I assume the Canadians among us have heard of the new guitar documentary that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. "It Might Get Loud" delves into the music, influences and equipment of Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White, with live interviews and jams. A couple of links:
http://www.tiff08.ca/filmsandschedul...itmightgetloud
http://itmightgetloud.com/
The film talks with seminal rock players from three eras: Page from 60s & 70s, The Edge from the 80s & 90s, and Jack White from The New Millennium. All good picks who have the benefit of still being alive.
Challenge: Who would you pick, if being alive wasn't a criterion and you could choose three players from whatever stylistic bent you wanted?
I might go with Chet Atkins, Eddie Van Halen and Curt Cobain, big stars who reinvented the instrument in their own ways and were hugely influential. Although as someone who admittedly barely knew how to play, Cobain would be way out of his league...and I despised the influence he had on the state of guitar playing in the 90s.
Old Fart Alert: I have no idea who I'd pick from the modern era - Dave Matthews, maybe, an iconoclast for sure, but I'm not sure he's been truly influential. For that matter, is Jack White all that influential?
Please talk amongst yourselves.