Guitar Week concludes with Carl Broemel of My Morning Jacket’s ballot of his five favorite guitarists, taken from the Consequence Guitar Survey. Check out other survey breakouts from the likes of FINNEAS and Kerry King, a new Crate Digging with Jeff Tweedy, and our list of the 100 Best Guitarists of All Time.
My Morning Jacket have some serious riffage (including one of the best riffs of the last 25 years). Across their 10 studio albums, right up to their recent LP is, the Kentucky rockers have offered barnstorming lines, dreamy flourishes, and plenty of memorable licks. Helping round out their expansive guitar work is lead player Carl Broemel, who has played off of Jim James’ rhythm guitar since 2004 with long, flowing hair, seismic solos, and inimitable style.
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While many other musicians who filled out the Consequence Guitar Survey picked some contemporary inspirations, Broemel’s picks are decidedly old school. He waxes poetic about figures like Andrés Segovia, who helped bridge the gap between classical and contemporary guitar. He praises Neil Young, and writes that “to stand on the stage near Neil’s amp is to ‘hear’ a total eclipse of the sun, or the birth of a star.” He also selects a rather underrated guitarist in Nick Drake, whom he says makes him feel like he’s “inside a redwood tree being spoken to from a magic realm.”
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See Carl Broemel’s picks below, and then check out where they landed on our list of the 100 Best Guitarists of All Time. Meanwhile, My Morning Jacket have a large slate of tour dates still to come in 2025, including stops at New Orleans Jazz Fest and a pair of shows at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado. Get tickets to see them here.
Clarence White (The Byrds)
Clarence White, photo via Wikimedia Commons
I believe he was one of the most inventive guitarists of all time, not just for the innovation of the B-Bender, but for his use of rhythm. He took his flatpicking bluegrass idiom to his Telecaster and turned everything upside down. The Byrds’ live recordings when Clarence was in the band are incredible. I don’t feel like they let him really shine in the studio, aside from the solo on “Truck Stop Girl” on the Byrds’ Untitled record.
Had his life not been cut short from a tragic accident, I really believe he would have been one of the most well-known guitarists of all time. The Nashville West album they recorded at a club in California is one of the albums I play along to the most — try to figure out his ideas! And this album was before they installed the famous B-Bender on his guitar. Pre-B-Bender, he was outta sight!
Neil Young
Neil Young, photo by Debi Del Grande
Maybe Neil Young is just one of my favorite musicians, and he just so happens to play the guitar. I say this because of his patience, his confidence to be searching for and playing “the note that feels right.” He lets songs breathe, evolve, and then they explode. He rides his guitar like he’s riding a giant wave of feedback. The notes blossom and twist. His guitar always feels and sounds to me like it’s a living being and not just an electric string making a signal through a pickup, amplified by tubes. To stand on the stage near Neil’s amp is to “hear” a total eclipse of the sun, or the birth of a star.
Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)
Eddie Van Halen, photo by Philip Cosores
Eddie, to me, was the epitome of effortless-looking mastery of the guitar. I grew up with piano and violin lessons and heard a lot of classical music before getting into rock ‘n’ roll. Eddie has a classical sense to him — the arpeggios, the musicality — but the strangeness of his approach wasn’t just a gimmick, it was what he heard first, then figured out how to play! I only got to see Van Halen one time, and when he played his guitar solo, I was in church.
Andrés Segovia
Andrés Segovia, photo by GAB Archive/Redferns
Would the guitar be so widely used today if it weren’t for Andrés Segovia? I wonder. He took the instrument worldwide and into the classical mainstream… and through him, the guitar gained the respect it deserved in the classical music world. He transcribed so much music and played with such emotion and clarity. So much can be learned by playing some classical pieces and listening to Andrés Segovia. I love his performances of Bach especially.
Nick Drake
Nick Drake, photo via Bryter Music – The Estate of Nick Drake
Nick will forever be a mystery in the best way. I wish he would have lived long enough to see how much we all love his music. Aside from “guitar solos!!” the guitar is a wonderful accompaniment instrument, and Nick really made the most of what the guitar can do to support a singer. He created moods with bubbling rhythms, chromatic fingerpicking, descending progressions, and organic, nature-inspired sounds. His ability to play complex rhythmic patterns and sing at the same time was a special gift. When I close my eyes and hear his guitar, his voice… I feel like I am inside a redwood tree being spoken to from a magic realm.
Content shared from consequence.net.