After 20 years in Nashville, Brent Rowan is perhaps the most prolific and sought-after studio guitar player on Music Row. Since breaking into the industry as lead guitarist on John Conlee's "Friday Night Blues," Rowan has worked over 10,000 recording sessions representing well over 100,000,000 records sold. His credits include cuts by leading country, rock, and pop artists of the last two decades, among them Brooks & Dunn, Robert Plant, Shania Twain, Alabama, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, The Beach Boys, Sting, Tammy Wynette, Hank Williams, Jr, Etta James, Tanya Tucker, Lyle Lovett, Olivia Newton-John, Neil Diamond, Randy Travis, Tim McGraw, and Glen Campbell. A five-time nominee for CMA's Instrumentalist of the Year Award and an Academy of Country Music Guitarist of the Year, Rowan has already put together the kind of track record left by only a handful of legendary Nashville session players.

Many guitarist hinge their success on developing a signature sound, but Rowan went the opposite direction, trying to make each session as unique as possible, tailoring the sound of the electric guitar, the playing style, and the part of the lyrical content of the song at hand. "I try to play differently on each record if I can, so a listener won't know who's playing. That makes your career longer, in my opinion," Rowan says. "And besides," he adds, "it's not as fair to the artist if you're playing the same way on everybody's record."

Now, after two decades of supporting other artists, Rowan has embarked on a new chapter in his guitar career, assuming the role of soloist and composer with a collection of meditations on acoustic guitar. Rowan's new CD Bare Essentials showcases the emotional and musical side of his love for the guitar and the outdoors. "In a world of music that's about playing fast and loud, I wanted to appeal to the emotional part of people," he says. "Nobody ever hears this part of my music. Playing in the studio is what I do. This album is who I am."

Check out Brent Rowan on GTR Solo video