Juli Thanki

USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

Guitar virtuoso Pete Huttlinger, who country star Vince Gill once described as “wickedly gifted,” died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center Friday after suffering a stroke on Monday. He was 54.

Mr. Huttlinger was born June 22, 1961, in Washington, D.C. As a boy, he learned how to play banjo, then fell in love with the guitar. He grew into a remarkable musician who composed dazzling original material and delivered delightful, intricate interpretations of songs like Stevie Wonder’s funky classic “Superstition.”

He was a 1984 graduate of the prestigious Berklee College of Music, and in 2000 won the National Fingerpick Guitar Championship.

Mr. Huttlinger toured and recorded with John Denver for several years in the 1990s. He also backed LeAnn Rimes and John Oates, and he appeared on recordings by Denver, Oates, Faith Hill, Jimmy Buffett and the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, among others. As a solo artist, he released more than 15 albums and performed everywhere from coffee shops to Carnegie Hall to the Crossroads Guitar Festival, which was founded by Eric Clapton, no slouch himself when it came to playing guitar.

In November 2010, Mr. Huttlinger had a massive stroke that left him unable to speak and paralyzed his right side. Doctors thought this could have been a crushing blow to the guitarist, who spent hours each day pouring his soul through his hands and onto the instrument, but Mr. Huttlinger was tougher than most. He went through physical therapy and had to relearn how to play the guitar, but throughout it all, he remained optimistic and regained his mobility.

Just a few months after recovering from that stroke, Mr. Huttlinger, who was born with a congenital heart defect, went into end-stage heart failure. He was airlifted from Nashville to Houston, where cardiac specialists surgically implanted a device to help his heart pump blood, and he began the lengthy rehabilitation process once more. Upon returning to Nashville after four months in Houston, he started training to walk the Music City Half Marathon.

"Goals have always driven me," he told The Tennessean in 2012. He completed the race while carrying a bag that held the controller and battery pack for his heart pump.

In 2013, Mr. Huttlinger released “one of his finest works: McGuire’s Landing,” a lovely album accompanied by a 52-page story that he wrote, proving that his creativity expanded beyond the six strings of his instrument. His last album, a collaboration with Mollie Weaver called "Parnassus," came out in 2015.

Mr. Huttlinger's final musical performance was in Atlanta on Jan. 9, just two days before he was hospitalized.

Throughout his life, Mr. Huttlinger had a passion for helping others. His instructional DVDs and guitar workshops taught countless musicians, and, after recovering from his first stroke and heart failure, he began another career as a public speaker, presenting a speech called "Don't Just Live; Live Well" to groups around the country.

Mr. Huttlinger is survived by his beloved wife, Erin Morris Huttlinger (the couple recently co-authored a book, “Joined at the Heart: A Story of Love, Guitars, Resilience and Marigolds"); stepchildren Sean Della Croce and James Della Croce; a brother, Frank Huttlinger, in California; and a sister, Theresa Vigour, in Mississippi.

A memorial service will be announced at a later date, and a memorial fund will be set up in Mr. Huttlinger's honor.