I had the great fortune of spending a week with some of the finest guitarists (Tony McManus, Al Petteway, Rolly Brown, Paul Asbell, and many more) and luthiers (John Slobod, John Bogdanovich, Gerald Sheppard, Michael Bashkin) on the planet last week at The Swannanoa Gathering here in beautiful Western NC. What an amazing experience. I learned so much and made so many new friends, my head is still spinning! Best of all, I got my guitars into the hands of many of those folks, and they all had positive things to say and were incredibly encouraging. It was great just hanging out, eating, drinking, and laughing with Tony, and picking John Slobod’s brain at every opportunity. He is so generous with his knowledge and experiences, and his guitars are among the finest I’ve ever played. So humbling.

Here’s one of several clips of Tony playing the prototype of my Odalisque model, which I’ve nicknamed Bullseye due to its unfortunate run-in with a gyroscope-turned-projectile a few weeks ago, but that’s another story… This was at the end of the first day. I love watching his left hand.

John Slobod, left, talks shop with John Bogdanovich, right.

What a great event! I had a blast representing Dream Guitars and working with Scott Little, and I even managed to take a class on alternate tunings. I’m already looking forward to next year, and I hope to take a songwriting class with the likes of Livingston Taylor or Janis Ian, both of whom were instructors this year. Amazing!