“I was standing in line at the bank when Dickey called: ‘Hey, listen – my guitar player just quit and the tour starts in a week. Do you want to do it?’” How I went from guitar journalist to Dickey Betts’ right-hand man

Andy Aledort and Dickey Betts perform live in 2008.

From 2005 to 2014, I had the honor and privilege of playing alongside Dickey Betts in his band, Great Southern. Sharing the stage with Dickey for a decade constitutes some of the greatest musical experiences of my life, and it was truly a blessing to get to know him and call him a friend.

Dickey was a giant, universally revered as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. He possessed a purely distinct signature style and sound that was uniquely his own, distinguished by an ingenious blend of blues, rock, country, Western swing and Appalachian string music, delivered with the touch, tone and technique of a true virtuoso.