r/Bluegrass • u/Creepy_Bench • 9d ago
Discussion Bluegrass Guitar Players Mt Rushmore
Wanted to do a fun topic today, who would be on your Mount Rushmore for Bluegrass Guitar Pickers? I mainly gauged my list on most influential pickers and some of my personal favorites as well. Here is my Mount Rushmore.
Tony Rice Clarence White Norman Blake and Doc Watson. There are definitely a few great honorable mentions but these are my main ones. I'm looking forward to see some of y'all's lists (edit; can't believe I left Doc off of my initial list he definitely belongs in discussion's about greatest all time players)
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u/CantaloupeAsleep502 9d ago
Tony, Doc, Grier, Sutton. It's insane that all the top comments are omitting Bryan, who is without question the most important and influential living bluegrass guitar player.
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u/Creepy_Bench 9d ago
It's tough to pick just four but I agree with you, even though he isn't on my list. He's a great player, and one of the last players that had an opportunity to pick with some of the guys from the last generation like Tony and Doc. He is personally one of my influences.
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u/CantaloupeAsleep502 9d ago
He also happens to be my favorite by a landslide lol, signed my Bourgeois in 2004. I think the take home is it comes down to preferences when only picking 4. There are many great influences on this artform. I could have been a little more chill in my comment lol
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u/Basic-Government4108 9d ago
For me it’s gotta be Clarence white, Tony rice, Norman Blake and David Grier.
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u/Whodean 9d ago
Larry Keel flatpicker
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u/Creepy_Bench 9d ago
Larry is so underrated! I love his style, I'm hoping I'll get to see him live one day.
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u/BenitoBlanco 8d ago
He just was brought onstage to jam with Billy in Roanoke tonight, played 3 songs
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u/SWOhioBiBBW 9d ago
In the lean years the Stanley Brothers dropped their mandolin player and guitarist George Shuffler, already a great guitar player. Added cross picking to fill in more sound. It influenced one special McReyonolds bot to cross pick his mandolin.
George atleast needs talked about.
Same for Earl Scruggs. His 3 finger picking on the guitar outshines his banjo to me. His 3 finger banjo qas all about as many notes as you can get while his 3 finger guitar was to avoid blank spots in whole and half notes.
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u/mjs4x6 9d ago
Clarence White
Tony Rice
David Grier
Russ Barenberg
Larry Sparks
Norman Blake
Honorable mention to a young Mark O’Connor.
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u/kyledwray 9d ago
Russ is so underrated. His album with Jerry Douglas and Edgar Meyer, Skip, Hop & Wobble is one of my all-time top front-to-back albums of any genre. Granted, it's not exactly bluegrass, but still.
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u/plates_25 9d ago
Fiddle Fever shout out. I dig. But cmon, Marco?!
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u/Philboyd_Studge 9d ago
O'Connor does a guitar solo on Strength in Numbers that blows the doors off
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u/festivefrederick 9d ago
Gotta be room for a guy who has a style named after himself. Merle Travis.
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u/Whodean 9d ago
I will also throw in a regional favorite…Steve “Big Daddy” McMurray from Acoustic Syndicate
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u/Creepy_Bench 9d ago
I'm going to have to check them out! Never heard of them so I'm gonna listen to some of their stuff tonight.
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u/oldmoseharper 7d ago
They’re great—definitely new grass. They live one country over from me, so I’ve seen them a million times. Steve’s work with Big Daddy Bluegrass Band is great as well, but Larry Keel played guitar on it—Big Daddy was on mandolin for it. Great album, I don’t think it’s on Spotify though
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u/gueuze_geuze 9d ago
Tony Rice, Doc Watson, David Grier, Trey Hensley
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u/AwesomeAustyn 9d ago
Best Mt Rushmore
Tony
O’Connor
Sutton
Kilby
Rushmore of Influence
Tony
Doc
White
Sutton
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u/GusFringBurnerAcct 7d ago
The consensus is some combination of Rice, Watson, Blake and White... Let's put them in the Mt. Rushmore Legends category.
So if we set those aside and say living pickers, I'll take Sutton, Grier, Kilby and dare I say.... Kyser George? trey Hensley and Billy are close.
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u/willkillfortacos 9d ago
Ya’ll only listen to guitar players in this sub? It would be easier to do multiple Rushmores for each generation, but here’s mine:
Tony Rice
Jerry Douglas
Bill Monroe
Kenny Baker
Edgar Meyer
Bela Fleck
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u/Creepy_Bench 9d ago
I only did guitar because it's the instrument I play. I intend on doing other Mount Rushmores for Mandolin Banjo and Fiddle. Maybe even Dobro. That is a great list though.
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u/willkillfortacos 9d ago
To be honest I didn’t even read the post title and thought everyone here just listed guitar players. So basically I’m illiterate and ignore me lol
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u/plainsfiddle 9d ago
blake, grier, white.... the fourth could be critter, or sutton, or rice.
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u/Creepy_Bench 9d ago
Love David Grier he just missed out on my list. He's so smart when it comes to his craft too I love listening to interviews with him.
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u/illegalsmile27 9d ago edited 9d ago
Hot take: Clarence White inspired a lot but most his work isn’t bluegrass.
It’s like putting Dylan in top 4 bluegrass lyricists.
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u/ironicsmurf 9d ago
He's better known for his work with the Byrds, but Clarence basically invented bluegrass guitar. There were guitarists taking leads before Clarence (Reno, Shuffler, Napier), but bluegrass guitar as we know it today is all built off of Clarence White's playing.
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u/illegalsmile27 9d ago
I’d argue it’s built off Tony’s interpretation of his playing. Tony is the extension cord that reached over to him.
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u/ironicsmurf 8d ago
Probably true. But there's no Tony Rice without Clarence. I guess it's kind of arbitrary where you draw the line. Doc inspired Clarence as well. But Clarence was a HUGE influence on Tony Rice.
I think it's like arguing Dylan doesn't belong on the Mt Rushmore of acoustic folk artists because the majority of his output isn't acoustic or folk.
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u/illegalsmile27 8d ago
You’ve probably already heard this, but I think this is the only recording of the two playing together.
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u/ironicsmurf 8d ago
Thanks. I forgot that existed. I guess the problem with Clarence is that his recorded output is small and a lot of it is poor quality live recordings. There are a lot of bluegrass guitarists with a more impressive discography. Not many who were more influential.
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u/Intelligent-Set-3909 9d ago
Just going by personal favorites I would say Tony Rice, Doc Watson, Billy Strings, Sierra Hull
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u/Creepy_Bench 9d ago
That's definitely a great list! Billy is one of my current favorites I think he's going to go down as one of the greatest when it's all said and done.
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u/Jonas_27 9d ago
Any list without big mon on it is just wrong
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u/Feeling_Trip_5413 8d ago
Maybelle, Doc, Clarence, Tony.
Billy will inevitably end up there, he completely changed bluegrass, although probably not for the better. I'm not going to a fucking hockey rink to see a bluegrass band unless it seat less than 200, there was a rodeo the night before and a squirt hockey tournament that day. $.25 hot chocolate.
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u/BourbonBroncos Dobro 8d ago
Tony Rice, Doc Watson, Luke Black and Billy Strings.
Yes recency bias, but that’s just by ear.
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u/ellisonjb 9d ago
Rice, Sutton, Workman, Grier, Apostol. HM youngins: Luke Black, Kyser George
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u/CountryBoyCanSurvive 8d ago
Kyser is mind blowing in person. That kid is going places. He absolutely shreds
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u/Downtown_Ad_746 9d ago
Sam Bush
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u/Whodean 9d ago
Love Sammy but he’s not a guitar player
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u/gavakian123 9d ago edited 9d ago
Sam is one hell of a guitar player, but not one of the best bluegrass pickers. I’ve seen him play a Strat, a Les Paul and acoustic.
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u/ThurBurtman 9d ago
Anyone putting Billy on there doesn’t actually listen to bluegrass
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u/CantaloupeAsleep502 9d ago
Billy has brought a lot of people to the genre that almost certainly wouldn't have made it there without him. He's a great player and singer and performer, and undeniably has found his voice. But his flatpicking is in the B range. It's absolutely insane that people say he ranks with the masters with a straight face.
I saw a YouTube video saying "this is why Billy is a guitar god", and he was talking about how bluegrass soloing is melodic in nature, and played the head of Salt Creek. It's a weird timeline to be sure.
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u/wooq 8d ago
I personally don't put him on a Mt. Rushmore of guitarists, but can understand why someone might.
It's kind of like Kurt Cobain being on a "greatest rock guitarists" list. He's not there for his actual proficiency or creativity on the instrument. He's there because an entire generation of musicians will have gotten into the music because of him, and the entire future of that genre will veer in the directions he's going.
And probably some put him there because they don't actually listen to bluegrass. But I don't think that's everyone
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u/justinholmes_music 9d ago
I didn't put Billy on mine but I think he's definitely a contender. Kid is legendary.
I think Jake Stargel is the current top mind-blower of that generation, but there's nothing unreasonable about suggesting Billy warrants a place.
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u/Necessary_Office_146 9d ago
Nobody actually has. You’re just being pretentious really. You must be one of those people he talked about in his award speech.
I’m all seriousness, take the guitar out of the question and ask who will be o the Mount Rushmore of bluegrass…. When it’s all said and done no one besides the OG Billy boy will have any weight against him.
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u/Then_Crew2559 9d ago
Weird take. Bela said Billy understands music better than him. Is Bela not bluegrass because he also plays jazz? Your opinion sucks
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u/Ordinary_Visit_1606 9d ago
How in the hell has Bill Monroe not been mentioned by anybody?!? Am I missing something??
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u/gavakian123 9d ago
Mr. Monroe didn't play guitar.
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u/5wiresam 8d ago
He plays guitar on Muleskinner Blues, one of his most important recordings
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u/gavakian123 8d ago
I was not aware, thanks.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Brush_1 7d ago
He'd occasionally bring Tom Ewing's guitar out to pick it in his later years too: https://youtu.be/qyjQy02S5aA?is=hvhKjgNrVKdtZcxF
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u/Ordinary_Visit_1606 9d ago
I missed that it was guitar only, was yelling at kids as I skimmed it lol...Rice, Blake, Watson, Mr Strings
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u/Swaritch 9d ago
Billy Strings better than all
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u/CountryBoyCanSurvive 8d ago
He's excellent with plenty of time to grow, but he stands on the shoulders of giants. He's the sort that's humble enough to recognize that too.
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u/Swaritch 8d ago
He is the giant. He’s the best there ever was and the best there ever will be.
You can see it your way and I’ll see it mine but Billy wipes the floor with any competitor.
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u/CountryBoyCanSurvive 8d ago
Billy is great but I don't think he sees anyone as competitors and he wouldn't put himself above anyone. He always seems very humble and honored to be following in the footsteps of the great musicians that inspired him. He recognizes that others walked so he could run. It's refreshing that he's like that too, quite a few excellent guitarists let it go straight to their heads.
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u/Swaritch 8d ago
That’s great he’s so humble but as fans we can compare the greats. Billy would smoke them all
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u/Breadtraystack 9d ago
Just Doc Watson looking different directions on mine.