Shortly after being born in Atlanta, Hadley Hockensmith moved to Midwest City. Known for being a guitarist’s guitarist, Hockensmith became a world renown musician, session player, and songwriter. He toured the globe as Neil Diamond’s guitar player for 34 years. When Diamond retired from touring , Hockensmith moved back to Oklahoma City where he still resides. An extended video interview was released this month as part of the SHINE on Oklahoma Music series on YouTube. The video shows lots of great concert footage and vintage photographs as he discusses his incredible life in music. In the late 60s, Hockensmith joined a fellow Oklahoman to start the 3rd Avenue Blues Band, where was noticed as a talented musician. Soon, he was in-demand for many recording sessions. He has appeared on albums by Paul Anka, Glen Campbell, Jan Dean, Ray Charles, and fellow Okie BJ Thomas. The late gospel legend, Andraé Crouch, first took Hockensmith out on the road as part of his touring band. In addition to his work on the road, he played on Crouch’s records and provided original songs for him to record. While working with Crouch, he joined an incredible lineup of extraordinary musicians to form a band called Koinonia. Koinonia means communion, or fellowship in Christian bond. It was a fitting band name for a group of both devoted Christians and successful musicians. The other members of the group came from Steely Dan, Michael Jackson, Ricky Skaggs, Smokey Robinson, and Chicago. They were the supergroup of touring musicians and under their own name produced nine albums and multiple world tours. Following Elvis Presley’s death, Hockensmith’s drummer Ron Tutt was hired by Neil Diamond. Tutt convinced Diamond to listen to Hockensmith and, eventually, Diamond offered him a lead guitarist position. That gig lasted 34 years as they played every iconic stage throughout the world, with Hockensmith just eight feet from Diamond. Hockensmith kept his own solo work going as well. His compositions were recorded by Michael McDonald, Gordon Lightfoot, Conway Twitty, and America, in addition to gospel tunes recorded by legendary Christian artists Debbie Boone, Amy Grant, and the Winans.Throughout his career, he has appeared on major television shows, including Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show, the Today Show, David Letterman’s Late Show, the Jimmy Kimmel Show, Ellen Degeneres’ Ellen Show, and the Phil Donahue Show. A career highlight for him was having Elton John and Leon Russell tap Hockensmith to be the guitarist on their duet album The Union. The two music geniuses thought that the person best for their lone musical collaboration album was none other than Hadley Hockensmith. And, the success of that album helped propel Rusell into his rightful place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Thankfully for music fans, Hockensmith hasn’t let retirement keep him from writing and recording songs. From his home in the Deer Creek area, he is still producing and helping artists hone their talents. Brian Maughan serves as Oklahoma County Commissioner, Dist 2 and does a series of interviews with Oklahoma music stars for the Oklahoma History Center called SHINE on Oklahoma Music. The post The Guitarist From Midwest City appeared first on Oklahoma Gazette. ...read more read less