Johnny Hiland at NAMM '08

[Waltoooooo]

Wrong, there ain't no mistakes when you improvise.

[1976cyclist]

I quit!!!!

[brianfoutz]

Lovin' the pluckin' Johnny is insane...

[mashay301]

best blind guitarist EVER!!

[Stratonini]

How can he be so jazzy, so country, so rock, and so good all at once?!?!?

[Philtration]

So smooth.

[jachapa2]

Wow! At 1:07, I blinked and I totally missed all those notes he played.

[VikingPowerlifter]

johnny's bad dude...

[Vordrab]

Damn, he's really amazing O_o

[speck444]

how many runs does this guy know

[guitardomontebon]

The man makes it look effortless. Beautiful guitar...

[beerdeddi]

That man can play guitar!

[turntapzap]

Nobody touches his shit.

[slinkydinky999]

Johnny is the most versatile guitar player out now. He can play bluegrass, country, and jam with the hardest with Joe Satriani and EVH.

[MrHardrod2]

Of course he could do anything. He's a session musician and lays guitar tracks for singers and other artists. He could do jazz, bluegrass, progressive rock, hard rock, fusion, country, southern rock, rockabilly, neo-classical, practically anything.

[beerdeddi]

Satriani and EVH are not the hardest....

[super63strat]

Johnny is great player and is very humble man. Talked to him recently ,very kind ,cool ,and friendly.Plays so effortlessly , listen for mistakes ,you won't hear many if any .

[rockinredneck57]

That's what gets me, his effortless playing. So smooth all the time, but so fast! He doesn't even break a sweat playing!

[wouwser]

dammmm boy got skills!

[TheHardcoreLinerider]

I live like 30min from where he grew up in Downeast Maine.

[Vermillion2176]

The Sad thing is that he could pick up my Tele and still sound like that, and I could get that new PRS and still sound like me.

[Stratblooz]

Ha ha I hear ya same here ;-D

[rockinredneck57]

I feel your pain!

[ThisIsMrMcGregor]

@Vermillion2176 You don't have near the tonal variety. You can't compare the two.

[iaedean]

so would he

[miesjp1]

great johnny you doing fine great instrument to

[gwarslayer666]

my idol!!!!!!!

[filodavid1]

muy bueno!!!!!!!!!!!

[jlozano1980]

this is the kinda player that makes me just wanna quit!

[snotspooper]

he isnt fat, hes full of talent! he is a hell of a guitar player

[philippaps44]

ahahaha

nice!!

[777RAD777]

he is one of the fattest ppl ive ever seen but DAMN he can play!!

[DuhJeffmeister]

check out shawn lane as he neared his passing

[johnsaxsteel]

soundin' good!  John

[chadwylde]

NO PINKY????!!! WOW

[2cool4ausername123]

who new excellence could come in such a large package

he should really slim down and then he could move around and be more of a show

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@2cool4ausername123: Wouldn't it just be better to focus on the man's talent, and not his size? Johnny Hiland is one of the best guitarists working in the world today, and can play darned near anything, but all you worry about is his waist size? Gimme a break.

[MrFuckyouintheneck]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 Nothing wrong with his weight, we just would like him to stick around a little longer!

[aektzis91]

im fascinated by how fast he can play with such fat fingers

go johnny :D

[thestrugglewithin]

just shows that you dont need hendrix hands to play at a "god" level.

[bridgfordbill]

he needs to slim down,,,,,talent that good cant die of a heart attack young,,,,,,

[edgluhrs]

I love hearing Johnny play. Watch those fingers! Awesome vibe.

[Matej1200]

chill on the guitar practice and hit a gym dude. holy hell.

[AzaelVI]

Chill on the judgmental comments dude and learn to appreciate talent.

[Giwrgoskol]

Another jealous person....too bad for you Matej.

[felixayala05]

this cat can PLAY!

[6LQ6]

Hard to believe the wasted space over notions concerning obesity and vision when this should be simply about music and talent. Who gives a rat's bum what music LOOKS like lol? I don't guess a blind person would and I guarantee you no genuine musician/guitar player would because the beauty is in the playing. Too bad some didn't hear this first on the radio. Something else to think about. is when this guy's long gone he'll be remembered for his talent. We should all be so fat and blind huh:)

[StompingSpuds]

Right on, the same could be said about the late Shawn Lane. This dude ROCKS, what fluid passages, and pure skill and soul.

[dhand34]

He's the best I have ever seen. Playing with him at a party one time and watching him in the studio was so amazing

[Enfeeblement]

Excellent performance!

[ibashred]

what a fat slob!makes me sick to think that someone could let themself get out of control obese like this.

[liontone]

Hey Genius, he has a medical condition that caused his weight gain. It's not really in his control.

[SJP444]

stfu... you're talking about the best guitarist of our time. I'm sure he has some medical condition's going on. Go watch Yngwie Malmsteen ya T*AT

[ibashred]

okay i will. at least i won't puke everywhere cause of morbid obesity!you t*at

[SJP444]

yes right... instead you'll just puke from his awful playing and barney purple fringed jacket... You know like the one he's wearing in the poster above your bed.

[ibashred]

uh bro, i don't have any posters over my bed...? i've got posters in my music room in my house! go back to your parents basement and play star wars on xbox live in your ninja turtle underwear faggot and bitch at the wall, cause i don't give a fuck what you have to say!

[SJP444]

haha yeah well being that youre on here making fun of a great guitar player for being overweight, Even when the guy is legally blind and couldn't go out and play with other kids as a child (which probably made him overweight) I thought you'd be about 10 years old... well then I go on your page and I see that you're just a big tool, making awful videos in your bedroom at your parents house. I just had a good long laugh when I saw those though so thanks for that. That is all, I'm done with you.

[rockinredneck57]

What does what he looks like have to do with how well he plays? Anybody would be happy yo have him sit in with them. I've seen him shred like some of your favorites and he's twice as big. He's one hell of a guitarist.

[djteleboy]

why r some guys so damm good! love johnny !selling all my stuff...

[333jas]

Johnny is a great guitarist but the PRS guitars don't suit his style. I know he has an endorsement deal with them but he sounds much better on a Telecaster.

[666perle]

i totally agree

[gtristdan]

absolutely!

[SJP444]

really? I think that's just the blind loyalty talkin

[rvbarnesboy]

this guy makes me want to throw my guitars under a bus. yeah, great blend of styles, seamless. what grace.

[trehug]

yes - thanks!

[andrewt248]

It took me a while to realize how closely country and jazz guitar playing are related.

[stipecountry]

andrewt248: When I realized that, that's when I started to get into jazz guitar.

I believe Brad Paisley actually said that learning jazz really helped him in learning how to play country.

I wouldn't mind hearing Hiland and Paisley do some songs together.

[rockinredneck57]

Not only country, but some rock as well. Steve Howe (guitar guru) of YES started playing jazz and it heavily influenced his guitar playing with YES.

[fighterx]

incredible guitarist matched with his very own incredible guitar. pure bliss

[menga111]

love the finish on this one

[teachingfeller]

How does he do it?

[zezuntxiduntxi]

LOVE IT!

[stratking69er]

Feckin Hell......you get to a point in playing where you think you're doing pretty damn good then this guy appears! I'll put those guitars down for a while to listen to this great,great man. Rock on my son, you are the dogs bollox!!! Hurry up and tour the UK too !!!

[pokemonyellow]

the fact that he's legally blind makes it all the more incredible...

[ZaphodBeeblebrox65]

He can actually see, he's just legally blind because his eyes move involuntarily so his sight is somewhat unreliable for legal purposes (driving etc...). He's still bloody good though.

[Tanikaze2]

Not that it matters, he isn't even looking at the fretboard half the time!

Goodness, what a crazy awesome guitarist.

[arroyomusic]

That's like freaking country jazz....

[ThreeChordGuitar]

And that's only the half of it :D

[montycanshred]

awesome

[emeraldxm]

What an amazing guitarist!