The Real Deal

FOR 15 YEARS, Jason “Slim” Gambill has enjoyed the kind of career most guitarists only dream about, as a steady sideman with pop-country superstars Lady Antebellum. The Nebraska native, who sports two-foot-long braids, admits that he never envisioned playing with a mainstream country band. “I never even listened to country music before I started playing it,” he explains. But Gambill says his success with the multi-Platinum group stems from a mixture of artistic versatility and a positive attitude.

“You have to be a people-pleaser to be a good sideman,” he says. “You’re there to play the gig and bring your chops to the band’s music, so you have to be a well-rounded player and be able to shift from one style to the next. But you also have to be a good guy to hang with. Even if you’re not in the band, you’re