I have never met Gary personally but have a lot of good things about him. I might mention he built some really good guitars in the Rains Steel Guitars.
I got to play that Rains that Mark has and it plays great and really sounded very good to my ears. Gary Carpentar really knows how to build a steel guitar.
Hey Paul Wade, I found some more with Gary. Here is one them, and there are many more with him playing with this bunch of good musicians. Curtis Potter and Bobby Flores to just mention a few.
I had been playing steel maybe 9 months when one night in 1981 I was in the Fort Worth Stockyards playing at this club and in walks Gary,Donny Lavalle (sp) and Gary Hogue all together.
We had just started playing Johnny Lee's Cherokee Fiddle and I knew this one break better than all the other two I used quite often and right as I start my lead the E string breaks. Needless to say I was mortified because it ruined the whole break.
I walked over to Gary on break and said what a bummer,my E string broke and he just grinned and said "well at least you had good tone".
If you're ever in the area stop in and see him play because he has and endless supply of licks and is just a super nice guy.