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Grammy-winning bluegrass flatpicking virtuoso Trey Hensley plays “Tucson,” which zoomed to the top of the Bluegrass Today charts, in an intimate solo setting—exclusively for Guitar Center. “Tucson” was the debut single from Hensley’s much-anticipated 2026 album, Can’t Outrun the Blues.
“I was playing guitar in my hotel room after a gig in Canada,” says Hensley, “and that whole song just kind of came out. It was a week before we started recording Can’t Outrun the Blues, and it’s one of my favorite moments on the record.”
Known for his stylistic merging of bluegrass, country and Americana, Hensley shows it all and more in this solo performance of “Tucson,” blending soulful vocals and jaw-droppingly fast single-note melodic runs. Just try to stop falling to the floor in absolute wonder and awe when the guitar solo takes off around 3:49.
“Charlie Waller was the first person I ever got to see in real life actually take a guitar solo,” remembers Hensley about a bluegrass festival he attended in his youth. “Growing up in the ’90s, I had seen a lot of strummers on CMT [Country Music Television], but watching Charlie was a lightning bolt moment.”
Of course, Hensley had heard guitar solos before he experienced someone playing one in a live performance. He listened to a lot of records—including those by Flatt and Scruggs—and his family would watch television broadcasts of the Grand Ole Opry, The Porter Wagoner Show and “anything country.”
“Everything seemed to tell me, ‘Just follow your heart,’” relates Hensley. “Because playing music is one of those things you want to come from a very organic and special place. You always want that to be present. Everything else can be left behind. And I've remembered that almost daily since the age of ten, and every time I pick up the guitar.”