I just finished researching an Ibanez acoustic guitar that I have been playing since about 1980. I got this guitar in trade for moving a ballerina I knew from one apartment to the other. She had this guitar sitting up in a corner as part of her apartment decor and after some quick bartering I ended up with it. It is a 1972 Ibanez model 627 acoustic guitar patterned after the Martin D-18. Now on the grand scale of guitars, this one is a beginner model and is not much in demand. What makes mine different than most of these model is the history.

This guitar is the predominant acoustic guitar on Pizza Deliverance by the Drive By Truckers. In 1999, I was living in Athens, Ga and had written several articles reviewing the Trucker's first single and their first CD. Patterson Hood and I were fairly well acquainted and so when he ran into me at the grocery store, he asked if I had an acoustic guitar they could borrow for an upcoming session. I brought my guitar to the house on Jefferson Road a few days later and stayed for most of the day. I sat there in the living room while they recorded a good part of the album.

On several occasions, I have considered selling this guitar but I always hesitate and I am glad I still own it.

It has been a little over two years since I last posted on Sordid Tales of the New South and I am way overdue in restarting this blog. I have been traveling through the past two years in a relative upside down orientation. 2008 was a really bad year for me as I almost died after a bout with antibiotic induced colitis, my mother got sick and almost died and my brother did pass away from an accidental drug overdose. I lost my job as a result of my getting sick and I had to have back to back surgeries -one to remove my damaged colon/give me a colostomy and one to reverse the colostomy. I had to shit in a little plastic bag for 8 weeks and that ain't no fun. My wife and I joined the ranks of millions who filed bankruptcy because of medical bills. I know first hand that health care need reforming but my Republican congressmen are busy helping save everybody from socialism. Way to go Paul Broun! Save me from the socialists but send me to the poorhouse too.

2008 wasn't a total loss as my granddaughter, Mary, was born right before Mom and I got sick. More good news came as my father and his certifiably (really) crazy wife got a divorce. It was mixed news however, as they lived in SC and had to wait a year to get it finalized. You have to wait in SC to see if Jesus will intervene and save your marriage! She finally signed the papers this week but not before bleeding him dry with lawyer fees.

2009 started off a little better when Phillip Cartledge called me from the bus station and asked me to give him a ride home. This time he meant for good. I didn't have to take him back to the terminal to catch a return bus. After he got settled we got to talking and decided to get the band back together. He had to start from scratch as he sold his drum kit a long time ago and he was a little rusty.

We have been working hard trying to build our fan base and increase our number of shows. We played about 30 shows in 2009 including one at Little Kings Shuffle club in Athens, Ga.
In late 2009 I started my own internet radio show called Voice of Harrisburg. It airs on Saturday nights from 11p-12a on blogtalkradio.com It is an hour of pulchritude and despsir broadcast live from the Terrace Room at the historic Bon Air hotel in Augusta, Ga.
Come visit Willie and the Hand Factory on myspace at myspace.com/billscoggins
We are on Facebook and Twitter too. We have a website at http:/wathf.com
Voice of Harrisburg has a page on Twitter too.