The Gibson legends only piled up from there, from Elvis to U2's The Edge, from Neil Young to Slash of Guns 'n' Roses. The country titan introduced the 'Carter scratch' picking style in the 1930s, showcasing her Gibson L-5 archtop. It is all a faint echo from when Mother Maybelle Carter became the nation's first guitar hero. It's still a rite of passage for many young people to play electric guitar.' From Mother Maybelle to Slash 'Playing electric guitar is not half as cool as it was 10 years ago and electronic instruments, to be fair, provide a lot more creative opportunities than a guitar,' says University of Alabama at Birmingham historian AndrГ© Millard, editor of 'The Electric Guitar.' On the other hand, Gibson's current woes don't 'necessarily reflect back on the guitar playing fraternity that much. Chuck Berry was laid to rest last year, his beloved cherry-red Gibson bolted to the coffin.Дave Grohl, a member of Nirvana and frontman for The Foo Fighters, noted recently that the face of punk rock today is hip-hop artist Lil Pump, whose music features R-rated, misogynistic rhymes, but not guitar chords.Дenied asylum in Israel, Eritreans are welcomed by Canadian Jews The past two years have seen some of the biggest rock musicians вЂ“ Prince, Tom Petty вЂ“ pass away. Sales have fallen by nearly a third since 2006, with rock fading in favor of electronic dance music, hip-hop, and computerized chords. The current nadir cannot be denied: Americans just aren't as in love with the electric guitar as they once were. Just a year later, however, Neil Young prophesied in 'Natural Beauty': 'I have heard a perfect echo die into an anonymous wall of digital sound.' Undeniably rock and roll has come back from the brink of death many times, including when Nirvana took out 'hair metal' (considered by many as a mercy killing) with the release of 'Nevermind' in 1991. 'Whatever the catalyst, to be that big and not figure it out, OK, it's a bummer.' 'Just to see a giant company like file for bankruptcy, it makes you think about how many guys have worked there, how many lives it has changed, how much music has been made,' says Montana, who commissioned a commemorative Gibson guitar for the late 'American Sniper' Chris Kyle, which sold at a charity auction for $117,000. When that iconic company filed for bankruptcy last week, it put a punctuation mark on just how much electronic dance music and hip-hop have transformed America's music scene. Not only has the actual guitar hero gone missing вЂ“ the creator of 'Guitar Hero' went out of business.ДЇor more than 50 years, rock was synonymous with the electric guitar, and the electric guitar was synonymous with Gibson. But for Montana and countless other musicians, the Gibson bankruptcy is a reckoning of sorts: The electric guitar has lost its shine. And Gibson's fall is in part a global economics story about branding, innovation, conglomeration, and lifestyle.

Popular music is more diverse and eclectic than ever, driven as much by synth musings and syncopation as power chords and soaring solos. The company is leaving flagging revenues and $100 million of debt as it seeks bankruptcy protection in order to keep the doors open. Montana, whose anthem 'This Beard Came Here to Party' was adopted by the Boston Red Sox in the 2013 pennant run, was rocked like much of the music world last week when global luthier Gibson Brands, maker of the iconic Les Paul ax, filed for bankruptcy. It led to the moment when ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons handed him a Gibson Les Paul guitar right off the Nashville, Tenn., factory line in 2013. Growing up off-the-grid in the rural West, Tim Montana still remembers that moment, at 6, when he received a nylon-string guitar as a gift. вЂњWhatever the catalyst, to be that big and not figure it out, OK, itвЂ™s a bummer.вЂќ вЂњIt makes you think about how many guys have worked there, how many lives it has changed, how much music has been made,вЂќ says Mr. For Tim Montana and other musicians, the Gibson bankruptcy is a reckoning of sorts.

вЂњGibsonвЂ™s guitars are found at ground zero for almost every modern genre of American music,вЂќ says John Troutman, curator of American music at the Smithsonian Institution. Sales of electric guitars have fallen by nearly a third since 2006, with rock fading in favor of electronic dance music, hip-hop, and computerized chords. Last week, Gibson Brands, maker of the iconic Les Paul ax, filed for bankruptcy. Just a year later, Neil Young prophesied in вЂњNatural BeautyвЂќ: вЂњI heard a perfect echo die into an anonymous wall of digital sound.вЂќ The current nadir cannot be denied: Americans just arenвЂ™t as in love with the electric guitar as they once were.

Rock has come back from the brink of death many times, including when Nirvana took out вЂњhair metalвЂќ (considered by many a mercy killing) with the release of вЂњNevermindвЂќ in 1991.

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