Last weekend I had a fantastic trip up north for the first ever Fretboard Summit. This was a Guitar player, builder, seller, enthusiast festival put on by The Fretboard Journal. Jason Verlinde and company pulled the stories and the artists from the pages of their magazine to create a truly one of a kind guitarcentric event.

I drove up the 5 on Thursday morning so I could get to Santa Cruz by 2:30. Anytime I travel up north from sunny SoCal I make sure to plan a stop by Santa Cruz Guitar Co. and get in on a tour by Richard Hoover. Richard is such a great person and incredibly knowledgeable about all things Acoustic Guitar. His tours are super informative and well worth a stop. After taking the tour and saying my hellos to Richard, Carolyn Sills and Darren Webb, I dropped off my SCGC sunburst OM for some minor warranty work. SCGC is so great at customer service and standing behind their Guitars…..I just can’t say enough good things about them.

Driving about 30 miles north, I arrived at The Costanoa Lodge right as the sun was setting. I checked in and drove out to my tent up on the hill. I was greeted by a couple of deer just grazing right in front my home for the next 3 days. After the drive a quick bathroom stop was in order and I ran into Jim Baggett. I’ve met Jim before during the Heritage Guitar Auctions of a few years back. Jim owns Mass Street Music and is an expert on vintage guitars and restoration. After chatting for a few, I made my way back to my tent and had my first experience with the adventure part of this weekend…..the Cold and the Tent. The tent is basically some 2×4’s wrapped in canvas with zero insulation. The nights were dropping below 50 so thankfully Costanoa supplied an electric blanket so you could attempt to stay warm. I broke out my Martin D-18GE Sinker and played for a few hours to kick off the weekend right. It’s always great to play your Guitar in a different environment….it just really helps spurn your creativity. Starting to feel the chill of the night kick in, I layered up, cranked up the blanket and threw a sleeping bag over the top of me for good measure. After adjusting to the wind and the strange sounds coming from around me, I did manage to get a little sleep.

Waking up Friday morning I made some much needed coffee which turned out to be really strong. Apparently I didn’t follow my wife’s instructions for the French Press and added way too much coffee! After my caffeine fix it was off to the outdoor shower. This was an interesting way to start my day, but all was good showering under the sun. I showed up at the lodge with guitar in hand at 10:00 am only to realize the Summit didn’t start until 12:00. Oh well, I grabbed a goodie bag and had a conversation with a women who had told me her tent didn’t have an electric blanket! She was much braver than me in those conditions and thankfully she got hooked up for the next 2 nights.

I started off the Summit by attending an alternate tuning workshop lead by Teja Gerken. Teja is a fantastic player and teacher who co-founded Peghead Nation. This was a great way to get a basic understanding of alternate tunings and the different ways to apply them. I’ve been wanting to incorporate alternate tunings in my playing for a while now so this was really helpful for me. I then headed over to the main tent to hear Richard Hoover speak. He covered some of the history of Costanoa, Guitar building, wood sustainability and Richard often mentions the “Get More Than They Give” philosophy of SCGC…..Such a perfect ambassador for this great event. Next up was Fingerstyle Jazz with Eric Skye. I’ve had the chance to take a few clinics with Eric and also attend a few of his live performances. I’ve written about him here on my blog and also posted his “30 Day Guitar Challenge” videos, which I highly recommend. Eric is just so great at looking at and thinking about different approaches to your everyday Guitar playing. It’s always great to listen to him play and talk about his ideas. The next talk was probably the highlight of the weekend for me personally. David Crosby and Joe Henry held a conversation about record producing and songwriting. They just really emphasized the simplicity of a great song when it comes to you and not to try and “polish a turd”. The experience these two have is extraordinary so I could of listened to this talk for hours. David has such a storied history and Joe is so articulate in his questions and answers……I just really, really enjoyed this talk. Next up was The Golden Era of Chicago Guitarmaking with Mark Demaray. This was a very informative talk on the lesser known Guitar builders of the 1930’s including Washburn, Regal, Kay and Oahu. It was a great demonstration on the tone and affordability of these vintage instruments. The discussion was closed out with a duo performance by Matt Munisteri and Scott Nygaard using some of these classic instruments….good stuff! After the talk it was back to the tent for some food, electric blanket warmth and time to prepare for the performances of the evening.

Richard Hoover – Santa Cruz Guitar Co.

By the time I arrived at the main tent with beverage in hand, bundled up in my peacoat, scarf and beanie, I sat down for a unique performance by Marcus Eaton. I say unique because of the way he incorporates looper pedals into his songs. He must be using at least three of these looper pedals at a time in his music. It was cool and different and Marcus played great. Next up was the legend David Crosby, who it turns out jams alot with Marcus Eaton. David started his set by jokingly giving Jason a hard time about how cold it was. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to shout out, “You should try sleeping in one”. David and the crowd got a good laugh out of that one. Anyone who had slept in one of those tents the night before knew exactly what I was talking about. David performed great and it was a real treat to see him play and talk in this Fretboard Summit setting. You could tell everyone from players to builders to Guitar enthusiasts were having a great time…..It just seemed like so many of us were in our element. After David’s superb set it was time for Bill Frisell. Bill seemed to be the celebrity of the weekend with everyone wanting to jam with him. As I was watching his set from the side of the tent I felt as if I was witnessing some sort of mad scientist extracting marvelous tones out of his guitar and amp. It was truly something to behold. His atmospheric soundscapes and layered jazz progressions were a bit mind blowing, especially to someone such as myself who has never seen Bill perform. This was Guitar artistry at it’s finest. Closing out the first night of the Summit was Blake Mills. The first thing I noticed about Blake was the unusual amp set up he was using. The great thing about an event like the Fretboard Summit is you don’t have to go far to get the inside scoop on who is using what. As a matter of fact, you can probably just ask the person standing next to you as I did. I was quickly informed about the old Bell & Howell 16mm Movie Projector that he uses as part of his rig…..Now this is something I’ve never seen or heard before. Blake is a sensational musician with an amazing tone and feel for his music. I was genuinely so impressed by his playing that I had to seek out more of his music when I returned home Sunday evening.

https://youtu.be/2CMr9HOdLQg
Bill Frisell – Mad Guitar Scientist

That’s a wrap on Day 1 of The Fretboard Summit. I’ll have a blog up about Day 2 soon to conclude my story of this fabulous weekend.

[edit] – Blake Mills actually played on Saturday night. The weekend kinda blended together……it was that good!