TREY HENSLEY
Richard Hoover right after I played the Opry. Coming from somebody who had just been around Tony Rice— and Tony let me play his— Santa Cruz hooked me up with Richard. That’ s a special guitar that I’ ll always have.
How did your partnering with Taylor Guitars come about? It was pretty organic, you know? I’ ve known those guys at Taylor forever. I met Andy Powers probably 2014 or‘ 15 and we always hit it off. Taylors are great— they’ ve always been great— but they’ ve not been my go-to. That said, I am firmly in the camp of any guitar can be a bluegrass guitar. Andy started making the Grand Pacifics, and I remember being really impressed by those. I recorded a little EP with Tommy Emmanuel around that time. Andy Powers and I both have a pretty vast Doc Watson background. And Andy is really into the bluegrass stuff— he’ s a great flatpicker, himself. Taylor had me come to Nashville and basically be the test driver for the Grand Pacific for a few months. I had that guitar for a while, and I liked it so much that I was playing it every night. I loved that guitar. I loved touring with it, and the adjustable neck was great. So, we were talking about what I might like, and honestly, I didn’ t suggest a square shoulder because I didn’ t know they still made them— I thought that might be a
sore spot. They sent me a prototype of the 517 Grand Pacific with this really cool sunburst. The first Taylor I ever had was a 510, a Fall Limited Edition model with this really light brown sunburst that just looked kind of aged. So, we decided to go with that finish. I took that prototype and really ran it through its paces for a few months and made sure it was exactly what I wanted. I didn’ t have any changes at the end of it. The only real changes I wanted were bone bridge pins and nut and saddle. I like my L. R. Baggs pickups. The HiFi duet doesn’ t fit with the bracing pattern on the gold label with V-Class bracing. I love the Anthem SL.
Trey Hensley’ s new solo album releases in March and features guests including Molly Tuttle, Vince Gill, Steve Wariner, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jaelee Roberts, and John Cowan. He’ ll be on the road with Tommy Emmanuel this year, along with his own headlining dates. For the upcoming tours, he’ ll be playing his new Taylor signature model, a standard D-41, his Huss and Dalton, and some Pre- War Co. guitars. On electric, he’ s bringing his Fender Mike Campbell Telecaster and a PRS Silver Sky, with a pedalboard that includes EHX and Keeley pedals running through Fender, PRS, and Valhalla amplifiers. You can find tour dates and more at his website and social media.
56 | SPRING 2026