My daughter was on tour with a film crew last summer and she needed her guitar repaired while they were in Austin. She found a little one-man guitar shop down some side street and walked in and the guy fixed her guitar. So she’s looking around at the walls and sees gold records and pictures of ZZ Top and Billy Gibbons and other people who looked like rock and rollers.
It turned out that the guitar shop guy had recorded with ZZ Top and did some gigs with them back in their early days. His name is Mark Erlewine, and he designed and built guitars with Billy Gibbons and Johnny Winter. Other clients who have walked into his shop over the years include Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, Dusty Hill, and Eric Johnson.
Apparently, Mark decided long ago that the touring life wasn’t for him. He is happy as a clam running his guitar shop and being free to do whatever he feels like whenever he feels like it.
Mark Erlewine is also responsible for keeping “Trigger,” Willie Nelson’s guitar, alive.
http://www.texasmonthly.com/cms/printthis.php?file=feature5.php&issue=2012-12-01