Thanks to UKBluegrass.com for posting an anthology of interviews and other features that have appeared on the website over the past few years. The list comprises:
The logo (above) was designed by Charlotte Carrivick of the Carrivick Sisters.
The European Bluegrass Blog is for sharing news and other information among everyone concerned with bluegrass music in Europe. Your input is always welcome. Contact the European Bluegrass Blog team by E-Mail. Please send text as normal mail message and attach no more than two pictures.
Mac and Hazel at their favorite festival, Thomas Point Beach in Brunswick, Maine USA |
![]() The person who dominates this history is Christian Frederick Martin, Sr., America's first major guitar maker and the founder of the Martin Guitar Company, which continues to produce outstanding flat-top steel string guitars. Born in 1792, C.F. Martin, Sr. emigrated from his native Saxony (Germany) to New York in 1833. He quickly established a guitar making business producing instruments modeled after those of his mentor Johann Stauffer of Vienna, Austria. By the time he moved his family and business to Pennsylvania, USA in 1839, Martin had absorbed and integrated the influence of Spanish guitars he had seen and heard in New York. In Pennsylvania he evolved further inventing a uniquely American guitar that was fully developed shortly before 1863.
Christian "Chris" Martin IV contributed personal family history as well as Martin Guitar Company history to this publication. Various scholars, guitar collectors and noted historians were invited to contribute essays for this book's historic content. In all, there are 5 authors and 2 editors -- all at the top of their individual fields in music and guitars.
This unprecedented history book is simply a fascinating read -- both for the scholar and the average music fan. if you own a Martin guitar, or if you play an instrument, or if you are a lover of vintage instruments in general... this book will serve you well for years to come. There are few, if any, music publications as detailed and as well researched as 'Inventing the American Guitar'. A real bonus for the general public is the low purchasing price (see prices below). I have no idea how the publisher Hal Leonard Books manufactured such a beautiful piece of work for such a low price. I have seen countless similar art and wilderness 'coffee table' books sell for $150 - $200 USD. I would argue that an "encyclopedia" such as this may come along but once-in-a-lifetime. Until now, nothing has come close to the meticulous work done in this finest of music history publications. A pure masterpiece by any standard. A full review/article will appear in a future issue of Bluegrass Europe Magazine. | ||||
Prices online: €35, - €45, / $40.00 - 50.00 USD
Publisher: Hal Leonard Books
Publishing Date: October 2013
| ||||
Inventory #HL 00333271 | ||||
ISBN: 9781458405760 | ||||
UPC: 884088578350 | ||||
Width: 10.75" | ||||
Length: 11.25" | ||||
Hardcover, 310 pages |