Bryan Sutton (born 1973) is the most awarded bluegrass guitarist of his generation. He has won IBMA Guitar Player of the Year ten times. He won a Grammy in 2007 for a duet with Doc Watson, and he has held the guitar chair in Hot Rize since 2002. Between bluegrass gigs he became one of the busiest acoustic session players in Nashville.
Why Sutton matters
Sutton took the Tony Rice approach to lead guitar and made it clean, steady, and teachable. He plays fast without losing tone. He plays traditional tunes without adding clutter. Many pickers have learned from his online lessons, so his version of a tune is often the version you hear at a jam. If you want a model for how a modern flatpicker plays with a band, start with him.
Life and career
Sutton was born in 1973 and grew up in Asheville, North Carolina. His grandfather Grover Sutton played fiddle, and his father Jerry plays several instruments. Bryan started guitar at age eight and played in the family band, the Pisgah Pickers, around the southern Appalachians. As a teenager he studied jazz and classical guitar.
He moved to Nashville in 1994. In the mid-1990s he spent about three years as lead guitarist in Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, and he played on two Grammy-winning records with that band. He then built a career as a session player. His credits include records by Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Dolly Parton, and the Dixie Chicks.
Sutton released his first solo album, Ready to Go, on Sugar Hill in 2000. He won his first IBMA Guitar Player of the Year award that same year. In 2002 he joined Hot Rize after the death of Charles Sawtelle. His 2006 album Not Too Far from the Tree paired him with older players. The track Whiskey Before Breakfast with Doc Watson won a Grammy in 2007. In June 2011 he launched an online bluegrass guitar school with ArtistWorks. Later solo records include Into My Own (2014) and The More I Learn (2016).
Playing style
Sutton plays with a strong, even right hand. His notes stay the same size at slow and fast tempos, which is the hardest thing for a flatpicker to learn. He favors clear melody over flash and builds a break from the tune itself instead of from licks.
He plays Bourgeois dreadnoughts, including a signature Bryan Sutton model, and a 1940 Martin D-28. That setup works in a bluegrass band and in a country studio, and he has used it for both.
Influences and legacy
Sutton names Tony Rice, Clarence White, and Doc Watson as his main influences. He recorded with Watson and later won a Grammy with him. He has toured with Béla Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Chris Thile, and the Dixie Chicks. In Hot Rize he took over the seat once held by Charles Sawtelle. He won a 2022 IBMA award with Fleck, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, and Edgar Meyer for Vertigo.
As a teacher, Sutton reaches more students than most players of any era. His ArtistWorks school uses video exchange, so students send in clips and get feedback. That format lets a student in any town study with a working pro.
Signature tunes and songs
Essential recordings
Ready to Go (Sugar Hill, 2000) Bluegrass Guitar (Sugar Hill, 2003) Not Too Far from the Tree (Sugar Hill, 2006) Into My Own (Sugar Hill, 2014) The More I Learn (Sugar Hill, 2016)
Awards and honors
IBMA Guitar Player of the Year (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) Grammy Award, Best Country Instrumental Performance, Whiskey Before Breakfast with Doc Watson (2007) IBMA Album of the Year, Celebration of Life: Musicians Against Childhood Cancer (2006) IBMA Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year, Vertigo (2022) Academy of Country Music Instrumentalist of the Year (2005, 2010, 2014) Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame (2016)
Watch and listen
Sutton plays Whiskey Before Breakfast solo for ArtistWorks. Watch how little his right hand moves at speed.
What to learn from Sutton
Learn Whiskey Before Breakfast from his solo version. It is a jam standard, and his arrangement stays close to the melody, so you can play it with anyone. The technique to steal is his even attack. Play the tune with a metronome at a slow tempo and make every note the same volume, downstroke and upstroke alike. Speed it up only when the notes stay even. That one habit fixes more flatpicking problems than any lick.
Sources
About, Bryan Sutton Bryan Sutton, IBMA award recipients Bryan Sutton, Hot Rize Bryan Sutton, Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame, Wilkes Heritage Museum Bryan Sutton, Wikipedia Bryan Sutton discography, Wikipedia
Related players
See the guitar players hub and the guitar guide for more flatpickers. Sutton built on Tony Rice and Doc Watson. He followed Charles Sawtelle in Hot Rize. Players like Cody Kilby and Molly Tuttle came up in the years he held the IBMA award.