Hard Rock and Gibson honor the country gentleman Chet Atkins

Hard Rock and Gibson honor the country gentleman Chet Atkins
Story and photos by: David Schenk

Last week, the Hard Rock Cafe in Nashville, TN held a ceremony to inaugurate their new neon sign at the corner of Broadway and First Avenue. And since the sign was built in the shape of a Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gentleman guitar, who better to turn the sign on than Chet Atkins, himself.

Greg Ferguson, the general manager of the Nashville Hard Rock, introduced Gibson chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz by thanking him for the long-standing relationship that the two companies have shared.

Henry Juszkiewicz addressed the crowd with kind words for the legendary guitar player that has had such great influence on the music industry in Nashville. Atkins has been responsible for the careers of some of the greatest stars in country music.

Gibson and Chet Atkins have been together for years. Atkins has been playing Gibson's The Chet Atkins Country Gentleman guitar was produced in 1986, followed by the Chet Atkins Tennessean in 1990. Atkins also worked with Gibson to design the revolutionary Chet Atkins Series of solidbody acoustic-electric guitars.

The sign was built by a firm in Las Vegas to closely resemble the Chet Atkins Country Gentleman guitar. Henry Juszkiewicz was impressed by the accuracy and scale of the sign, which weighs 3,500 pounds. The neon lights that create the strings appear to vibrate as the sign turns, giving the illusion that it has been strummed. The new sign complements the massive mural featuring a Gibson Les Paul painted on the front face of the Hard Rock Cafe.