Sonny Garrish

Sonny Garrish is listed in the credits for the following albums:

Year Artist Album Role
1978 Andrew Culverwell Take Another Look Steel
1978 Dan Peek All Things Are Possible Steel Guitar
1979 Dogwood Ordinary Man Steel Guitar
1981 Mark Heard Stop the Dominoes Pedal Steel
1981 Steve Camp For Every Man Steel Guitar
1983 Gordon Jensen Just in Time Steel Guitar
1983 Easter Brothers The Easter Brothers Steel Guitar
1983 Steve Archer Through His Eyes Steel Guitar
1984 Gordon Jensen Fighting the Fight Steel Guitar
1984 The Hemphills Together Steel Guitar
1984 Candy Christmas Heart of Fire Steel Guitar
1985 The Hemphills Excited! Steel Guitar
1985 Mark Heard Acoustic Pedal Steel
1991 Margo Smith and Holly Just the Beginning Steel Guitar
1993 Gaither Vocal Band Southern Classics Steel & Dobro
1995 Brent Lamb No Excuses, No Regrets Pedal Steel

Sonny Garrish

Born: 
May 14, 1943
Age: 
80

Growing up in a musical family, steel guitarist Sonny Garrish was surrounded by musical ambition at an early age. His father, who wanted to be a professional musician, began using Sonny in his various bands when he was as young as seven. By 15, Sonny was no longer singing with his father, but backing him on steel guitar. And, while still a senior in high school, Sonny started playing with a group of musicians from nearby Washington, D.C. A standing gig in Fairfax, Virginia at Hunter's Lodge, which often hired Nashville talent such as Johnny Paycheck for weekend gigs, led Garrish to his first job in Nashville. After giving his number to members of Bill Anderson's band, the bandleader called Garrish and offered him a job. That opportunity led to session work and, for the next several years, Garrish slowly built a name for himself around Nashville.

Not an overnight success by any stretch of the imagination, Garrish often put his name on substitute lists, filling in for the first-choice musicians who were sick, or playing on writer's demos in hopes that his playing might stand out and catch the attention of a producer. Slowly he began getting breaks such as the 1976 Eddie Rabbitt session he played on that subsequently became a hit. And, by the '80s, Garrish had become a top-notch steel guitarist playing on records by Glen Campbell, Billy Ray Cyrus, and B.B. King, among others.

Kurutz, S. (n.d.). Sonny Garrish. Retrieved September 10, 2016, from AllMusic website: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/sonny-garrish-mn0000084222/biography

Created by: Yianni D on 26-July-2010 - Last Edited by siremidor on 10-September-2016
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