Shinedown’s Zach Myers delivers a bunch of great guitar performances on his band’s latest, Amaryllis. Here he lists some guitar moments from other guitarists that made a big impact on his style.

5 Candlebox I remember seeing Peter Klett in Memphis in 1995 getting amazing tones. The fluidity of his playing blew me away. That was the first time I ever saw a silverburst Les Paul. Later, when I became friends with him, he told me that guitar was stolen, which broke my heart.

4 ZZ Top It was 1992, and I was nine. I remember watching Billy finesse the guitar—making it sexy, making it something to watch—and he did it like he was combing his hair, like it was nothing to him. I didn’t know I wanted to be a musician at nine, but I definitely knew I wanted to look as f***ing cool as Reverend Billy.

3 U2 PopMart Tour It was the first time I’d ever been in the front row at a show. Rage Against the Machine opened, and I remember looking for a keyboard player or a DJ, because there was no way all those sounds were coming from four guys. Then, The Edge came out, and I found what a true master of tone and technique is. U2 has been my all-time favorite band ever since.

2 Jimmy Page and Robert Plant I remember thinking in ’98 they weren’t going to do a lot of old Zep stuff since Bonham passed. I had also read interviews where they said they were “leaving a lot of it behind.” But then they opened with “Good Times, Bad Times,” and it blew my mind to hear Page sound like the record.

1 Buddy Guy I met him when I was 14. He didn’t know me from Adam, and he had no idea I could play, but he pulled me onstage to play “Feels Like Rain” and “Mustang Sally.” I was hooked on guitar from then on.