The Fretboard Journal Guitar Podcast

For guitar collectors, Zeke Schein is best-known as the long-time salesman you see at Matt Umanov Guitars. What you may not know is that Zeke is also the guy who discovered what may very well be the third photo of Robert Johnson ever unearthed (an eBay find erroneously listed as a BB King photo). Since purchasing that small photo over a decade ago, Schein has had quite a roller coaster ride. He went through hurdles to get the photo authenticated, he gave the rights to the Robert Johnson Estate and he's witnessed his unlikely eBay find get reprinted in national magazines. He's also faced the wrath of blues historians, some of whom rabidly dispute that this is in fact a shot of Johnson at all. Zeke has written a new book entitled Portrait of a Phantom: The Story of Robert Johnson's Lost Photograph. Though ostensibly about the discovery of this image, Zeke's book is about a lot more, too. He writes about his love for the blues, his time at Umanov's, the New York music scene and why some of us are so compelled to learn more about our music heroes. On this week's podcast, we talk to Zeke about the photo, his career selling guitars at one of the world's most famous stores and much more. This episode of our podcast is brought to you by Retrofret Vintage Guitars. Need a subscription to the Fretboard Journal? Order today and use the discount code PODCAST to get $5 off your order.

Our dear friend Bill Collings, founder of Collings Guitars & Mandolins, passed away on July 14, 2017 after a long battle with cancer. We're working on a tribute for Bill in the next issue of the Journal (and if you have any great Bill stories, we'd love to hear them). We also decided to share this talk he gave at the first Fretboard Summit in 2015. During this session, Bill was interviewed by Mark Stutman (Folkway Music). It was a lively, unfiltered chat full of laughs. We also fielded questions from the audience, talked about Waterloos and more. RIP Bill. We're going to miss our chats with you. –Jason

Twenty years ago, Lluís Gómez heard Banjo Paris Session, an album featuring the playing of Jean-Marie Redon and Bill Keith. It completely changed this Spanish musician's life. Gómez would go on to obsess over the five-string banjo, eventually tracking down lessons with Keith, Tony Trischka and Pete Wernick. These days, Gómez is considered the "Spanish King of the Five-String Banjo." He's a prolific performer, educator and music promoter, bringing a distinctly American music to new audiences in Europe. On this episode, he tells us about the state of banjo in Spain today, his excellent new record Dotze contes, the instruments that he loves and much more. This episode is brought to you by two of our favorite stores: Dying Breed Music and Retrofret Vintage Guitars. We are now shipping the Fretboard Journal #39. Use the coupon code PODCAST when you check out at fretboardjournal.com and get $5 off your order. Lluís' site: http://www.lluisgomez.com/index-en.html

Today we're talking to Jas Obrecht, acclaimed music journalist and editor. Jas is the author of the recently published anthology, Talking Guitar: Conversations with Musicians Who Shaped Twentieth-Century American Music. The book is filled interviews Jas conducted with music icons such as Nick Lucas, Ry Cooder, "Pops" Staples, Ry Cooder and Jerry Garcia. He tells us a bit about how it came about, what these amazing interviews were like, his days working at Guitar Player and much more. The Fretboard Journal's 39th issue is now mailing. Use the coupon code PODCAST when you check out and you'll save $5 off any subscription, just for being a FJ Podcast listener. This episode is sponsored by Retrofret Vintage Guitars. Links: www.fretboardjournal.comTalking Guitar: Conversations with Musicians Who Shaped Twentieth-Century American Music by Jas Obrecht (Amazon link)

Thirty years ago, luthier Dana Bourgeois (Bourgeois Guitars) and performer/vintage guitar dealer Eric Schoenberg teamed up to create a guitar that was at once both very traditional and very forward-thinking, the Schoenberg Soloist. The Soloist was Eric's dream fingerstyle instrument – a traditionally-built Martin OM-style guitar built with a wider neck and a cutaway built into the body. On today's podcast, we talk about the making of the Soloist and hear about the limited run of Soloist 30th Anniversary guitars that they've created. We also discover why Eric loves Martin necks from 1930; the tonal differences he hears between 12 and 14-fret guitars; and much more. This episode is sponsored by Retrofret and Dying Breed Music.

On this week's Fretboard Journal Podcast, we talk to luthier Nate Wood, out of Springfield, Oregon. Nate regaled us with guitarmaking tales at last month's La Conner Guitar Festival so we quickly hatched a plan to bring him on the show. Before launching his own guitar and guitar repair business (Stahman Guitars), Nate went to school at Roberto Venn and then honed his chops working for Ryan Thorell. His own inventive guitars are inspired by some of the funkier American guitar designs of the '50s and '60s. Nate is also a big fan of using reclaimed woods and eco-friendly materials. This episode is brought to you by Retrofret Vintage Guitars.

The music of singer-songwriter Vikesh Kapoor has always defied logic. Here's a 20-something artist—born in small town Pennsylvania to immigrants from India—who seems more inspired by Pete Seeger, John Jacob Niles and Woody Guthrie that any popular music from the last few decades. On today's podcast, we talk to Kapoor about his upbringing, his influences and his favorite guitars. Kapoor has a new single out, entitled "Down by the River." "It was one of the first songs that I wrote and I never had it recorded in a way that I liked," he says. Kapoor wrote it while inspired by Seeger's "Dink's Song" in essentially a day, right before his 23rd birthday. We also talk about guitars, including the '70s Gibson J-50 Deluxe that Kapoor found in a local shop, almost by fate. It served as the primary songwriting instrument behind The Ballad of Willy Robbins [Kapoor's 2013 album] and "Down by the River." This episode of the Fretboard Journal Podcast is brought to you by Retrofret Vintage Guitars and Dying Breed Music. Kapoor's new recording is available at all the usual digital music outlets and can also be purchased as a flexi-single from Mama Bird Recording Co. As always, we hope you'll subscribe to the Fretboard Journal print edition. If you do, use the discount code PODCAST when you check out. And don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes. It takes a few seconds and helps expand our audience.

These week, we talk to acclaimed guitarmaker Mark Whitebook. In the 1970s, Whitebook had a cult following for his handmade guitars and a client list that included James Taylor, Carly Simon, Phil Keaggy and Clarence White. But in 1980, having built around 70 instruments total, Whitebook left the world of lutherie and pursued a career outside of the music industry. Thirty five years later, Whitebook has returned to building instruments (he kept all of his original tools and equipment all of these years). During this two-hour long talk, we chat about his background, how he taught himself to build his first guitar (with help from Irving Sloane's now legendary book on guitar construction), the Southern California guitar scene of the 1970s (including his time spent with David Russell Young and Chuck "The Duke of Pearl" Erikson) and how his dreadnought instruments stray from traditional Martin construction. We also learn just how hard it is to make a living building guitars. Whitebook is a near-mythical figure in the world of guitars; we hope you enjoy this exclusive chat. This week's sponsors are Retrofret Vintage Guitars and Dying Breed Music. Check them out and tell them the Fretboard Journal sent you. Subscribe to the Fretboard Journal and save $5 just by using the discount code PODCAST when you check out.

For our 150th episode of the Fretboard Journal Podcast, we turn the tables: Luthier Meagan Wells (guest on episode #134) interviews Fretboard Journal publisher / editor Jason Verlinde. We talk about the origins of the Fretboard Journal magazine, Jason's love affair with the musical saw, his favorite guitars, some of our most memorable video and interview sessions and a lot more. We hope you enjoy this little peek into the making of the FJ and all of our projects. This episode is sponsored by Retrofret Vintage Guitars. Follow Meagen here or via Instagram. Follow the Fretboard Journal via www.fretboardjournal.com. And, if you like our podcast, please leave us a review on iTunes. And don't forget to subscribe to the print edition! Use the discount code PODCAST and you'll get $5 off just for listening to our show.

Minnesota's Tom Nechville may very well be the closest thing the banjo world has to Leo Fender. For the last 30 years, he's innovated the five-string banjo with revolutionary products like the Heli-Mount, the Cyclotronic Tone Ring and the Flux Capacitor. On this week's podcast, we talk to Nechville about his inventions, his banjos (acoustic and electric) and some of the challenges of building forward-thinking products for a market that largely leans towards the traditional. Even if you're not a banjo player, you'll enjoy hearing about how Nechville found his calling in the world of fretted instruments and some of the R&D that he goes through with his instruments. Like the Fretboard Journal? Order a Fretboard Journal subscription and use the coupon code PODCAST to save $5. This episode is sponsored by Retrofret Vintage Guitars, which has its own fair share of banjos, along with guitars, basses, mandolins and more. http://www.nechville.com https://www.fretboardjournal.com Subscribe to the Fretboard Journal Podcast on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fretboard-journal-podcast/id394447340?mt=2