Inspired by guitar legends Chet Atkins, Earl Klugh and Tommy Emmanuel, guitarist Pete Huttlinger has a number of acclaimed instrumental albums and several guitar educational DVDs to his credit. Remembered as John Denver’s lead guitarist in the years before Denver’s death in 1997, Huttlinger shines on his 2007 CD, Things Are Looking Up. Like Tommy Emmanuel, Huttlinger is at his best in the solo finger style acoustic guitar setting, filling up all the parts of the song with his ten fingers and several backing musicians. A Berklee grad and a D.C. native, the Nashville-based Huttlinger even got to play Carnegie Hall earlier in the year and is set to bring his acoustic instrumental guitar sound far and wide. Pete Huttlinger spoke with 20th Century Guitar in June 2008 about his guitars, music and more.

Can you say something about your 2007 CD, Things Are Looking Up and how the album compares with your earlier releases?
This was a fun stretch for me because ten of the fifteen cuts are band oriented. When that happens, it is less about me and more about my part in the tune. Many of my solo tunes and arrangements are in my head as band tunes. I just tend to play all the parts myself.

What guitars are featured on your new album?
My trusty Collings OM1 is there. Also my OM1A, a Collings MT mandolin, a CD (Chris Bozung) resonator guitar.

Do you still play electric guitar and which ones do you prefer?
Yes, I do. I made my living for 15 years or so as an electric guitarist. I love my Strat, Tele and 335. I really miss my ES175. I probably sold it to get more peanut butter or M & M’s when I was in college.

What strings are you using?
I use Elixir Strings. I really like the phosphor bronze. They last a long time and I would much rather spend my time playing than changing strings.

Can you say something more about your mandolin work.
I’m no virtuoso on the mandolin but I have enough knowledge and chops to get by. I used my Collings MT. It’s got to be the best mandolin available anywhere for the money. Like their guitars, it’s very consistent.

Who are your big guitar influences?
I have had many. The short list would include Doc Watson, Joe Pass, Robben Ford, Tony Rice, Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, John Williams, Larry Carlton, Barry Galbraith, Andre Segovia, Carlos Montoya, Russ Barenberg. You get the idea. I enjoy players who are melodic.

What was it like playing guitar for John Denver and what kind of guitars did you play with him?
It was a great gig. John let me play what I felt like the song needed at the time. That’s a big responsibility and I enjoyed it. Sometimes I’d play banjo or mandolin. Another time, on the same song, I may play acoustic guitar or electric guitar. That kind of freedom is kind of unheard of in this play-the-part-on-the-CD world we’re in these days. I played my Strat and a Taylor 612C. I don’t recall the mandolin brand and my banjo at the time was a Baldwin/Ode.

Do you prefer playing solo or with a band and why?
I love them both for different reasons. Solo – it’s just me with no net and I like to see if I can still pull it off. Playing in a band is fun because of the interaction with other players. Nashville has to be one of the best places on the planet for that. Players here know how to listen and react like nowhere else.

Can you say something about your Pete Huttlinger’s Wonderful World of Chords 2008 instructional DVD? What got you started in that field?
Do you remember the TV show Mutual Of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom? That’s what pooped in my head (and came out of my mouth) when we started rolling the tape for this DVD and the name stuck. It’s sort of a video library of chords. It’s every basic chord you’ll ever need. There are lots of chording exercises included and then I teach a couple of standards and show the chords in different positions. We did not include all the extensions and partial chords. It’s a deep subject and we’ll probably do another volume that is more advanced in the future. After John Denver died, I thought of the idea of teaching his parts exactly as I heard him play them every night. Homespun Tapes went for the idea and the 4 DVD series has been very successful.

What kind of recording and touring do you have planned for 2008?
I’m currently working on a CD of Celtic music for guitar. It will be fingerstyle and flatpick and there will be a nice mix of solo and ensemble pieces on there. I’m also thinking it’s time to do another Naked Pop type CD. That was a very successful project and there are so many pop tunes that I like to play that it just feels like the time is near to explore that some more. Also, I love to play for singers when it’s just my guitar and a voice. I have so much freedom to interpret on the spot. LeAnn Rimes has used me for a few different things like Live From Abbey Road and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day show and she’s been great to work with. Now there is a fun project I’m working with Kathie Bonagura from the country group Baillee And The Boys. She is an amazing singer and we are doing a CD with just the two of us. We’re doing a few old standards, some great songs that will be standards and some originals. She can sing anything so beautifully. We’ve played a few of the things at some informal settings and everyone has been blown away, so we’re looking forward to completing the CD and doing some concerts. As for touring, this year started off with a bang at Carnegie Hall and will continue with lots of gigs around the states. California, Oregon, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Tennessee, Maryland, North Carolina are all on the map and in September I’ll be heading over to Italy and possibly Solvenia. So it’s going to be a packed year.

What was it like playing Carnegie Hall last January 2008?
I got to play in March of 2007 with some friends of mine and it was a real blast. We were in the mid-sized hall – Zenkle. But in January of 2008 I was all alone in the main hall – The Isaac Stern / Itzak Perlman hall. Talk about no net! I was excited and nervous about it for many months leading up to the gig but the day of the gig I was fine. I didn’t decide what to play until that afternoon, so I asked my wife for some paper that I could write a set list on. She handed me a copy of our marriage license! She uses her maiden name for her business so when we travel, she has a copy of our marriage license for extra identification if she ever needs it. So I turned it over and wrote out my set list. After the gig I forgot to get the paper. I would have framed it for sure! The gig was great. I got a standing ovation when I was done. It was a nice exclamation point at the end of the gig. When I got back to Nashville I remember taking a drive in the country for a whole afternoon just to try and come down from the amazing experience of playing Carnegie Hall.

Thanks to Pete Huttlinger @ www.petehuttlinger.com