Nashville Cats: JayDee Maness

The museum will feature pedal steel guitarist JayDee Maness in an upcoming program for its in-depth interview series, Nashville Cats. At the outset of his 60-plus-year career, renowned pedal steel guitarist Maness helped sow the seeds of country-rock, recording with the Byrds on their landmark 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo and with Gram Parsons’ International Submarine Band. Additionally, he was a founding member of the Desert Rose Band and toured with Country Music Hall of Fame member Buck Owens’ Buckaroos. Many of music’s biggest names have sought out Maness’ driving, precise style — as a session musician, he has recorded with Elton John, Bonnie Raitt, Rod Stewart, Dwight Yoakam and Country Music Hall of Fame members Vince Gill, Ray Stevens and Tanya Tucker, among many others. Among his best-known contributions is the pedal steel solo on Eric Clapton’s multiplatinum 1992 single “Tears in Heaven.” His playing also appeared in the background music for the television series “The Dukes of Hazzard” throughout its seven-season run. Maness is an 18-time winner of the Academy of Country Music’s Steel Guitar Player of the Year award. The interview will be moderated by museum writer-editor Dave Paulson and will be illustrated with rare photos, film and recordings. After the program, Maness will sign commemorative Hatch Show Print posters. The program is offered in support of the exhibition Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock, presented by City National Bank.