Fretboard Journal Current Issue

David Grier
Writer Art Dudley visits flatpicking guitar legend David Grier at his Nashville home. Almost from birth, Grier seemed destined to become a bluegrass picker; he fondly remembers a childhood surrounded by figures such as Bill Monroe and Clarence White. He also talks about his playing style and some of the thought that goes into his guitar improvisations. Included are shots of the 1955 Martin D-18 his father gave him (which also appears on this issue’s cover), the Merrill guitar he’s most often seen with today, his 1952 Fender Esquire and much more.

	Goodall Guitars Stephen Cline interviews guitar builder James Goodall about the Hawaiian chapter of Goodall Guitars. What he discovers is a perfectionist with an eye for the arts and an ear for music … of all sorts. Goodall himself is a true renaissance man--he’s a painter, an avid surfer and an accomplished Baroque flautist—and, somehow, traits from all of these disparate hobbies seem to converge upon his guitar creations.

J.J. Cale It’s easier for J.J. Cale to write music than to talk about it. But writer Bob Douglas does his best to ask the famed Tulsa-born musician about what makes his music tick. Among other things, Cale reflects on the music of his home state of Oklahoma and the influences he had growing up, his guitars and upon his latest record, Roll On. Roman Cho takes pictures of the genius behind “After Midnight” and of Cale’s current road quiver of guitars.

Michael Chapman
In our latest artist-meets-artist installment, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore interviews one of his favorite players, British folk musician Michael Chapman. Moore asks Chapman about his early days at the Cornish folk clubs in the late ‘60s, his choice of guitars and about Chapman’s monumental Playing Guitar the Easy Way instruction book.

Otis Taylor There aren’t many musicians who can claim to have a signature model guitar and banjo, but Otis Taylor is one of them. Fretboard Journal Editor-at-Large Michael John Simmons visits the trance blues great at his Colorado home. There, surrounded by guitars, mandolins, banjos and a giant, historic ball of shoelaces, Taylor discusses the impact that Harry Tuft’s Denver Folklore Center had on him in the mid-‘60s, his music today and his gear.

	Mac Yasuda Hearing a Hank Snow 45 record at the age of 15 would eventually transform Mac Yasuda from your typical Japanese teenager to a full-fledged, Americana-loving, vintage guitar and Nudie suit collector. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, alongside associate and fellow collector Akira Tsumura, Yasuda amassed one of the world’s greatest collections of guitars. Jim Washburn interviews Yasuda not only about those instruments but also the latest addition to his collection: a batch of 450 ultra-rare tenor banjos (originally belonging to Tsumura) that he saved from the brink of ruin. Photos of jazz age banjos in all of their mother-of-toilet-seat splendor abound.
Eastman Instruments Photographer Amanda Kowalksi travels to China and pays a visit to Eastman Instruments. Eastman is primarily known to fretted instrument players for their affordable lines of archtop guitars and mandolins, but, as Kowalski finds out—this is hardly a guitar “factory,” almost everything is made by hand. As this photo essay shows, the Beijing shop doesn’t look too different from how your favorite domestic guitar manufacturer’s workshop might … 50 years ago.

Plus: John Lee Hooker’s haunts; John Roderick of the Long Winters; Fletcher Brock’s mandolins; Tiki King and much more.
Available December 2009 at Borders, Barnes & Noble, finer newsstands and high-end guitar shops throughout the US and Canada. Better yet, be a part of this reader-supported publication and subscribe today via this website! You’ll save money and have it delivered directly to your door.