About
Over the past two decades, Guthrie Trapp has become a world-renowned rising star of the guitar, with an amazing life story and musical journey that continues to evolve in surprising new directions, with no end in sight.
Growing up in the FloraBama region of the Gulf Coast, he fell in love with music at a very early age, and his parents Joe and Mary introduced him to many styles and genres.
At the age of six began playing the harmonica.
Picking up the guitar at nine years old, and playing music everyday after school with his uncle Jerry, he joined his first band at 12 years old, and began playing the local clubs, festivals, and talent contests, winning consecutive statewide competitions on both mandolin and guitar at 15 and 16.
At the age of 18 he made his first trip to Nashville, playing on Gove Scrivenor’s album Shine On, which also featured guest stars including John Prine, Nanci Griffith, and Ray Flacke.
He also performed and recorded with singer/songwriter Nick Branch as the duo Filthy Rich, touring the U.S. and Europe for several years, before moving to Nashville fulltime in 2001.
From humble beginnings in Music City, Trapp has gradually created his own guitar-centric universe, with a mind-boggling career path full of surprises, chance encounters and major collaborations.
Starting out playing on Lower Broadway with honkytonk legend Don Kelley at Robert’s Western World, he quickly gained attention as the newest guitar star in a town full of six string legends.
Things began to take off for Trapp as he was asked to join country superstar Patty Loveless’ touring band, and also played on two of her albums, Mountain Soul 2 and Dreaming my Dreams.
As his reputation grew, one of his musical heroes, Dobro master Jerry Douglas invited Guthrie to join his band, and over the next six years, they toured the world and recorded acclaimed albums including Jerry Christmas and Glide.
The Jerry Douglas Band played many festivals and famous venues including Bonnaroo, Hardly Strictly and Telluride bluegrass festivals, Radio City Music Hall, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and a three month tour opening for Paul Simon.
Guthrie’s musical circle continued to expand with each passing year.
One of his first Nashville recording sessions was with the world class rhythm section of Willie Weeks on bass and the late Ian Wallace on drums.
He met John Oates at Telluride in the early 2000s and they forged a strong friendship and longterm musical collaboration.
They have recorded numerous projects and toured extensively as an acoustic duo.
Over the years, his resume has expanded exponentially, including work with Vince Gill, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Tony Rice, Earl Scruggs, Sam Bush, Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, Delbert McClinton, “Cowboy” Jack Clement and many others.
In particular, over the past few years, Guthrie has been collaborating with the legendary Billy F. Gibbons of ZZ Top, who has become a champion of Guthrie’s astounding guitar skills, singing Trapp’s praises far and wide.
When asked, Gibbons, a man of few words, simply says: “Guthrie Trapp? – He’s off the chain, man!”
While chasing his dream of making music with others, he has also carved out his own unique artistic path with his own recording projects and has made a huge impact as an educator as well.
His solo albums include Pick Peace, and Life After Dark, and he is about to release a new studio album with top session guitarist Tom Bukovac.
He has hosted a talk show and a live music series on Acme Radio.
The Guthrie Trapp Trio
The Guthrie Trapp Trio, featuring bassist Tim Marks and drummer Jordan Perlson, play regularly at The Underdog in Nashville and have recorded a live album to be released soon.
As a respected guitar teacher, Trapp has made a huge impact, teaching through the Artist Works and TrueFire instructional platforms and sharing his talent with the world.
His knowledge, enthusiasm, and unpretentious teaching style has become very popular, and his YouTube channel has more than 70,000 subscribers and is growing everyday.
There is no question that Guthrie Trapp is the kind of musician who is comfortable in a wide range of settings, yet always retains his own identity and expresses his deepest emotions with his passionate, emotional guitar playing.
He has demonstrated that the inspirational power of music can take you anywhere you want to go – if you have the passion, vision and imagination to express yourself in a way that the whole world can relate to.
Guthrie Trapp has done just that, and there is no end in sight. Guitar fans around the world are ready and waiting for the next phase of his amazing story, and as Guthrie himself loves to say – “The Adventure Continues!”
“If I were to explain Guthrie Trapp to you, you wouldn’t understand him. He is a freak of nature known to those who excel in music as THE GUY to watch in the next few years. Guthrie played in my band for 4 years and never seemed, I mean ceased, to amaze me. We would all watch Guthrie go through his nutty, animated, entertaining trials all day, forcing me to keep a log of Guthrie-isms, then step up on the stage together and hold our breath through his maze-like solos until we got to the other side, blue-faced,and try to follow him. On this record I hear a more highly fueled and refined Guthrie Trapp. He’s a force ready to be reckoned with. He’s gone to school on many other great players and instruments of all types, forging his own alchemy which is very complex. You are listening to a thick encyclopedia built on years of big ears and essentially living with a guitar in his hands. I’m proud of any part I had to play in Guthrie’s big book and more than that, proud of whom he has become, both as a guitar player and a member of our planet; where he resides most of the time.”
– Jerry Douglas, 14-time Grammy winning dobroist