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Alabama Fan Builds Tribute House for Chet Fans
Athens, AL
May 20, 2001
By Tom Redmond
Don Green and friends, many former students, have built a place for "any stray
picker" to use to preserve the style of Chet Atkins. Green, who is self-taught,
began to teach
others Chet's style over 35 years ago, long before tabs and videos were available.
The building, about 8 miles from Huntsville,
stands on Don Green's property and is 35 x 25 ft, and includes a recording
board, amps, microphones and the walls are decorated with various pictures
of Chet and other pickers.
"We wanted to make sure there would always be a place for folks to come and pick"
says friend and former student Gary Compton who helped with the construction along with Don Green
and Kenneth Hogan. These men often came and worked after regular hours to complete the room.
Although health problems do not allow Don to play as he once could, since he suffers from Diabetes and Parkinson's disease, his students carry on the music,
playing such tunes as, "Oh By Jingo" and "Mr. Sandman". Apparently, the preferred "fingerstyle" JAM night is Thursday, when pickers come from miles around for a "Thursday Night Throwdown" as Compton calls it.
The house is open to most anyone in the area who would like to stop by. Please email Don first for a time when you can come. His email address is
sgreen19@bellsouth.net
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