Michael Lee Firkins, a phenomenal guitarist who also writes great tunes. He has the 80s modern guitar style influenced by Van Halen but with a heavy dose of Texas blues. And a unique lead tone and style of playing that is instantly recognizable. His first three albums released in the 90s are long time favorites including his s/t release, Chapter Eleven, and Cactus Cruz.
After years of worshipping guys like Santana, Clapton, Hendrix, and other guitar gods, when I started listening to Poco and Loggins & Messina, and I got rid of my Les Paul and got a Strat and later a Telecaster because I only wanted to play like Messina. He isn’t flashy, and his playing has a country feel, so I guess that’s why he was never known as a big player, even though Loggins & Messina was decently popular, and he was on the cover of Guitar Player magazine. Of course, Loggins & Messina doesn’t scream “cool guitar god” either. Regardless, I like his sinewy playing, rhythmic feel, and just the tone in general. I didn’t know he played with finger picks at the time because I never saw him play until years later. When I was trying to figure out his style, I played with my fingers, and I still do.
I'd vouch for Allan Holdsworth, who despite often being name dropped by a lot of famous technical guitarists, seemed to generally be misunderstood, his music often produces quizzical responses or confusion, and ended up playing smaller clubs and dying broke. Ted Green I'd put in this category as well. An icon among many jazz guitarists and an accomplished studio musician, no doubt, yet at the end of the day, was someone who played small dinner gigs, I.E. "wallpaper gigs".
His cover of Freddie King's* Palace Of The King is in my favorite 25 songs of all time. https://youtu.be/J3gLR6dxxNE * Written by Leon Russell / Don Nix / Donald V. Dunn. I did not know that.
Wait, what? They're still out there playing?!? Edit: Wow. Found their tour dates. Nothing close to me. Good to see some of the dates selling out! dada FOREVER | TOUR DATES
Gordie Johnson of Big Sugar and Grady likely qualifies - outside of Canada anyway. Great video for guitar nerds
Joel Plaskett is a great songwriter/singer/producer and can play the hell out of a guitar. I always loved his choice of the RD. His tone is sublime. You have to wait until the final half of this hear it but it's brilliant.
Yeah, sticking with punk/post punk, I'd have to say Keith Levene (RIP), Andy Gill (RIP), and Hugh Cornwell, who is fortunately still with us.
I can't believe I forgot Ollie Halsall - the epitome of this thread's title: EDIT: I see he's been mentioned a few times in this thread. Good.
I'm with you, Messina's playing is melodic and sits soundly in the pocket of the tune. Masterful service of the song rather than showing off. I recall reading that he hand-wound the pickups on his guitars, as the number and consistency of the winds contributed to his amazing guitar tone. And his production and engineering skills are first-rate and are the foundation of the band's stellar recordings. No disservice intended to the exceptional talents of Kenny Loggins, but Jim Messina is largely responsible for the terrific quality of the recordings by L&M. In my opinion, those albums are among the best ever, and the deeper the listening, the greater the rewards.
Phil Miller - (National Health, In Cahoots) Todd Rundgren - A great player that is rarely mentioned. Rich Williams (Kansas) Gary Green (Gentle Giant)
Rick Derringer Larry Carlton They both played on various Steely Dan albums. Not too many can make that claim.
