Paul Franklin

One of the great pedal steel guitarists in country music history, Paul Franklin didn't have a major-label release to his name until he teamed up with Vince Gill on Bakersfield, a 2013 tribute to Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. Bakersfield arrived over 40 years after Franklin's first appearance on a hit record. When he was a teenager, he played steel guitar on "It's So Nice to Be with You," a 1972 Top Ten soft rock hit from Gallery, who hailed from Franklin's hometown of Detroit. After relocating to Nashville, he became part of Barbara Mandrell's touring band, the first in a long string of high-profile gigs supporting Lynn Anderson, Jerry Reed, and Mel Tillis. Franklin's profile received a considerable boost after playing with Mark Knopfler in both the Notting Hillbillies and Dire Straits. He remained an in-demand session player into the 2020s, a period where he remained close with Vince Gill, both as part of the Time Jumpers group and in the studio: the pair released Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & the Cherokee Cowboys in 2023, a decade after Bakersfield.

Born in Detroit, Michigan on May 31, 1954, Paul Franklin started playing steel guitar at the early age of eight. Learning the instrument from a Hawaiian guitar specialist, he'd expanded into pedal steel by the time he joined the Musician's Union at the age of 11. He started playing sessions not long afterward, appearing on Parliament's "Little Ole Country Boy" in 1970 and working with Dennis Coffey in addition to his work with Gallery. During his senior year of high school, he left Detroit for Nashville. He wound up in Barbara Mandrell's touring band, which then led to road gigs with Dottie West, Lynn Anderson, and Jerry Reed. Session work of all manners continued to pile up, including jingles masterminded by Pete Drake. Franklin issued several indie albums during this period, including Play by Play and Just Pickin'.

Steady work arrived in the form of Mel Tillis' backing band the Statesiders. Franklin stayed with them for years, leaving the group at the end of the '80s. Mark Knopfler, the guitarist/vocalist who fronted Dire Straits, recruited the steel guitarist for his country-rock side project the Notting Hillbillies. Franklin then played on the final Dire Straits album, On Every Street, and played on its supporting tour. Franklin remained a busy session musician in the '90s and 2000s, regularly receiving accolades from his peers. The Country Music Association nominated him 30 times for Musician of the Year, the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame inducted him in 2000, while the Musicians Hall of Fame inducted him in 2019. In the 2010s, he started selling online instructional videos called "The Paul Franklin Method," continuing this practice as he gigged and toured. During this period he also cultivated a partnership with Vince Gill, playing in the guitarist's touring band and anchoring the Time Jumpers, an all-star Western Swing group fronted by Gill during the 2010s. Franklin and Gill recorded Bakersfield, a tribute to Merle Haggard and Buck Owens, in 2013, then continued their partnership over the next decade as Gill issued solo albums while simultaneously playing in the Eagles, where he filled the space left by the late Glenn Frey. The duo reteamed in 2023 for Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & the Cherokee Cowboys, a warm tribute to the great country singer that featured several musicians from his famed backing band. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi