Vince Gill and Paul Franklin: A Tribute To Bakersfield

With John Harwood in for Tom Ashbrook.

Two fine country gentlemen, Vince Gill and Paul Franklin, join us from Nashville to lay down some licks off their new album, a tribute to the "Bakersfield sound."

Long before there was a Carrie Underwood or a Brad Paisley, Merle Haggard and Buck Owens burst onto the country music scene with edgy, steely tunes known as the "Bakersfield sound." Now two giants of contemporary Nashville, Vince Gill and Paul Franklin, have a new album paying tribute to the influence of those artists.

This hour, On Point: the music of "Bakersfield" - live.

Vince Gill, guitarist and singer. He's sold 26 million albums. Winner of 20 Grammy awards and 18 CMA awards. (@vgcom)

Paul Franklin, the most recorded pedal steel guitar session player in Nashville over the last 25 years.

Their new album is "Bakersfield." Vince and Paul are currently on tour.

Los Angeles Times: Vince Gill, Paul Franklin celebrate 'Bakersfield' country -- "'If you want to define country music to me in its greatest era,' Gill, 56, said last week, 'it would be Bakersfield — it would be Buck and Merle, those songs and those instruments.'"

Yahoo! Music: Q&A: Vince Gill and Paul Franklin Get Steely With ‘Bakersfield’ Salute -- "What ended up as a putative Buck ‘n’ Merle salute began life as a possible album of instrumentals, due to Gill’s desire to have some seriously fiery interplay with Franklin, the most revered of modern Nashville steel players. It marks the first time Gill has shared billing on an album, and certainly the first time an instrumentalist has enjoyed equal marquee space with a Country Hall of Fame member. "

Here, Vince Gill and Paul Franklin talk about their new album Bakersfield, and the techniques they used on the album: