The Fretboard Journal Guitar Podcast

Singer-songwriter Madison Cunningham joins us this week to talk about the making of her exceptional new album, Revealer . We talk about her songwriting process, her favorite pieces of gear (including her forthcoming signature pedal from JHS), her guitar technique, and some of the influences who have shaped her along the way. http://www.madisoncunningham.com Look for a video featuring Madison playi...

Burlington, Vermont's Zach Nugent has made a successful career out of emulating the guitar playing of Jerry Garcia and the music of the Grateful Dead. To accomplish this feat, he amassed an incredible collection of vintage gear ... allowing him to access whatever gear Jerry was playing during a particular era. Zach's attention to detail is only matched by his work ethic: He takes the music of the...

Guitarist and composer Bill Orcutt has always worked on the fringes of music: He's crafted noisy punk as a guitarist in Harry Pussy, served raw blues-inspired acoustic music as a solo artist, and has even composed computer music. With his new album, 'Music for Four Guitars,' he creates something completely different: 14 compositions for a guitar quartet that, as of now, doesn't really exist. Betwe...

Recorded live at the 2022 Fretboard Summit in Chicago: Steve McCreary, GM of Collings Guitars & Mandolins joins Fretboard Journal publisher Jason Verlinde for a candid discussion about the revered guitar and mandolin company.  During our session, we get Steve's thoughts on numerous topics: Collaborating with Julian Lage on the Collings' 470 JL and OM JL models; the work that went into the matching...

For over 20 years, Woody Platt served as a guitarist in the Steep Canyon Rangers. During that time, the band became one of the highest profile acts in bluegrass music and accompanied Steve Martin on innumerable dates.  Earlier this year, Woody announced his retirement from the band. On this week's FJ Podcast, we talk to the musician about how he came to that decision, what projects he's currently...

Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek) joins us this week to talk about his new album, 'Watkins Family Hour, Volume 2.' This project, inspired by the Watkins Family Hour monthly shows at Los Angeles' Largo club, features Sean and Sara Watkins in a studio setting alongside the likes of Lucius, Madison Cunningham, Jon Brion, Jackson Browne, Benmont Tench, Fiona Apple, and others. We talk about the magic of Lar...

With the Fretboard Summit at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music just over a week away (August 25-27, 2022), Jason shares some last-minute updates on this sprawling guitar gathering, as well as a surprise announcement or two (any Dead fans out there?). We hope to see you there!  https://fretboardsummit.org The Summit will have 50 of the greatest handmade guitarmakers showcasing their creations...

Acclaimed luthier Linda Manzer joins us this week to talk about her latest creation, Sunflower Guitar for Ukraine. This instrument, sporting a gorgeous sunflower inlay headstock and a Ukraine flag-themed Hoffee case, will be on tour for several months raising awareness for the war relief efforts in Ukraine and The $1k Project for Ukraine. Eventually, it will work its way to Ukraine so that guitari...

On today's Fretboard Journal Podcast, we introduce you to a young guitarmaker at the very beginning of his career, Asheville, North Carolina-based luthier Judson Riviere. Fresh out of high school, Judson enrolled himself in the Minnesota State College Southeast's Guitar Repair and Building program (aka simply as Red Wing). He then dove deep into guitar repair work for Steve Mason in Kansas and, fo...

On this week's Fretboard Journal Podcast, we check in with Creston Lea of Creston Guitars. We talk about his current guitar production, buying trends, how he utilizes a CNC on his builds, his website documenting every guitar he's built, and so much more. Creston also recounts his memories of attending the first two Fretboard Summits. We'll be throwing a 2022 Fretboard Summit at Chicago's Old Town...

On today's Fretboard Journal Podcast, we talk to Geoff Farina of the band Karate. In the mid-'90s, the Boston-based group earned a cult following with their indie rock-meets-jazz sound. Geoff recounts the band's early days, when he was working part-time for Bill Finnegan assembling Klon Centaurs. He talks about life on the road, the group's breakup, and how they eventually were able to reissue the...

On today's Fretboard Journal Podcast, we talk to Andrew Enns, Senior Acoustic Guitar Builder at Yamaha. In case you didn't know, Yamaha has a workshop in Southern California, where Andrew and a small team are building the next generation of Yamaha's high-end acoustic guitars. This is a fascinating chat on so many levels: Andrew is a largely self-taught guitarmaker and recounts how he started out b...

On this week's Fretboard Journal Podcast, we're talking to Pharis and Jason Romero. 2022 is shaping up to a big year for the Romeros: This week, the duo will release 'Tell 'Em You Were Gold,' their seventh album, and their first project on Smithsonian Folkways. As if that weren't enough, at some point soon, Jason will be putting the finishing touches on their 500th banjo creation. During our chat,...

Imagine growing up without a father, but knowing he was alive, somewhere. Now imagine that same scenario but knowing that your dad is also a famous musician. That's the reality for Nabil Ayers - a drummer turned record label executive - whose father is legendary jazz musician Roy Ayers. In his new book, 'My Life in the Sunshine: Searching for My Father and Discovering My Family,' Nabil describes h...

Jazz musician Snoozer Quinn (1907 - 1949) is one of the guitar world's great enigmas. In his prime, he performed alongside Paul Whiteman, Bix Beiderbecke, the Dorsey Brothers, Louis Armstrong, and others; lore has it that even Les Paul even learned how to hammer-on and pull-off from Snoozer. But today Snoozer is largely forgotten because his only attempt at solo studio recordings completely disapp...

"Every guitar has some secret little thing it's going to tell you." -Bill Frisell Guitarist Bill Frisell and the Fretboard Journal go way back. For this week's podcast, we catch up with Bill and learn about the exhaustive new biography on him, 'Bill Frisell, Beautiful Dreamer: The Guitarist Who Changed the Sound of American Music.' Bill also hints at his forthcoming album, discusses his composing...

Musician Tray Wellington has a truly one-of-a-kind story: As a teenager trying to learn rock riffs on the electric guitar, he stumbled upon the music of Doc Watson. Soon after that, he heard the five-string banjo.  For the last decade, Tray has devoted himself to that instrument, attending festivals, entering banjo contests, and even majoring in Bluegrass, Old Time & Country Music studies at East...

Singer-songwriter and fiddler Lily Henley has a new album like no other: On 'Oras Dezaoradas,' she crafts new music for centuries-old traditional Sephardic Jewish ballads. It's a beautiful project, sung nearly entirely in Ladino, the near-forgotten Sephardic dialect that sounds more like Spanish than anything else.  On this week's podcast, we talk to Henley about the making of 'Oras Dezaoradas,' h...

Friends Rich D'Ginto and Mike Desiderio love two things: great guitars and great coffee. So they decided to combine their passions and create Acoustic Coffee Company, a new subscription-based coffee company with perks catering specifically to guitar fanatics. During our chat, Rich and Mike talk about some of the guitarmaking and woodworking pursuits leading up to the launch of the coffee project,...

A bonus episode of sorts: Jason describes what he has brewing for the 2022 Fretboard Summit, taking place Aug. 25-27, 2022 at Chicago's legendary Old Town School of Folk Music. This unique in-person event will feature many former FJ Podcast guests and magazine subjects, live podcast tapings, hands-on displays, a game show, an array of great musicians (The Milk Carton Kids and Molly Tuttle are two...

Paul Bigsby is one of the most important figures in the world of electric guitar development. Of course, everyone knows about his namesake (and still enduring) vibrato design. But the ultra-rare creations he made before the vibrato took off - innovative lap steels, pedal steels, electrics, and neck conversions - are the stuff of legend. These instruments, primarily built for country stars in the '...

Last October,   The Fretboard Journal's Ryan Richter (and ace producer/engineer  Sean O'Brien ) attended a screening of  Somewhere You Feel Free,  the documentary examining the recording of Tom Petty's seminal album  Wildflowers . Ryan recalls: "After it ended and as we were making our way through the lobby, I noticed a woman graciously accepting thanks and congratulations out in front of the thea...

On our 357th episode, we heard an incredible guitar safari tale from the Po' Ramblin' Boys' C.J. Lewandowski that involved a trip to Greece in the middle of a pandemic, an underground bank vault and the Lloyd Loar-signed Gibson mandolin he ended up bringing home. Today we're sharing the second half of that interview where C.J. talks to us about the Po' Ramblin' Boys' new record, 'Never Slow Down'...

Afie Jurvanen (Bahamas) joins us on this week's Fretboard Journal Podcast to talk about life on the road, his 2020 album 'Sad Hunk,' Bahamas' often hilarious Instagram feed and so much more. We also talk about his gear of choice (including the Nachocaster guitar he recently purchased), the importance of walking, and the perks of ending up on all those Spotify "chill" playlists. It's a fun chat wit...

Norman Blake turns 84 this week. To celebrate, we're joined by guitarist Bob Minner who is about to release an entire Normal Blake tribute album, From Sulphur Springs to Rising Fawn (Engelhardt Music Group). Minner, longtime guitarist for Tim McGraw and FJ contributor, recruited a who's-who of virtuosos on the album, including Mike Compton, Chris Eldridge, Vince Gill, Trey Hensley, Kenny Smith and...