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Back in the days of “The Old Forum” Alex Austin was a regular contributor and HUGE fan of Santa Cruz Guitar Company.
I met Alex through the SCGCPF after I had purchased a used SC Braz/Sitka D-a1 form CG in Ft. Myers, Florida.
he lived in St Augustine and I contacted him by phone to see if he wanted to meet up and play a bit.
We got to talking and he said he would like to record Dee and I and him doing some “Front Porch Country” songs.
So we drove up to the N.E. corner of Fl. and met Alex and his wife Maryann ( she also played guitar) , we all “clicked” right away…….
Dee was a surgical Nurse for over 30 years and Alex felt comfortable enough to confide in us that he had been diagnosed with advanced Prostate Cancer and was undergoing Chemo. He was have some dicomfort with a port that had been inserted in his shoulder and asked Dee to check it………That is another hysterical story that I will keep private.
Alex was a very good Travis picker and had a great voice….we had a ball on the first visit and over the next 18 months we visited Alex & Maryanne several time in St. Augustine….always playing and sipping good whisky and teaching each other new chords and riffs and songs.
Over the months Alex got weaker and had less energy but continued to encourage my playing and Dee’s singing….and he turned his recording studio into a spot that he and Dee created some really cool stuff.
I was cleaning out the “Download” file this afternoon and came across this picture………2015
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I remember Alex with great fondness. A very gracious and friendly spirit . You would never had known the hardships he was going through with his cancer and treatment . Always in a very positive manner. Very cool western singing voice. Thanks for the photo Hank , ya’ll look in the moment and very focused on what in the hell chord is Alex playing now kind’ve look.
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You’re so right Chris…. Alex played this really strange Travis style and I was ALWAYS just a beat behind.
He owned a SC VS and a SC P/w I think ….did he get one of those from you?
I know he had a Gibson Geb Mo ? at the end and I think he left the VS to Maryanne, and the P/W to his son.
He had a hard finish… we were due to visit him and he called and said he just did not have the energy…..he sailed over the horizon a couple of days later.
I really hope he is teaching the gods that may be how to travis pick…..
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