Wearing his signature white cowboy hat, Brad Paisley performed ‘Camouflage’ at the 2012 ACM Awards tonight (April 1). He did so after he was introduced by his buddy and tourmate Scotty McCreery, who offered up a half performance of ‘Water Tower Town’ moments before. Life imitated art as Paisley wore a black and grey camo pattern button-down for his performance.

While it is indisputable that Paisley is a bonafide country superstar, what’s most striking about him is how brilliantly he handles his guitar. He admits to his love affair with his instrument in his book ‘Diary of a Player,’ and when he knuckles down on it in the live setting, he truly comes alive. He is not just a great country player; he’s one of the best guitarists of the modern era. Tonight’s performance demonstrated just that.

He ended the song by singing “All you Las Vegas gamblin’ rednecks / You sure look good in camouflage.”

Then the 14-time ACM Award winner dropped to his knees to wail a little further on his guitar. It was effective, rock n’ roll dramatic and all-around awesome.

More From 101.5 KNUE