Paul Franklin performs during the 2015 Celebrity Barn Dance a Benefit Concert at The Jaeckle Centre on March 28, 2015 in Thompson's Station, Tenn.
Rick Diamond/Getty ImagesWhen the Country Music Association unveiled its ballot for the organization’s 55th annual awards on Sept. 9, steel guitarist Paul Franklin picked up the 30th nomination of his career.
A whopping 29 of those nods — including this year’s — were for musician of the year. His one nod outside of that category was for musical event of the year for Bakersfield, a 2014 collab with Vince Gill. Bottom line: Franklin has been a candidate in more than half of the CMA's competitions.
All that attention hasn’t done much for his trophy case, though. Franklin has yet to take home a CMA Award, and he’s somewhat resigned to that outcome.
"I gave up on winning," he says candidly.
But there’s no malice or self-pity in his response. At age 67, he’s still a first-call studio musician, playing on such recent hits as Thomas Rhett’s "Country Again," Kane Brown’s "Homesick," Brett Young’s "Catch" and Justin Moore’s "Why We Drink." When Franklin listens to country radio, he rarely goes an hour without hearing himself, and that confirmation of his daily successes in the studio trenches outstrips the once-a-year status as an also-ran.
"Everybody that gets nominated wants to win, of course," he says. "But I can’t believe at my age that I’m still being nominated. That’s flattering."
Franklin’s absence from the winner’s circle may have something to do with the instrument itself. Pedal steel guitar requires a musician to use both hands and both feet — the classic image of a pedal-pusher is a guy hunched over the box, wavering a bar over the fretboard with his left hand, picking strings with his right while both feet rock subtly across four tone and volume controls. The steel guitarist can’t really move around onstage, and is thus easily overlooked.
"The instrument’s too hard to play to be visual," notes Franklin. "If you’re visual, then typically you’re not playing much."
In fact, a steel guitarist has never won the CMA’s musician of the year honor. And only this year, with the announcement that Pete Drake is bound for the Country Music Hall of Fame, is a steel player finally going to be enshrined in country’s most hallowed institution. The longtime omission is not lost on Franklin.
"If you set a steel guitar up amid a bunch of ordinary music fans, they look at that and they say, ‘Country music. That’s that country instrument’ — if they don’t know what to call it, they ID it with country music," he says. "That’s why it always struck me [that] country music has not really acknowledged the instrument as much. The producers and artists all do, but as far as these [awards] things go, it’s not typical."
Appropriately, neither is Franklin’s backstory. A native of Detroit, he started playing steel guitar in 1962 after being inspired by a major country crossover hit, Skeeter Davis’ "The End of the World." (It was recorded that June, entered the country singles chart that December.) The steel guitarist, not so ironically, was Drake. By the end of the decade, steel had quietly found prominence with folk and pop artists — Poco; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; and Bob Dylan, who loaded up "Lay Lady Lay" with steel guitar, supplied by Drake.
Franklin’s father was an auto worker, a proud union man, and when he recognized his son’s expertise, he figured the best way to help the kid get work was to have him join the union. That was fortuitous — as interest in the steel picked up, Franklin was the only player listed on the instrument with the Detroit chapter of the American Federation of Musicians. Thus, he got work while he was still in high school, where the kids derisively called him "Hee Haw." Franklin figured prominently in a 1970 track by Parliament, "Little Ole Country Boy"; got hired by Marvin Gaye’s musical director, McKinley Jackson; and picked up work with producer Dennis Coffey, best known as the artist on a 1971 pop instrumental, "Scorpio." Coffey hired Franklin to play on four tracks by an unsigned band named Gallery, which ultimately included a top five 1972 single, "Nice to Be With You."
Franklin moved to Nashville that year, but didn’t tell anyone he had played on a pop hit — he didn’t think it would help him get work. Drake, however, provided Franklin some studio gigs and encouraged him to tout his highlights. He began playing road dates for Barbara Mandrell, Dottie West, Jerry Reed and Mel Tillis, and appeared on his first country hit with George Strait’s 1985 single "The Chair." The Bakersfield influence Franklin brought to Rodney Crowell’s "Above and Beyond," a No. 1 1989 single, cemented his reputation: He won his first musician of the year nomination and has never looked back.
Franklin practically owned both the traditional and pop sides of country steel playing. He participated, for example, on Strait’s gentle "I Just Want to Dance With You" and Shania Twain’s then-edgy "That Don’t Impress Me Much" in the same year, 1998. His credits would stretch from Alan Jackson and Mark Chesnutt to Barbra Streisand, Dire Straits and Megadeth.
Some of that flexibility comes from his ability to "read the room," a trait he says was heavily encouraged by… well, Drake.
"It’s a really quick assessment of the room — ‘Which way are we going today?’ " he says. "You can’t just assume, even though it may sound like a traditional song, that you can play traditional parts on it. If the artist is trying to be experimental, you’re going to have to go somewhere else."
Ultimately, Franklin still loves his instrument, playing weekly Monday-night dates with the western swing act The Time Jumpers and, of late, touring with Chris Stapleton, where the change of pace from the usual Nashville studio circuit is a good refresher.
"It’s like therapy for me," says Franklin.
NEWS
Kaiser Chiefs have announced a 20th anniversary reissue of their seminal debut album, ‘Employment’. Find all the details below.
The Leeds band released the seven-times Platinum, UK Number Two record back in 2005. It features the classic singles ‘Oh My God’, ‘I Predict A Riot’ and ‘Everyday I Love You Less And Less’.
‘Employment’ was named Best Album at the NME Awards 2006 – beating competition from Oasis, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand and Babyshambles – and has sold more than 2.1million copies.
Ahead of their huge 20th anniversary homecoming gig at Temple Newsam Park next Saturday (May 31) – where they’ll play ‘Employment’ in full – Ricky Wilson and co. have shared details of a special reissue to further mark the milestone.
A year typically commemorated with china, the group will celebrate two decades of their debut full-length with three brand new expanded ‘China Anniversary’ formats – which will arrive on July 18. Pre-order/pre-save here.
The 1LP edition is pressed on white vinyl and features the bonus track ‘Take My Temperature’, while the 2LP set contains 15 additional tracks, including a selection of B-sides and CD single bonus tracks, plus two previously unreleased songs, exclusive to this format.
On the 3CD set, alongside the original album, the band have added 40 tracks, including previously unreleased demo recordings, remixes, radio sessions, and a selection of live tracks that “chart their rapid rise from small club dates in Leeds, to festival headline act”.
The original album has been remastered at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, with the bonus material being curated by the band from their own archive.
To preview the forthcoming release, Kaiser Chiefs have shared ‘I Predict A Riot (Big Nurse Remix)’. Listen here:
The tracklists for Kaiser Chiefs’ ‘Employment – China Anniversary Edition’ are:
1LP:
Side A
1. Everyday I Love You Less And Less
2. I Predict A Riot
3. Modern Way
4. Na Na Na Na Naa
5. You Can Have It All
6. Oh My God
Side B
1. Born To Be A Dancer
2. Saturday Night
3. What Did I Ever Give You?
4. Time Honoured Tradition
5. Caroline, Yes
6. Team Mate
7. Take My Temperature
2LP:
Side A
1. Everyday I Love You Less And Less
2. I Predict A Riot
3. Modern Way
4. Na Na Na Na Naa
5. You Can Have It All
6. Oh My God
Side B
1. Born To Be A Dancer
2. Saturday Night
3. What Did I Ever Give You?
4. Time Honoured Tradition
5. Caroline, Yes
6. Team Mate
7. Take My Temperature
Side C
1. Less Is More
2. Wrecking Ball
3. Brightest Star
4. Not Surprised
5. Think About You (And I Like It)
6. Hard Times Send Me
7. Sink That Ship
Side D
1. The Letter Song
2. Seventeen Cups
3. It Ain’t Easy (Demo)
4. Run Again
5. People Need Light
6. Moon
7. Formative Years*
8. Don’t Get Me Wrong*
(*previously unreleased tracks)
3CD:
CD1
1. Everyday I Love You Less And Less
2. I Predict A Riot
3. Modern Way
4. Na Na Na Na Naa
5. You Can Have It All
6. Oh My God
7. Born To Be A Dancer
8. Saturday Night
9. What Did I Ever Give You?
10. Time Honoured Tradition
11. Caroline, Yes
12. Team Mate
13. Take My Temperature
CD2
1. Wrecking Ball
2. Brightest Star
3. Not Surprised
4. Think About You And I Like You
5. Hard Times Send Me
6. Sink That Ship
7. Less Is More
8. The Letter Song
9. Seventeen Cups
10. It Ain’t Easy (Demo)
11. Run Again
12. People Need Light
13. Moon
14. Another Number
15. I Heard It Through The Grapevine
16. Modern Way (Rhythms Del Mundo Version)
17. You Can Have It All (Light Orchestral)
18. Oh My God (Demo)*
19. Born To Be A Dancer (Demo)
20. Caroline Yes (Demo)*
21. I Predict A Riot (Demo)*
22. Modern Way (Demo)*
23. Saturday Night (Demo)*
(*previously unreleased tracks)
CD3
1. Everyday I Love You Less And Less (Spike Stent Remix)
2. I Predict A Riot (Spike Stent Remix)*
3. Na Na Na Na Naa (Polysics Remix)
4. Everyday I Love You Less And Less (Boyz Noize Remix)
5. I Predict A Riot (Big Nurse Remix)*
6. Sink That Ship (BBC Radio 2 Session for Mark Radcliffe 17/10/2005)*
7. Modern Way (BBC Radio 2 Session for Mark Radcliffe 17/10/2005)*
8. Everyday I Love You Less And Less (Live at The Mod Club, Toronto 29/05/2005)*
9. Hard Times Send Me (Live at the Academy, Birmingham 24/01/2005)*
10. Na Na Na Na Naa (Live at Glastonbury, Worthy Farm 25/06/2005)*
11. Oh My God (Live at Georg-Elser-Hallen, Munich 04/11/2005)
12. Born To Be A Dancer (Live at T In The Park, Kinross 10/07/2005)*
13. Saturday Night (Live at Joseph’s Well, Leeds 28/09/2003)*
14. Sink That Ship (Live at The Cockpit, Leeds 13/12/2004)
15. Take My Temperature (Live at the Fillmore, San Francisco 25/07/2005)
16. Time Honoured Tradition (Live at the Metro Theatre, Sydney 29/11/2005)*
17. Caroline, Yes (Live at the Metro Theatre, Sydney 29/11/2005)*
18. I Predict A Riot (Live at V Festival, Hylands Park, Chelmsford 20/08/2005)*
19. Take My Temperature (Live at Leeds Town Hall 11/05)*
20. Oh My God (Live at the Metro Theatre, Sydney 29/11/2005)*
(*previously unreleased tracks)
Speaking to NME upon announcing their big ‘Employment’ gig in Leeds – where they’ll be joined by the likes of Razorlight, The Cribs and We Are Scientists – Kaiser Chiefs said they’d be “doing nostalgia properly” at the event.
“We wanted to try and focus in and make it like a celebration of 2005 or 2006-ish,” said bassist Simon Rix.
Wilson also teased that fans could expect “songs that we wouldn’t usually play” at Temple Newsam, and promised some onstage nods to the ‘Employment’ era. “The beard’s coming off and the eyeliner is going on,” the frontman told NME.
He also looked back on playing on the NME Tour and said he was “surprised” to learn that ‘Employment’ had won the Best Album prize at the NME Awards.
In addition to next week’s Leeds show, the Kaisers have dates scheduled for Port Talbot, Bristol, Edinburgh Castle, London’s Alexandra Palace Park, Brighton Beach and other locations as part of their 2025 outdoor ‘Employment’ tour. You can find any remaining tickets here.
They’ll also make appearances at various summer festivals, including Glastonbury, Latitude, Boardmasters and Kendal Calling.
The band’s latest full-length record, ‘Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album’, was released last year. Speaking to NME last October, Wilson revealed that he’d already “thought of a good title” for its follow-up. “It always starts with the title,” he added.
