Les Butler and Friends:
Jerry Salley
By Les Butler Jerry Salley is a top-notch singer. Jerry Salley is a topnotch songwriter. Jerry Salley is a top-notch Bluegrass music producer. Okay, let’s just say Jerry Salley is topnotch. I’d like to tell you that he does one of those things better than the other, but he doesn’t. He does them all equally great. I’ve been able to hang out with him many times over the years, including over a lasagna dinner prepared by my wife at our house. Whether in my home, on stage, backstage or in a studio, you’re always around greatness when Jerry is near. Here’s a top-notch music man, Jerry Salley. Les Butler: What is your earliest musical memory? Jerry Salley: My earliest musical memory is hearing my dad play his five-string banjo. I remember when he brought home the Flatt & Scruggs “Live at Carnegie Hall” album. My dad loved them so much, and he absolutely wore that record out, playing along with it. I even wrote a song about it on my “Front Porch Philosophy” album. It was a No. 1 Bluegrass song called “The Night Flatt & Scruggs Played Carnegie Hall. “ Butler: Was it the written lyric, instruments or singing which first got your musical attention?
Salley: That would be instruments and singing. As a little boy, my banjo-playing dad would take me with him to a lot of pickin’ parties on the weekends. While he and his buddies played, I would sing and play along. So, while it was my dad’s banjo that first got my attention, it wasn’t long until I was singing at Saturday night jamborees and Sunday morning church services. Soon after that, I started paying attention to the lyrics and songs of Tom T. Hall, and began to study how he put stories together. That’s when my interest in songwriting began. Butler: Which did you do first – write a lyric, play an instrument, or sing a song? Salley: I got my first guitar when I was 6. I first learned to play the guitar, then started singing and then writing songs. I won my first talent contest at 10 years old, singing and playing the Johnny Cash hit, “I Still Miss Someone.” I wrote my first song at 16. It was a Bluegrass song called, “Even Though Your Love Is Gone.” Butler: If you could only have one music gift, which would it be – write, play or sing? Salley: That’s easy, writing.
