Nice list. I agree with you on Michael Hedges. One of the best concert experiences I have ever had was watching Hedges play "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" on the guitar. I would add Harry Manx to the top 5 on your list. He does some phenomenal things with acoustic instruments.
Best Acoustic Guitar Players Of All Time?
Piggybacking on the unique guitar theme, I thought it might be fun to get your list of acoustic masters.
Here is my list:
1. Michael Hedges - This will more than likely be a controversial #1 choice, because I know Michael was heavily influenced by Leo Kottke, but I think Hedges took all his influences to a higher compositional level. He was a total freak on the acoustic guitar and paved the way for so many of the new fingerstyle players. He may not be the best of all time, but he gets my vote anyway.
2. Andres Segovia
3. Leo Kottke
4. Chet Atkins
5. Al DiMeola
6. John McLaughlin
7. Tommy Emmanuel
8. Duck Baker
9. Doyle Dykes
10. Don Ross
11. Antoine Dufour
12. Andy McKee
14. Preston Reed
15. Peppino D'Agostino
16. Pierre Bensusan
17. Billy McLaughlin
18. Tim Sparks
19. Mark O'Conner
20. Tony Rice
I'm sure there's many more I've missed, but I'll leave those gems up to you guys!
Here is my list:
1. Michael Hedges - This will more than likely be a controversial #1 choice, because I know Michael was heavily influenced by Leo Kottke, but I think Hedges took all his influences to a higher compositional level. He was a total freak on the acoustic guitar and paved the way for so many of the new fingerstyle players. He may not be the best of all time, but he gets my vote anyway.
2. Andres Segovia
3. Leo Kottke
4. Chet Atkins
5. Al DiMeola
6. John McLaughlin
7. Tommy Emmanuel
8. Duck Baker
9. Doyle Dykes
10. Don Ross
11. Antoine Dufour
12. Andy McKee
14. Preston Reed
15. Peppino D'Agostino
16. Pierre Bensusan
17. Billy McLaughlin
18. Tim Sparks
19. Mark O'Conner
20. Tony Rice
I'm sure there's many more I've missed, but I'll leave those gems up to you guys!
74 responses Add your response
ok, i won't totally condemn the thread as there are some really good posts with useful information (I had never even heard of Michael Hedges, but thanks to this post, I did enjoy some of his works on Youtube and agree that he is a fine artist.) With that said, i would like to see these lists made more "genre specific".. Who is better, Andres Segovia or Rory Block? How about Doc Watson or Julian Bream? ... To list the best artists is great but to rate them best to worst is silly. Besides, everyone knows that Roy Clark is the absolute best guitarist of all time! |
Keller Williams is pretty outrageous. Howard Morgen died, sadly, earlier this year. He was an extraordinary finger style jazz guitarist and an incredible teacher with whom I had the privilege to study for a few years. He is revered among jazz guitarists but his work deserves a wider audience. |
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