3. Elliott SmithXO

These next three records were really big for me when I was a teenager. I’m from the Pacific Northwest, so I was exposed to Elliott Smith at a pretty young age. He was a musical hero for most people in my high school. We felt like as Oregonians we could claim him because he lived in Portland and his music had this kind of rainy Pacific Northwestern feel to it. When I started playing guitar, it was important for me to learn how to do finger-picking style because of those Elliott Smith records. XO was always a favourite of mine.