PLAYING by the RULES

Known his work as a guitarist, writer and producer with artists like Kacey Musgraves and Brett Eldredge, Daniel Tashian follows three guidelines on his newest solo set. The result is an album's worth of gems.

- JOE BOSSO

TELL A MUSICIAN to follow the rules, and you'll invariably get a host of arguments that all boil down to the same dictum: Screw the rules. Yet Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and guitarist Daniel Tashian, who for the past five years has served as Kacey Musgraves' main collaborator and has had success writing songs for artists such as Josh Turner, Tenille Townes and Lee Ann Womack, is a firm believer in musical guardrails. "I don't know if I ever got anywhere with 'no rules,"" Tashian tells Guitar Player. "When you think about it, we have lots of rules in society that are very helpful and they exist for good reasons. Making music is very similar. I think when you're writing, you want to be very open-minded about letting melodies come to you, but making records is the second part of the process, and it's very different. I've found that certain rules can really help you get your point across."