"Chet is such a virtuoso on guitar," Klugh said. He has all the elements of excitement, which helped me as a player quite a bit. "George, he has a lot of strong ideas and he's a great player. "Musically, (Atkins and Benson) are the best guys you can go to as far as the guitar," Klugh said. During that time, Klugh performed on Benson's White Rabbit album and the two musicians are scheduled to reunite in the studio for a new album once Klugh's current tour is over. It's a style that allows him to play both the melody and chordal background at the same time, much as a pianist would.īecause of his intricate, soft style, Downbeat magazine has dubbed Klugh one of the music industry's "Gentle Players" and stated that "Klugh probably hasn't plucked a mean-spirited note" in his career.īeside Atkins, Klugh said his other great inspiration was pop-jazz guitarist George Benson, whose group Klugh played with between January 1973 and March 1974.
It was through hours of this type of trial-and-error practice that Klugh developed his trademark finger-picking style.
After seeing the legendary guitarist on television, Klugh said he purchased about 40 of Atkins' albums and then played along with the recordings. He started playing guitar at age 10, he said, because it was the most popular instrument of the time.ĭuring his youth, Klugh said, he played primarily folk music, such as Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary, the soft rock of the Beatles and the Spanish guitar music of Latin master Laurindo Almeida.īut, it was the music of country great Chet Atkins that offered Klugh his first major inspiration. His first instrument was the piano, which he has been playing since the age of 3 and still uses to write many of his compositions. Klugh, 33, was born and raised in Detroit and still makes Motown his home.