Before you can run, you gotta walk, and playing guitar is no different. This year, big names like Doug Aldrich, Devin Townsend, Andy Timmons, Eva Gardner, Matt Heafy, and others detail their earliest, biggest influences.
10. Does It Doom?'s Steve Reis on Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath"
Premier GuitarThe envoy of evil honors Tony Iommi's ominous opening odyssey that is a foreboding fight between light and dark that ultimately sparked several subgenres of metal.
9. Joey Landreth on Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Texas Flood"
Premier GuitarThe Canadian guitar slinger recalls the moment that cemented his passion for playing thanks to SRV's evocative delivery and compelling chord voicings.
8. Jason Richardson on Lamb of God and Dream Theater
Premier GuitarThe All That Remains shredster details two technically challenging riffs that leveled-up his playing and he shouts out the latter for springboarding him into 7-strings.
7. Daniela Villarreal on Muse's "Supermassive Black Hole"
Premier GuitarThe Warning's guitarist remembers first being mesmerized by Matt Bellamy's captivating performances and then empowered to front her own power trio.
6. Trivium's Matt Heafy on In Flames' “Artifacts of the Black Rain"
Premier GuitarThe heavy metal maven details how music made more sense to him after digesting the swift Swedes coupling of "raw, intense screaming vocals with such beautiful guitar melodies."
5. Andy Timmons on the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There"
Premier GuitarThanks to an older brother, the instrumental star became fascinated with the Fab Four who's early B-side introduced him to the guitar solo.
4. Melissa Dougherty on Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing"
Premier GuitarThe 6-string foil for Grace VanderWaal and Mayer Hawthorne was mesmerized by the guitar god's dexterous orchestration and explains why the song is great for teaching solo-guitar compositions.
3. Eva Gardner on Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On"
Premier GuitarThe bassist for Pink and Cher explains how John Paul Jones' rhythmic tightrope of whimsical melody and driving might still hits her today.
2. Devin Townsend on Judas Priest's "The Sentinel"
Premier GuitarThe once Strapping Young Lad chronicles the "pinnacle moment" with the Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing riff that helped him earn "social collateral" and he became "moderately accepted" with schoolmates.
1. Doug Aldrich on Free's "All Right Now"
Premier GuitarThe Dead Daisies' sharpshooter guitarist runs through his favorite A-chord riffs before zeroing in on Paul Kossoff's magic.
- The Bros. Landreth: “Guitar Playing Wasn’t a Priority” ›
- Keeley Halo Review ›
- Squier Introduces Eva Gardner Precision Bass and 60th Anniversary Classic Vibe '50s Stratocaster ›
- Rig Rundown: The Dead Daisies [2021] ›
Joni Mitchell’s rich, colorful altered-tuning chord voicings have set her work apart in its own musical universe, where the rest of us guitarists either scratch our heads in wonder or have to do dissertation-level research to unpack just how she gets her sound. Dawes guitarist and songwriter Taylor Goldsmith gained firsthand experience with Mitchell’s songs when he joined her on stage—just check out 2022’s “Joni Jam” from the Newport Folk Festival, which also included Brandi Carlile, Blake Mills, Jon Batiste, and others.
Goldsmith joins us on this episode of the 100 Guitarists podcast. Together, we talk about Mitchell’s chord voicings and progressions, her tunings, what it’s like to share a stage with her, and Goldsmith wonders: Was Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blue” a nod to the songwriter’s 1971 album?
When we wrap up our conversation, we cover a new release of energetic, forward-leaning guitar cumbia by Los Pirañas and an album of Bach Partitas for Telecaster by guitarist Noel Johnston.
This episode is sponsored by L.R. Baggs.
