Guitar Garage Talk

Daniel runs his shop out of Brainerd, Minnesota. You can tell right away, when talking with him, that he has a deep appreciation for his hometown and it resonates in his approach to his work. Discovering music at an early age by hanging out with his dad, a professional bassist, was the catalyst to get into playing and working on his own guitars. He took that mindset to luthier school and fine tuned his direction to where he is today.

I had a chance to chat with Rhett Harris of Rhett's Frets, LLC out of Nashville, TN. Being so close to one of the hottest guitar meccas in the U.S. has some names and stories, and it was great to hear about them. We had some laughs along the way. Enjoy!

Michael Russo of Big River Guitars has a deep artistic appreciation for the vintage. The roadworn, played hard, and never hangin on a wall vintage axe that always, without fail, demands to be heard. His marriage of components, visual aesthetic and designs stands alone. Enjoy!

Mike is a builder who builds things to build things. He has a designer's mind, a luthier's skill, and an artist's heart. It was cool to sit down and pick his brain about what he's creating out of his shop. Instruments that resonate his love for the instrument and his appreciation of the artists who play them. Enjoy.

One of my favorite things about this podcast is being able to chat with luthiers of all skill levels, experience, styles, genres and directions. Kyle Nelson has started Northman Guitars out of Minnesota. He is just starting to dip his toes in the water and documents his journey on Instagram. It was a cool conversation about getting started, sticking with a vision, and making it happen. Enjoy!

Jim Glinksy owns Glinksy Customs out of Austin Texas. He brings with him a rich history of builders, repair specialists and musicians. When it comes to his bench, he has practically seen it all. It was an honor, and certainly too brief a moment, to sit down with him and hear the tales. Enjoy!

Matt is a luthier who creates not only acoustic guitars and ukuleles, but art. Truly a craftsman who approaches his builds with a grounded belief in minimal use of power tools and heavy emphasis on manually hand-working woods strictly from sustainable sources. It's evident that the knowledge he has accumulated over the past few years as a musician and a luthier is deep. His story is fascinating. Enjoy!

Tom Dalia, known to the guitar community on Instagram as Frettie Mercury, is a creator. His knowledge of the CAD design and CNC construction realm of guitar and guitar parts production is deep and varied. He can tell you everything you'll want/need to know about a particular bridge, saddle, neck, body... you name it... he can produce it. His story is a journey with many names and connections. It's an interesting story. I was fortunate enough to sit with him and get all of the details of his past, where he's at now, and his vision for the future. Enjoy!

I always enjoy talking with other musicians about their process, and Jackson Harden, from Charlotte, NC, was no exception. From the first listen to his new release Dakota Blue Moon, I could tell that Jackson and his music are deeply rooted and respectful to his influences. His lyrics, vocals and underlying guitar work create a blend that's easy to listen to and even easier to get lost in. A storyteller for sure. And, from our chat, it was obvious to me that he's enjoying the journey and is looking towards the future with new and fresh approaches to his music. I look forward to hearing what's next. Enjoy!

After years of working on my own guitars for many, many years, I decided to make it a career. Why not? Why not do what I love doing, and have a career at it. So, I went online and searched for schools to learn the proper craft of guitar repair. I quickly discovered there were not many options. Southeast Guitar Repair Academy popped up, and every time I made a list of possible educational options, Southeast stayed at the #1 position. After a seamless registration process, I was up and running... and at my own pace. The instructors were Barrett and Mindy Culpepper. Barrett dealt with the luthier side of the school and Mindy created a section on how to actually setup and run your newly found business as a luthier repair specialist. They both run the Southeast Guitar Repair shop just north of Atlanta. Barrett's lessons were clear, concise and within a couple months I became "official". Despite having a onslaught of guitars going through their shop, Barrett took the time to chat with me.