An extended family reunion seemed like the right way to celebrate our magazine’s 10th anniversary. Lord knows, we’re not getting any younger. So last year we curated a micro-festival featuring some of our favorite magazine subjects, musicians, luthiers and experts and dubbed it the Fretboard Summit. We took over a funky Northern California resort with spotty wi-fi and barely any cell phone service (the views of the Pacific, it should be noted, made up for the above), built a stage, put up a tent and, we had a pretty memorable time with a few hundred of you.
The Summit was a three-day getaway where fretted instruments fanatics could gather, talk shop, get inspired and hear some amazing music. Concerts at night, panels, discussions and talks during the day. No merch tables, no booths trying to cram new inventions down your throat, just the faces and names you read about in the FJ, in-person. David Crosby, Bill Frisell, Bryan Sutton, Joe Henry, Bill Collings, Paul Reed Smith, Jeff Traugott, Matt Munisteri, Julian Lage, TK Smith, Chris Eldridge, Eric Skye, Blake Mills, Dana Bourgeois and Richard Hoover were just a few of our past, present and future subjects who made the trek.
At the time it took place, we didn’t know if the Summit would be annual event or not. I was too exhausted to even comprehend what took place until after the fact. But the video footage we shot, the memories we had and the feedback we heard from attendees spoke volumes. So, we’re doing it again…
The next Fretboard Summit takes place October 14-16, 2016. This year, we’re making things a bit easier on you: We have plenty of gorgeous hotel rooms for our attendees, a great, easy-to-get-to and spouse-friendly location (the Rancho Bernardo Inn in sunny San Diego), better food and bars that will stay open late. The concept remains the same: We’ll still have three days of talks, music instruction and concerts taking place on multiple stages. But we’ll have plenty of additions, too. For instance, we’re devoting an entire 2,000 square foot room for vintage instrument aficionados and their guitars, so you can talk shop about gold sparkle L-2s and popsicle braces all day long with folks who speak your language.
Some of our presenters and musicians from year one will be returning, but expect to see plenty of new faces, too. It remains to be seen if we’ll do this again in 2017 (and where it would take place), so we hope we can see you there. Details and tickets can be found at www.fretboardsummit.com, but get your tickets and rooms early, while you still can.
Check out some of our prior coverage of the Fretboard Summit 2015, including some of our podcasts, videos and lectures we recorded, here. And don’t hesitate to email us if you have any questions, suggestions for talks or great ideas.
