Try it free

Jake Workman

Recording Artist · Active 2007–present · Also a musician
Traditional Bluegrass Contemporary Bluegrass

Jake Workman is an American bluegrass guitarist from Salt Lake City, best known for his nine years as lead guitarist of Ricky Skaggs’ Kentucky Thunder and as the IBMA’s 2020 Guitar Player of the Year — an award he won on his first nomination. A jazz-trained flatpicker with contest titles on guitar, banjo, and mandolin, he brought an improviser’s vocabulary to one of the most demanding guitar chairs in bluegrass.

Assisted by AI. Spot something off? Help us fix it.
  • Grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah; started guitar at thirteen on classic rock — a banjo the following Christmas pulled him into bluegrass, and festivals and jams across the West did the rest.
  • Earned a degree in jazz guitar performance from the University of Utah, and entered instrument contests widely, taking titles on guitar, banjo, and mandolin.
  • Met his future bandmates at the 2007 National Flatpicking Championship in Winfield, Kansas, leading to the band Driven, where he made his name before Nashville called.
  • Joined Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder in November 2015, taking over the lead guitar chair from Cody Kilby.
  • Won the IBMA Guitar Player of the Year award in 2020 as a first-time nominee — a rarity in that category.
  • Released Landmark (2019), a self-produced, all-instrumental solo album of original tunes cut with a single core band.
  • Left Kentucky Thunder at the end of 2024 after nine years, choosing home life in Utah with his wife Rebekah and their three children over the road.

Share Playlist