I’ve been inspired by a whole mess of people on acoustic guitar but lately I’ve been hesitantly (but with love and enthusiasm) paying a little more attention to my electric playing.  I aim to incorporate it more into what I do live, and I’ve been looking at the folks who taught me what I like.  Here are my top 4, culled from Youtube.  It’s rare that I do a Youtube post but heck, show and tell, right?

JOHN JENNINGS
My first guitar hero. John has played with Mary Chapin Carpenter for…ever. He plays EVERYTHING…electric, acoustic, all the other things, AND something called a Martin Backpacker (aka “The Stick Guitar”). I got one in high school because of him, and he signed it the very first time I saw him with MCC in Santa Fe in 1998. We go way back. I have popped up at Mary Chapin shows from Denver to San Francisco and Atlanta to Austin and he always says hello. A gentleman and a very tasteful guitar player who knows when to let it rip.

DUKE LEVINE
Another genius I was introduced to through Mary Chapin, Duke is the master of tone. I was certain he was using all kinds of crazy pedals for his sound and I read an interview somewhere that all he uses is a tremolo and a delay. It’s all in his hands and his brain. I was kind of hoping I could buy a magic pedal but alas, practice it is. Here’s a mini-lesson with Duke in which you can see magic flow from his fingers.

LLOYD MAINES
Lloyd is pretty much the godfather of pedal steel guitar in Texas and has played with everyone, but he’s also a master of the dobro, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, and this Papoose short scale guitar. When he plays this solo with Terri Hendrix I get goosebumps EVERY TIME. Another of of those humble, nice people who deserves all the acclaim he gets.

MARK KNOPFLER
Dire Straits. Sultans of Swing. We all know the Knopfler tone. I think his composition “The Way It Is” consists of the most perfect guitar riffs ever. I aspire to this.