Even though last night’s sold-out Les Paul Tribute concert was held at Nashville’s hallowed Ryman Auditorium, it invoked a far more intimate setting, one which the late Les Paul was very familiar with — New York’s Iridium Jazz Club, where Paul played every week right up until his death this past August.

The passing of the incomparable Les Paul in August 2009 broke the hearts of guitar enthusiasts around the world. What can never be broken, though, is the legacy of innovation and creativity that he built during 94 years of constant musicianship. Though the original guitar he designed in 1952 has informed every Gibson guitar since, our engineers were inspired anew to handcraft a guitar just the way Les demanded it nearly 60 years ago.

Considering that it’s the foundation instrument upon which rock and roll was built, it’s hardly surprising that guitars have often been the lyrical focus of great songwriting. Ever since Chuck Berry sang of carrying his guitar in a gunny sack, rockers have been paying homage to the instrument.

Most people know Les Paul as the six-string innovator whose designs fueled the classic Gibson instrument that bears his name. But the half-century that’s elapsed since the heyday of his recording career has washed his accomplishments as a studio genius — multitracking, tape speed manipulation, phasing, otherworldly reverb effects, and more — largely into the past.

One of B.B. King’s earliest blues idols and influences was his cousin Booker, better know as the Memphis blues singer/guitarist Bukka White. Booker, who was born on November 12, 1909 and began recording in 1930, showed young Riley, as King was known before he became the “Beale Street Blues Boy,” that there were possibilities beyond the Delta. And that notion burned in King like a five-alarm fire.

From Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown to U2’s No Line On The Horizon, 2009 has definitely been a year of monster releases. However there have also been a ton of innovative artists on independent labels who have churned out albums without million-dollar marketing campaigns behind them. Here we highlight our nine favorite independent albums of 2009, which may not necessarily have much in common musically but are all worth a listen.

You have a rare wealth of creative potential lurking deep within, but until now no guitar has had the power to fully tap into it. Enter the Dusk Tiger ...

Gibson Introduces the all new Angus Young SG Standard from Gibson Custom and the Angus Young SG from Gibson USA.

There’s no doubt that the influence of the late Roy Orbison can be heard in musicians wide and far, in country and rock genres, in young and old. However, Orbison’s signature style — his unearthly tenor and stoic stage presence — can’t be easily reproduced. Orbison biographer Peter Lehman has remarked, “Most of the singers who profess to have been influenced by Orbison sound nothing like him, write songs nothing like his, look and/or dress nothing like him, and perform nothing like he did.” That may be true, but that didn’t stop them from trying. Here are a select few who’ve very obviously been inspired by Orbison; tack on a few million more musicians and you’ll get a better idea of Orbison’s global impact.

Is Aerosmith breaking up? Maybe! But that doesn’t mean we’ll be forgetting about the bare-chested Boston stadium rockers anytime soon. Here are five albums that we recommend keeping on heavy rotation until this national nightmare is over. (And while we’re at it: Steve, call Joe already!)