Rockin' the Country with Joe Don Rooney: Playing an Instrument that’s Ideal for Your Circumstances

The following content is related to the November 2013 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

Whatever style of music you’re into, the sound, feel and character of the instrument you play will have a huge influence on where your inspiration and creativity lead you. I grew up playing a Fender Telecaster, a model that has long been celebrated as the ultimate go-to ax for country music.

The instrument has certainly served me well, not just for country but for other styles too, such as blues, pop and rock. But with its two single-coil pickups, 25 1/2–inch scale, bolt-on neck, hard-tail, string-through-body bridge and other key design elements, that particular style of electric guitar delivers that trademark country “twang” like no other.

As a fan of not just country but also pop, rock, metal, jazz, fusion and other styles, I find it beneficial and inspiring to play a variety of guitars, as certain designs seem to encourage and facilitate different kinds of musical ideas and licks more so than do their counterparts.