1950 Epiphone 'Byron' Archtop

1950 Epiphone 'Byron' Archtop serial no. 59460 Sold 11 January 2011. I originally found this in Knoxville, Tennessee at Morelock Music, 15 March 2010. I had Joe Glaser in Nashville make a custom bridge.

Six Organs of Admittance

Ben Chasny/Six Organs of Admittance video for 'Eight Cognition/All You've Left from the 2005 album 'School Of The Flower' on Drag City Records

DuBourg Guitar

The 'Great Acoustics' article I wrote about Michael Hedges DuBourg Guitar for the July 2005 edition of Acoustic Guitar Magazine

DuBourg Photo by Mark Safron http://www.marksafron.com/

Courtesy of Acoustic Guitar http://www.acguitar.com/

The Maine Guitar

I collaborated with other prominent Maine luthiers in the creation of the 'Maine State Guitar' which was built for the 'Player's Art: Guitar Exhibition [May 7- July 17, 2005] at the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine.

Source Guitar Festival

In June 2004 I helped organize the 'Source Guitar Festival' in Lewiston, Maine. Organizing the festival gave me the opportunity to book some of my favorite guitarist. German Fingerstyle guitarist Peter Finger and Celtic fingerstyle guitarist Steve Baughman were on the top of my list.

An Introduction

My passion for acoustic guitars can be traced back to the 1970's when I first heard and fell in love with my mother's record of John Williams playing Bach’s Gavotte en Rondeau. I started playing guitar and taking lessons in 1981 after my father gave me his Yamaha classical guitar. In the early 80’s I was fortunate to discover the record ‘Routes to Django’, which featured the young gypsy guitarist Bireli Lagrene. Another milestone in my musical education was listening to the record ‘Passion, Grace, and Fire’ which introduced me to the breathtaking Flamenco guitar playing of Paco Delucia. These two acoustic guitar based recordings, really showed me that there was an entire world of ‘Hot’ guitar playing outside the realm of amplified players Jimi Hendrix and Edward Van Halen.

In 1990 after I was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy I decided to settle in Norfolk, Virginia and pursue a career playing music. In November of that year I began working at Ramblin' Conrads. Ramblin' Conrads was the premier folklore center and instrument shop in Tidewater, VA run by folk legend Bob Zentz and the store where I had recently bought my first Martin HD-28. Over the next 5 years at Ramblin' Conrads I was exposed to many fine hand built guitars as well as working sound for weekly in-store concerts with world class guitarists like Martin Simpson, Preston Reed, Bill Mize, Ed Gerhard, and Pierre Bensusan.

I first met Martin Simpson in 1991 at Ramblin' Conrads. After an incredible in-store performance he proudly showed off his new guitar built by English luthier Stefan Sobell. Soon after that meeting I found myself selling my Martin and patiently waiting for my first guitar to be built by Sobell. That Sobell, with it’s beautiful and responsive voice ultimately became my first teacher. It was also around this time that I discovered and fell in love with the music of Michael Hedges and Peter Finger. In particular, Peter Finger’s 1978 recording ‘Acoustic Rock Guitar’ and Michael’s first record ‘Breakfast in the Field’ which featured his use of the guitar hand built by his friend Ken DuBourg, has grown over the years to become a major inspiration for me.

Eric Garrison 's Curran OM

"I fell in love with it. It's a gorgeous instrument, and I am thoroughly enjoying getting to know it and learning from it."

I've been playing a Taylor jumbo (an 815) as my main performance instrument since the late Eighties, and I've spent all that time convinced, for a number of reasons, that the Jumbo was the best body size and style for me. So, I was a bit surprised to find myself bringing home the OM last summer. Holding it in my hands and playing it, the guitar felt so delicate in comparison to my old warhorse Taylor. I spent a couple of months with the OM before bringing it on a gig, and I was thoroughly smitten with it as a live performance instrument. I've since been using it on some studio stuff, and it's a truly wonderful all-round instrument with a lovely, full voice and a sweetly delicate feel. Thanks for creating such a wonderful instrument. I feel privileged to call it my own! Best, Eric Garrison http://www.ericgarrison.net/