Chet Atkins Appreciation Society

04/01/2026

We’re not Fooling! Early Registration Discount Ends April 15. Book now at chetsociety.com

03/22/2026

03/22/2026

Steve Wariner shares insights on the c.g.p. designation.

03/08/2026

From the legends who knew Chet to the new guitar talent carrying his sound forward, this year’s lineup is shaping up to have it all. Tell us who you are excited to see perform this year?

Early‑order discount ends soon. Don’t miss out!

02/17/2026

In 1977, RCA Studio B ceased regular recording operations after years of being the launching pad for some of Nashville’s signature hits. Later that year, it became a historic site, operated by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and open for public tours. To help spread the word about the importance of the studio and attract visitors, Jerry Reed and Waylon Jennings—two major artists whose careers had begun at RCA Studio B—returned to the console room in 1983 to talk about their time there.

Reed, who had played on Elvis Presley’s “Guitar Man” as well as his own hits, admitted having to wrestle with the anxiety of playing in front of the world’s best musicians. “I had to overcome the awe of coming here,” he told Nashville’s News Channel 5 in a joint interview. “I was in awe of Floyd Cramer, Chet Atkins, Grady Martin, Buddy Harman, Bob Moore, the Anita Kerr Singers. It took me forever to get over that.”

Jennings, who had recorded his first RCA album there as well as one of his early hits, “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line,” felt the studio space had a way of disarming a person. “This studio had something about it that helped you get along,” he acknowledged in the joint interview with Reed.

The two old friends had also been busy recording together in a different studio at the time. Among their efforts was a cover of Sam & Dave’s “Hold On, I’m Comin’” that wound up as the opening track on Jennings’s 1983 album “Waylon and Company.”

02/10/2026

Early Order Discount. Lock in you spot and make your hotel reservations.

10/23/2025

Brent Mason!

10/19/2025

Floyd Cramer’s signature “slip-note” piano style helped define the Nashville sound and left an indelible mark on country and pop music.

When Floyd Cramer first visited Nashville in 1952, studio pianists were scarce.

Raised in the small community of Huttig, Arkansas, Cramer taught himself to play piano by ear. After graduating from high school in 1951, he moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, and joined the "Louisiana Hayride" house band. He began commuting to Nashville the following year, finally relocating there for good in 1955. “By 1956 and ’57, I was in day and night doing sessions,” Cramer recalled.

RCA’s Chet Atkins signed Cramer as an instrumental artist in 1958, but the slip-note style he became known for—a technique characterized by hitting a note and sliding, or slipping, almost immediately into the next, less forcefully attacked note—was something he picked up during another artist’s session.

On January 5, 1960, Cramer was in the studio to record with RCA artist Hank Locklin. The song was “Please Help Me, I’m Falling,” and one of the songwriters, Don Robertson, had sent a demo which featured him playing slip-note piano. Cramer incorporated the technique into his own playing, and it would soon define his career.

“It’s been done for a long time on the guitar by people like Maybelle Carter and by lots of people on the steel guitar,” Cramer said. “Half-tones are very common, but the style I use mainly is a whole-tone slur which gives more of a lonesome, cowboy sound.”

Though he was established as a member of Nashville’s A-Team, he also released music as a solo performer. Atkins suggested Cramer write a song to highlight the slip-note style, resulting in his fourth RCA single, “Last Date.” It soared to No. 2 on the pop chart, where it remained for four weeks, ironically kept from the top spot by Elvis Presley’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight,” which included Cramer on piano.

A master of his craft and an integral part of the Nashville Sound, Floyd Cramer left an indelible mark on popular music. “Last Date” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004. Cramer, who died December 31, 1997, was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

10/09/2025

Save The Date: More details to follow soon!

10/04/2025

"I have appreciated Chet Atkins as a musician since long before the tracks on this album were written; in fact, since I was the ripe young age of seventeen," said George Harrison in the liner notes of "Chet Atkins Picks on the Beatles.” "'I'll Cry Instead,' 'She's a Woman,' and 'Can't Buy Me Love,' having a country feeling about them, lend themselves perfectly to Chet's own style of picking, which has inspired so many guitarists throughout the world (myself included, but I didn't have enough fingers at the time)."

Rock guitar history is filled with hundreds of guitarists who drew from Atkins's musical fountainhead. His impact on rockabilly, in particular, was immeasurable. Scotty Moore, Elvis Presley's original guitarist, played fingerstyle, and Atkins's use of the EchoSonic amp inspired Moore to purchase his own. Carl Perkins alternated blues-inspired single-string work with fingerstyle, while Cliff Gallup, Gene Vincent's guitarist, was also an Atkins fan.

Singer-guitarist and rockabilly icon Eddie Cochran was a fingerstylist, and his use of the Gretsch 6120 Atkins guitar made it the instrument of choice for many rockabilly pickers, including Brian Setzer. Rockabillies constitute only a portion of Atkins-influenced rockers. Duane Eddy, known for his twangy sound, was a proficient fingerstyle player (and 6120 user). Mark Knopfler and John Fogerty learned from Atkins, and even Ted Nugent claimed him as an inspiration.

During the Beatles' peak years, Harrison played Gretsch's Atkins Country Gentleman and Tennessean models; his solos on the band's "She's a Woman," "I'm a Loser," "I Feel Fine," and "What Goes On" all invoked Atkins. The admiration was mutual. "Chet Atkins Picks on the Beatles," recorded in RCA Studio B, was released in 1965. The album, which interprets a selection of Beatles songs, showcases Atkins’s appreciation for the architecture of their songwriting.

By blending country fingerpicking with pop and early rock sensibilities, Atkins left a lasting impact on contemporaries and successors alike, proving that artistry, precision, and a distinctive personal sound can resonate across generations and genres.

09/29/2025

This 1956 Gretsch ad captured Chet Atkins at a pivotal moment in his career. A TV regular and recording artist, Chet endorsed Gretsch as his “favorite star” and played models built especially for him.

Did you know? The iconic statue of Chet Atkins can be found right outside the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum.

Come See What You’ve Heard!

09/29/2025

Three legends - one room!

And one final pic for 'Flattop Friday'. This is a heckuva talented trio of pickers. On the left (with the Gibson flattop) - Wayne Moss. In the center (with one of his Del Vecchio resonator guitars) - Chet Atkins. And on the right (with a nylon string acoustic) - Jerry Reed.