Best Guitarist in Country Music

This was the single highest-scored comment across both guitarist discussions reviewed: “No one has mentioned Chet Atkins” drew more agreement than any other single name in a discussion of history’s best twangy players.

This was the most-repeated pick in a dedicated discussion asking who is the best guitarist in country music, with multiple commenters calling his chicken-pickin’ style “in a category by itself.”

“Two words... Danny Gatton” was the second-highest-scored answer in the historical-players discussion, with repliers calling him a self-taught virtuoso who inspired John Sebastian’s song “Nashville Cats.”

This was a top-three answer in the historical discussion and was named again independently in the modern-players discussion, the rare guitarist commenters agreed belongs on every era’s list.

Commenters named him alongside Chet Atkins in the discussion’s top comment; one reply called him outright “the GOAT,” citing his career as one of Nashville’s most in-demand session players.

Commenters repeatedly named him in the modern-players discussion as the guitarist several said should be “in the conversation” for best working today, ahead of some higher-profile mainstream names.

More than one commenter ranked him #1 in the dedicated best-guitarist discussion, and a separate discussion elsewhere asked outright whether he holds the title.

Commenters called him “phenomenal” in the modern discussion and credited him in the historical discussion with keeping Clarence White’s guitar, and his B-Bender playing style, alive on stage today.

Commenters said this session player “defined the country music sound of the 90s” despite never becoming a household name. Multiple replies called him simply “the GOAT” of recorded studio guitar.

One commenter named him “best ever,” and several more tied him to the Hee Haw generation of country guitar, a recurring answer across both discussions for all-time greatest.