Are you ready for summer? Several of the staff have already bought porch picker guitars (see our May Staff Picks for info), and we have some really fun (and super portable) instruments that are perfect for beginners just starting out, to pros looking for a cool summer diversion like ukes, banjo ukes, beginner guitars and more. Interested in playing mando? Check out the vintage inspired Eastman 404 A style, oval hole mando we just got in. Whatever you’re doing this summer, don’t forget to make time for some porch playing with friends!
Speaking of playing with friends, we had a great visit last week with Louis Meyers of the Folk Alliance – early registration for the 2015 February International Folk Alliance Conference & Winter Music Camp, happening in Kansas City, starts on July 1. No matter if you’re a musician, a luthier, a shop, or a non-playing music fan of just about any genre, we guarantee you’ll find it to be an amazing experience. We witnessed everything from the expected singer-songwriter folk tunes to jazz, rockabilly, country, hi-octane bluegrass and much more. 2015 promises to be even better and you can be assured, we’ll be there!
It’s been an event-full month and we’re not done yet! This Saturday, May 24, don’t miss the Taylor Shindig at Mass Street Music as we celebrate Taylor Guitars with giveaways, special deals and live performances from Rick Frydman, Darrell Lea, Lana Maree Haas, Bob Heckler, Gary McKnight and Ellie Lebar. Mark your calendars too for June 7 when Presonus rep Michael Canning returns for another info filled Home Recording free clinic – “From Riff to Release”. We’ll be diving right into the software used for home recording! Check out all of our upcoming events here.
If you’re in the Lawrence area and looking to get the kids into music experiences this summer, there are some great opportunities including the return of Americana Music Academy’s Kids Summer Music Camp. This is a week long camp filled with music, art and activities. There is a session coming right up June 2-6, and another August 4-8. We’re excited that the kids will be coming to Mass Street for a tour as part of the camp! Interested? Give Americana a call at 785-830-9640. If you’re looking for straight up guitar lessons for kids, we’ll be having a month long Beginner Guitar for Kids class (ages 10 and up), taught by Bill Crahan, Michael Hamm & Tommy Perez of the Guitar Studio. The sessions will be every Saturday in June, and are held here at Mass Street Music. Contact Bill Crahan at 785-865-1402 for more info on these.
Rich (l.) and Marc of Taylor Guitars, with our own Jim B. (r) at the Taylor Road Show
It’s been a busy month with so many fun events at the store and we’d like to thank you – whether you checked us out online, stopped by the store to say hello, came to the Martin Guitar event, the Taylor Road Show or attended the mando workshop with the great Don Julin. Here’s a bit of the mini concert Don and Billy Strings put on after the mandolin workshop. Last but not least, just in case you missed it, a few of our favorite links from cyberspace this month…amazing photos of the INSIDE of instruments, and this fascinating article on the brains of guitar players.