Brad Paisley photo courtesy of SonyBMG Nashville.

"We just kind of set out without a map and ended up all over one," he says.

There are nods to surf music ("Turf's Up"), rock ("Departure"), electrified bluegrass ("Kentucky Jelly") and gospel ("What a Friend We Have in Jesus"), and tips of the hat to Les Paul ("Les Is More"), Eric Johnson ("Cliffs of Rock City") and Stevie Ray Vaughan ("Playing with Fire"), among many others. Brad puts together a veritable Guitar School with "Cluster Pluck," a chicken-pickin' extravaganza featuring a Who's Who of modern guitarists who happen to be "seven of my most important influences": James Burton, Albert Lee, Redd Volkaert, John Jorgenson, Vince Gill, Steve Wariner and Brent Mason.

"These are all guys I know very well and was heavily influenced by," he says, "so I wanted to have them on here. This is a glimpse into who I am."

Play also features two songs written specifically for the other two members of the Paisley nuclear family—"Huckleberry Jam," which kicks off the album, for son William Huckleberry Paisley ("I wanted to write a song encompassing his enthusiasm and energy"), and for wife Kimberly Williams-Paisley, "Kim," a lovely acoustic tribute to love.

Throughout, Brad relied on the instincts that have steered him unerringly from his debut single, "Who Needs Pictures," through five Platinum and multi-Platinum albums. In all, he's tallied a dozen No. 1 singles—and in 2008, his record-setting eighth No. 1 in a row marked the longest string of chart-toppers by any country artist in the 18-year history of monitored airplay—a feat he accomplished with songs that are alternately poignant and funny but always dead-on in dealing with the human condition.

Even without lyrics, Paisley's songcraft on Play treats listeners to instrumentals that are entertaining enough to speak for themselves. "'Turf's Up' was a good example of something that when we finished, I thought, 'People are really going to like this.'"

The sense of joy and adventure Brad brought to the proceedings is everywhere in evidence. Interspersed with little musical asides and infused with a sense of fun, Play is Brad's full expression of styles he could only hint at on his previous albums.

"It's like a director that's only done short films up until now," he says, "and finally gets his feature. It's fun to be able to explore each of these avenues fully."

Guitar aficionados will pick up nods to guitar greats and groups of all kinds, with Dick Dale, Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Robben Ford, the Eagles, Deep Purple, the Allman Brothers and Tal Farlow, among many. Those who appear on Play represent not only a great cross-section of styles but also a fantasy team of sorts.

"I've had a dream couple of months," he says. "With B.B. and all these guitar players, and editing and singing with Buck, it was like getting to live at Disneyland for a couple of months, and I loved it."