Brad Paisley has earned respect from both fans and fellow country music stars for his guitar skills, but if it wasn’t for his grandfather, he may never have picked up the instrument.
Paisley’s grandpa, Warren Jarvis, gave the future star his first guitar as a Christmas gift in 1980, when Paisley was 8 years old. It was a Sears Danelectro Silvertone.
“He said, ‘You can play this instrument and three or four hours later, not remember what you were upset about,'” Paisley tells ABC News. “And that’s all he wanted. He didn’t care if I was ever, you know, successful. He wanted me to be happy.”
Jarvis also served as a member of his grandson’s first backing band, the C-Notes, as well as the inspiration to keep honing his guitar skills.
“It was almost like I said, ‘I don’t love you,’” Paisley remembers of a time when he nearly stopped played. “He took it very personal because he knew, the way that you know in your heart certain things, he just really knew that I belonged playing the guitar.”
Click the video above to watch this installment of Taste of Country‘s You Think You Know Country? series and learn more about the country guitar hero.
This Article Was Originally Posted at www.TheBoot.com
