chicken pickin'

Roy Buchanan poses with his Les Paul in this Alligator Records promo shot.

Heā€™ll forever be remembered for his unparalleled mastery of the Telecaster, but Roy Buchanan kept an open mind when it came to his guitars.

Perhaps youā€™ve read something where an artist or a brand is dubbed ā€œauthentic.ā€ Itā€™s marketing hype thatā€™s both real and manufactured, but I assure you it can be both a legit and important concept. The problem is when it gets used in the first person. Who judges whether something is authentic or not? Critics? Magazines? The internet? A brand itself? What does it mean to you? We often refer to things as the ā€œreal deal,ā€ so is that the same? Not exactly.

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This crash course in country guitar will inject your rock and blues playing with a brand-spankinā€™ new spark.

Feeling kind of bored when practicing lately? Like you need a boost? Well, grab your guitar because learning a new style can be just the ticket, like a supercharged infusion of new energy. Country guitar, sometimes referred to as ā€œchicken pickinā€™,ā€ is a blast to play, and so many of the rock and blues techniques you likely already know transfer right over. Consider this lesson an initial jumping-off point with some fun licks and techniques, designed to give your playing a swift country kick in the pants.
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