The Fretboard Journal Guitar Podcast

Guitar great Adam Miller joins us once again (he originally appeared on Fretboard Journal Podcast #240) to talk about the making of his fantastic new electric album, Unify. Miller has had quite an interesting year:  He and his wife were all set to relocate to Los Angeles full-time when COVID hit and sent him back home to Australia. He recounts how Unify came together, the influence his California time had on the album and why he decided to re-record its guitar parts. We also hear about Adam's current gear of choice and a lot more. Check out fretboardjournal.com for a new video featuring Adam playing the track "Leaving" from his new album. This episode is sponsored by Mono Cases, Retrofret Vintage Guitars and Izotope. Use the checkout code RUIN10 when you check out at izotope.com/ruinous to save 10% off your next software purchase.

With Beginners (ANTI- Records), Christian Lee Hutson released one of our favorite records of 2020, so it only felt fitting to invite this Los Angeles-based musician back on the Fretboard Journal Podcast. During our chat, Hutson talks about the making of his album (including his previous failed attempts to record these songs); overcoming self-doubt; working alongside Phoebe Bridgers (who ended up producing Beginners and appearing on it); taking up the clarinet and flute in the middle of the pandemic and much more. We also talk about Hutson's guest appearance on the Reply-All Podcast, where he pieced together and re-created a forgotten pop song based on one listener's recollection.    Subscribe to reader supported Fretboard Journal magazine in print or digital/PDF form and get our new, 46th issue, mailing next week.   Christian Lee Hutson also appeared on the Fretboard Journal Podcast #161 during an earlier visit.    This episode is sponsored by Mono Cases, Retrofret and Izotope. Use the checkout code RUIN10 at izotope.com/ruinous  to save 10% off your next software purchase.

On this week's Fretboard Journal Podcast, Jason checks in with luthier and fellow podcaster, Michael Bashkin. It's an unfiltered and fun chat about the boutique guitar industry at large, the annual output of an independent solo maker, Michael's Luthier on Luthier Podcast and a lot more. Jason also asks Michael about guitar shows, Moon spruce and the realities of building production guitars overseas. It's a nearly 90-minute look at the state of the handmade guitar market. https://www.bashkinguitars.com Luthier on Luthier on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/luthier-on-luthier-with-michael-bashkin/id1208172851  

Beginning in March of 2020, while most of the world was in lockdown mode due to COVID, Daniel Romano did something truly remarkable: He began releasing an album nearly every week on his Bandcamp page. On this week's Fretboard Journal Podcast, we talk to the Canadian musician about his prolific output this year: from a track-by-track re-creation of Bob Dylan's Infidels album played as if the Plugz were Dylan's backing band, to his British folk-inspired Alias Ensemble album, and all points in-between. We hear about some of the self-imposed rules he gives himself when recording, his current gear of choice, his forthcoming (ninth) album for 2020, 'How Ill Thy World Is Ordered' (out Sept. 18, 2020 on You've Changed Records) and a lot more. Romano is one of our favorite musicians and it was great to get a peek at his creative process. Further reading: The story of the Plugz and Bob Dylan's appearance on Letterman.  This episode is sponsored by Retrofret Vintage Guitars and Mono Cases.  Support the podcast by picking up a PDF or print subscription to the Fretboard Journal. 

Chase Bliss Audio makes some of the most interesting pedals created today. On this week’s Fretboard Journal Podcast, we talk to founder Joel Korte about his company's rapid rise in popularity, his workflow, some of their latest creations and their ongoing collaborations with both pedal makers and musicians.    We also talk about the human element found in Chase Bliss' output, some of the noteworthy videos they’ve produced, Korte's unique career path and plan for the future, mushrooms, and more.    Stuff mentioned:  Chase Bliss https://www.chaseblissaudio.com   The Story & Retirement of Chase Bliss Wooden Boxes (video):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7A5X10k8U8&t=7s   The Chase Bliss Blooper campaign on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/chaseblissaudio/blooper   Paul Stamets on Joe Rogan (excerpt) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVhd56KYS6s   Get the second-ever Fretboard Journal Electric Guitar Annual while supplies last.  https://shop.fretboardjournal.com/collections/all/products/2019-electric-annual-pre-order

For forty years, Bruce Harvie (Orcas Island Tonewoods) has carved out a nice existence for himself in the instrument making world as a tonewood supplier. His one-man operation is based in one of the most beautiful spots in North America (Washington State's San Juan Islands), where he sells spruce, redwood and other raw materials to mandolin and bowed instrument makers around the world. He's also a prolific musician.  Though he makes his living selling hand-selected wood, Harvie is quick to point out that there's great instrument-making materials all around us, for cheap. "It's amazing how many mandolins get burned," he says. "I've gotten a lot of wood out of firewood piles."   On this week's Fretboard Journal Podcast, we talk to Harvie about his early instrument building days, how he sources his tonewoods, and about some of the lesser-used woods in instrument making that deserve a chance.    Follow Orcas Island Tonewoods here and listen to Bruce's new album here.  This episode is sponsored by Mono Cases and Retrofret Vintage Guitars. 

Musician and singer-songwriter Mac McAnally has led quite a life: As a teenager, he was a studio musician in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, able to jump from between sessions and studios as an in-demand acoustic guitarist. He soon started writing songs, got a record deal of his own and penned hit songs for Jimmy Buffett, Alabama, and other top country acts. Since 1994, he's played guitar in Buffett's Coral Reefer Band. As you'll hear on this podcast, McAnally is as humble as it gets, but he's also a ten-time CMA Musician of the Year winner. In 2007,  he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. McAnally just released his latest solo record, Once in a Lifetime. On this week's podcast, he recounts his early days in the Muscle Shoals scene, tells about his gear of choice (including his cherished, slot-head Martin guitar), and we talk about the making of the new album.  This episode is sponsored by Mono Cases and Retrofret Vintage Guitars. 

As a kid, guitarmaker Sherwood "Woody" Phifer would tinker with everything, from model airplanes to his high school track shoes. "I would look at something and I'd be redesigning it as I was looking at it," he says. Eventually, he was taking guitars apart, which led to him building his own instrument and stumbling upon Charles LoBue's Guitar Lab in 1970. Within a couple of visits to that influential NYC shop, he found his passion for lutherie and his life's calling. During this week's Fretboard Journal Podcast, Phifer tells us about that fateful trip to Guitar Lab (a shop that employed soon-to-be-legendary employees Larry DiMarzio, Charles LoBue, Ralph Novak and Steve Kauffman), walks us through some of his thoroughly original creations (including his archtop guitars, his chambered-body electrics, his unique bridge system and more), and describes what it's like to be one of the only Black guitarmakers in the country. https://www.phiferguitars.com https://www.fretboardjournal.com  

Earlier this month, Gibson announced a $59,000 reward for the safe return of their 1959-1960 shipping ledger, a book that, if it exists, has been missing for decades. If found, the ledger could shed light on the details of Gibson's production of guitars during a legendary period of time, including the variations found on all those famed, uber-collectible '59 and '60 'Bursts. On this bonus episode of the Fretboard Journal podcast, we talk to Cesar Gueikian (CMO) and Mat Koehler (Head of Product Development) from Gibson about where they think the ledger might be, why they're on the hunt for it, and what they think they could learn from it. We also hear about some new and forthcoming Gibson projects, including collaborations with Jerry Cantrell and Adam Jones, forthcoming Flying V and white SG Custom Shop tributes to Jimi Hendrix, a Slim Harpo ES-330 reissue and a lot more. This episode is sponsored by Retrofret Vintage Guitars and Mono Cases.

Michael Millard of Froggy Bottom Guitars reflects upon 50 years of guitarmaking with one of our most insightful podcast interviews to date. Millard is a legendary figure in the world of musical instruments, using the lessons he learned working alongside Michael Gurian in the early 1970s to create one of the most collectible acoustic guitar brands of the modern era. During this nearly hour-long chat, he talks about the unique ways Froggy Bottoms are made, describes his company's unorthodox business model, and announces his plan for retirement at the end of 2020. Millard was trained as a psychologist and his unfiltered thoughts on social injustice, the opportunities afforded him, and the danger of expectations are a breath of fresh air.  This episode is sponsored by Retrofret Vintage Guitars and Mono Cases.