By: Dr. Matt Warnock Randy Stephens Instrumental Rock Guitar has had its share of guitar heroes over the years. Steve Vai Yngvie Malmsteen Johnny A and Gary Hoey just to name a few have all left their stamp on the genre changing the course of music in the process. While players like this make instrumental rock sound easy to do releasing an instrumental guitar album is probably one of the most difficult challenges that a guitarist can tackle during their careers. Not only does it require a high-level of musicality and ability but any album in this genre will automatically be compared to the greats mentioned above. While many players have shied away from releasing instrumental albums because of just those reasons there are others that face the challenge head on and come out the other side with a noteworthy release that though may not get the same recognition that the big names have is just as enjoyable as any of the top-tier records in the genre. Nashville guitarist Randy Stephens is a player who’s doing just that. With the release of is American Guitar Stephens is putting his own unique take on the Instrumental Rock guitar genre one that is at once a testament to those that came before him and at the same time a vision into the future of the music. Randy Stephens recently sat down with Guitar International to talk about his love of instrumental music gear and of course his new album American Guitar. see rest of article http://guitarinternational.com/wpmu/2010/11/09/artist-profile-nashville-guitarist-randy-stephens