what we saw: Thursday Sept 3 the early birds had time to show their stuff on stage. On Friday there was a Hawaiian section in a smaller hall while seminars were held in other rooms. Later in the day, and all day Saturday the grand hall which seats about 1,800 was in full swing as one steel guitarist after another (30 min. time limit) performed with stage band backup: drums, keyboard, rhythm and solo guitars, and bass. Some players had vocalists on stage. Out in the hallway and in adjoining rooms the music stores set up their displays to advertise and sell their products. The hotel staff set up tables and chairs, and brought their quick lunch and dinners down to the convention floor so we didn´t have to miss anything by going up to the restaurant.

To make the trip easier for us, Scotty provided us with an 8-string Jerry Byrd frypan steel guitar for us to use. And would you believe it ... ?? it was Jerry´s own!! about to be put on display in the Hall of Fame. We were careful not to remove Jerry´s finger prints, when we played it.

On Sunday morning there was a church service with no less than FOUR pedal steel guitarists sharing the service. Ron Elliott played the last show, bringing Scotty´s Bash to a close by 4:30 pm Sunday.

I´m deliberately saving the "awards" story until the end. Before that, I want to make a general assessment kind of statement. I will sound negative, because I speak from HSGA point of view: it was all about pedal steel guitars. Very very few non-pedals. In fact, there was a time when Scotty marched onto the stage with his old-time 6-string long scale Rickenbacker non-pedal steel guitar and played a few tunes. In my opinion, he stole the show. His playing was clear and positive. We could enjoy the melody. The general trend among pedal steelers seems to be to over-stress the pedals and knee levers, with very little melody picking coming from the fingers.

I think this is the era of the vocalist. The instrumentalists in show biz now-a-days spend all evening providing a cushion for the singers and if they get any melody time, it´s shared between the pianist, the Spanish guitarist, the mandolin, fiddle or banjo, the violinist, and the steel guitarist. It´s no wonder we don´t hear the melody coming from those strings! The other dominant element is LOUDNESS. If you say, "It´s LOUD", that means you want it turned LOUDER. The boys at the controls knew which way to turn the knobs.

At least, during the Hawaiian segment the music was not so loud and there were fewer back-up instruments. Still, pedals outnumbered non-pedals. L.T.Zinn was chief of the Hawaiian section (so just call him Ali´i Tee Zinn) which included a Hawaiian show with eight lovely hula dancers.

Now for the dessert! The plaque which Scotty presented to me is worded as follows: "The Steel Guitar Hall of Fame presents the Jerry Byrd Lifetime Achievement Award. Presented to Lorene Ruymar. For your extensive research leading to your book outlining the history of the steel guitar, your impressive instruction material teaching young players around the world to play the Hawaiian steel guitar, and your founding the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association ... Presented September 05, 2009." At this point Jerry must have reached down from the clouds, because it´s his signature. "The Steel Guitar Hall Of Fame, Inc. Saint Louis, Missouri".

Next came the three who were inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame. Ron Carter, Ron Elliott, and ... believe it or not ... the beautiful, famous Barbara Mandrell!! I can now stretch the truth a bit and say, "I shared the same stage with Barbara Mandrell." She just came to receive her award and then left, but it was some thrill to see her!

My story has come to its end, boys and girls, and every word of it is true. The moral of the story is "Great and exciting as Scotty´s event is, there´s nothing like the sweet steel guitar music and the personal good friendship of all our club members, when we meet in Joliet every October. I hope we will be able to celebrate our 38th year some day, too, and our ears will still be able to hear the buzzing of a bee in the coconut tree."