Guitarist Roger Hoard says he really got the urge to do a solo album after sharing the stage with a legend.

The event was Jamboree USA in Wheeling in the mid-'90s, and the legend was the late Chet Atkins ("Mister Guitar"). A mutual friend suggested Roger play a song with Chet, and the result was a rousing rendition of the standard "Up a Lazy River."

"I think I played about four choruses in a row," Roger recalls. "He was kind of checking me out before he played a chorus."

The experience was one for him to remember, to say the least.

"You're standing there playing, and two feet away is Chet, playing with you!"

The St. Clairsville guitarist credits Chet as one of the main influences for the arrangements of the songs on the solo album he finally cut.

"All in Good Time," which Roger finished in 2005, shows what a virtuoso can do with a quality instrument. He makes his way through more than an hour of songs that really lend themselves to solo guitar, regardless of whether the listener has thought of them in that way in the past.

For example, he opens the disc with "Happy Together," the tune by Garry Bonner and Allan Lee Gordon that was a major hit for the '60s band the Turtles. Rogers says his wife, Wendy, suggested that one, and the result is impressive: His fingerstyle playing produces bass lines, chords and melodies, making it sound as if another guitarist or two might be present.

The fretboard mastery continues through a variety of songs in a variety of styles: the old-timey blues of "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You"; the quiet introspection of "The Way You Look Tonight"; the peaceful contentment of "What a Wonderful World"; the celebratory swing of "Hallelujah, I Love Her So"; and to wrap up proceedings, the reverence of "Amazing Grace."

Fans of Big Band jazz will enjoy a spirited, succinct version of Glenn Miller's "In the Mood," which captures the feeling of the multi-instrument original with just his single guitar.

A couple of tracks, "Swing Low" and "Softly and Tenderly," feature prominent instrumental backing for Roger's guitar, the work of collaborator Jamie Peck, who recorded the album at his Long Vue Digital Studios in Wheeling. The sound of this album is up to Jamie's usual high standard, such as what he's displayed working with Peters Township singer-songwriter-guitarist Tom Breiding on his recordings over the years. (Roger also has played with Tom, who's a Wheeling native.)

Roger and Jamie worked on a recording method that would bring out the clean, natural sound of the guitar, as opposed to what occurs on many solo albums: "They tend to bury the guitar in echo."

On "All in Good Time," Roger primarily plays L. Benito guitars; he has an endorsement deal with the New Orleans-based company, which markets instruments made by luthier Lito Benito. Roger's models feature a wood called Alerce, which is native to Chile and has the strength-to-weight ratio of spruce while producing the warm tone of red cedar.

The songs on the album represent a lot of the material he plays at his regular gig, on Tuesday nights at Enzio's in Elm Grove, near Wheeling.

Read Roger Hoard's biography, and you'll learn about his long career in music, dating back to when he was just a youngster in the Akron, Ohio, area. He has played in bands around the Pittsburgh area; worked with Jim Stafford on "The Tonight Show" in Los Angeles; played with the Jamboree USA staff band and with well-known Pittsburgh performer B.E. Taylor; and has performed with Steve Wariner, Brad Paisley and the late Lenny Breau.

But his musical highlight just might have been that song with Chet Atkins.

"Everything you've heard about him is true," Roger says. "He was a wonderful, nice human being."

When I came up with the idea about a year ago for an online music feature, my first thought was: Tom Breiding.

I've known Tom, a songwriter/singer/guitarist who lives in Peters Township, for the better part of a decade now, and I always enjoy hearing him play. And I'm particularly impressed by his ability to work up a good tune that clicks with focused lyrics and some catchy hooks. He has plenty of those in his catalog.

Last year, I caught up with him just as he was finishing a project called "Guitar and Pen, Vol. 2," a collection of songs he'd written but hadn't recorded to date. The disc represented his first efforts at recording in his own studio, and the effort shows he's mastered yet another step in the music-making process.

For 2006, he's taken his studio expertise to the next level with "Time to Roll," the new album by Tom Breiding & American Son.

"This is the first band record I've done," he says, "and the first opportunity I have to support the record with live shows that are indicative of what's on the record.

His bandmates in American Son are guys he played with in his native Wheeling during his formative years in the '80s: guitarist Jeff Stevens, bass player Pit Mozena and drummer Chris Moore. They've been working since last spring on the new songs, most of which were written specifically for "Time to Roll."

The one exception "Ain't No Quittin' Side of Me," which was on hold while it was under consideration for use in "Fields of Freedom," a film about the Battle of Gettysburg. Tom tells us what happened with that deal in another song, "The Music Plays On":

"Thirty-six dollars to Hollywood, overnight/Producer says, 'Yeah, man, this song's just right!'/Two months later, I'm sleepin' on the floor/He calls to say they found a giant to write the whole score."

The song's lyrics also are one of two sources for the album's title. The phrase also appears in "Manifold Road," a car-based metaphor that's named for the street intersecting with Route 19 near Washington.

Another of the album's highlights is "What I Wouldn't Do," which opens with an intriguing echo effect on Tom's vocals, with a guitar played through a Leslie-speaker filter as the focal point of instrumentation. The song serves as further proof that Tom's expertise extends to production work along with his other skills.

As he's done with previous releases, Tom worked with Wheeling studio whiz Jamie Peck, who worked on the mastering and played synthesizer on "Ain't No Quittin' Side of Me." Also making an appearance is Bill Toms on "My Martha," which develops into a substantial guitar workout.

"Martha" is reminiscent of the work Tom has done with Bill's band, Hard Rain. That group's latest album, "The West End Kid," has fared well since its release last fall, hitting No. 100 on the Americana Chart.

The release show for "Time to Roll" is scheduled for April 29 at Cefalo's in Carnegie. Opening will be Bill Toms & Hard Rain, along with Kick Start (Jeff, Pit and Chris with their buddy John Kirchner).

A CD release party is set for May 12 at Moondog's in Blawnox, also featuring a performance by Norman Nardini.

Other Tom Breiding & American Son shows are with Joe D'Urso & Stone Caravan, on June 9 in Morgantown, W.Va., and June 10 at the Rhythm House in Bridgeville.

And Tom continues to play his Saturday afternoon acoustic shows with Bill Toms at Leaf & Bean in the Strip District. It's time to roll over there to hear some fantastic music.

SOUND FILES: Check out clips from some of Tom's songs.

No Bad Ju Ju may be an eight-piece band, but many observers focus their attention on one member in particular: singer Sabrina de Matteo.

And her voice is featured prominently on "No Bad Ju Ju," the band's new recording, as she sings lead on nine of the 10 tracks.

"I put the focus on her," says the band's guitarist/vocalist/co-founder/leader Mark Matteo. "She's got the look; she's got the sound."

Fans of the Pittsburgh-area band would agree, as the petite but dynamic singer can belt out a tune to match the power of the musicians who back her.

No Bad Ju Ju will celebrate the release of its first full-length studio CD with a release party on Thursday, March 9, at the Hard Rock Cafe at Station Square. Opening will be the Poogie Bell Band.

The disc arrives some four years into the career of the band, which Mark and Sabrina formed in late 2001, along with two other originals who still are aboard, keyboardist Fred Delu and sax player Curtis Johnson. Other current members are another saxophonist, Rick Matt; Tom Bellin, who's been playing bass since the band's early days; Steve McKnight, trumpet; and James Johnson, drums.

James actually will make his NBJJ debut at the release party. He replaces drummer Tom Compton, who is returning to his native England after playing his final show with the band last weekend at the Rhythm House in Bridgeville.

"We'll miss Tom," Mark says. "He's a very accomplished player."

His resume, in fact, includes stints with noted blues-rockers Johnny Winter, Alvin Lee and Savoy Brown. Fred also has had experience along those lines, touring with the late Roy Buchanan, a well-known name among guitar aficionados.

Mark, a veteran of such Pittsburgh bands as Gigolo and Modern Man, helped form No Bad Ju Ju as the house band at the Chapel of Blues on Pittsburgh's West End, focusing on the type of material you'd expect to hear at such a venue. Over the years, the group's repertoire has evolved beond that template.

"We're really coming into our niche," Mark says. "The stuff Sabrina and I are writing is more like R&B. We're trying to update the Tower of Power sound," he notes, referencing the funky San Francisco horn-based band.

The songwriting duo composed nine of the songs on the new CD. The other is "Son of a Preacher Man," a big hit for the late Dusty Springfield.

As for the originals, they offer plenty of variety.

"There are nice ballads on there, one just straight-ahead rocker, and three very strong dance and R&B tunes," Mark says. "And there's one kind of from the mold of Joss Stone and Susan Tedeschi."

The band cut the album with Crack the Sky alumnus Rick Witkowski at his Studio L in Weirton. The new recording follows a five-song EP - the tunes have been reworked for the current offering - and a live CD.

Meanwhile, No Bad Ju Ju continues to perform regularly for enthusiastic audiences.

"They jump out onto the dance floor the minute we start playing," Mark says. "And our original stuff goes over as well as our covers. People are singing along with our originals, which is a good sign."

And that means they can sing along with Sabrina on the new CD.

PHOTOS: I happened to shoot these at a No Bad Ju Ju performance in August 2003 outside of PNC Park. (I think one of my buddies took the one of the fan in the T-shirt.)