I learned today that a very good friend of mine in "Guitar Town" (as he always called Nashville when we spoke), passed away back in late December 2017 from a heart attack. Dino Bradley was not only one of the finest guitar players in the world (several gold records with Hank Jr, David Allen Coe, and others) but he was also one the best human beings I ever met. When I first planted my feet in Nashville to start college back in 1998, I stopped in at a little music shop called "Bradley's Guitars" and met one of the most humble, talented and welcoming people. What was planned to be a quick stop in a local music shop, ended up lasting for over 4 hours and included a jam session even after the shop doors closed for the day (a true honor to be able to say I played music with Dino). This became a regular practice and I even helped run the music shop on occasion and started building my own name by painting custom shop guitar bodies out of a closet turned paint booth in the shop. I soon met his wife (at the time) Sandy Hughes Bradley and also his young son Gordon Bradley (who along with my daughters, was the proud topic of many conversations I shared with him over the near 20 years since we met. Conversations in our absence have fallen a little further apart in recent years, as we both have had such busy lives in the world of entertainment, but always a highly respected friend, artist and human being. RIP Dino. You will never be forgotten and I look forward to another jam session when we meet again one day.
