Following in the footsteps of the legendary Willie Nelson and Chris Stapleton As a musician, your first big guitar purchase sticks with you. Whether it’s a guitar passed down from your father, grandfather, or other relative, or if it’s the first nice guitar you bought with a royalty check, each guitar in an artist’s collection has sentimental value. However, some guitars carry more significance than others. The story of Willie Nelson’s guitar, Trigger, is arguably the most famed guitar in country music. Since 1969, Willie Nelson has played the same Martin guitar, and even saved it from a house fire that took everything from him except the guitar and a pound of weed he had stashed away. Willie Nelson’s lengths to keep Trigger near him highlight the bond between a musician and their guitar. And Chris Stapleton recently joined actor Josh Brolin for a tour of his guitar collection, and Chris has A LOT. But there’s one in particular that holds a special place in his heart… the first one he bought when he moved to Nashville. While it’s hard to find another artist who has played the same guitar for over fifty years, Koe Wetzel recently sat down with The Tennessean to share the story behind his version of Trigger. Wetzel’s beloved guitar is a Gibson Custom Shop J-200 Iguana Burst, purchased in 2018. “I’ve always been kind of a Gibson guy, so whenever this guitar came across, I’d never seen a guitar like it. This one just had that iguana green burst to it, and I really was drawn to it. After I got to playing it was one of the better-sounding guitars that I’d, heard in a while.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Koe Wetzel Music (@koewetzelmusic) With the iguana green burst of color on the guitar, Wetzel decided to name the guitar Iggy, but he prefers to call her “baby.” Now that Koe Wetzel is a father, Iggy sees a much tamer side of the Texas native, but back when Koe was in the heyday of partying, he can admit that he didn’t always treat his prized acoustic very well. “I call her my baby, but I treat her like sh*t, to be honest with you. She’s seen it all. If that guitar could talk, we’d all be in trouble. But, it seems like every time I send it to the shop because of something that’s gone bad with her, she comes back sounding better is it’s one of the best sounding guitars that I have.  For it to be as beat up as it is, it’s kind of crazy for it to sound as good as it does.” Koe recalled to The Tennessean that right after he got the guitar, he took Iggy to play a Mardi Gras Festival in Dallas, Texas, and that was the first time that the guitar saw how rough and rowdy its new owner could get. “I went to go beating on it and the whole thing cracked pretty much. And I thought it was ruined, but I took it to one of my buddies who glued it up and made it sound good again.” Eight years after purchasing the guitar, fans can still see Koe rocking Iggy on stage. Koe even used this beloved guitar as the focal point of his live album cover art. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Koe Wetzel (@koe_wetzel) Iggy’s got a few bumps and bruises, but Iggy still looks pretty good considering the wild nights that Koe has put her through. Koe still has a long way to reach the bond that Willie Nelson and Trigger have, but at this rate, it looks like Iggy could be passed down to his daughter, Woods, one day. Check out Koe Wetzel and his ole gal Iggy in action. The post Koe Wetzel Says He & His Beloved Guitar, Iggy, Have Been Through It All Together: “If That Guitar Could Talk, We’d All Be In Trouble” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.