“If I could start all over again, I’d go back and just play pedal steel,” guitarist Mike Baggetta tells us. “I love [its] vocal quality… [and] I think the whammy bar gives you that on the guitar.” Nowhere is that sentiment more apparent than when Baggetta stopped by The Fretboard Journal and performed this gorgeous, whammy-filled take of “Wall of Flowers,” the title track of his 2019 album.

The setup here is as simple as it gets: Baggetta with his 2015 Koll Superior electric (updated with a kill switch and Fralin Hum-Cancelling, Alnico-poled P90s), played straight into a Carr Sportsman. No effects, just a lot of tender guitar lyricism, loopy whammy bar flourishes and beauty.

Check out our podcast with Mike here, where we dig even deeper into his career, gear choices and the making of the album. It’s one of our favorite podcast conversations of the year.