WELCOME TO TELE TOWN: A 75TH ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE AT THE RYMAN

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. At The Ryman, that old adage cuts both ways. Glance over your shoulder, above the original church pews, as the last light filters through the stained glass, and it’s as if those windows are the eyes to the soul of country music itself – glowing red, yellow, green and blue. They don’t call it “The Mother Church of Country” for nothing.

Nashville has long been known as a “Tele Town,” but May 4th, 2026 marked a milestone moment: an extraordinary gathering of artists on one of music’s most revered stages to celebrate 75 years of the Telecaster – the one that started it all. By a fitting twist of fate, the night landed on the Ryman’s 134th birthday.

The lineup spanned genres and generations – bringing together Brad Paisley, Jack White, Billy Gibbons, Brent Mason and James Burton alongside modern torchbearers like Brothers Osborne, Zach Top, Larkin Poe and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. Hosted by renowned Nashville guitarist and Telecaster historian Zac Childs, with session ace Derek Wells leading the house band, the night unfolded like a living timeline of the Tele’s enduring legacy.

As the room fell to a hush, Fender CEO Edward “Bud” Cole set the stage. “75 years ago, Leo Fender had a simple idea: build a guitar that worked for players – great tone, reliable, zero fuss. What came out of that was the Fender Telecaster, and it went on to shape the sound of modern music. From James Burton to George Harrison to Sheryl Crow and the incredible artists on this stage tonight – generations have picked it up and made it their own. And there’s no better place to celebrate that than right here in Nashville. This city didn’t just embrace the Telecaster – it helped define it.”

The crowd answered with a roar. In a hall that once served as the original home of the Grand Ole Opry and hosted Tele giants like Waylon Jennings, Buck Owens, Lucinda Williams, Sheryl Crow and James Burton, Cole set the tone for what Guitar World would later call “one of the greatest gatherings of country guitar virtuosity we’ve ever seen.”

The show opened with a nod to the Broadway players, as Zac Childs and Derek Wells led a medley of James Burton signatures – including “Suzie Q” and “The Bottle Let Me Down” – a tribute that would come full circle later in the night. From there, the spotlight shifted to the session player tradition and the next wave of Tele torchbearers. Nate Gregory and Mateus Canteri dug into a country-blues shuffle that brought a shot of honky-tonk grit to the hallowed hall, followed by Andrea Benz and Maggie Baugh with Sheryl Crow’s “Soak Up the Sun.” Luke McQueary delivered a fiery, train-beat tribute to Johnny Cash’s “Orange Blossom Special,” while Emma Zinck closed the sequence with a soulful take on Chrissie Hynde’s “Back on the Chain Gang.”

The spotlight then turned to the Telecaster’s deep roots in session and touring culture. If there’s one name synonymous with the modern Nashville sound, it’s Brent Mason – one of the town’s most in-demand session players – who tore through “Blowing Smoke” and “Gator Bite” on his signature Brent Mason Telecaster.

Guthrie Trapp and John Oates followed, weaving through “Please Send Me Someone to Love” before handing it off to Derek Wells for a blues-soaked “Talk to Your Daughter.”

In a true passing-of-the-baton moment, Grammy-winning country picker Zach Top then joined his longtime hero Brent Mason onstage. Mason not only helped shape Top’s playing but also played on his record, and in a fitting show of respect, Top went acoustic for the performance, giving Mason room to shine on his Tele. The pair launched into Top’s breakout hit “I Never Lie” before he joked, “Now I can play what I really want,” segueing into “Guitar” with a chorus fit for the occasion: “I play this thing ‘til the sun comes up / for nothin’ but the love. / Nothin’ kickstarts my heart like guitar.”

From a country virtuoso to a blues-rock prodigy, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram followed with effortless command on his signature Kingfish Delta Day Telecaster Deluxe. “I just wanna say since we’re all here for the Telecaster, we’re gonna dedicate this song to the man who got me into the Telecaster – rest in peace, Prince!” he told the crowd, before launching into “Cream” and his own “Fresh Out.”

Trey Hensley ripped through “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way,” followed by Jessie James Decker, Tommy Emmanuel and Ricky Skaggs with a restrained rendition of “Luxury Liner,” written and recorded by Gram Parsons and later popularized by Emmylou Harris.

That set the stage for John Osborne and T.J. Osborne of Brothers Osborne, whose sound – like that of the late Gram Parsons and his cosmic country contemporaries – lives in that liminal space between country and rock ‘n’ roll. The five-time CMA-winning duo performed “Muskrat Greene” and “Deadman’s Curve,” with John showcasing his signature John Osborne Telecaster – complete with our first in-house-designed B-Bender – before hurling the guitar sidestage in a classic display of rock ‘n’ roll abandon.

Larkin Poe picked up the baton with “Bad Spell,” Rebecca Lovell’s silver sparkle Tele glittering under the lights as the duo’s blues-rock swagger reverberated through the pews.

Moments later, surprise guest Billy Gibbons joined them wielding a 76-year-old Esquire that looked as if it were plated in silver armor. “We’re gonna do what everyone loves to do with the Telecaster,” Gibbons grinned. “Tear the sides off it!” Together they paid tribute to Steve Cropper with the blistering “Hold On, I’m Comin.’”

Tommy Emmanuel followed with “Hearts Grow Fonder,” while Ricky Skaggs honored Waylon Jennings with “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line” and “Heartbroke,” underscoring the deep bluegrass-to-Tele lineage still running through Nashville.

Then Zac Childs stepped forward, red Tele in hand, with one of the night’s defining stories – the tale of a 13-year-old boy in Shreveport, Louisiana who begged his parents for a blonde Telecaster he spotted in a shop window. Money was tight, but they believed in their son and bought it anyway. That boy was James Burton and that Tele would go on to become one of the most important guitars of all time.

Burton later refinished it in a custom shade he called “Coronado Red,” matching his Cadillac, and it became a cornerstone of his sound – appearing on everything from “Susie Q” to landmark sessions with Merle Haggard, Buck Owens and Elvis Presley.

From a guitar that defined the Tele’s legacy to one of its boldest modern voices, surprise guest Jack White then stormed the stage with his otherworldly Triplecaster, channeling White Stripes-era snarl on “Ball and Biscuit” that showed just how far the Tele can be pushed.

White then handed the spotlight to friend and headliner Brad Paisley, who stepped in with a grin, sauntering across the stage with the easy command of a true country titan, signature Lost Paisley Telecaster slung over his shoulder.

Then the lights dropped.

Paisley took the mic. “James Burton played the guitar you’re about to see – the first paisley Tele anyone really saw – and the reason my name wasn’t changed when I signed my record deal,” he smirked. “Tonight we have a gift for him. Of all the people in the world that deserves one of these guitars, it’s the man right here in the Elvis Jacket… James Burton!”

James Burton emerged from the darkness wearing the same jacket he sported onstage in 1977 during his final tour with The King. In a moment of deep country reverence, Brad Paisley presented him with the 001 prototype of his Lost Paisley Telecaster.

“Let’s honor him with a song he picked the snot out of back in 1969 – Merle Haggard tore the charts up with this song. The amazing James Burton. A true working man if there ever was one!”

With that, Paisley invited the full Tele Town lineup back to the stage. Turning to his band, he grinned: “You guys ready? Here’s to the greatest guitar ever made! Let’s see how it sounds!” he busted into “Workin’ Man Blues” as everyone from Jack White to John Osborne crowded the stage to trade licks. The feeling in the room was unanimous: the Telecaster had never sounded better.

In a fitting close to the night, the all-star ensemble turned the performance into what Guitar World deemed “perhaps the most electrifying Telecaster jam of all time.” One by one, players stepped forward, weaving country, blues, rock and bluegrass into a single conversation.

From Ricky Skaggs’ ‘57 to Brad Paisley’s “Lost Paisley,” John Osborne’s B-Bender to Jack White’s Triplecaster, the full spectrum of Telecasters was on display – road-worn originals and hot-rodded oddities, single-coils and humbuckers alike – tracing 75 years of creative expression.

Under the Ryman’s stained-glass glow, it felt less like a collection of guitars on that stage and more like a single Telecaster, passed from hand to hand.