BLUES KEEPS CALLING

OVER ITS MORE than 150-year life, blues has been the most durable of genres. From slave field hollers to acoustic folk ballads and electrified urban R&B, the music has a long history that weaves through cultural, social and political shifts as well as multiple musical trends. Unlike many popular American styles of the past decades, it’s survived even massive revolutions. Consider that blues didn’t merely linger in the shadow of rock and roll — it thrived because of it, thanks primarily to guitarists who adapted the form into a blues-rock hybrid.

It’s this sort of stylistic and cultural elasticity that makes blues so fascinating, and it’s one of the reasons we at Guitar Player enjoy exploring the latest crop of guitarists to emerge in the genre. Over the past few years, we’ve noticed some new names in the blues game, many of them young guitarists who are making their first forays into performance and recording. And it’s been particularly interesting to see what they bring to the genre and how it shapes the music today.

With that in mind, we asked our readers to help us select the 25 best guitarists from the current crop of new blues artists. The results, presented in this issue, show a vibrant cast of players who are shaping the genre in ways both traditional and modern, celebrating its past and pointing the way to its future by infusing it with fresh and innovative attitudes and approaches.

Certainly, the top four artists of the bunch — Marcus King, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Larkin Poe and GA-20 — demonstrate the width and breath of blues today. But as you’ll see when you survey the full field of 25, there is great diversity among today’s emerging guitarists, and good reason to celebrate blues today.

While I’m thrilled by this issue’s cover feature, I also would like to draw your attention to an artist who is new to our pages, Daniel Tashian. A guitarist, multiinstrumentalist, composer and producer, Daniel has made a name for himself in recent years with his work for numerous artists, including Kacey Musgraves, whose critically acclaimed 2018 album, Golden Hour, he helped write and produce. I was excited to discover his music through his new album, Night After Night, and I hope you’ll enjoy reading Joe Bosso’s illuminating interview with him in this issue.

Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that Guitar Player turns 57 with this issue. Like the blues, we continue to roll on our own long journey, evolving with the times but never losing sight of our history or purpose.

Thanks to all the readers who participated in this issue’s Readers’ Poll, and thanks to everyone reading. I hope this issue inspires you in your own musical adventures.