In the world of guitar heroes, we often celebrate the rockers and the blues legends, but Nashville holds a different kind of deity: the session guitarist. These are the players whose licks define entire eras of music, yet whose faces are rarely seen outside the studio booth.
The collaboration between Brent Mason and Johnny Hiland is a rare and essential document of this scene’s brilliance. Both men are responsible for thousands of licks heard on countless country hits. When they step onto a stage together, as they do for this masterful take on Merle Haggard’s “Workin’ Man Blues,” it is not a duel of ego, but a seamless celebration of technical mastery.
This is the ultimate Telecaster showdown, where speed meets soul and the traditional lines between country, jazz, and rock are completely blurred.
II. The Architects of Modern Country Guitar
What makes this pairing so dynamic is the slight, yet crucial, difference in their world-class techniques. Each player represents the pinnacle of modern Nashville six-string mastery:
Brent Mason: The Hybrid King
Brent Mason is a legendary figure, having played on records for Alan Jackson, Shania Twain, and George Strait. His style is characterized by surgical precision and an innovative technique:
- Hybrid Picking: Mason is famous for his hybrid picking, using both a flatpick and his middle/ring fingers simultaneously. This allows him to play blazing-fast banjo rolls, intricate chord voicings, and bass lines all at once, creating an impossibly dense, yet controlled, sound.
- Melody and Taste: While he can play fast, Mason’s priority is melodic construction. His solos are packed with great ideas and often have a jazzy, sophisticated flair.
Johnny Hiland: The Speed Demon
Johnny Hiland is known for his explosive speed, chicken-picking ability, and ability to weave complex bluegrass, country, and rock lines into a single, seamless solo.
- Chicken Picking: Hiland is a master of “chicken picking” (or snap/cluck technique), which uses finger pulls on the strings to create a percussive, funky attack.
- The Powerhouse: His solos often contain a higher degree of speed and raw, rock-infused intensity, pushing the boundaries of what is possible on a Telecaster. He is visually and audibly pushing the limits of velocity and dexterity.
III. The Duet on “Workin’ Man Blues”
This performance is a textbook example of great guitar collaboration. They don’t just trade solos; they constantly react to each other, maintaining the essential country feel while pushing the harmonic and technical envelope.
- The Feel: The song begins with the band setting a straight-ahead, driving shuffle groove, perfectly honoring the spirit of Merle Haggard’s blue-collar anthem.
- Mason’s Mastery: Mason often takes the first solo, laying down a foundation of impossibly clean, rapidly articulated hybrid-picked lines. He demonstrates how to use the guitar’s volume knob to create pedal-steel-like swells, adding texture and depth to the song (listen closely to his control around the 4-minute mark).
- Hiland’s Fury: When Hiland takes the lead, the energy shifts. He maintains the country flavor but dials up the aggression, delivering blisteringly fast runs that demonstrate his incredible left-hand mobility and right-hand “chicken pick” articulation.
The beauty of their exchange is the mutual respect: each player is undeniably virtuoso, yet they remain anchored to the song’s fundamental structure, proving that the best collaborations are always in service of the music.
IV. Conclusion: The New Guitar Heroes
Brent Mason and Johnny Hiland represent the modern gold standard for electric guitar proficiency. They have taken the foundational techniques of rockabilly and bluegrass and evolved them into a complex, genre-bending style that defines contemporary Nashville.
This video is an essential look behind the curtain, showcasing two masters at work. It proves that a great guitar hero isn’t just about stadium anthems, but about the relentless pursuit of perfection in tone, timing, and technique.
