Five Incredible (and vastly different) Guitarists
- Bud
- Feb 28, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 19, 2023
People say the age of the 'guitar hero' is past and it may be true, certainly most of the popular music we hear on commercial sources these days owes little or nothing to the skills of a master guitarist (or much to do with musical instruments in the traditional sense at all). For my money it ain't music as I know and love it if there isn't a guitar in there somewhere, and some of my favorite music is all about guitar playing.
We all know the pantheon of great rock guitarists, from Hendrix, Beck, Page, Gilmour and Clapton down to Knopfler, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani etc etc.
Some people may have underrated guys like Brian May, Keith Richards or Joe Perry, existing as they do in the shadow of their more flamboyant front men, or dismissed Frank Zappa for just being weird.
If you are not a country or bluegrass fan you might not know the joy of a Glen Campbell or Marty Stuart solo, the mellow beauty of Norman Blake's fingerpicking, or the lightning fast acoustic riffs of Clarence White, Tony Rice or the terrifyingly talented young bluegrass monster Billy Strings.
Not a blues fan? Then you may have missed out on the soulful tones of Buddy Guy, BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughn, not to mention the many other blues players all the way back to Robert Johnson who each added to and refined that style in their own ways.
And let's not forget the ladies; Nancy Wilson, Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell and many more.
I love every one of these great ambassadors of the guitar, and too many more to mention.
Now here's a few that are less well known although each has also put their own unique stamp on guitar music.
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