Truefire Presents: Ladd Smith's Modern Nashville Guitar Instructional Series

Playing pro guitar in Nashville these days is the Olympic decathlon of the music biz. You need big ears, impeccable chops, top-notch improvisational skills, stellar right and left hand moves and be prepared to apply them all on a moments notice – and that's just to get in the door. To further separate the men from the boys, you also need to be able to put it all in high gear over any style of rock, blues, jazz, country, acoustic or pop-music groove.

Ladd Smith of Nashville Crowned Guitar Player Magazine's International Guitar Hero 2007

Ten finalists battled for the international title of "Guitar Hero" at Guitar Player’s Guitar Hero 2007 competition Friday, October 12 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. All ten tremendously talented players were roundly applauded by celebrity judges Joe Satriani, Steve Lukather, Nuno Bettencourt, Elliot Easton, Greg Howe, and Mike Varney. In the end, they chose Ladd Smith from Nashville, Tennessee, as the champion, Les Robot from Edmonton, Alberta, as first runner-up and Danny B. Harvey from Canyon County, CA, as second runner-up.