by Bert Daniel | Jan 10, 2025 | Welcome Column
Editor’s Note: I’d like to welcome a new columnist, Sean Barry to our writing staff. I’m looking forward to hearing more from him. Take it away, Sean. In October 1978 Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys appeared at the Coffee House at UC Davis, a show I was unable to...
by Bert Daniel | Feb 13, 2025 | Welcome Column
Part one: California Zephyr: Getting in When I graduated from UC Davis in the mid-1970s with a degree in Zoology, I decided, like so many others in my place might have, to join an established band, and go on to make dozens, if not scores, of dollars and a few platinum...
by Bert Daniel | Feb 26, 2025 | Welcome Column
Unless you count the untold dozens of dollars most bands pay themselves, the biggest expense by far is travel. It is daunting enough to move a solo or duo act from home 20 miles to Point A and then 20 more miles to Point B while ensuring that everyone arrives on time...
by Bert Daniel | Mar 9, 2025 | Welcome Column
The pedal steel guitar: what it is, how it works Sean J. Barry-2025 The pedal steel guitar is closely identified with country music as a main contributor to the “traditional” Nashville sound, but it has also been used frequently in jazz, swing, and rock music. The...
by Bert Daniel | May 3, 2025 | Welcome Column
Brazilian rosewood seemed finally to be unavailable outside of Brazil, but a mix of legal exceptions such as lumber supposedly accumulated before the 1992 CITES Appendix I listing (“pre-CITES” wood) and wood salvaged from non-living sources (“stump wood,” purportedly...
by Bert Daniel | Apr 29, 2025 | Welcome Column
This is a factual account of the post-1960 history of Brazilian rosewood in US guitar production. Part 1 covers the effects of Brazilian rosewood availability changes on the CF Martin Company, the largest US importer and user of Brazilian rosewood for stringed...
