Clarence White

• Genre: Cosmic American Music
• Hometown: Burbank

About

Clarence White was one of the most prodigious and underrated guitar players of country music. He unknowingly helped build the foundation of Country Rock via his work with the Kentucky Colonels and Nashville West. In the fall of 1968, White joined the Byrds, continuing to play as a session musician on the side and helping to further the Cosmic American Music sound with the help of guitarist Gene Parsons (no relation to Gram). Towards the end of his career, White joined Muleskinner, a Country-Folk/Bluegrass band that allowed him pick at the speed of sound. Besides bending guitar strings like rubber bands, White is best known for his incredible flat-picking style, as well as for his song arrangement skills as heard on the Byrds' version of "Farther Along," an old traditional that became White's eulogy. A drunk driver killed White when he was 29.

- Eric Shea