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As the guitar shows, Joyner is neither a take-it-or-leave-it nor a Johnny-come-lately fan of Nelson. He can still remember going to a concert with his family, decades ago, when Nelson was still touring with fellow “outlaw country” musicians Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash. (For Tuesday night’s gig in Missoula, Nelson shares the bill with Lyle Lovett.)

Back in those days, Nelson was already becoming famous for toting around an old and battered Martin guitar, which he nicknamed “Trigger.”

“Those were just some awesome childhood memories, and I guess that’s why I’ve always remained a country music fan,” recalled Joyner.

Since then, Nelson has continued to play Trigger, and Joyner has built a career as a professional wildlife and Western art painter. His realistic work has earned him some choice jobs through the University of Montana Grizzly Scholarship Association, for whom he has produced several official posters – among them the commemorative poster for the 2001 national I-AA championship football team.

Joyner has also become something of an amateur musician. A few years ago, prior to a concert by Nelson in Big Sky, Joyner won two tickets to the show through a radio contest in which he did the best imitation of Nelson’s voice.

“We went to that, camped in our van, sat through the concert in pouring rain,” he said, “but it was still awesome because it was Willie.”

Earlier this summer, when Joyner heard that Nelson was coming to Missoula, he decided to transform his own father’s old Conn guitar into a replica of Trigger, complete with a painted “hole” where the original guitar has been worn through by Nelson’s aggressive picking.