Danny+B.

**Chester Atkins**
Chester Atkins plays a blend of Country and Jazz, know as the "Nashville" sound. The form was invented by replacing elements of the popular honky tonk style (fiddles, steel guitar, nasal lead vocals) with "smooth" elements from 1950s pop music (string sections, background vocals, crooning lead vocals). Merle Travis Chester evolved his own style using a thumb and three fingers; he did not know Merle used a thumd and one finger.

Chester was born June 20, 1924, Luttrell, Tennessee, U.S into a poor, but musical family. When Chester was in grade school, his parents divorced; each remarried, and his father moved to Georgia. Chester remained in Luttrell with his mother, stepfather, and numerous siblings. At the age of nine, **Atkins** acquired his first guitar, receiving it in exchange for a gun he had been given by a relative. He focused increasingly on guitar and in high school he made a name for himself by playing during recesses and lunch periods. After trying without success to get work in Chicago, he became a performer on KWTO in Springfield, Missouri. There, the station's booking agent nicknamed him **Chet**, and to this day we know him as **Chet** **Atkins.**

Over the course of his long career, **Atkins** recorded some one hundred albums, both as a solo player and with other country music stars including Merle Travis. In addition to chronic asthma, **Atkins** suffered from cancer in the final decade of his life. He died June 30, 2001, Nashville, Tennessee.. His memoir, //**Chet** **Atkins**: Me and My Guitars//, coauthored with Russ Cochran, was published in 2003.Chet Atkins' Gallopin' Guitar is the title of his first release on the RCA Victor label. In 1953 his recording of, "Country Gentleman," became a hit single and henceforth his signature tune, and **Atkins** himself was subsequently referred to as the "Country Gentleman." Chet was especially drawn to the sound of the guitarist Merle Travis, his lasting idol. Merle wasn't the only one who influenced Chet; Chet lived with his his father, who had formal musical training, for several years of his childhood.

Chet Atkins is one of the architects of the Nashville Sound that has stood the test of time so well. Known as "Mr. Guitar," Chet Atkins is the most recorded solo instrumentalist in music history. As a studio musician, his string-tickling work has gilded the records of Elvis Presley, Kitty Wells, The Everly Brothers, Hank Williams and dozens of Nashville legends. His style influenced such pop greats as Mark Knopfler, Duane Eddy, George Harrison, The Ventures, George Benson and Eddie Cochran, as well as thousands of country pickers.

I think one of the most interesting facts about Chet is that he traded a gun for his guitar. that shows how devoted he was to his music even from the very beginning. Chet Atkins truly was a legend.

Works Cited Sources : Include the source information for all of the articles or web sites that were used to complete your project. Source information is found at the end of each article in iCONN.They should also be listed in alphabetical order by the first word of the source citation. //sample:// "Carol Kaye." //Contemporary Musicians//. Vol. 22. Detroit: Gale, 1998. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 8 Jan. 2012. "Selected Websites on Carol Kaye's Life and Works." //Gale Biography in Context//. Detroit: Gale, 2008. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 8 Jan. 2012.

Your Source List: Keene, Ann T. "Chet Atkins." //American National Biography// (2010): 1. //Biography Reference Center//. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. Encyclopaedia, Britannica. "Atkins, Chet." //Britannica Biographies// (2012): 1. //History Reference Center//. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.

Guitarist Research Notes Table
//cells will expand as you enter your findings// || In 1953 his recording of, "Country Gentleman," became a hit single and henceforth his signature tune, and **Atkins** himself was subsequently referred to as the "Country Gentleman." || What do you like about his/her style? || the Nashville sound is prevalent in the rural southern states and I like the smooth, memorable patterns of this style. ||
 * ** Information Feature ** ||= **Your Findings**
 * The guitar style I am researching is: || a blending of country and jazz ||
 * The artist I am researching is: || Chester Atkins ||
 * This guitarist lived from ___ to__ _ || born June 20, 1924, Luttrell, Tennessee, U.S.—died June 30, 2001, Nashville, Tennessee ||
 * Define and describe the guitar style you are researching. || A popular country-western music (known as the "Nashville" sound) ||
 * What kind of musical training did the guitarist have? || **Atkins**'s first instrument was the ukulele, which he learned to play when repeated attacks of asthma kept him home from school during much of his first-grade, Chet lived with his his father, who had formal musical training, for several years of his childhood. ||
 * What types of music influenced this artist? || country and jazz ||
 * Name some musicians who influenced the guitarist you are researching. || Guitarist Merle Travis was Chet"s BIG idol that he later worked with. ||
 * Has this guitarist played more than one style? If so, what other styles? || He used a thumb and three fingers; it was, as he later put it, "more classical sounding," and it became his trademark. He stuck to county, Jazz and the "Nashville" sound. ||
 * What type of guitar does this musician play || He transformed his acoustic guitar into an electric one. ||
 * What are some interesting facts about your guitarist’s childhood? || At the age of nine, **Atkins** acquired his first guitar, receiving it in exchange for a gun he had been given by a relative.When **Atkins** was eleven, he was sent to live with his father and stepmother in Columbus, Georgia, for several years; it was thought that the change of climate might curb his asthma. After his condition improved, he came home to Luttrell in 1937, but at his request he returned to Georgia the following year. ||
 * What did this guitarist do before he became famous? || **Atkins** was a hired laborer for the National Youth Administration, a federally funded organization that provided jobs for young people during the Great Depression. In 1942, following U.S. entry into World War II, he was hired as a guitarist by WRBL, a radio station in Columbus, to play country music as well as jazz. (Poor health prevented **Atkins** from joining the army.) Later that year, **Atkins** headed to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he went to work at the station WNOX, first as a country fiddler and then as a guitarist for several of the station's local live music programs. Soon he was given a full-time job as a rhythm guitarist in the station's staff band. ||
 * List two interesting facts about the guitarist’s life. || During 1946 and much of 1947, **Atkins** continued to move from station to station. After trying without success to get work in Chicago, he became a performer on KWTO in Springfield, Missouri. There, the station's booking agent nicknamed him **Chet.**
 * Atkins** moved on to WLW, a major station in Cincinnati, Ohio, and began appearing regularly on nationally broadcast programs. There, he met Merle Travis, who praised his talent and urged him to continue playing. He also met his future wife, a fellow WLW performer named Leona Pearl Johnson who sang on the station with her twin sister. **Atkins** and Johnson were married in 1946; they had one child, a daughter whom they named Merle in honor of Travis. ||
 * List two albums or songs your artist released, the dates they were released and why they are important. || In 1949 when Chet released //Gallopin' Guitar,// the group he was working with, now known as the Carter Sisters and **Chet** **Atkins**, was hired by one of **Atkins**'s former employers, KWTO in Springfield, to appear on its own nationally syndicated radio show.
 * Who is playing this style of music today?
 * What legacy has this guitarist left to the world of music? || His work and style has influenced the work of many artists to come. Chet Atkins is one of the architects of the Nashville Sound that has stood the test of time so well. Known as "Mr. Guitar," Chet Atkins is the most recorded solo instrumentalist in music history. ||