Country Music’s Best Guitarists
Outside of certain parts of the United States, country isn’t exactly that popular a genre. Sure, plenty of people have heard of artists like Willie Nelson or Johnny Cash, but these are just two names of the many dozens of artists that breathed life into country music over the last century.
Country wouldn’t be the hit that it is without the multi-talented guitarists that shaped it from the ground up. These are guitarists that are often considered some of the most talented people of all time, even if many of them never received the international recognition that they rightly deserved.
Chet Atkins
Over the course of his career, Chet Atkins managed to prove his skills countless times, and would eventually earn the title of the 21st best guitarist of all time, at least according to Rolling Stone Magazine. On top of that, he also holds the record for being the most recorded guitarist in the history of the genre. One of the reasons he earned a name in country is due to his famous fingerstyle that made use of three fingers as well as the thumb to showcase a level of skill on the guitar that few others have been able to match.
Luther Perkins
Luther Perkins’ particular style of guitar was quite simplistic when compared to someone like Chet Atkins, but it was this simplicity that also made his unique talent stand out, and why he remains an important part of country history. Some might recognise his style through sound alone, and that’s because he backed Johnny Cash’s songs for most of the latter’s recordings, and is largely believed to have had a massive influence on the genre and other genres because of this.
Roy Clark
Many regard Roy Clark as the best guitarist who ever lived, and watching some of his performances, it’s not hard to see why. Clark was enormously talented on a number of instruments, including the banjo and violin, but he was best known for his guitar skills and singing.
But it was arguably his showmanship that really made him stand out, and Clark was known for his comedic performances that were intermingled with excellent guitar and vocals – definitely something to check out on YouTube when not looking for online horse racing tips. One of his positions during his career was as host of Hee Haw, and it’s most likely his work here that popularised country music more than any other artists or shows at the time.
Hank Garland
Hank Garland deserved much more recognition than he ever really received by the time that he passed away in 2001, but there’s no denying that Garland was nothing short of a titan in the industry and had an enormous influence on country as a whole.
He worked alongside some of the greats, including Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, and Don Gibson – virtually most of the biggest names that performed during the 1950s. In fact, not only was Garland a true master of his craft, but Gibson approached him for ideas in designing some of his best-selling guitars at the time.