Martin Guitar & Co., probably the most famous guitar manufacturer, celebrates 175 years of production this week, September 9, 1833 being the date on which Christian Friedrich Martin immigrated to New York.

During that same year “Fritz,” as Martin was known, opened a guitar workshop in the loft of 196 Hudson Street, on the Lower East Side, and thus established C F Martin & Company.

For six generations the Martin family, originally from Markneukirchen, Saxony, and now of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, have designed and built guitars, always being innovative and providing the guitars to meet he needs of the day.

The company designed the mighty Dreadnought guitar, introduced in 1916, and this large-bodied guitar became the instrument for the bluegrass guitarist, being well-suited to backing up vocals, fiddles and banjos. Jimmy Martin, followed Clyde Moody, Lester Flatt and Carter Stanley in playing a Martin Dreadnought. Del McCoury, Clarence White, Charlie Waller, Charles Sawtelle, Tony Rice and David Grier continued the line. [This is an adaptation of a history published in 'British Bluegrass News' in February 1993.]

However, I don’t want to simply regurgitate a ‘dry’ history about the Martin dynasty. It is after all an oft-told and well-known story.

There is a multi-part history on he C.F. Martin & Company website. Also there was an excellent article by Dave McCarty, himself a Martin guitar player, in the March 2008 edition of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine. Other publications have, or are, marking the occasion with their own stories.

So, I thought that I would ask a few guitarists for their thoughts about Martin guitars and talk about the instruments themselves. Firstly, I questioned Dan Tyminski ….

When did you acquire your first Martin and what model was it?

“Three months after I joined Alison I got a 1946 D28 Herringbone (my first guitar).”

Have you had others since?

“Yes, I have since acquired a 1942 and a 1934 (both Herringbones).”

Did you use the Martin for the recordings for Wheels?

“Yes, for Wheels and ALL other recordings I use my 1946.”

(more…)

Banjo players – and fans of Jimmy Martin – know Chris Warner for his driving style and hard hitting approach to the five string. Chris worked twice for Martin as a member of his Sunny Mountain Boys, from 1967-69, and again in the late 1980s.

During that second stint with Martin, Chris recorded two albums for Webco, All Original and Chris Warner & Friends, released as LPs and now out of print. He has recently compiled them both as a CD, Back Again, with 24 tracks featuring Warner as both banjoist and vocalist.

The tracks from All Original have Chris singing all lead vocals, with Del McCoury on tenor, and those from Chris Warner & Friends, have singing duties shared among Warner, Dudley Connell and Audie Blaylock.

But don’t think that banjo tunes get short shrift here. Chris knocks out 11 instrumentals mixed with 13 vocal tracks.

Newly minted bluegrass fans may not be aware of Warner’s top flight picking – and even long time listeners may not know him as a vocalist. Kudos to Chris for making this material available again, and to Pinecastle Records for their assistance in making it happen.

Audio samples for each track and online ordering are enabled on the Tom Adams web site, where Tom addresses the rumor that he and Chris are starting a band.

“With no official band name, no dates booked, and a disagreement over whether or not to wear matching shoes, I’d have to say yes, I believe there is a rumor that Chris and I are starting a band.”

I guess that settles that.

This post is a contribution from Kip Martin. A former Sunny Mountain Boy, Kip is a bassist and singer based near Washington D.C. and has worked with many popular East Cost bluegrass artists..

I am happy to report and wish my congratulations to Dudley Connell and Sally Love who tied the knot…YESTERDAY! I talked with Dudley today and I can assure you yesterday was about the happiest day of his life.

When we talked today, he had to leave, saying, “Gotta go, Kip…my wife is here! Man that felt good to say!”

God bless you two!

We posted last year about the formation of Seneca Rocks!, a new part-time bluegrass band made up of prominent veteran performers. The group include Dudley Connell on guitar, Tom Adams on banjo, David McLaughlin on mandolin, Sally Love on guitar and Marshall Wilborn on bass. Dudley and Sally are the group’s primary vocalists.

They started working on a debut recording last summer, and Tom Adams recently reported that they have were back in the studio last week trying to get things completed. No word yet on when it might be finished or released.

Our June ‘06 post has a good bit of background on this group, and some comment from the band members on the inescapable “Johnson Mountain Boys reunion” vibe that comes to mind when you see Adams, Connell, McLaughlin and Wilborn together on stage.