Jack Pearson lives in Nashville, so that pretty much seals the deal

I am a frustrated guitar player in the northeast. What you say is spot on! Finding a good rhythm section that can hold it down is priceless. Finding musicians that listen and are aware of what other musicians are doing is also priceless. So many musicians who are technically good, have no idea how to give and take in a band setting. The best musicians can groove together and follow each other’s subtle cues and make it happen!

Intro sounded like Jimmy Herring, killing it, man. Don't discount yourself as a player, you're up there as well.

I’m just going to say it. You’ve not lived till you’ve done the Nashville handshake doing gigs with people you don’t know. The expression on the new guy’s face that just got to town the day before is priceless and never gets old. 🍺😂

I feel ultimately, the "best" musicians depend on the specific genre and what qualities you value most. However, there's no doubt that I vote for BadBrad as my favorite Nashville session player...!!! And he is at the top of his game ...!!!

As a lead player I ENVY a good rhythm section. For years I practiced soloing, but when I first got to play with a really good rhythm section my whole outlook for music changed. I wanted to be part of "those" guys. Playing lead was "icing on the cake". The rhythm section was, for me, the of blood and guts of the band. I now study as hard being a rhythm player as I used to study being a lead player. Give me a groove and I'll make you move!

Brad, Gotta go hang in New Orleans my friend, I've been in Nashville since last year and lots of pentatonic guitar vocabulary but overall New Orleans has incredible hi level musical diversity and monster groove drummers, bassist and killer guitarist that slay more than southern rock pentatonic licks. Yes, there's plenty of great players in Nashville (and session aces) and I love it here yet New Orleans will expand one's perception beyond the norm, ya know check drummer Julian Addison, Tank and the Bankas, Dave Easley, Steve Masakowski, Simon Lott, Mike Dillon, Stanton Moore.

It’s a sad state that great players and there all over in Nashville playing for peanuts paying for parking to make 100 bucks I agree with what you say about playing in space and groove letting the situation breath but worse for me is a drummer who can’t pick up what fellow players are adding to the jam and the drummer can’t figure out how to follow or enhance the grove. When I moved to Nashville I joined a band situation and I do a lot of different chord inversions depending on the song. These guys were ok players but the inversions confused them. And finally the singer insisted we do the songs in the key of recording. I had no issue playing and soloing In Any sharp key. The confusion other players had and finding other players who quit because they couldn’t play outside ordinary keys. After 6 months of trying to make that situation work between singer on a big ego and getting new players to join feeling it’s to different I say screw this. It’s time to retire it’s not worth all the time to go through to go though all the bullshit in these low playing clubs. Playing 4 and half hour sets I never heard of this crap.

I would say both cities have a high density of talent but there are lots of talent spread around!! Enjoy your vids!!

A friend of mine who is a well known session guitarist, who is not in Nashville, used to get flown down for sessions quite a bit. Producers wanted a fresh take on things and were growing a bit tired of the usual suspects coming in and laying down "cookie cutter" guitar parts. Needless to say, he wasn't exactly welcomed warmly by the Nashville guitar community.

No real live scene in L.A. so I do agree on the musicianship in Nashville.

Brad, i’ll say it again; you are uncompromising and inspiring. Thank you!

Damn brother you had that strat on fire!!!

thanks for sharing your wisdom and knowledge and experience 🙏

More guitar blaze from Brad! Wow! That drummer was there also. Don't know who is best anywhere but when I did Nashville I thought it was the Nicest bunch of players along with their having top notch talent.

I remember back in the mid 90's when I was in LA, working union scale gigs in the studio recording scene was saturated with musicians. I saw some heavies moving to Nashville back then and it became a strong movement as the LA scene deteriorated. Gig's were so hard to find in LA. I graduated from PIT in Hollywood with an honors certificate 1990 and had played with cats like Ritchie Blackmore! I spent 2 years looking for a paying gig until I starved to death. I finally bailed out of there and moved to Reno. You had to be a big name established musician and have great contacts to find work like Nashville. You also had to be one of the very best!

Nashville cats, been picking since they's babies 😊😊😊

been to Nashville once. great music town! have a buddy who's based there now and he took us around. saw some killer musos. great players everywhere, but Nashville just has more. listening is king ;) good luck in your endeavors

Bad Brad that soloing was killer man! Nothin like having a great rhythm section behind you while ya do your thing! This is my new favorite channel, it’s just awesome! 🎼🎸

Wess is tight as hell !!!

Nashville is absolutely saturated with pro level musicians. Great for the music lovers, but i feel really bad for how tough it is to make a decent living as a session player there. It's got to be such a grind - so many musicians do 3+ gigs a DAY. Most never know who their next bandmates will be. It's crazy. Please, leave them generous tips.

Definitely some of the best. Been to Nash several times and the musicianship is stellar. That said I’ve seen some devastating players here in NY and other places. Just unknown samurai’s in their own right.

Nice playing

If the talent pool you seek is akin to face-melting burnout throw down like your clip, New Orleans is by far the city where everyone slays, it's part of the sound n music culture down there. ❤

Yeah, Florida isn’t really a musician friendly state. Solo and duos are kind of the order because of the money offered. It’s a sad thing and I’m sure you’ll do well because of your talent, but putting more than a trio together is tough.

Killing it. That’s my kind of playing. Edit…should have ended the video with some more of that hot band…

It’s not what you play, it’s what you don’t play. That’s it in a nutshell. I like the word you used “Space”, This is sometimes so hard for some players to learn. 🤦🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

I haven’t spent anytime in Nashville, but I’m well aware that guys like Robben Ford, Jack Pearson, and I believe even Peter Frampton are based there now. However, I have spent a lot of time in New Orleans and you can’t be a hack or half-ass musician and get work there - way too many good players - even the street musicians. A lot of those people work for TIPS ONLY as well! Take a walk down Frenchmen Street any night of the week and you’ll hear talent in every club - jazz, blues, funk, brass bands, rock - all quality.

The best guitarists in Nashville are not even on youtube yet

Loving your vids Brad, we’re getting some Florida-style humidity in Toronto

Thanks Bad Brad 👏👏👏👏🤍💜💙❤

Yeah but honestly how many of these “Nashville” musicians are actually born and raised there as opposed to moved there from places like New York, LA, and of course TEXAS?

You’re right. A driving rhythm section just makes the band, without that you got nothing. As far as great musicians between LA and Nashville. My guess is you’ve seen more of them migrating to Nashville. As a session player, it must be tough to compete with guys like Tim Pierce (LA) and Tom Bukovac (Nashville ) I’m not sure what you’ll find in Florida, it depends on which metro area you’re in. That said, I would think the skill levels on average wouldn’t be the same. You never know what you’ll find.

In Tampa, a fantastic way to get the real ace players would be *to find the hungry young bucks* , the best new players with pocket, and mentor them. Your level of skill and talent as guitarist levels up the scene you'll be in, in a new city.

Great video. I would say as a city Nashville has the largest collection of incredible players, but the are incredible players in almost every town. They just chose not to go to Nashville, LA or New York.

Agree 100%. Guys I know that play in N’Ville say that the guy that busses your table after you eat can probably outplay you LOL. Every time I go there I’m amazed by the talent, and the depth of it. I’ve heard more than once you get more gigs by being on time and a good hang, because being a good player is just par for the course.

True words of experience and wisdom. Great rocking band all around, I like it. Robert UK

If I ws a millionaire, I would hire you as my personal guitar tutor.

My father was a professional bass player in Nashville 30 yrs ago. I was blown away by the country pickers there. But what is a good musician exactly, I think John Lee Hooker is one of the best guitar players I've ever heard but a lot of people would say his playing isn't good at all so it's a completely personal assessment.

Great video.

I loved that jam did I hear some Trower influence in there ? Badass....

Great music scene in Melbourne

When you started this solo, you wanted to rip it? I have to say. That's quite an understatement. How about this... " When I started this solo, I wanted to put the audience on another planet"😊. It was absolutely incredible. Brad, you rock. I hope I can come see you play sometime. I will be happy to drive from the Jax area, to Tampa if that's what I need to do. Rock on Brad.👍

Hey Nashville has one definite thing going for it. Hawk Tua!!!!

In my humble opinion if your in a town like Nashville it is not about your chops. Every one in town has the chops. The real secret is being able to handle the job. There are millions of great players, and lot's of them can not handle the job. Every serious band leader is looking for the cat that get the job done, professionally, every time.

It really depends on the genre. Most would say that Jazz is the hardest music to play. Thus, New York City musicians are the best.

You sound good in that clip. I've always heard there are some great players in Nashville, but my stomping ground has always been NY and LA.

Hey bro I’m a Nashville Musician local #257 now in Jacksonville Florida, you’re not gonna find anything we were used to in Nasvegas. Unless you fly them down for a session

Nashville is for sure the easiest place to be a great musician. It's a stark and lonely musical landscape out here...and there...most everywhere. Cheers Brad!

If you’re talking about urban hip-hop/modern R&B you might be right about LA, But if you’re talking about olds school Muscle Shoals/Memphis, not so sure. As a music making mecca, Nashville wins for Southern soul players.

Brad, I know your looking for the best of the best you can find but with your experience, ability, chops and over all knowledge have you ever thought of getting some plain old good players, maybe not the best ever but good decent solid guys and lending all you have to offer to see how successful of a unit you can put together? We would all be rooting for ya and the whole lineup the whole way and it would make for some interesting stuff.... just sayin.

Nice ripping there. Reminds me of Jimmy Herrings work on Mirrors of Embarrassment ( Col Bruce & Aquarium Rescue Unit) which has Oteil on bass

Robben Ford recently left Cali to go to Nashville. Hmmm……

don't matter where your from you can be the best there so many ways to be great are you talking skill or just musicianship skill it.s hard to beat someone like tommy emanuel to me as a musician you can't beat Marck oconner

Hey Brad, would that be the same flying condominium community that Randy Rhodes and Ozzy Osbourne were staying in on the faithful morning in 1982? Just curious.

Not a chance. NYC, New Orleans. Not ONE innovation has came out of Nashville. No significant jazz players have came out of there and if you want to talk about the BEST players, that would be jazz musicians, not these pop musicians.

more dissonance!

Nashville is home to A LOT of amazing players who either make terribly mediocre original music, end up jumping on with some country act or they fall into the cover gig thing. The scene is 100% overrated as hell

It matters not how well you play if you can't COMPOSE. These "players" all write the same 20 songs over and over and over. Hear a dirt-poor guy who CAN compose ORIGINAL MATERIAL in my FIRE-ROCK-SLUG playlist here on my YT page. A zero dollar demo that makes high dollar studios look useless.