Clarence White was a genuine double threat. His brilliant, Doc Watson-inspired acoustic flatpicking, which incorporated lightning-fast fiddle lines played on an ancient Martin D-28, helped the bluegrass world recognize the guitar as a lead instrument. Several masters of the genre, including Tony Rice and Norman Blake, name him as a key influence.

I recently made some hand-to-neck contact with Steve Howe's famous 1964 Gibson ES-175. He brought it with him when he visited Guitar World for a photo shoot and a "Dear Guitar Hero" feature -- which you'll see soon in the pages of Guitar World magazine.

Todd Rundgren Deals with the devil: The studio wizard covers Delta blues king Robert Johnson on his latest disc, Todd Rundgren's Johnson.

Dreamlike, grandiose, cinematic, disarming. Each term could describe the emotionally arresting instrumental music of Explosions in the Sky, the post-rock poster boys from Austin, Texas. Each could also describe Explosions’ ongoing success story since the release of their 2007 album, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone.