Monday, February 14, 2011

Go forth and prosper...

It's an odd mix of excitement and sadness when one of my guitars leaves the warm cozy comfort of the shop and strikes out its own into the harsh world. You build up a relationship with each guitar -- an endearing, sometimes contentious familiarity with these funny little boxes of wood that you'll (hopefully) never see again. On the other hand, rent is due and I enjoy eating every day so sell sell sell!

Here's one of mine at the 12th Fret in Toronto....



And another at the Music Emporium outside of Boston...


Monday, February 7, 2011

Music promoting for dummies

Since starting the shop, we inadvertently stumbled upon a rather profound and paradigm-altering method of music promotion. Perhaps this is being careless, but I'm going to share with you this sure-fire secret to success -- don't take any money for yourself. Through no fault of our own, the shop has developed into "Montreal's hottest new venue"1. A few months ago Michael Jerome Browne contacted me about playing in the shop. My position as object in the previous sentence should be of note -- people are now asking US to play. And not just any people; people like Michael Jerome Browne! Here's some evidence as to why this is good news....



1 So, I may or may not have been the one to say this.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The Best Restaurant in the World

If sitcoms have taught me one thing about addressing the public (besides imagining a less than fully clothed audience -- congratulations dear internet, you are now naked) it's to start with a joke...

What's the difference between a guitar maker and large pizza?

A large pizza can feed a family of four.

Bam! There we go. Now onto the business at hand, which is, well, business. One of the pleasant side affects of making guitars is the need to sell them. This provides ample excuses for extended "business trips" camouflaged under the guise of a "sales trip". So, part of my travels this past year were spent visiting various guitar stores and dealers in an effort to gently thrust my name into the public consciousness.

Passing through Asheville, North Carolina meant several things -- beer festival, roller derby, contra-dancing, old-time music, Dream Guitars, and the best restaurant in the world. Just north of Asheville the folks at Dream Guitars (dreamguitars.com) have an incredibly impressive collection of instruments and were rather smitten with one of my tenor guitars. It has since sold, but here's a video they posted to help in the effort...


So, what's the best restaurant in the world? SALSA'S. Hands down, no questions asked, it's SALSA'S.