50 FEET HIGH AND RISING
Peter Frampton’s badly cracked three-pickup Les Paul gets some TLC. Photo by Mark Montgomery
“It’s funny,” says Farris, “I survived the
Northridge [Los Angeles] earthquake. I
survived ripped off guitars in LA. And I was
reminiscing yesterday with [Lynyrd Skynyrd
drummer] Michael Cartellone about years
ago when I took guitars and stuff to his
apartment because fire was coming up the
hill in Woodland Hills and he lived over in
Sherman Oaks. And I never put guitars all
in one place, but I thought what the hell,
I’ll move away to my ranch and put them all
in [Soundcheck]. And Mother Nature finally
caught up.”
In fact, she took a toll on instruments and
gear all over Nashville. The Gibson manufacturing facility took water and had to be shut
down for an undisclosed length of time.
(Fortunately, the Gibson Custom Shop was
not flooded.) Home and professional studios
suffered, like the one owned by Americana
and rock producer Ray Kennedy. Kennedy
says he saved his guitars but that he lost
some vintage recording gear. And the inun-
dation at the riverside complex housing the
Grand Ole Opry House and the Opryland
Hotel simply defied belief. The Cumberland
River overtopped a dike built after a 1975
flood of what was then Opryland USA. By
the time it was over, two feet of water cov-
ered the Opry stage and soaked the lock-
ers and offices of the Opry administration
and musical staff. Musicians and employees
waded into the water in the dark to remove
instruments from the Roy Acuff Museum and
backstage areas. The losses there—poten-
tially devastating—have not been disclosed.
Corporate owner Gaylord Entertainment
imposed media silence on employees until
restoration efforts and a full accounting had
been completed.
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When stories of this flood are told years from now, however, most of the heartbreak and loss will be
symbolized by Soundcheck. Opened in 1993
by Glenn Frey of the Eagles, and his roadie
Bob Thompson, Soundcheck Nashville was
an offshoot of their Third Encore rehearsal
space in Los Angeles. About six years ago,
Ben Jumper, a long-time road production
manager, purchased Soundcheck and began
an ambitious expansion. The place became
a small town of product reps, microphone
dealers, case builders, and a concert-video
