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.