| National Flatpicking Champions Visit the website of the Walnut Valley Festival. You can look up all of the winners of the National Flatpicking Championships there. |
Here are links to some of the great Bluegrass guitarists. Each artist listed has a brief profile, a link to their website, and links to instructional resources and recordings. Not all artists have their own sites; in those cases we've tried to provide the best alternative site. Instructional resource links will take you to our affliate retailer SheetMusicPlus, while the CDs & MP3 links are to our affilitate Amazon.com. In some cases an artist may not have instructional materials or CDs available.
Russ
Barenberg
Russ is a player with taste and style as well
as a great instructor. His recordings blend bluegrass with
Irish, Caribbean, Latin and jazz influences. He is currently
an active session player in Nashville.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Norman
Blake
Norman Blake has been a powerful force on the bluegrass and country music
scene for nearly three decades. Norman and his wife Nancy have together
and separately made over 15 albums. The link below goes to the web site
of Norman's agent.
AGENT WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Dix
Bruce
An accomplished player, teacher and author, Dix
Bruce has published over 30 titles with Mel Bay, including the
transcription of Doc Watson & Clarence Ashley 1960-1962.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Joe
Carr
A great teacher and player, Joe has appeared in
over 20 instructional guitar videos. The link is to
Joe's page at Mel Bay Publications. Also check out Camp
Bluegrass.
MEL BAY | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Mark Cosgrove
A winner of the National Flatpicking contest, Mark's guitar
work is notable not only for power, precision, and tone, but for his fluid high
speed improvisation.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Dan
Crary
Dan is a master at flatpicking as well as being
a Professor of Communications at the University of California
at Fullerton. His album "Bluegrass Guitar" is
a must have.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Brad Davis
Brad is a monster flatpicker who has toured with the likes of Marty Stuart and Sam Bush. He is also a successful teacher, recording artist, and a regular columnist for Flatpicking Guitar magazine.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Dan DeLancey
Dan is from Kansas City and is known for his tasteful and interesting
arrangements. He has been playing with hammer dulcimer player
Linda Thomas since 1980.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Beppe Gambetta
Born in Genoa, Italy, Beppe formed the Italian bluegrass band Red Wine in 1977. A stellar performer and flatpicker, he is also a terrific cook and has published his own cookbook.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Tyler Grant
Tyler first caught many folks attention when he played with Adrienne Young and Little Sadie. He has great style and tone as a flatpicker. Tyler won the National Flatpicking championship at Winfield in 2008.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
David Grier
This award-winning musician was inspired to learn
guitar when his father, Lamar Grier, played banjo
for Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys in the
middle 1960's.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Jim Hurst
A two-time IBMA winner of the guitarist of the year award, Jim
"grew up with a guitar in his hands." He is an accomplished player
in both fingerstyle and flatpicking styles.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Steve
Kaufman
The only three-time winner of the National Flatpicking
Championship, Steve is not only a great player but a great
teacher. His "Parking
Lot Picker" instructional material is highly recommended.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Robin Kessinger
Robin grew up with a rich Appalachian musical heritage surrounded by generations of musicians and has dedicated much of his life to passing on that heritage to others. He is also won the National Flatpicking Contest and a great entertainer.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Jack
Lawrence
Highly regarded in his role as partner to Doc Watson,
Jack is a player with great taste and style, and performs as a
solo guitarist/vocalist in venues nationally and internationally.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Jimmy Martin
Known as "The King of Bluegrass," Jimmy Martin played guitar with Bill Monroe's group in the early 1950's before starting up his own group, The Sunny Mountain Boys. Jimmy passed away in 2005. This link is to the tribute web site kingofbluegrass.com.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Tony
Rice
Tony has a sophisticated flatpicking style that
puts him in a class by itself. He was influenced by Clarence
White when growing up.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Peter Rowan
Peter was a guitarist for Bill Monroe in the mid-60's and is
known for his wonderful voice and songcraft. His musical journey
has explored many paths over the years, but Bluegrass is always
calling him home.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Allen Shadd
Allen is sometimes called the first "triple crown" contest winner. He won the Winfield National Flatpicking Championship, the Kaufman guitar camp competition and the Doc Watson International guitar competition at Merefest all in a 12-month period in 1997-8.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
James
Allen Shelton
James is the guitarist with Ralph Stanley and has
cut several albums on his own. He is a very smooth player and is
highly regarded for his crosspicking skills.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Kenny
Smith
Kenny Smith is well known as the lead guitarist
in the Lonesome River Band. Now he is also recording with his wife
Amanda. This link is to their site.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Tim Stafford
A consummate player as well as a composer, Tim is a founding
member of the band Blue Highway and a former member of Union
Station.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Orrin
Star
Winner of the 1976 National Flatpicking Championship,
Orrin is a nationally recognized folk & bluegrass performer
and teacher based in Cheverly, Maryland (Washington DC area).
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Bryan
Sutton
Bryan came to attention as the lead guitarist in Ricky Skagg's Kentucky Thunder.
In 1999, he retired from the band to devote himself to recording work. An outstanding
player and frequent contributor on Flatpick-L.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Doc
Watson
DocWatson is a living flatpicking
and folk music legend. This
link is to our sister site DocsGuitar.com.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
Clarence
White
One of the all-time great
flatpickers, whose life was
tragically cut short at age
29 by a drunk driver. Clarence had a style all his own, and was a major influence on many of today's biggest names in Bluegrass guitar. The link below is to Roland White's (Clarence's brother) website page featuring the new book The Essential Clarence White. If you're a serious student of Clarence's style, this book is a must-have.
ARTIST WEB SITE | INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES | CDs & MP3
