Chet Atkins

You might have heard of Chet Atkins in many different ways: he’s the one whose endorsement put Gretsch guitars on the map, the one who discovered Aussie wiz kid Tommy Emmanuel, but first and foremost he’s the most respected country picker in the US. His style, derived from Merle Travis’ alternate picking but taken to a whole new level of refinement, has inspired countless artists and his instrumental adaptations of jazz standards are still more than enough to puzzle any contemporary guitarist.