103289278

First country music star moment for me was going with my dad to Stringbeans house to watch them get hogs up for slaughter. I was always scared of String. I remember him saying "Hey boy, you wanna apple?" and extending his hand out holding the apple his fingers looked like they were two feet long. Some other memories as a kid I always remember seeing Roy Acuff, Howdy Forrester and especially Bashful Brother Oswald coming over to my Grandfathers house to visit. Started playing guitar at 12. My first guitar was my Uncle Jacks 1945 D-18! Not a bad start. Got the Martin guitar bug and started trading guitars in high school. While in school my first few lesson's for the banjo came from Earl Scruggs. He showed us the different rolls and got us started on Cripple Creek. Harold Bradley gave us guitar lessons as well. Played around town with Leroy Troy, Kent Blanton, Boyd Deering and others. Still perform with Leroy with the Tennessee Mafia Jug Band. After high school I went to art college for a short time, then got serious and went to work at Gibson guitar. Worked with Charlie Derrington, Jim Triggs, Greg Rich, Alan Woody, Danny Roberts and Nick Kimmons. Left Gibson and followed Charlie Derrington to Bellevue Guitar and worked on guitars for a spell. Jim Triggs lured me to his place and built some of the most beautiful archtop's you ever seen. Hit the road as a tech with The Gibson Miller Band for 2 years. Bought and sold guitars for a while. Partied a whole lot with Larry Perkins, Terry (BoBo) Eldredge, Mike Bub and the McCoury's. Recorded Bashful Brother Oswald, it was titled Carry Me Back and was nominated for several awards. Performed with Lery Troy as a Tennessee Slicker. Got kicked out of several bars with Ed Dye. Hired as a firefighter for Goodlettsville. Recorded on many projects. Larry Perkins and Friends, Butch Robins, and wrote some songs. Jeff White recorded a song that he and I wrote; Lonesome As It Gets. Performed on the Ryman with Bashful Brother Oswald. Started doing an Acuff style show with Leroy Troy, my dad, Matt Combs and Kent Blanton. Never really had a name for the band, but we had fun. Did a show at IBMA with this group that I co-produced with my buddy Dick Bowden called the Olde Tyme Opry Show. Recorded some shows with John Hartford called Mobile Home Companion for WDVX. Marty Stuart seen our show from IBMA and wanted us to do some shows with him. Performed on the Opry many times with Marty, performed at the Carter Fold, Oxford, Mississippi, movie sountrack for Faye Dunaway, and performed at the Uncle Dave Macon Days with Marty. Met my wife Michelle Belt and married in 1996. Linda Milynn Armistead was born in 1998. She is a daddy's girl. Eli McCoy Armistead born 2002. Momma's boy. Recorded Barnyard Frolic with the Tennessee Mafia Jug Band. Toured many places. Recent highlights are the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and the Carter Fold. Heading to Ireland soon to perform at the Johnny Keenan Festival. So far it's been one hell of a hillbilly ride.