Among the career highlights of a guitar player in the Nashville studios, getting to meet your musical heroes has to rank near the top. When you first hit town and start at the bottom rung, the only thing to do is dig in and try to move up to the next league. As expected, it took me a little time to get next to the musicians I most respected, but my memories of that process are good ones.

Before moving from Texas to Tennessee shortly after turning 22, I spent many hours trying to learn some of the parts played on current records—several of them having been recorded in Nashville. Area Code 615 was a terrific group of studio players including the esteemed guitar/banjo player Bobby Thompson whose banjo style I particularly admired. The LP's by Area Code 615 (obviously, named for Nashville's area code) had photos on the album jacket so finally those names I kept reading were connected to real faces. Those were some of the players who came up with all those head arrangements coming out of Nashville.

Also, the duet albums recorded by Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed offered quite a bit to decipher; the fact that their guitars were split in stereo was only a tiny bit helpful in trying to learn their licks. My method was to tape the tunes on a reel-to-reel recorder and listen at half speed in an attempt to figure out the more athletic parts. When you do this long enough you begin to appreciate the range of another player's talent. It was apparent that these guys had forgotten more than most of us will ever know on the guitar. I got well acquainted (and baffled) with Reed's approach to the guitar—he played in this unique style that sometimes sounded like funky piano parts transcribed for the guitar. His energetic picking and feel on his albums hit a nerve with guitar players everywhere. And of course, the elegance of Chet's playing was a constant source of inspiration. All of their records spent a lot of time on my turntable.

After about four years of playing theme parks and clubs while touring with Ray Stevens—who started using me on his records, I received an interesting phone call. It was Carolyn Campbell, a secretary in the A & R department at RCA booking an afternoon master session set for a couple of weeks later. Yes, I told her I was available and would be there. Yes, I could probably squeeze that session in my schedule.

In retrospect, I was probably still fairly green despite having knocked around Nashville for a few years. Ready or not, I polished up the instruments, put on new strings and walked in to spacious RCA Studio A telling myself to breathe normally and act like I belonged there. The producer, Chet Atkins, could not have been nicer and made me feel at home. Chet introduced me to the artist, Jerry Reed who was noodling on his Baldwin electric gut-string mumbling on pitch as he was sorting out some lick.

Unlike today, drums were then set up in an isolation booth and guitars were out in the room in Studio A. Larrie Londin smiled and gave me a wave from the drum booth. The mood in Nashville studios is definitely laid back and that atmosphere calmed me down as I unpacked some guitars and said hello to the other players, some of whom I had recorded with before. It was the first time I had been booked on the same session with Billy Sanford. His rhythmic feel on a Telecaster has blended perfectly with Reed on a lot of Jerry's music; it was obvious they had spent some hours in the studio together before. I came to appreciate the interplay they had with two active guitar parts. Billy has come up with quite a few signature hit guitar licks over the years.

To complete my hero introductions, Chet then walked me over to the acoustic guitar chairs and said "Bobby Thompson here plays great guitar, so on this first tune, Mark you play banjo...." (Gee thanks, Chet) Anyway, the session went smoothly and since they didn't fire me for the rest of the project, I must have passed the audition.

Over the years, Chet's secretary would call several times for sessions with Jerry, Floyd Cramer and on his own albums. The guitar world was drawn to Mr. Guitar; when you were around him, invariably players like Lenny Breau or Marcel Dadi would be there. I remember him playing me a tape of the 10-string tapped instrument the Chapman Stick and saying (quite seriously), "Listen to this thing; this guy's gonna put us all out of business," or he might have just been sent some guitar from Germany that folded in half for traveling.

It was an education any time you were around him and watching his relaxed style of record production on that first Jerry Reed session was no exception. Somehow Chet was always aware of new players and there are many who will attest to his generosity in giving them opportunities. Like many fingerstyle guitar players, I think often about Chet Atkins, his gentle manner and his musicianship. And that first brush with guitar greatness will not be forgotten. It was July 1, 1975.