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The Fretboard Journal Guitar Podcast

Each week, the Fretboard Journal interviews some of our favorite musicians, instrument builders and historians.
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The Fretboard Journal Guitar Podcast
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Now displaying: October, 2021
Oct 30, 2021

On this week's Fretboard Journal Podcast, we chat with musician, educator, and FJ contributor Tristan Scroggins. 

Scroggins has had an eventful month: He won the IBMA 2021 Writer of the Year award for his music journalism and then, just a couple of weeks later, released a truly unique solo album, 'One-Ring Circus.' That album features Scroggins - best known for his mandolin playing - in the midst of a truly wild pandemic project, playing solo instrumental tunes on a vintage tenor (four-string) banjo. It's an amazing undertaking filled with great playing ... and a far cry from what you imagine when you think about "tenor banjo" music. We hear about the making of the record, his decision to release it on cassette (don't worry, it's also on all the streaming platforms), and the Paramount tenor he used for it. 
 
This conversation also goes deep: Scroggins talks about his unusual upbringing, growing up on the road playing mandolin for his dad, banjo player and bandleader Jeff Scroggins. We hear about the pressures of bluegrass competitions, his move to Nashville, mental health, and his decision to stay busy (Scroggins has been steadily releasing some great mandolin instruction books), plus a lot more.
 
Look for pieces Scroggins penned on John Reischman and Bela Fleck in the Fretboard Journal's next two issues. You're going to love them. Subscribe here to get them: start a print subscription or a digital / PDF subscription
 
Follow Scroggins' many projects here: https://www.tristanscroggins.com
Bandcamp for 'One-Ring Circus': https://tristanscroggins.bandcamp.com
Scroggins playing "Seneca Square Dance" from the record at Carter Vintage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waiFNRqk9oE

This week's Fretboard Journal Podcast is brought to you by Retrofret Vintage Guitars.
 
Note: We are currently working on our 50th issue of the Journal. We'd love to hear your stories about how the FJ (or its podcast) has changed your life. Got a noteworthy instrument with a great back story? Email us about that, too... at podcast@fretboardjournal.com.
 
We'd also love it if you all subscribed to the magazine so we can start our next 50 issues stronger and bigger than ever.  
 
Don't forget, we now host an entire family of podcasts, about everything from lutherie to home recording: Luthier on Luthier; The Truth About Vintage Amps; The Truth About Recording & Mixing; Acoustic Voices; and Sweep the Floor.
 
Oct 22, 2021

Two of the Fretboard Journal's favorite acoustic guitarists - Eric Skye and Jamie Stillway - join us this week for a fun chat about the making of their long-awaited duo album, 'Home on the Midrange.' The project finds these two Pacific Northwesterners flatpicking through reels, waltzes, and jigs on a pair of uniquely matched Santa Cruz guitars. We talk about the gear used to capture the album (a pair of Neumann KM184s), Jamie's forthcoming "slow, spacey" electric guitar project (which will employ her Maegen Wells archtop), plus a lot more.

Learn more about the album here: https://jamiestillwayericskye.hearnow.com/home-on-the-midrange

This episode is sponsored by Folkway Music

The Fretboard Journal's 48th issue is now available. Click here to read up on it and start your digital or print subscription.

Don't forget, we now host an entire family of podcasts, about everything from lutherie to home recording: Luthier on Luthier; The Truth About Vintage Amps; The Truth About Recording & Mixing; Acoustic Voices; and Sweep the Floor.

Oct 12, 2021

Famed guitar dealer Rudy Pensa (Rudy's Music!) joins us on this week's Fretboard Journal Podcast to talk about one of the world's most noteworthy guitar collections ever assembled, Scott Chinery's Blue Guitar Collection. In the mid-1990s, inspired by the blue Centura Deluxe he ordered from Jimmy D'Aquisto, Chinery commissioned twenty-plus archtop guitar makers to do their own take on a "blue" guitar, all using the same finish tint. Famed builders like Kim Walker, Linda Manzer, Tom Ribbecke, Bill Collings and Bob Benedetto were included, along with contributions from Gibson and Fender.

The Blue Guitars would eventually be showcased at the Smithsonian and be the subject of a book, Blue Guitar. With Chinery's passing in 2000, the guitars have been out of sight but Rudy, at the request of the Chinery estate, is now auctioning off the collection (including the D'Aquisto) as a single lot. We talk to Pensa about the guitar collection, his personal love for archtops (dating back to when he was a child in Argentina) and much more.

The Blue Guitar Collection can be seen in its entirety at Rudy's site here, including videos featuring Jason Isbell, Joe Bonamassa and David Broza playing the guitars. It's also available for viewing at Rudy's store.

https://www.rudysmusicbluecollection.com

The Fretboard Journal's 48th issue is now available. Click here to read up on it and start your digital or print subscription.

Don't forget, we now host an entire family of podcasts, about everything from lutherie to home recording: Luthier on Luthier; The Truth About Vintage Amps; The Truth About Recording & Mixing; Acoustic Voices; and Sweep the Floor.

Oct 1, 2021

Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan – the Milk Carton Kids – join us this week to talk about the tenth anniversary of their legendary debut album, Prologue. We chat about the build-up to that wildly popular record, the two guitars that they’ve based their careers on, and their songwriting process. We also hear about why they were forced to stop using a single microphone at their shows, their plans for a forthcoming album and a lot more. It’s an insightful and hilarious chat with two of our favorite musicians.

Get the Milk Carton Kids' 10th Anniversary Edition of Prologue here: https://stores.portmerch.com/themilkcartonkids/music-video/prologue-10th-anniversary-box-set.html 

The Fretboard Journal's 48th issue is now available. Click here to read up on it and start your digital or print subscription.

Don't forget, we now host an entire family of podcasts, about everything from lutherie to home recording: Luthier on Luthier; The Truth About Vintage Amps; The Truth About Recording & Mixing;Acoustic Voices; and  Sweep the Floor.

This episode is sponsored by Mono Cases and Folkway Music

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