Gerald Warner "Jerry" Brightman (September 1, 1953 – March 9, 2015) was an American

pedal steel The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can p ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

who played for

Buck Owens Alvis Edgar Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), known professionally as Buck Owens, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and band leader. He was the lead singer for the Buckaroos, Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, which had 21 ...

and

The Buckaroos The Buckaroos were an American band led by Buck Owens in the 1960s and early 1970s, who, along with Merle Haggard's The Strangers (American band), The Strangers, were involved in the development and presentation of the "Bakersfield sound." Their ...

and featured on television's ''

Hee Haw ''Hee Haw'' is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with the fictional rural "Kornfield Kounty" as the backdrop. It aired first-run on CBS from 1969 to 1971, in syndication from 1971 to 1993, and on TNN from 199 ...

'' along with performing on many top 10 records with Buck,

Susan Raye Susan Raye (born October 8, 1944) is an American country music singer. She enjoyed great popularity during the early and mid-1970s, and chalked up seven top-10 and 19 top-40 country hits, most notably the song " L.A. International Airport", an ...

, Tony Booth, and others.

Biography

He was born on September 1, 1953 in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

. Impressing audiences at an early age, he began playing professionally in 1966. After his run with the Buckaroos in 1975, he worked on the business side of the music industry from 1977-1982. He was also nominated for a position on the CMA Board of Directors. Jerry left the music business in 1982. In 2002, he returned to music and released his first solo CD ''Back Again'' and then a second titled, ''Back Again, To the Country'' in 2003 on Slidestation Productions. Major recording artists with Jerry appearing on include:

, Tony Booth,

Arlo Guthrie Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his father, Woody Guthrie. Gut ...

, and

David Frizzell David Frizzell (born September 26, 1941) is an American country music singer. He is the younger brother of country musician, Lefty Frizzell. His career started in the late 1950s, but his biggest success came in the 1980s. Biography Frizzell wa ...

. For a time he built a number of ‘Performance’-branded pedal steel guitars in Ohio. He died in his sleep on March 9, 2015.

Sources

External links

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

br>BillboardCMTMusic Match GuidePeavey ElectronicsStay In Tune String CompanyYahoo Music

External links

1953 births 2015 deaths Musicians from Akron, Ohio Steel guitarists Bakersfield sound {{Ohio-bio-stub