Eddie Pennington

Eddie Pennington, born and raised in Western Kentucky, performs in a guitar style that arose early in this century in Muhlenberg County. He has done much to preserve the style made famous by Merle Travis and Chet Atkins. Travis and Atkins were both inspired by Mose Rager, the man who laid down the foundations of this technique. Eddie, also deeply influenced by Rager, remembers that he seemed to be able to make the guitar breathe as he played. The music itself sounds simple, but in fact is an intricate combination of rhythm and melody and harmonies which are played simultaneously by one "picker.