Over the next few days, we hope to publish a number of brief tributes to Josh Graves from resonator guitarists whose own music was shaped in part by Josh’s.

This first comes from Mike Auldridge:

Josh Graves influenced my life beyond mere words of gratitude. He changed my life. I would not be a professional musician, or even have any real burning desire to play the steel guitar at all, had I not discovered his wonderful playing when I was about 12 years old. He became my mentor and then good friend, when I decided to try music as a profession. I will miss Josh deeply.

This next comes from Phil Leadbetter:

I don’t think I would have ever played the dobro guitar if it had not been for Josh Graves. The dobro guitar world changed forever on September 30th 2006 when we lost Uncle Josh. I will always treasure the first time I ever met Josh when I was only 12 years old, and he let me get up on stage and pick “Shuckin’ The Corn” with him in Maryville, TN in 1974. It was one of the highlights of my career. I have been blessed knowing Uncle Josh and calling him a friend. We lost a musical giant when we lost Josh.