Cool Book Alert: Deke's "A Strat in the Attic"

I wanted to share with you a fantastic book, Deke Dickerson's Strat in the Attic: Thrilling Stories of Guitar Archaeology which I devoured immediately after receiving it from amazon. 

For those unaware (and how could you be? shame on you!) Deke has been one of the leading lights of rockabilly and the roots/americana scene for years decades. I first met Deke when he was recording Jeremy Wakefield's "Steel Guitar Caviar" record, on which I played guitar. He's always been a super nice guy, and he even invited me to take part in his epic Guitar Geek Festival back in 2012 as a member of the All-Harvey Band. Here's a clip:

Anyway, Deke has been writing for various publications, including Guitar Player and Vintage Guitar Magazine, for years, and finally complied an amazing tome of "guitar archeology" as his first book. "A Strat in the Attic" isn't just gear for gear's sake (though there is plenty of guitar-nerd detail), it's about the stories behind the guitars in question, and these guitars' journeys through history. It's a fascinating read, and one you'll probably tear through in a sitting or two. 

Perhaps most notable for readers of this blog, is the story of how Lynn Wheelright found Charlie Christian's ES-250. Peter Broadbent's book, Charlie Christian: Solo Flight - The Seminal Electric Guitarist (also totally worth owning, by the way) has an appendix detailing the few gibson ES-150's and 250's Charlie Christian can be documented as having played. The ES-250 found by Lynn is the only guitar that has been definitely linked to Charlie. I won't spoil the story for you, but that should be reason enough to get Deke's book.