James Garver (born September 8, 1957) is an American country music guitarist. Garver is credited with referencing the bar "The Oasis" (after a closed establishment in his hometown of

Concordia, Kansas Concordia is a city in and the county seat of Cloud County, Kansas, United States. It is located along the Republican River in the Smoky Hills region of the Great Plains in North Central Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of th ...

) in the song ''

Friends in Low Places "Friends in Low Places" is a song recorded by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released on August 6, 1990, as the lead single from his album '' No Fences''. The song spent four weeks at number one on the Hot Country Songs, and ...

'' made famous by

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...

. Garver toured extensively with Brooks and as of 2012, Garver has been credited with 25 different albums with roles ranging from musician to composer.

Biography

Garver grew up in

, with his parents, Don and Donna. Garver played in several bands, including the KFDI Ranchhouse Swing Band for about a year, before moving to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. He was working full-time as a bricklayer, and playing in a local band, in 1988 when he attended a writers' showcase one night at the Bluebird Cafe and met

. That same week, after learning that Brooks worked at a boot store, Garver went to the store and the two talked music again. Brooks invited Garver to join his band in May. Shortly afterwards, Garver introduced Brooks to

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

ist Steve McClure, a fellow Kansan, who also joined Brooks' band, now named Stillwater. Within two months, Brooks signed with Capitol Records. Garver recalled, "I originally started out as a fiddle player for him and he ended up liking my guitar playing better, so that's where I ended up." He added, "I was just happy to have a job." In subsequent years, Garver provided backing vocals and played lead electric guitar, acoustic guitar, banjo, piano, and percussion. Mr. Garver has not performed as a musician since 2000. He and his wife Lana now own and operate Garver Builders, LLC, a commercial and industrial building contractor and developer, in

Gallatin, Tennessee Gallatin is a city in and the county seat of Sumner County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 30,278 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census and 44,431 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Named for United States Secre ...

Discography

References

External links

Jim Garver guitar solo tribute
YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Garver, Jim American country guitarists American male guitarists Living people Guitarists from Kansas People from Concordia, Kansas 1957 births