The Fretboard Journal Guitar Podcast

For years, ragtime guitarist Craig Ventresco was one of the music world's best-kept secrets: The only way to see him was to catch him in his hometown of San Francisco, playing a solo show at a small cafe or with his gypsy jazz band, Gaucho. He seldom left the city and recordings weren't a big part of his career. Like many others, when COVID-19 and shelter-in-place orders hit, Craig and partner Meredith Axelrod turned to the internet to keep performing. Here's where things get interesting: With a minimalist setup, Ventresco and Axelrod started live streaming their performances on Facebook... not once a month or weekly, but every single night. As of this interview, Ventresco and Axelrod were up to 100-plus shows. And their unique take on ragtime guitar is suddenly finding new fans around the globe. On this week's podcast, we chat with Ventresco about growing up in Maine, getting turned on to 78 records, the years he spent busking around SF, his role on the 'Crumb' soundtrack, and his life online. We also talk about his Fraulini guitars, the music he's been obsessing over and much more.  Links: Meredith Axelrod's Facebook page (where Craig and Meredith perform every night at 8pm PT): https://www.facebook.com/meredithaxelrod Their tip jars: Paypal.me/meredithaxelrod Venmo: @meredithaxelrod Fraulini Guitars: http://fraulini.com Fretboard Journal: https://www.fretboardjournal.com (Use the discount code PODCAST when you check out and save $5 off any order) This episode is sponsored by Retrofret Vintage Guitars and Mono Cases. 

If you've read any guitar magazines over the last several years, you've probably seen the bylines of today's guests: Teja Gerken and Doug Young. The two Bay Area fingerstyle guitarists have written extensively about gear and technique for a variety of publications and today Teja is a partner at online music instruction portal Peghead Nation. On this week's podcast, they talk about their beautiful new instrumental album, simply titled Duets. They tell us about some of the unique guitars they used on the recording, give us tips for recording remotely via Zoom/Skype, and much more. Check out Duets here: https://tejaanddougguitar.bandcamp.com Order the Fretboard Journal's new Electric Guitar Annual here: https://shop.fretboardjournal.com/collections/all/products/2019-electric-annual-pre-order This episode is sponsored by Mono Cases and Retrofret Vintage Guitars. 

Jontavious Willis is only 24, but he's already earned numerous accolades - and a Grammy nomination - for his mastery of the blues. On this week's Fretboard Journal Podcast, we talk to Willis from his home in Georgia about being a largely self-taught guitarist, the one standard tuning guitar lesson he took (just five years ago!), the gear he uses today (including his Fraulini 12-string guitar), and his love for original 78 records. We hear about the influence that Keb' Mo' and Taj Mahal had on his career (Mo' produced 'Spectacular Class,' the album that earned Willis the Grammy nod) and Willis tells us how, even during COVID-19, a community of young Black blues musicians is mentoring each other through social media. Willis also explains the #RobertJohnsonChallenge, where he and fellow musicians Christone "Kingfish" Ingram and Marquise Knox are interpreting Robert Johnson tunes online, every Wednesday. Inspired by the recently discovered third photo of Johnson, the challenge is required viewing if you're a blues fan.  This episode is sponsored by Retrofret Vintage Guitars and Mono Cases.   Watch Willis' most recent Robert Johnson Challenge contribution here: https://www.facebook.com/JontaviousWillis/videos/250502482919394/ Follow him here: https://www.facebook.com/JontaviousWillis/ or here: http://jontaviouswillis.com Subscribe to the reader-powered Fretboard Journal here: https://shop.fretboardjournal.com  

Sarah Jarosz just released 'World on the Ground,' her first solo album in four years. On this week's Fretboard Journal Podcast, she talks to us about the making of the album, working with John Leventhal (who produced the project and helped co-write a few songs), her favorite songwriting tools (including her Collings D1A and her Fletcher Brock-built octave mandolin), and much more. This episode is sponsored by Retrofret Vintage Guitars and Mono Cases.   https://www.sarahjarosz.com

For the last decade, luthier David Murray helmed an audacious project: Teaching the craft of guitarmaking to young Tibetan refugees in foothills of the Himalayas. It was one of the least hospitable places imaginable for a woodworking business (from both a climate and political perspective), but somehow the Dehradun Guitar Company steadily produced about one custom acoustic guitar a week. As David says goodbye to this chapter of his life – which we originally profiled in the Fretboard Journal #38 – we wanted to bring him on the podcast to hear what transpired. From Thailand, where his family currently resides, we talk about the challenges he experienced setting up Dehradun: the climate, CITES regulations, prohibitive shipping costs, an Indian government that threw his family out of the country and more. Despite all the above, Murray and his team were able to create around 200 amazing instruments and, he admits, “it was a dream come true.” We also talk a bit about the Fretboard Journal today, the influence Bob Taylor had on him as a builder and business owner, and what's next for the Murrays.  

Twenty years ago, former president Jimmy Carter planted a grove of Paulownia trees on his Georgia property. Wood from those trees was recently harvested and, thanks to World Tree and FJ contributor/luthier Todd Lunneborg, some of that wood harvest is currently being turned into some rather special guitars. On this week’s Fretboard Journal Podcast, we talk to Lunneborg and acclaimed acoustic guitarmaker Jason Kostal about the project. Kostal recently completed his guitar featuring the Paulownia from Carter's grove and, thanks to a bit of a luck and some social distancing, he was able to show the former president his finished instrument. It's an unforgettable moment and a great story that we think you'll love.  See pics of the finished guitar and of Carter with it here. Enjoy this episode? Share it with friends and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. Support the Fretboard Journal by getting a digital subscription to our magazine for just $30.  This week's podcast is sponsored by Retrofret Vintage Guitars and Mono Cases.

Tom Power is a Canadian broadcasting great and frontman for folk band, The Dardanelles. He's also the host of 'Toy Heart: A Podcast About Bluegrass,' which has quickly become one of our favorite listens. On this week's FJ Podcast, we talk to Power about growing up in St. John's, Newfoundland, discovering bluegrass music through the 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' soundtrack, and his unlikely and fateful meeting with Blue Grass Boy Tom Rosenberg (one of only two other St. John's residents who played the banjo). Power walks us through his career in broadcasting (he hosts the popular, nationwide Q show), explains why he decided to travel through America interviewing bluegrass legends, and shares some of his favorite memories from meeting Alice Gerrard, Del McCoury, Bela Fleck and others. If you're into bluegrass music (or the roots of Americana), we can't recommend Tom's podcast enough. Listen to Toy Heart here or through Apple Podcasts. Support the Fretboard Journal by getting a digital subscription to our magazine for just $30.  This week's podcast is sponsored by Retrofret Vintage Guitars and Mono Cases.

French-born, Rhode Island-based luthier Rachel Rosenkrantz (Atelier Rosenkrantz) is a tireless experimenter. Inspired by her years working in industrial lighting and design, she’s embraced some truly unique, sustainable and downright wild materials. She also, of course, makes many traditional steel and nylon-string instruments out of classic tonewoods. During this week’s Fretboard Journal Podcast, Rosenkrantz walks us through some of the eye-opening projects she’s currently working on, including a ukulele constructed out of a mushroom, pickguards fashioned out of fish skin, banjo heads formed from kombucha mothers, and even an ondes Martenot. We also talk about working alongside archtop maker Otto D'Ambrosio, her appearance on Anthony Bourdain's show and more. Sit back and enjoy this conversation with one of the guitar world’s true mavericks and be sure to watch the video she just submitted of our shop for #FJFest here: https://www.fretboardjournal.com/video/fjfest-rachel-rosenkrantz-atelier-rosenkrantz-shop-tour https://www.atelierrosenkrantz.com https://www.instagram.com/atelier_rosenkrantz/?hl=en  

Fred Greene is the Vice President of Product Management for C.F. Martin & Co. in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. There, he oversees the research, development and production for Martin’s numerous guitar models and strings. Typically, our conversations with Fred center around the new models Martin is unveiling, but this talk is a little different. With guitar production at a standstill due to COVID-19, we instead have a frank talk with Fred about how the guitar community has come together during this pandemic, the fears he has about the industry as a whole, the issues he foresees in the manufacturing supply chain when Martin gets back to work, and so much more. Fred is one of our favorite people in the guitar industry and is a repeat guest on our podcast (we loved talking to him and Tim Teel for FJ Podcast #254, check it out). If you enjoy this conversation, you may also like hearing our chat with Richard Hoover of Santa Cruz Guitar Co. from last week, where we discuss how his company is dealing with current events and much more. Support the Fretboard Journal by getting a digital subscription for just $30: https://shop.fretboardjournal.com/collections/downloads/products/fretboard-journal-digital-subscription-offer   See our entire (and growing) lineup of #FJFest content here, including shop tours with TJ Thompson, Mark Stutman of Folkway Music and others: https://www.fretboardjournal.com/tag/fjfest/

This week's podcast is about a lot more than guitars: In the midst of a global pandemic, Richard Hoover, founder of the Santa Cruz Guitar Co., joins us for a candid conversation about running a successful small business, innovations in lutherie, his "bank of goodwill," being open-source, and so much more. We hear about his childhood growing up in California's San Joaquin Valley, the influence of the Whole Earth Catalog, the perils of dulcimer building, the serendipitous path that led him to guitarmaking, and even the books Richard is currently reading. He also offers us all a "logic array" that may help you re-frame your thinking through these challenging times.    Note: There is unfortunately some Skype latency around the 49 minute mark. It only lasts a minute but we decided to leave it in to keep this conversation intact.    https://santacruzguitar.com   Other Santa Cruz Guitar Co. content from the FJ that you may enjoy:  Richard Hoover on the Fretboard Journal Podcast #116: https://www.fretboardjournal.com/podcasts/podcast-116-richard-hoover-santa-cruz-guitar-company/   Richard Hoover profile from Fretboard Journal #1 https://www.fretboardjournal.com/features/richard-hoover-santa-cruz-guitars   Support the Fretboard Journal by getting a digital subscription for just $30: https://shop.fretboardjournal.com/collections/downloads/products/fretboard-journal-digital-subscription-offer