Anthony Russo wanted Petteway to visit his house and play his collection of luthier-built guitars, so that he could hear what they sound like from a listener’s perspective, and, more important, document them on a recording.
In 2015, singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier was sipping coffee inside the Carey Center for Global Good in upstate New York, watching one of the participants arrive for a weekend retreat led by an organization called SongwritingWith:Soldiers.
Classical guitarist and composer Brad Richter wasn’t expecting what he found when he stopped by the high school in Page, a small city in Northern Arizona’s Navajo country. On tour, Richter had been asked to lead a master class for guitarists in Page High School’s music program, and he had…
When you see the words “jazz guitar,” what pops into your mind’s ear first? Odds are that you hear the clean, smooth, rich sound of an electric archtop, possibly with its tone knob rolled down for extra low-mid emphasis, picking out chord melodies à la Joe Pass or octave lines in the manner of Wes Montgomery. Without a doubt, this is the stereotypical jazz guitar sound, but over more than 100 years of history, there have been many others. And a significant percentage of them were (and are) produced without the aid of a pickup, cable, or amplifier.
At 48, Sweeney is an in-demand collaborator and producer, with a long list of credits—for everyone from the Dixie Chicks to Johnny Cash to Neil Diamond—under his belt. Most recently he’s played guitar on records by the bands Chavez, Endless Boogie, and Soldiers of Fortune; toured with Iggy Pop and Josh Homme; and co-written songs for the John Legend album Darkness and Light. In between these gigs, Sweeney hosts his own instructional web series, Guitar Moves, on Noisey/Vice, in which guest guitarists break down their techniques.
If there’s one breed of customer that rankles guitar-store owners, it’s not the unreasonable haggler or the teenager who overworks a Nirvana riff for an afternoon. More than anything, it’s the shopper who comes to examine an item but fully intends to purchase it online elsewhere. “Showcasing,” as it’s known, is not new, but it’s increasingly in the open, and indicative of a fickle retail environment where buyers chase deals via the internet.
Take your guitar to a camp, clinic, or workshop to hone your technique, study with your guitar heroes, learn new songs, see old friends and make new ones.
Alberto Lombardi is in love. After 25 years as a producer, arranger, and electric session player, the Italian guitarist has given his heart to acoustic guitar. He credits Tommy Emmanuel for his conversion, and Emmanuel’s stylistic influence can be heard on Lombardi’s first acoustic album, Birds (Fingerpicking). The 2016 album…
The name is an acronym from the names of the members: pianist/vocalist Fiona Joy, guitarist Lawrence Blatt, flugelhorn master Jeff Oster, and Ackerman.
Nearly 60 years ago, Bob Mabe and his brothers—Jim, Lyle, and Bill—gathered up a guitar, a Dobro, a washtub bass, and the jawbone of a mule and headed for nearby Branson, then a small town in the lush lake country of the southern Missouri Ozarks. Their first gig was playing…
Last year was a big one for Joe Ely. He was named the 2016 official Texas State Musician, and he was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters’ Association Hall of Fame.
After a recent performance in the AG studio, Chris Robinson Brotherhood guitarists Chris Robinson and Neal Casal shared quick histories of the instruments they used on the band’s latest release, Barefoot in the Head.
It’s a safe bet that Not Dark Yet—the gorgeous collaboration between sisters Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer—will be the only album out this year that contains covers of both Nirvana’s “Lithium” and the Louvin Brothers’ “Every Time You Leave.” Lynne would have it no other way. “We love all different…
The superb British DADGAD guitarist Sarah McQuaid (profiled in the October 2015 issue of AG) was presented with a lifetime achievement award at this year’s popular Ards International Guitar Festival in Northern Ireland (near Belfast), now in its twentieth year. McQuaid is the first female guitarist to win the award,…
Acoustic guitars are flying off the shelves at Iowa-based West Music, one of the country’s largest and oldest distributors of instruments for schools and school districts. Not just any acoustic guitars, but Spanish classical guitars and guitars with exotic names and unique sounds—like the oversized, bulbous bass guitarrón and the…
Music has put McClurg and its rollicking Monday-night jams on the map. Not just any music—Ozarks roots music, a style mostly obscure to all but those who live here, or those curious enough to seek it out.
