Truetone Lounge

Steuart Smith is best known for having toured with the Eagles for the last 20 years, and for co-producing their "Long Road Out of Eden" album. His story begins long before in the Washington DC club scene, then expanding to the national scene through a band showcase for Colombia Record's Senior VP of A&R, Rick Chertoff. This led to collaborations with Rodney Crowell and Rosanne Cash on top-selling and award-winning albums, tours and production work with Shawn Colvin, and sessions with everyone from Vince Gill to Joni Mitchell. In our 2-hour interview, we cover his entire career as a session man, producer, touring sideman, and his ongoing role with the Eagles. We also cover his gear through the years, including what he currently uses on the road with the Eagles.

Danocaster Guitars is one of the most beloved and in-demand small-shop builders, yet next to nothing is known about Dan Strain and his small team that builds solid-bodies in Nashville, TN. After much prodding, Dan finally agreed to sit down and tell us about himself, his team, and the chain of events that led to the formation of Danocaster Guitars.

Elliot Easton's well-constructed solos with The Cars were integral to their hits and were in many ways mini compositions within the songs. In our Truetone Lounge, we dive into how the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member constructed those solos, and look deeply into the recording process of those seminal albums. Easton also thoroughly contrasts the producing styles of Roy Thomas Baker (Queen) and Mutt Lang (Def Leppard, AC/DC) on the various Car's albums and the hard work, and eye for detail that both producers shared. He also discusses his involvement with Gibson, Kramer signature models, and his custom orders with John Page that influenced the creation of the Fender Custom Shop in 1985. Elliot also discusses having Ringo Starr play on a track for The Empty Hearts, his supergroup that includes members from the Romantics, and Blondie.

TruetoneLounge | Ray Flacke

We are so honored to have one of the all-time Telecaster greats, Ray Flacke, sit down with us to tell his story, after a long season of staying under the radar. Those not familiar with him should know that Flacke's influence runs deep on just about any player willing to pick up a Tele and play with gusto. With equal parts Ritchie Blackmore, Chet Atkins, and Roy Nichols, Flacke grabbed everyone's attention by the collar with his aggressive and staccato guitar work on the back-to-basics radio hits of Ricky Skaggs of the early to mid-1980s. After his stint with Ricky, he moved on to session work, and a return to touring with Marty Stuart in the early 90s, and the Jamie Hartford Band in the late 90s to early 2000s. After a stint out of the music limelight, Ray has a new passion, writing. He has just published a children's book entitled "The Boy Who Would Be Birds," and is in the process of completing his tongue-in-cheek autobiography, 'Kin 'Ell, Fired Again. Flacke also discusses his gear through the years, and how he has used super glue to save his right-hand nails, and baby powder on the neck of his guitar for left-hand precision.

To order his children's book, send an email to [email protected]

Rick Holmstrom is an esteemed blues artist with a new solo album, See That Light, releasing on February 26th. Besides his esteemed solo work, he is also the bandleader and guitarist for legendary Gospel/R&B singer, Mavis Staples. In our Lounge interview, we cover how he got the Mavis gig at the urging of Ry Cooder, the low down on his new solo album, and an amazing walk-through of his favorite guitars including his 1953 Telecaster, Harmony Stratotone, and Danelectro double cutaway.

Jim Campilongo is one of the finest Telecaster players of the modern era. On his many great albums, Jim brings his beautifully unique approach to everything from honky-tonk, to jazz. In our Truetone Lounge discussion, we cover everything from his history as a player, inspirations, to his current practice regimen. We also could not help but talk of his love for late 50s Telecasters and Princeton Reverb amps.

Famed Guitarist, and groundbreaking guitar educator, Arlen Roth, is our guest for the latest Truetone Lounge. We cover his touring days with John Prine, Phoebe Snow, and Simon & Garfunkel, and how his side hustle as a guitar teacher transitioned into authoring books. Those books turned to audiotapes, and then after his work with Ralph Macchio on the movie Crossroads, he turned to guitar instructional videos. The Hot Licks videos that were made from the mid-1980s through the 90s featured an amazing assortment of guitarists, from Andy Summers to Cornell Dupree. Roth continues to record and perform, and we discuss his recent Tele-Masters album, and what's on the horizon for him.

Welcome to the Truetone Lounge. We are kicking off this show with the legendary Al Perkins. Al sits down with Truetone's Zac Childs (also a columnist for Vintage Guitar Magazine) for a casual and informative chat with Al about his life, career, and tools of his craft.

Gordon Kennedy is a 2-time Grammy Award-winning musician, songwriter, and producer who happens to also have an amazing musical pedigree. His mother was a regular on the Louisiana Hayride with a recording contract, and his father was a member of the famed Nashville A-Team and ran Mercury Records’ Nashville division for 21-years. The stories abound about his musical upbringing, as he watches his record exec father steer the careers of Roger Miller, Jerry Lee Lewis, and the Statler Brothers, yet the pace doesn't slow a bit as it moves into his storied career. Multiple Grammy wins, working with Frampton, Clapton, Garth, Skaggs and so many other musical legends show that Kennedy is his own man, with his own incredible story. We also take a look at some of his stunning collection of instruments that includes two that are part of the Gibson Custom Shop Collector's Series; his father's b-bender equipped 1961 ES-335, and his 1959 Les Paul, formerly owned by John Sebastian.

Audley Freed’s musicality and easy-going attitude have garnered him gigs with Cry of Love, The Black Crows, Peter Frampton, Dixie Chicks, Joe Perry, Sheryl Crow, and, many many others. In our Truetone Lounge interview, Audley shares everything from riding to gigs in vans with his early band, Cry of Love, to playing with Jimmy Page at the Greek Theatre, to his current position as one of the most in-demand sidemen in the world. Freed also talks gear, with his Senn Pomona, 1965 SG Special, B-Bender equipped Pomona, Lazy J amp, and his minimalistic pedalboard.