ADVICE| KENNY GREENBERG
TIP SHEET
Journeyman Kenny Greenberg shares the advice that’s made him a go-to guitarist for everyone from Willie Nelson to Taylor Swift.
BY JOE BOSSO
JILL TRUNNELL
“YOUR FIRST IMPULSE MIGHT BE TO S AY, ‘I’M NOT THE RIGHT GUY FOR T H AT.’ BUT HOW DO YOU KNOW?”
WHEN KENNY GREENBERG arrived in Nashville in the mid ’80s, the Clevelandborn guitarist fit right into the country music session scene — because he didn’t fit in. “I came from a rock and blues background, so I had my own angle going on,” he says. “I infiltrated the country world by bringing a different sound and feel to the records that were being made. I always honored the song, but I had a fiery way of playing that people seemed to like.”
Those people include the likes of Taylor Swift, Brooks & Dunn, Gretchen Wilson, Willie Nelson, Trisha Yearwood, Bob Seger, Kenny Chesney and Amy Grant, among others. “I’ve been very fortunate to have worked with so many incredible artists,” Greenberg says. “I always say, ‘I’m not the kind of guitar player who can play everything perfectly. I play like me.’ But I think having that little bit of personality has paid off. You can get a lot of guys who sound like each other. I’m not that guy.”