Welcome back to Guitardoor.com, where we celebrate the true masters of the instrument, including the “secret weapons” who power our favorite hits from behind the scenes. Today, we focus on a living legend and arguably the most recorded and influential session guitarist of the modern era: the one and only Brent Mason. If you listened to country radio at any point in the 1990s and 2000s, you have heard Brent Mason. His inventive, tasteful, and technically breathtaking guitar work is the secret ingredient on countless #1 hits for superstars like Alan Jackson, George Strait, Shania Twain, and Vince Gill.
The Sound of Modern Country
Brent Mason’s musical style is the sound of modern country guitar. He took the foundational techniques of the original Telecaster masters like Roy Nichols and James Burton, the sophisticated fingerstyle of Chet Atkins, and supercharged it all with the fire of rock and the harmonic intelligence of jazz. The result was a new, exciting, and incredibly versatile vocabulary for the country guitar that would define the genre for an entire generation.
His genius lies in his uncanny ability to be a musical chameleon. In the high-pressure world of Nashville sessions, Mason is revered for his incredible ear and his ability to instantly create the perfect guitar part for any song, on the very first take. Whether it’s a catchy, unforgettable intro riff, a soulful and lyrical solo, a funky and syncopated rhythm part, or a beautiful acoustic texture, Brent Mason always knows exactly what to play. He is the ultimate “song-first” musician, whose parts elevate every track he touches.
Anatomy of a Nashville Cat: Technique and Tone
To listen to Brent Mason is to hear a complete master of the electric guitar. His technique is a stunning and flawless display of every tool in the country guitar arsenal, all taken to a new level.
Hybrid Picking Mastery: He is an absolute god of hybrid picking. Using a flatpick held between his thumb and index finger, his middle and ring fingers are free to snap, pop, and pluck the strings with incredible speed and precision. This allows him to play impossibly fast and clean passages that seamlessly blend single notes, double-stops, and banjo-style rolls.
Bending Prowess: He has an incredible command of string bending, from perfectly intonated double-stop bends to his famous use of a B-Bender-equipped Telecaster, which allows him to mimic the soaring, crying sound of a pedal steel guitar.
His gear setup is as legendary and unique as his playing. He is forever associated with his iconic, heavily modified 1968 Fender Telecaster. This guitar is a session player’s dream, famously equipped with a Gibson mini-humbucker in the neck for warm, jazzy tones, a custom pickup in the middle, and a B-Bender system. This versatile instrument is his sonic signature.
His tone is the epitome of Nashville hi-fi: incredibly clean, clear, and powerful. He has used a variety of amplifiers over the years, but a vintage Fender Deluxe Reverb has been a long-standing favorite, providing the perfect clean platform. His professional studio rig includes a few key tools to shape his sound, most notably a compressor to achieve that classic country “squish” and a delay for slap-back echo. He even collaborated with Wampler Pedals on his own signature “Hot Wired” overdrive pedal.
Essential Mason: A Masterclass in Session Guitar
While Brent Mason has played on thousands of songs, these three examples perfectly showcase his signature sound and his incredible, versatile talent.
Alan Jackson – “Chattahoochee”
This is it. The instantly recognizable, impossibly catchy, and iconic intro riff is pure Brent Mason. It’s a perfect example of his brilliant hybrid picking, his clever use of double-stops, and his genius for creating a guitar hook that is as memorable as the vocal melody, single-handedly defining the sound of a massive, Grammy-winning hit.
Brent Mason – “Hot Wired”
The title track from his own Grammy-winning instrumental album is Mason unleashed. Freed from the constraints of a three-minute radio single, this track is a blistering, jaw-dropping showcase of his full technical arsenal. It’s a high-speed journey through country, jazz, blues, and rock, all delivered with his signature flawless precision and unmatched musicality.
Shania Twain – “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?”
This smash hit is a masterclass in tasteful, clever, and perfectly placed guitar fills. Throughout the song, Mason’s guitar “talks,” answering Shania’s vocal lines with witty, chicken-pickin’ licks and soulful bends. It’s a perfect example of his genius for elevating a song without ever overplaying.
Brent Mason is one of the most important and prolific guitarists of his generation. He is the gold standard for session musicians, a player whose incredible technique, impeccable taste, and unmatched versatility have left a permanent mark on the sound of modern music. He is, without question, the true king of the Nashville session.
