• Tony Williamson Launching Loar Era Themed Blog


    SILER CITY, N.C. — Mandolin Central publisher Tony Williamson, one of the leading authorities on early Gibson Mandolins and Lloyd Loar, has announced the launch today of a weekly blog featuring rare and previously undocumented information regarding the era and the birth of the modern F-5 mandolin.

    As the 100th anniversary of the first Loar signed instrument approaches (June 1), using sources such as early newspapers, magazines, catalogs and public records, Williamson invites the public along on a journey as he shares the events of 100 years ago.

    About the new venture Williamson told us, "It all makes for a fascinating story. I hope mandolin aficionados will join me as we check in with Lloyd Loar, musician, inventor and impresario; a team of brilliant craftsmen at Gibson; a quintet of talented musicians and the summer tour of 1922 where they first began playing these instruments. By then, we will even be able to access a set list and music."

    Additional Information

    Comments 10 Comments
    1. Bob Dispennette's Avatar
      Bob Dispennette -
      Great start to what will surely be a wonderful journey Tony.
    1. William Smith's Avatar
      William Smith -
      This is great stuff Tony! Very appreciative of your sharing this knowledge! Well done my friend.
    1. Tom Fuldner's Avatar
      Tom Fuldner -
      I love this! Thanks for your great work, Tony.
    1. f5gibson's Avatar
      f5gibson -
      Very interesting. Do you have a mailing list so I don't miss any upcoming episodes?
    1. Mandolin Cafe's Avatar
      Mandolin Cafe -
      New episodes, as long as they are produced, will have a home on the Forum as a notice being pulled in through RSS - Really Simple Syndication, and will appear as a post. Here's the first episode notice pulled in, below.

      We do this for a few other sites of interest that publish news and information (Mandolin Archive; Mandolins and Beer Podcast; Stolen Instrument Notices from our own Classifieds; Today in History; MP3 of the Day, new instrument posts by Elderly, Music Emporium, Gryphon, Mass. Street and others, and have this same capability):

      Episode #1
    1. Paul Statman's Avatar
      Paul Statman -
      Wonderful. Thanks, Tony. Looking forward to the next installment!
    1. Terryg8's Avatar
      Terryg8 -
      I have a Loar F style mando and I would love to see some comments.
    1. Cary Fagan's Avatar
      Cary Fagan -
      Great first entry. There doesn't seem any way of subscribing to the blog in order to be notified of new entries. I guess we'll have to keep an eye out for the mandolincafe notices.
    1. Sue Rieter's Avatar
      Sue Rieter -
      Informative and entertaining; it doesn't get much better
    1. Mandolin Cafe's Avatar
      Mandolin Cafe -
      Quote Originally Posted by Cary Fagan View Post
      Great first entry. There doesn't seem any way of subscribing to the blog in order to be notified of new entries. I guess we'll have to keep an eye out for the mandolincafe notices.
      And indeed, they will appear when new episodes are published.