“One of my biggest musical influences is the king of blues power. He also played in an unorthodox tuning, which is still a mystery”: Jared James Nichols on how Albert King's electric fingerpicking changed the game for blues guitar

Jared James Nichols wrestles his Les Paul onstage and wears dark sunglasses. On the right, his hero, Albert King, works his fingerstyle magic on a V-style electric and looks sharp in a gray suit.

One of my biggest musical influences is the king of blues power, Albert King. There are so many things that define his unique approach to playing, and I think about these things every time I pick up my guitar.

The first thing is that, like me, Albert didn’t use a pick. He fingerpicked his strings aggressively, mostly with his thumb and index finger, snapping them against the fretboard and creating a distinctive and deeply expressive sound. Albert also played the guitar “upside down.”