In some parts of the world I am incredibly tall. Unfortunately, I live in Montreal and not amongst the pygmies of central Africa and thus remain firmly rooted in the slightly below average height range. For the next month however, I can satisfy any lingering fantasies of giganticism through my work in the shop. I recently started the woodwork on a tenor guitar that I will be showing at the Montreal Guitar Show in the beginning of July. I can say with relative certainty that I haven't actually grown in the past few weeks, but working on such a small guitar certainly makes it seem that way...
On the left is a nearly complete Western Red Cedar / Indian Rosewood guitar next to the top and back of the tenor
So what is a tenor guitar you ask? (go ahead, ask....I'll wait...) A tenor guitar is basically a regular guitar's kid brother -- four strings, smaller, and tuned in fifths. I'm not sure why a kid brother would be tuned in fifths instead of fourths, but let's just go with the analogy, okay? In the evolution of the modern guitar, tenors were introduced in the 1920's as the missing link between the banjo and guitar. They provided banjo players with a feel they were accustomed to but with the voice of a guitar. They're also super cool.
In other exciting news, for those of you who read Acoustic Guitar Magazine, turn to page 53 of the current issue (with Neko Case holding a tenor guitar on the cover!) to see a picture of one of my guitars. Huzzah!
First, let's get something straight. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, we do actually spend most of our time building guitars and not promoting/attending concerts. That having been said, we've got a killer shop concert planned for this weekend...
(thanks Julia for the poster!)
Ken Whiteley is officially the real deal. A multi-instrumentalist with a powerful voice that draws from a deep repertoire of blues, gospel, and folk music, Ken's been performing and recording since the 60's. When Mike O'Brien stopped by the shop the other day to return one of Jeremy's guitars he had been borrowing, he got to talking about Ken and said, "He's like Jedi, man. Right when you think he's completely blown your mind he plays something else and blows it even more."
The town I grew up in has no stoplights -- I am not from a city. Moving to Montreal last fall was a big change for many reasons and living in a city for the first time was one of the biggest. I was sure I'd be lost in a sea of unknown (and much more fashionably attired) people without any sense of community. I could not have been more wrong. I am constantly surprised at all the familiar faces and friends we run into at concerts, art exhibits, and even just walking down the sidewalk. At the beginning of the month we hosted another fantastic shop concert that really made me appreciate this feeling. At one point in each of their sets both Li'l Andy and Terry Joe Banjo had the crowd sing along and everyone sang together. Looking around and seeing a crowd of friends and smiling singers made me realize that we really are part of a community here, even in a "big city" like Montreal. And I'll tell you, it feels pretty good!
The night started with a stellar performance by Terry Joe Banjo. Terry Joe frails a long necked Gibson 5 string banjo like no one I've ever seen. One of my all-time heroes Doc Watson described Terry Joe's playing as "...some mighty fine banjo picking... I've never heard anyone frail that fast in all my life." Trust me, if Doc Watson says you're good, you're good. Terry Joe is also quite a versatile performer playing guitar, harmonica, a paper bag (apparently Tim Horton's bags have superior acoustic properties), and doing a little shuffle tap dance at various points throughout his set. You can hear one of his songs, "For Pete's Sake", below...
"For Pete's Sake" - Terry Joe Banjo (audio only)
About 3 days into my first guitar building course Pat and Joshia brought me into Ottawa to see a friend's concert. Little did I know then that over four years later I would have seen Li'l Andy play countless shows and actually get the chance to have him perform in our shop! The CBC (that's Canadian for NPR for my American comrades) described Andy as having a "knack for packing the entire tear-jerking history of country music into one sucker-punch to the gut". Normally I don't enjoy getting punched in the gut (sucker or not), but I'll take it every time when Andy's doing the singing. Listen to him belt it out on "Auburn Fades Away"...
"Auburn Fades Away" - Li'l Andy (audio only)
ps. Andy, if you read this, next time I see you please don't actually punch me in the gut.
We're all very excited to be one of the venues for Nuit Blanche on Feb. 28th. Here is the current music line-up and make sure to check back for updates and additions!
We both really enjoy brewing beer. It's incredibly simple to do and the results are immensely satisfying. Thanks to some direction from a local brewing club, the MontreAlers, we found a great brewing supply store a short walk from our apartment. Now, two healthy young males can be expected to enjoy a reasonable amount of beer over the course of week, but I'm pretty sure the guy who works in the beer store is convinced that we are hard-core alcoholics. Over the past month and a half we've brewed nearly 70 liters of beer (for those accustomed to English measurements, 70 liters = A LOT OF BEER). Fortunately, for both our shop productivity and health of livers, most of that beer has been consumed during our in-shop concerts. We held our second such concert last Friday and had an absolutely fantastic time.
The night started with a big dinner for both bands. It was truly a feast fit for a king -- as long as you're a vegetarian king who loves delicious black bean soup, apple crisp, and homebrewed beer. The first band to perform was a young classical guitar duo, Guitartare. Benjamin and Jean-Francois are both recent graduates who are beginning to perform all over Montreal. Watch the clip below to hear "The Spanish Knight and the Greek Horse" (Jean-Francois is playing one of Jeremy's gutiars).
The second band of the night were our friends Lake of Stew. They put on a great show and their vocal harmonies and all acoustic lineup sounded incredible in the shop. The song below is a favorite of ours and was a special encore request from Jeremy.
Here's the roster from left to right (with Rick in the front): Rick Rigby (mandolin), Dina Cindric (accordion), Brad Levia (slide and acoustic guitar), Daniel McKell (guitar), Mike Rigby (guitar), Julia Narveson (bass), Annabelle Chvostek (violin).
On the left is a nearly complete Western Red Cedar / Indian Rosewood guitar next to the top and back of the tenor
