Gods of the slide guitar

Dave Alvin on Ry Cooder:

I think Ry Cooder is so great that the American Gov. should give him $ just for getting out of bed. I would be too imitated to ever work with him. He's a genius!

David Lindley on Jerry Douglas:

Jerry Douglas was another matter and I didn’t know what to expect. I’d heard him on recordings but that was another matter entirely. No one really knows how good he really is until you hear him play all by himself...and watch him play. It scared me to death! I had to remind myself to breathe several times. He never repeated himself! And it was all good and musically rewarding! He never made any mistakes! And one would think that someone who plays faster than you yourself can think would sound mechanical? Hell no! It was like Django and Charlie Parker meet Speedy West! He tore everyone a new pooper with what he played! (Later in the tour Jerry came to the gig in Salt Lake City and sat in on two tunes. He’s the best Dobro player there is, hands down. Nobody else can play like that.)