He's photographed music legends. Ed Rode puts 34 years of work into book

Willie Nelson. Chet Atkins. Dolly Parton. Give a name of an icon in country music and beyond, and there's a good chance one man's worked with them.

Ed Rode's captured grand images for decades in Nashville. Now, he's sharing a project 34 years in the making.

"Everything I do with a camera, the first thing I do is light," Ed said, setting up at Ocean Way Nashville Studio. "I'm looking for perfection. You can make it dramatic or you can make it soft and beautiful. You have so many choices. Every shoot has a direction."

Since arriving in Nashville in 1990, Ed's taken all these steps many times for so many great subjects.

"I love trying to capture their personality," he said. "I love moments."

"Just start playing and give eye contact, just occasionally," Ed said, advising his photoshoot subject for Thursday morning, Tommy Emmanuel.

"That's great, Tommy! That's wonderful!" he called as Tommy played guitar during the photoshoot.

The craft may be different for Ed and Tommy, but they were both placed on certain paths through the influence of one legendary musician.

"I'm a boy from Australia," Tommy said. "I started playing the guitar in 1959. One day, I just tuned in to the radio with my dad, and I heard Chet Atkins playing 'Windy and Warm.' I'll never forget that moment. It was just a galvanizing moment. Something said to me, 'stop and go that way.' I could hear that he was playing everything all at once. Nobody sounded like that. He was so in tune, in time."

Ed also grew up listening to Chet.

"I don't know how many albums were in my living room," Ed said. "There was Chet, Chet, Chet, Beatles, Chet, Chet, Chet."

It was practically surreal for Ed in his early days in Nashville to befriend Chet and meet him at his office that once stood on 17th.

"I asked him, 'Have you ever been photographed up here?'" Ed remembered.

Ed took a picture of Chet playing guitar with light pouring in on him from a nearby window. Chet gave him the idea for a project.

"He said, 'Son, you need to chase songwriters and musicians. They're the backbone of the community. They are important people and make this town go,'" Ed said.

Three decades after that conversation with Chet comes the book, "Songwriter Musician: A Photo Documentary" by Ed Rode. It's now being sold through Ed's site.

"Eric Church, Keb' Mo', Neil Diamond," Ed said, flipping through pages of the book. "Love that one of Marty Stuart. I worked with Peter Frampton a lot. Tremendous human being."

Some of it is a fleeting moment.

"Chris Cornell," Ed said, pointing out one particular picture. "I got just one shot backstage. Light hit him. It was so beautiful. One click and I just treasure that one."

Of course, the first picture you see in the book is Chet's.

"I consider myself really incredibly lucky to be in Nashville at a time music was changing, to be around the people who helped change it," Ed said. "It meant everything to be a part of it. It really did."

Ed is opening an exhibit Friday at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol. The exhibit includes 40 pieces from his work. It'll be there through January.

Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.

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Even after nine years of calling Middle Tennessee home, my boys still say with excitement, "There's the Batman building!" every time we come downtown. It truly is unique! I loved learning more about its history and inspiration in this story. Love the old footage too! Check it out!

-Carrie Sharp