Chester Burton "Chet" Atkins, known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music style which expanded its appeal to adult pop music fans. He was primarily a guitarist, but he also played the mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and ukulele, and occasionally sang.
Duane Eddy is an American instrumental rock guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel-'Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young". He had sold 12 million records by 1963.
Martin Taylor, MBE is a British jazz guitarist who has performed in groups, guitar ensembles, and as an accompanist.
Leonard Harold Breau was a Canadian-American guitarist. He blended many styles of music, including jazz, country, classical, and flamenco. Inspired by country guitarists like Chet Atkins, Breau used fingerstyle techniques not often used in jazz guitar. By using a seven-string guitar and approaching the guitar like a piano, he opened up possibilities for the instrument.
Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rosewood, Kentucky, United States. His songs' lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic exploitation of American coal miners. Among his many well-known songs and recordings are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues", "I am a Pilgrim" and "Dark as a Dungeon". However, it is his unique guitar style, still called "Travis picking" by guitarists, as well as his interpretations of the rich musical traditions of his native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, for which he is best known today. Travis picking is a syncopated style of guitar fingerpicking rooted in ragtime music in which alternating chords and bass notes are plucked by the thumb while melodies are simultaneously plucked by the index finger. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977.
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking. The term "fingerstyle" is something of a misnomer, since it is present in several different genres and styles of music—but mostly, because it involves a completely different technique, not just a "style" of playing, especially for the guitarist's picking/plucking hand. The term is often used synonymously with fingerpicking except in classical guitar circles, although fingerpicking can also refer to a specific tradition of folk, blues and country guitar playing in the US. The terms "fingerstyle" and "fingerpicking" also applied to similar string instruments such as the banjo.
"Little Martha" was the only Allman Brothers Band track written solely by group leader and partial namesake Duane Allman. The song first appeared as the final studio track on the Allman Brothers Band's fourth album, Eat a Peach, released in 1972. The track was recorded in October 1971, a few weeks before Duane Allman's death in a motorcycle accident.
Charles Ray McCoy is a Grammy-winning American session musician, harmonica player, and multi-instrumentalist. In 2009, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Based in Nashville, McCoy's playing is heard on recordings by Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings and Loretta Lynn. He has recorded thirty-seven studio albums, including fourteen for Monument Records. Thirteen of his singles have entered the Billboard country charts. He was a member of Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry. In 2007, McCoy was inducted into the International Musicians Hall of Fame as a part a group of session musicians dubbed "The Nashville A-Team". In 2022, he was invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
William Thomas Emmanuel is an Australian guitarist. Often regarded as one of the greatest acoustic guitarists of all time, he is known for his complex fingerstyle technique, energetic performances and use of percussive effects on the instrument. Originally a session player in many bands, Emmanuel carved out his own style as a solo artist, releasing many award-winning albums and singles. In June 2010 Emmanuel was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), and in 2011 he was inducted into the Australian Roll of Renown.
Tim Sparks is an American acoustic guitar player, singer, arranger and composer.
Brent Mason is a Nashville recording studio guitarist and songwriter performing primarily country music. Guitar World Magazine listed him as one of the "Top Ten Session Guitarists of All Time". Discovered and mentored by Chet Atkins, Mason has been named "Guitarist of the Year" 12 times by the Academy of Country Music and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019. In addition to releasing two instrumental studio albums, he holds several credits as a songwriter. He is a Grammy Award winner (2008) and a two-time winner of the CMA Award Musician of the Year. A line of "Brent Mason" guitar models has been marketed by two different guitar manufacturers. The "Stories Collection Brent Mason Telecaster" was launched August 11, 2020.
Muriel Anderson is an American fingerstyle guitarist and harp guitarist who plays in many genres. She is the first woman to win the National Fingerpicking Guitar Championship.
Patrick Donohue is an American fingerstyle guitarist born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is a Grammy nominated, National Fingerpicking Guitar Champion songwriter. Donohue has several albums to his credit and his songs have been recorded by Chet Atkins, Suzy Bogguss, and Kenny Rogers. He has performed on A Prairie Home Companion for many years.
Pat Kirtley is an American fingerstyle guitarist, composer and guitar educator.
The Essential Chet Atkins is a two-disc compilation recording by American guitarist Chet Atkins, released in 2007 on the Legacy label.
John Knowles is an American acoustic guitarist.
Ray Cummins is an American guitarist.
Richard Smith is an English guitarist specialising in the fingerstyle guitar tradition of Merle Travis, Chet Atkins, and Jerry Reed. He is the 2001 National Fingerstyle Guitar Champion.
Paul Yandell was an American guitar player from Mayfield, Kentucky. Yandell played fingerstyle, a style he learned to play from his neighbors, influenced by Chet Atkins and Merle Travis. In 1955 he was hired by The Louvin Brothers and performed and recorded with them. From 1959 to 1961 he served in the US Army and on his return was a touring musician with Kitty Wells, Johnnie Wright, George Hamilton IV, and Jerry Reed.
