waylon jennings

Strapped with the ā€™51 Fender ā€œNocasterā€ that he used to record the solo on ā€œTumbleweed,ā€ Urban walks Shifty through some of his guitar secrets, like how he came to own Waylon Jenningsā€™ iconic, leatherbound 1950 Fender Broadcaster.

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Keith Urbanā€™s first instrument was a ukulele at age 4. When he started learning guitar two years later, he complained that it made his fingers hurt. Eventually, he came around. As did the world.

Throughout his over-30-year career, Keith Urban has been known more as a songwriter than a guitarist. Here, he shares about his new release, High, and sheds light on all that went into the path that led him to becoming one of todayā€™s most celebrated country artists.

There are superstars of country and rock, chart-toppers, and guitar heroes. Then thereā€™s Keith Urban. His two dozen No. 1 singles and boatloads of awards may not eclipse George Strait or Garth Brooks, but heā€™s steadily transcending the notion of what it means to be a country star.

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Thereā€™s much more to this analog phaser than outlaw country swirl.

An inexpensive, rangy phaser with fun, interactive, and easy-to-use controls

Some whistle-like overtones in treble-heavy peaks

$129

Fender Waylon Jennings Phaser, $129 street

fender.com

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When I was a kid, my mom got a cassette of Waylon Jenningsā€™ Greatest Hits, which went into heavy rotation in her Cutlass Supremeā€™s tape deck. Much was striking about that introduction to Waylon Jenningsā€”not least that voice and the frank, plain-spoken narration. Just as arresting, though, were the swirling guitar sounds that popped up on ā€œAre You Sure Hank Done It This Wayā€ and ā€œLuckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love).ā€ They didnā€™t sound like the Buck Owens or Patti Page I would hear on oldies stations, or, for that matter, George Harrisonā€™s version of Don Richā€™s ā€œAct Naturallyā€ lead. In fact, as a Beatles obsessive, ā€œLuckenbach, Texasā€ struck me as bearing a certain resemblance to the arpeggios in ā€œDear Prudence.ā€ Those phaser sounds helped make me a Waylon fan for life. So, Iā€™m tickled to see Fender honor the effect that opened up one very strange corner of my musical mind with the release of the Waylon Jennings Phaser.

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