My guest this week is the winner of the 2026 IBMA song of the year, 2023 and 2025 IBMA guitarist of the year, and Grammy winning guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, Trey Hensley.
GRAMMY® Award-winning musician and singer/songwriter Trey Hensley—referred to as “Nashville’s hottest young player”
by Acoustic Guitar magazine—was voted the 2023 and 2025 IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Guitar Player of the
Year. A multiple GRAMMY® nominee, Hensley received his first GRAMMY® Award at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards in L.A. on Feb. 2, 2025 as a member of The Taj Mahal Sextet, whose album Swingin’ Live At The Church In Tulsa won in the Best Traditional Blues Album category.
Widely noted for his world class musicianship and guitar prowess, Hensley was invited to perform alongside some of the world’s greatest guitarists at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival 2023 in Los Angeles. That same year, Hensley was a featured player in a piece published by Guitar World magazine titled “6 Blazing Bluegrass Guitarists You Need To Hear.”
Hensley’s other-worldly guitar playing has attracted more than a third of a million followers on social media with rapid growth each day. Hensley has received praise from a truly eclectic group of guitar legends spanning multiple worlds of music who have become vocal fans of his, including legendary Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore (who recently referred to Trey as “my favorite guitar player”); Tommy Emmanuel, CGP (who has called Trey “one of my favorite guitarists”); Steve Vai; Neal Schon; Vince Gill; Steve Wariner, CGP; Joe Bonamassa; John Petrucci; John 5; Tom Petty & The
Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell, and many others. Stone Temple Pilots’ Dean DeLeo and Robert DeLeo invited Trey to perform live with the band at a sold-out 12,000+ amphitheater show in Atlanta in late 2024 and insisted Trey play lead electric guitar on their hit, “Plush,” following a grand intro of Trey to their fans in what must surely have been the only bluegrass jam ever to make an appearance in the middle of an STP set!
His new album “Can’t Out Run the Blue” is stellar and available everywhere now!
Trey’s links:
Songs featured in this episode:
- All songs from this episode are featured on Trey’s new album “Can’t Outrun the Blues” available here. *
- *Except for “Old Train” by Tony Rice Unit
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