The guitar is the instrument most associated with country music, and it forms the backbone of the genre by being the cornerstone of most of the tracks.
The six-string wizards in our Best Guitarists in Country Music list all have their different ways of using the instrument to touch the hearts and souls of country music fans everywhere.
You’ll see country music legends including Chet Atkins, Merle Travis and Jerry Reed among the Best Guitarists in Country Music, but we’ve also included some young blood in the list.
Players like Lindsay Ell, Frankie Ballard, Charlie Worsham and John Osborne are helping to point the way to the future for the country music genre, making sure it doesn’t lose its higher instrumental values while it continues to change and assimilate with other forms of music over time.
19 Best Guitarists in Country Music
The six-string wizards in our Best Guitarists in Country Music list all have their different ways of using the instrument to touch the hearts and souls of country music fans everywhere.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
25 Country Songs About the Rural Working Class
West Virginia-based singer-songwriter Oliver Anthony shot to fame overnight after his viral song, “Rich Men North of Richmond,” went viral. But Anthony’s not the first country-leaning performer to sing about the injustices levied against the rural working class: On the contrary, that subject matter is a staple of the genre, with everyone from Merle Haggard to Luke Combs putting out songs on the subject.
Here are 25 underrated songs that tackle class issues, plus a couple of all-time classics that you might’ve forgotten about.
Gallery Credit: Carena Liptak
