"Guitar Town" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Steve Earle. It was released in June 1986 as the second single and title track from the album Guitar Town. The song reached number 7 on both the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart. It was Earle's highest-peaking song to date on the country charts in both the U.S. and Canada. The album version mentions a "Jap guitar", which the radio edit changes to "cheap guitar".
The song is sung from the perspective of a touring musician traveling away from NashvilleâÂÂ"Guitar Town"âÂÂinto Texas as he describes his experiences.
In the preproduction stages for the Guitar Town album, Earle and session guitarist Richard Bennett resolved that the song should omit a guitar solo, feeling it wasâÂÂin light of the song's titleâÂÂtoo predictable. Early takes of the song featured a small keyboard solo. Upon hearing them, producer Emory Gordy Jr. insisted on including a guitar solo. An argument ensued between Bennett and Gordy before Bennett retrieved a Danelectro Longhorn six string bass and played "the first thing that fell out of my brain". Bennett's solo was subsequently incorporated into the song.
Kip Kirby, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that Earle "revives the tremolo-laden guitar sound of the early '60s for this song about music and love on the road."
In 2024, Rolling Stone ranked the song at #146 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking.
The music video was directed by Gerry Wenner and premiered in mid-1986.