We launched TrueFire Tweepstakes yesterday with a simple question: who is the greatest guitarist of your generation and why? We received many great answers (and enough Eric Clapton nominations to get him into the Hall of Fame), but our favorite response came from Chris Gillett (@G_Let). Chris went with Jerry Reed, one of the greatest pickers of all-time. In addition to the unique selection, we also liked Chris’ confidence in his response. Here’s his winning tweet:
The late Reed, who passed away one year ago this month, was a jaw-dropping talent on the 6-string in addition to being a talented country music singer/songwriter, an accomplished session musician, and a charismatic actor who appeared in over a dozen films.
As a singer, he may be best known for “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot,” for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1972; and “East Bound and Down”, the theme song for the film Smokey and the Bandit, in which he co-starred. But guitarists in the know will forever heap praise on Jerry for absolute barnburners like “The Claw” (named for his right-hand technique), “Lightning Rod” and many others, including the duets he played with his pal Chet Atkins. Here he is playing “Lightning Rod” back in ’77. That’s right — he’s on a nylon-string.
Because Chris was selected as the first TrueFire Tweepstakes winner, he wins a TrueFire t-shirt and an entry into the final poll to win the beautiful special edition Reverend
Our second TrueFire Tweepstakes question has been posted. Click here to see it and tweet your response with the TrueFire hastag – #truefire. May the best tweet win!