Clay Hess is a flatpicker from Athens, Ohio, who spent three years as lead guitarist for Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. He joined the band in 1999 and played on Soldier of the Cross, which won a Grammy in 2001. He has since played with Mountain Heart and Sierra Hull, made the solo record Rain in 2011, and led the Clay Hess Band since 2012.
Why Hess matters
Hess plays with a syncopated sense of time. His breaks land notes where you do not expect them, and that keeps a band and a crowd on their toes. He learned to build arrangements from Ricky Skaggs, and he brought that skill to his own band, which turns classic country songs into bluegrass. For a jammer, he is a lesson in phrasing: the notes matter less than where you put them.
Life and career
Hess grew up in Athens, Ohio, in a family full of players and singers. He says that kind of family is an advantage if you keep your ears open. He started guitar at age nine after hearing Tony Rice’s Manzanita. In 1995 he won the Ohio State Guitar Championship. At 19 he played at Dollywood with the band True Blue.
In 1999 Ricky Skaggs called to offer him the guitar job in Kentucky Thunder. Hess thought the call was a prank. He took the job and stayed three years. Kentucky Thunder won IBMA Instrumental Group of the Year in 1999 and 2000 with Hess on guitar. The band’s album Soldier of the Cross won the Grammy for Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album in 2001.
After Skaggs, Hess played with the Mark Newton Band and Mountain Heart. He then joined Sierra Hull’s band, Highway 111. In 2011 he released Rain on Kang Records, produced with Randy Kohrs. The title track reached number one on the Bluegrass Today chart. Sierra Hull, Adam Steffey, Ron Block, and Kohrs played on it.
He formed the Clay Hess Band in 2012. The band signed with Pinecastle Records and released Just Another Story on July 23, 2018. The lineup on that record included Brennan Hess on guitar and vocals, Dustin Frame on mandolin, Brady Wallen on banjo, and Irl Hees on bass. Hess also teaches at camps, including Acoustic Music Camp, where he covers guitar and mandolin.
Playing style
Hess has a syncopated right hand. He places notes off the beat and lands phrases where the ear does not expect them. That unpredictability is his signature. He learned from Skaggs how instruments and vocals answer each other in an arrangement, and he plays breaks that leave room for the singer.
His influences reach past bluegrass to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Charlie Parker, and Leon Rhodes, and the blues and swing show in his note choices. His preferred guitar is a 1938 Martin D-18. He told Bluegrass Today he recorded most of one album on it and finished the rest on a Rick Hayes mahogany dreadnought, and that listeners could not tell which was which. C.F. Martin built Clay Hess signature models in 2005 and 2009.
Influences and legacy
Hess started because of Tony Rice, and Manzanita was the record that did it. Ricky Skaggs taught him arrangement and timing. Blues and jazz players gave him his phrasing.
He held the Kentucky Thunder guitar chair that Bryan Sutton, Cody Kilby, and Jake Workman also held. He recorded and toured with Sierra Hull, and she sang on Rain. Brennan Hess plays guitar and sings in his band.
Signature tunes and songs
Rain Cold and Lonely Anita, You’re Dreaming Blue Yodel No. 2.
Essential recordings
Soldier of the Cross, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder (Grammy winner, 2001) Rain (Kang Records, 2011) Just Another Story, the Clay Hess Band (Pinecastle, 2018)
Awards and honors
Ohio State Guitar Champion (1995) IBMA Instrumental Group of the Year, with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder (1999, 2000) Grammy Award, Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album, with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for Soldier of the Cross (2001)
Watch and listen
The Clay Hess Band plays a set at Everett’s Music Barn. Watch how Hess places his breaks against the beat.
What to learn from Hess
Learn Rain. It is a mid-tempo song with a clear melody, and his break shows how to play behind and ahead of the beat without losing the tune. The technique to steal is syncopation. Take a G run you already know and move the first note one eighth note late. Play it that way against a metronome until it feels steady. Then move it one eighth note early. That small shift is most of what makes a Hess break sound like Hess.
Sources
Clay Hess, Pinecastle Records Just Another Story from the Clay Hess Band, Pinecastle Records Bio, Clay Hess official site Clay Hess, guitar and mandolin, Acoustic Music Camp Clay Hess, Hayes Productions Clay Hess and his Rick Hayes guitar, Bluegrass Today Clay Hess on his band’s new album, The Country Note Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, IBMA award recipients Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, GRAMMY.com Clay Hess, Rain, Discogs
Related players
See the guitar players hub and the guitar guide for more flatpickers. Hess held the Kentucky Thunder guitar job that Bryan Sutton, Cody Kilby, and Jake Workman also held. He started guitar because of Tony Rice.