Fender in Focus: The Pretenders and Bonnie Raitt

From late-night and daytime sets to in-studio visits and digital exclusives, Fender in Focus gathers the best of the week's performances from Fender players.

This week: The Pretenders, Bonnie Raitt, Chicago's Whitney and rootsy rockers River Whyless.

Stopping by WXPN in Philadelphia late last year in support of their latest labum, Alone, the Pretenders offered a brief set of new tracks for the folks at World Café. But they also reached into their archive for a bonus track off their self-titled debut album in the form of "Tattooed Love Boys," video of which was recently posted online. Check out Pretenders leader Chrissie Hynde singing strong as ever while playing a blue Telecaster.

Austin City Limits rang in 2017 right with an all-star New Year’s Eve celebration that brought together several A-list performers together, including the great Bonnie Raitt and Gary Clark Jr. The duo teamed up for a B.B. King tribute, with Raitt playing some sweet slide guitar on her trusty unfinished Stratocaster on the King classic “The Thrill is Gone.”

Chicago 's Whitney made their late-night debut with an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The indie rockers played the track "Golden Days," which comes off their acclaimed 2016 album, Light Upon the Lake. During the performance, guitarist Max Kakacek unleashed a few chilled-out riff on his American Professional Telecaster (outfitted with a B-bender) while singer Julien Ehrlich showcased his teary falsetto while drumming.

Hailing from the mountains of North Carolina, folk-rock quartet River Whyless brought their barnstorming sound to Kansas City’s 90.9 the Bridge. One of the songs they chose was “All Day All Night” from sophomore effort We All the Night. During the performance, guitarist Ryan O’Keefe played his Telecaster Thinline and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Shearin held down the low-end with his Precision Bass.