Search:

Matt, neither of these qualify as "odd"--rather, they are AWESOME! My son, also named Matt, gave me two treasures for Father's Day this year: A copy of the classic Skaggs-Rice vinyl, with the cover...

Bela Fleck on banjo, Chris Eldridge and Brian Sutton on Guitar, Michael Cleveland on fiddle, Mark Shatz on bass, Sam on mandolin and fiddle. It was epic! It was so cool to hear them play Swing 51...

David says he's lost some speed, but that's not obvious to me. The best rhythm player of all time in my book and a master (along with Statman) with amazingly expressive, double-stop tremolos. And...

I just got off a FaceTime call with Andy as he wanted me to check a few things out, visually, on his new acquisition. Will probably need some new frets and perhaps a new pearl nut later on this Fall....

I just had a long talk with Andy and I now stand corrected on an earlier post of mine...

Andy's father did not buy him his original Loar F5... Andy bought it with his own money in the mid-1960's...

Great to hear this. Now he needs one of those MacArthur genius grants because he is one.

A couple of weeks ago Andy Statman made the move and purchased a Lloyd Loar F5 from Larry Wexer (wexerguitars.com) in New York City. His father purchased a Loar for him when he was a teenager, but...

Wow!
on Friday I was talking to a class about chord-melody a/k/a "Jethro Style", mentioning recordings that featured ample displays of his pioneering technique. I said "one you gotta get is...

A new MP3 has been added to the Mandolin Cafe MP3 page and podcast.

Song title: Rip Off
By: Jethro Burns - Rip Off from the album Tea For One
...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9h6WkEMBmk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9h6WkEMBmk

You will enjoy Anthony talking about John's guitars in this clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tcju58SlHc

It's Sad Day. One of our good ones has passed. Thank you Peter for all you've given. A shining light in the mando world. Beautiful tunes. Beautiful tones. He opened up many doors with that great big...

Peter could play anything on the mandolin(also fiddle and guitar)and play it at master level. He did an awful lot to showcase and popularize the mandolin, his versatility and virtuosity showing us...

Thanks everyone. There’s always so much to learn when you try to copy something. It’s an exercise that improves your ability to see something. Looking and seeing are two different things. The...

Here is my latest. Not an exact Griffith copy, as I have not seen the original. But more of a concept instrument of the possible existence of a second Loar signed A5.
Pic guard by Darryl Wolfe,...

Many folks have had great results for arthritis, muscle pain, etc with Ridiculous Paste. It's made of plants, and is completely free of synthetics. You rub it into your skin in the area that's...

Just picked this up from Acoustic Disc. What a joy! First/second/third... takes of Minor Swing, 16-16, Dawg Patch, with Tony Rice, Mike Marshall, Eddie Gomez. Takes the listener right back to when...

Hal was a dear friend and mentor. Knowing him and playing with him was one of the great privileges of my life. He taught America how to tap its foot from the 60s to now. 365 gold records and 8...

Hang, you HAVE to watch this. Click the image to start video. Fast forward to 3:00 mark if you just can't stand it. I'd say if Calton Cases were a public stock the price would be rising at the...

Hang on to your hats for this bit of news. What I'm told is Byron and his crew are going to post and confirm this on the web as well, where I don't know but I'd guess on Facebook:

Byron's Loar was...

Just saw video on FB. The Loar survived.

Terrible news. Beyond the possibilities of personal injury and financial harm, there is the very real chance that numbers of historically important instruments may have been lost. So sorry for Byron,...

Rest in peace. Always sad to see a long-time member move on. On behalf of the Mandolin Cafe, condolences to his family and friends.

I appreciate everyone's kind words, and I've got good news. A few generous souls contacted me offline and I've consented to work with Baron Collins-Hill to revamp the old site and put a more current...

Ted's leadership as this forum's chief moderator has been instrumental in the Cafe's enduring online presence so this change, of which I've been aware of for some time, gives me heartburn and then...