Rig Rundown: Blackberry Smoke

Charlie Starr covers vocals and his share of guitar abuse both live and in the studio. Starr splits up riff duties between a modest collection of guitars. His main axe is a battle-scarred 1956 Les Paul Jr. with the original P-90 pickup.

Premier Guitar hung with Charlie Starr and Paul Jackson of Blackberry Smoke just a few hours before they blew the roof off of Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. The boys shared their recipe for Southern rock tone that’s as thick as grits and gravy. Special thanks to the band’s tech, David “Doc” Oswalt, for details.