Yesterday I got to go into the archives of the Country Music Hall of Fame and view boots from the Marty Stuart collection. My introduction to boot making was working for Jay Griffith; Jay made Marty’s boots at the time, and I learned how to do inlay and overlay work on Marty Stuart’s boots. As I viewed that early work, I was overcome with the desire to sit down with Beginner Lisa and give her some tips and pointers, because she definitely needed them!

Jay always believed in my potential. He bragged on my work, trusted me with work I probably shouldn’t have been doing yet, and told me I was as good as Betty, a legendary top stitcher who’d worked for him at Blucher Boots. Jay also decided that I should begin signing the inside of all the boot tops I stitched. I had no idea at the time how absolutely unprecedented it was to allow a mere employee to put their signature inside the boot top of an established maker.

When I looked down into this pair of boots and saw my name, I cried a little. It was so long ago and I’ve come so far. I hope that Jay would be proud. I hope that Marty knows how much of my career I owe to the fact that I learned to do inlay and overlay on the boots he had Jay Griffith make for him.

Note: I don’t have permission to share a full photo of the boots, so there is not one.