Andrew York is one of my favorite classical guitarists and modern guitar composers. I first learned about York when I was taking classical guitar lessons in college, when he was a member of the famed Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ). While I enjoyed the work that the LAGQ were doing, I especially enjoyed York’s compositions. My favorite composition of his is Sunburst, which has been played and recorded by many of the most famous classical guitarists of the 20th Century, including John Williams and Christopher Parkening.

Andrew York has recently left the LAGQ and embarked on a solo career. Even while a member of the LAGQ, York released several solo albums, including Perfect Sky, Denouement, and Into Dark. He has recently also recorded some of his compositions using Andres Segovia’s famed Hermann Hauser guitar on a CD called Hauser Sessions.

If you enjoy classical guitar music, then I highly recommend checking out Andrew York’s music. He incorporates many styles of music into his compositions, including jazz, folk music, and, of course, classical music.

In the past, I’ve pretty much ignored any coverage of John 5′s music, mostly because of his association with Marilyn Manson. I’m not really a fan of Manson’s, so I didn’t pay much attention to his guitar players. However, I’ve missed out on some great guitar playing. For some reason or another, not too long ago I stumbled across John 5′s MySpace page and checked out some of his music. I became intrigued and starting checking out his music in more depth.

I’ve been very impressed; as his fans already know, John is a phenomenal guitar player. He has a command of many different styles of music and somehow manages to merge Heavy Metal and Country chicken pickin’ so that it sounds great!

The first album of John 5′s that I picked up was his Songs For Sanity album, which is actually his second album. Steve Vai and Albert Lee make guest appearances on the album. This is one of the best guitar albums I’ve heard in a long time. The album starts out fairly heavy, but melodic. A few songs into it, he gets a little country. One of the more interesting songs on the album is called “Behind the Nut Love” which features him bending strings behind the nut of the neck. On YouTube, you can view a guitar lesson of John 5 showing how to play “Behind the Nut Love.” He also displays some beautiful acoustic guitar playing on the album, as well. Unlike some guitar albums I’ve heard in the past, the songs are interesting and the guitar playing is excellent.

John 5 has recently released a new album called The Devil Knows My Name. Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson make guest appearances on the new album. Although I still don’t care much for his imagery, I’m now a fan of his playing and I’m looking to hearing more from him. I’d highly recommend picking up any of his albums.

Rolling Stone magazine recently featured a story called The New Guitar Gods and featured John Frusciante, John Mayer, and Derek Trucks on the cover. Part of the interview is available online as a video. The video features all three guitarists playing part a slow blues jam, as well as some discussion with the guitarists.

Modern Guitars has recently interviewed acoustic whiz and Favored Nations artist Tommy Emmanuel.

StratCollector.com has recently posted an interview with guitar legend Robin Trower. Trower may be best known for his hits in the 70s such as Bridge of Sighs, Too Rolling Stoned, and his work in Procul Harum, but he’s still alive and kicking and playing guitar. He’s recently released a live CD and DVD called Living Out of Time: Live.

Brian Bromberg is a jazz bassist that has played with a virtual who’s who in jazz circles, including Dizzy Gillespie, Diana Krall, Herbie Hancock, Kenny G, Stan Getz and Woody Shaw, among many others. My friend David got me listening to Bromberg’s Metal album, which is amazing. The album is a great jazz-fusion album with some great fretwork. Even more amazing than the great music is that Bromberg played all of the parts on a bass! You’d swear that you were hearing a guitarist and a bassist interacting, but all of the guitar sounds are being made from specially-made basses, and Bromberg is playing both. All gimmicks aside, Metal is a very well-done jazz-fusion album that jazz-fusion fans and guitar fans alike will enjoy.

John Petrucci is the guitar player for Dream Theater and has been at the forefront of progressive rock guitar since the early 90s. He also recently recorded a solo album named Suspended Animation, available from Amazon.com or his Web site. I found out that he also recorded several albums with the prog-rock supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment.

I only recently became a fan of John Petrucci. For years, I’d heard about him and read about him in guitar magazines, but I always dismissed him because I wasn’t really a fan of Dream Theater. I knew he was a great guitarist, but I didn’t know how good until I recently picked up the new G3 Live In Tokyo DVD. I was blown away at not only how great a guitar player he is, but how much I liked his songs and his playing. I immediately picked up a copy of his solo album and am glad that I did. Several people have commented how some of his solo music sounds a lot of Joe Satriani, and I agree. Then, I started listening to the two Liquid Tension Experiment albums and those are fantastic as well. Further searching turned up several guitar tutorials, a book and a DVD, that have been very popular with rock guitarists. I don’t know how I missed all of this before because he is a great guitarist, and he really stole the show on the G3 DVD. Additionally, Petrucci recorded a live album with Dream Theater keyboardist Jorden Rudess.

If, like me, for some reason you’ve dismissed Petrucci’s playing in the past or have only recently started playing progressive rock guitar, then I’d highly suggest you pick up the G3 album, Suspended Animation or one of the Liquid Tension Experiment albums.

While Jake Shimabukuro is not a guitar player (he plays the ukulele), he’s a virtuoso of his chosen instrument and I think he might be of interest to guitar players. If you’ve never heard of Jake, then you’ll be amazed at the sounds that he can get from the ukulele. Jake is from Hawaii, and much of his music bears that influence; however, his music also has a jazzy feel to it. Jake has been playing and recording for years, but has recently received rave reviews in the press. For example, Frets magazine recently declared him the “Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele.” Jimmy Buffett reportedly liked him so much that after hearing him play, he invited him on tour with him. Jake has also recorded with Bela Fleck. Shimabukuro has released several albums over the past few years, the most recent of which is Dragon.

UPDATE: Bill mentioned in the comments that there was a video on Google Video of Jake playing While My Guitar Gently Weeps. I found it, and here’s a link to the video.

Robert Randolph is a pedal steel guitar master that is quickly gaining in popularity. His style is firmly rooted in the “sacred steel” tradition of the House of God church. He has been able to overcome a tough childhood in New Jersey to play music of faith and hope. Although his music is rooted in gospel and blues, it has a lot in common with the jam bands of today with a spirit of improvisation with a lot of fun mixed in. His band (Robert Randolph and the Family Band) has released one studio album, Unclassified, as well as one live album, Live at the Wetlands. He is also featured on the instrumental album The Word, which included John Medeski (of Medeski, Martin & Wood fame) and the North Mississippi Allstars, as well as numerous guest appearances. He has a style all his own, and has to be heard to be believed.