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2 weeks ago | 
acousticguitar.com | Mac Randall |E.E. Bradman |Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers |Kenny Berkowitz
Sitting in the spacious living room of his home on California’s central coast, Lloyd Baggs exudes the air of an old-school craftsman. As he peers through thick-rimmed glasses from beneath a gray baseball cap, his handsomely weathered face radiates both hard-earned wisdom and good humor; a trim white goatee only adds to that impression. If you didn’t know what Baggs did for a living, you might guess he made high-end furniture or built schooners by hand.
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3 weeks ago | 
acousticguitar.com | Mac Randall |Natalia Zukerman |Steve James |Christopher Paul Stelling
Sue Foley steps onto the stage in a bright pink suit, a well-worn guitar slung over her shoulder, and digs into a deep, driving groove. Whether she’s tearing through a Texas blues shuffle on her Telecaster or coaxing out the hushed warmth of a nylon-string guitar, her playing is rooted, rhythmic, and unmistakably hers. Over the decades, she’s built a career that’s equal parts fire and scholarship—an artist with both a deep love for the blues and a historian’s instinct for uncovering its stories.
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1 month ago | 
acousticguitar.com | Mac Randall |Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers |Mark Small |Bob Doerschuk
When talking to Rosanne Cash, it’s hard to avoid the word legacy. (For the record, she said it first, in the second exchange of our Q&A below.) And what a legacy she represents, not only by virtue of her lineage—daughter of one American musical icon, Johnny Cash, and stepdaughter of another, June Carter Cash—but through her own work as a musician. Over a 45-year, 18-album career, Cash has built an estimable reputation for herself.
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Nov 10, 2024 | 
acousticguitar.com | Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers |Mac Randall |Nick Rossi
During the swing era, roughly 1929 to 1946, professional opportunities for acoustic guitar players reached an all-time high. Even at the depth of the Great Depression, bands performed nationwide for the country’s most popular recreation: dancing. With the dominance of radio and its reliance on live performance during this era, the acoustic guitar held a significant place in the American cultural landscape.
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Nov 1, 2024 | 
acousticguitar.com | Mac Randall |Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
July 17, 2024, was a sad day for acoustic guitarists, as we lost the beloved Happy Traum, 86, to whom we are all indebted for his decades of service to the community. Through his company, Homespun Music Instruction, Traum helped educate countless musicians on the techniques and practices of roots music.
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Aug 7, 2024 | 
acousticguitar.com | Mac Randall |Mark Ari |Adam Perlmutter
What originally brought James Elkington and Nathan Salsburg together was the fact that Elkington’s wife has been one of Salsburg’s best friends for decades. But once the two guitarists met, in the mid-2000s, they soon realized that what they had in common went beyond that interpersonal connection, particularly when it came to music.
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Jul 17, 2024 | 
acousticguitar.com | Mac Randall |Greg Cahill |Pat Moran |Mark Kemp
Alynda Segarra, the Bronx-bred, New Orleans–based singer-songwriter who leads Hurray for the Riff Raff, sounds invigorated as the band prepares to get back in the van for yet another lengthy West Coast trek. Today it’ll be about eight hours, from Sacramento to San Diego. Segarra and crew have been rolling across the U.S. (with a quick stop in Canada) for more than a month, playing shows in support of their eighth studio album, The Past Is Still Alive (Nonesuch).
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Jun 26, 2024 | 
jazztimes.com | Mac Randall
Nearly two decades before COVID-19 was even a twinkle in a pangolin’s eye—if in fact those endearing critters had any coronavirus connection at all—John Scofield was already messing around with looping devices to, as he puts it, “extend the sound” of his guitar.
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Mar 3, 2024 | 
acousticguitar.com | Mac Randall |Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers |James Rotondi |Julie Bergman
In February of 2022, Austrian jazz guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel walked into 25th Street Recording in Oakland, California, to make his 24th album as a leader. Accompanying him were acoustic bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade, esteemed players with whom he had shared many a gig over the years—and who’d also been the rhythm section for his previous album, 2020’s Angular Blues.
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Jan 5, 2024 | 
acousticguitar.com | Mac Randall |Steve James |Andrew DuBrock |Martin Keith
The greatest repairpeople are those whose work is invisible. If done right, a perfect repair disappears completely, leaving behind nothing but a story. Last week, the community of luthiers mourned the loss of the great Frank Ford. The legacy Frank leaves behind is much greater than just the story of his work—it is also a legacy of community, innovation, education, and friendship.
