Al Perkins

Al Perkins (Born August 1, 1933) is a Texas born American guitarist. The Gibson guitar company called Perkins "the world's most influential dobro player", and even began producing an "Al Perkins Signature" dobro in 2001 - designed and autographed by Perkins.

After some time in the US Army, Perkins moved to California where he began playing with the band Shiloh. He went on to record and tour with bands like the Flying Burrito Brothers, Richie Furay, Stephen Stills, Leonard Cohen, Gram Parsons, Daniel Amos, Bethlehem, The Rolling Stones, Michael Nesmith, Randy Newman, James Taylor, Debby Boone and McGuinn and Hillman.

Perkins began producing records in the mid 1970s.

In the 1980s, Perkins joined Chris Hillman in the Desert Rose Band. Perkins started touring with Dolly Parton in 1986. Also that year, Perkins played dobro on Bob Dylan's Knocked Out Loaded. In 1988, Perkins moved to Nashville, and the following year, he joined Emmylou Harris' new Grammy Award winning group called the Nash Ramblers.

By the mid 1990s, Perkins began to work almost exclusively as a record producer and session guitarist, recording with artists like Tori Amos (From the Choirgirl Hotel), Garth Brooks (Sevens), Wynonna Judd, Buddy Miller, and Cher.