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Events & Interviews

Interview with Randy Osborne

In July of 2024, I was joined by guitarist, author, historian, and collector, Randy Osborne, at the back of the San Anselmo Inn in Marin County, California. Randy is a recognized authority on the history of the guitar in Argentina and a well known figure in the San Francisco Bay Area guitar scene. Over the next hour, he shared his story as a rock guitarist in the turbulent 1960s, his passion for the blues and jazz and how he came to teach both, his transition to classical guitar, and his eventual turn to collecting and scholarship. In 2020, Randy co-authored, Annotations for the History of the Classical Guitar in Argentina 1822-2000, a comprehensive four volume work featuring biographies, media excerpts, concert programs, and pictorials. Randy is the proprietor of Fine Fretted String Instruments in the South Bay. Established in 1987, FFSI offers a wide selection of  guitars as well as bowed stringed instruments: https://finefretted.com/

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Exploring Three Centuries of Guitar

In the fall of 2023, an event showcasing the Austin-Marie Collection of historical guitars was held at the Marin Art & Garden Center in Ross, California. Guitar curator Jeff Wells spoke about the collection and was joined by guitarists Jon Mendle, Christopher Mallett, Carolyn Smith, and Richard Savino. The artists performed period music on selected instruments from the collection including seventeenth century guitars by Sellas and Voboam, the earliest extant guitar with six individual strings by Fabricatore, nineteenth century instruments by Lacote, Laprevotte, and Josset, and an 1834 C.F. Martin from Martin’s first year of guitar making in America.

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Guitar Making in Nineteenth Century London

In December 2021, I met with Dr. James Westbrook to discuss his newest book, “Guitar Making in Nineteenth Century London,” scheduled for publication in early 2023. We met at the back of the San Anselmo Inn in San Anselmo. California and were joined by Richard Savino, John Mello, Randy Osborne, Steve Stein, and others for an hour-long discussion on London guitar makers in the early nineteenth century.

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Cambridge Guitar Symposium

In 2019, I traveled to Churchill College in the University of Cambridge to interview three of the world’s leading guitar scholars, Christopher Page, James Westbrook, and Erik Stenstadvold in a three-hour-long symposium covering a wide variety of topics ranging from Francisco Corbetta at the Restoration Court, the ebb and flow of the guitar’s popularity over the last four centuries, and the nineteenth century’s fascinating guitar impresario and diarist, Nicolai Petrovich Makarov. The symposium proved that studying the history of the guitar can be interesting, educational, and all the while entertaining.

Watch Interview

Interview with Randy Osborne

In July of 2024, I was joined by guitarist, author, historian, and collector, Randy Osborne, at the back of the San Anselmo Inn in Marin County, California. Randy is a recognized authority on the history of the guitar in Argentina and a well known figure in the San Francisco Bay Area guitar scene. Over the next hour, he shared his story as a rock guitarist in the turbulent 1960s, his passion for the blues and jazz and how he came to teach both, his transition to classical guitar, and his eventual turn to collecting and scholarship. In 2020, Randy co-authored, Annotations for the History of the Classical Guitar in Argentina 1822-2000, a comprehensive four volume work featuring biographies, media excerpts, concert programs, and pictorials. Randy is the proprietor of Fine Fretted String Instruments in the South Bay. Established in 1987, FFSI offers a wide selection of  guitars as well as bowed stringed instruments: https://finefretted.com/

Watch Interview

Exploring Three Centuries of Guitar

In the fall of 2023, an event showcasing the Austin-Marie Collection of historical guitars was held at the Marin Art & Garden Center in Ross, California. Guitar curator Jeff Wells spoke about the collection and was joined by guitarists Jon Mendle, Christopher Mallett, Carolyn Smith, and Richard Savino. The artists performed period music on selected instruments from the collection including seventeenth century guitars by Sellas and Voboam, the earliest extant guitar with six individual strings by Fabricatore, nineteenth century instruments by Lacote, Laprevotte, and Josset, and an 1834 C.F. Martin from Martin’s first year of guitar making in America.

Watch Interview

Guitar Making in Nineteenth Century London

In December 2021, I met with Dr. James Westbrook to discuss his newest book, “Guitar Making in Nineteenth Century London,” scheduled for publication in early 2023. We met at the back of the San Anselmo Inn in San Anselmo. California and were joined by Richard Savino, John Mello, Randy Osborne, Steve Stein, and others for an hour-long discussion on London guitar makers in the early nineteenth century.

Watch Interview

Cambridge Guitar Symposium

In 2019, I traveled to Churchill College in the University of Cambridge to interview three of the world’s leading guitar scholars, Christopher Page, James Westbrook, and Erik Stenstadvold in a three-hour-long symposium covering a wide variety of topics ranging from Francisco Corbetta at the Restoration Court, the ebb and flow of the guitar’s popularity over the last four centuries, and the nineteenth century’s fascinating guitar impresario and diarist, Nicolai Petrovich Makarov. The symposium proved that studying the history of the guitar can be interesting, educational, and all the while entertaining.

Watch Interview