Harold "Shot" Jackson, born on 4 September 1920 in Wilmington, North Carolina, was a prolific Nashville session guitarist and steel guitar innovator whose work shaped country music's "Nashville sound" through the 1960s and 1970s. He is also remembered for a chance encounter with Willie Nelson in 1969, when he offered Nelson a Martin N-20 nylon-stringed classical guitar after Nelson's damaged Baldwin proved unrepairable — the instrument that became "Trigger", Nelson's beloved guitar that still accompanies him on tour nearly 60 years later.

Jackson's career spanned four decades, taking in stints with the Grand Ole Opry, the Louisiana Hayride, and collaborations with artists including Roy Acuff, Kitty Wells, Melba Montgomery and Roy Clark. In 1955 he co-founded the Sho-Bud steel guitar company with Buddy Emmons, later joined by his sons Harry and David, and the firm became the leading maker of pedal steel guitars in the industry, with its Nashville workshop a popular gathering spot for Opry stars. Jackson died on 24 January 1991, aged 70, following his second stroke in a decade.