Steve Earle - The Latest Martin Signature Guitar
Jun 23rd, 2008 by Mike
When I read that Steve Earle had worked with Matt Umanov, the owner of a guitar shop in Greenwich Village, to design a signature Martin acoustic guitar I was a little suprised. I always think of Steve Earl as a mandolin player and in particular think of Copperhead Road. Of course that is an old track, so I did a bit of searching around and found this much more recent video of him playing Tennesee Blues on acoustic guitar:
The Martin M-21 Steve Earle Custom Edition Signature Model will be signed by both designers. Naturally the M-21 is crafted from superb solid tonewoods. Respected for its clear rich tone, the top is Italian alpine spruce. Add to this 5/16” forward-shifted scalloped top bracing to enhance balance and responsiveness. The back and sides are East Indian rosewood for projection, and warmth. The neck is crafted from mahogany, has a low profile and is 1 11/16” at the nut. The headplate, fingerboard and bridge are also made from East Indian rosewood.
Like Martin Style 21s of the past, the M-21 Steve Earle Custom Edition tkaes from Style 18 and Style 28 appointments, and adds a few unique to Style 21. The Old Style gold C.F. Martin logo decal and butterbean buttons on the nickel Waverly tunering machines lend the headstock a classic look.
Understated top and back purfling and tortoise-color binding blend kindly with the rosette and checkerboard backstrip.
The fingerboard features Style 28 position markers that become smaller from the 5th to the 17th frets, and the “black with white dots” bridge pins and end pin also are classic Style 21.
For readers in the USA check out Steve Earle's website for details of his North American tour, which continues in Tucson, Arizona on June 27 and includes guest performances with Allison Moorer.
Martin Simpson's expressive playing of Celtic Aires is truly breathtaking. Even when he plays a single line with no accompaniment, he skillfully chooses the position of the notes to set the tone. And what tone and color he achieves from his 
" if you want to find out what he is all about!
"Tune it or Die!", a great slogan I saw on a t-shirt at a session recently. If you are playing by yourself, as long as the guitar is in tune with itself it doesn't matter too much. Or does it? I find that by always keeping my guitars at concert pitch my ear improves. I am better at recognizing pitches, which helps when I try to transcribe music.
US $21.50
The '15' series of all mahogany guitars are a great way to get a first Martin. They are plain, some say ugly, but are certainly distinctive and a definite conversation opener. They look back to the mahogany series first made by Martin in the early part of the 20th century and popular with the bluesmen. They sound great and play really well. There are eight basic models in the range: D-15 dreadnaught, DC-15E cutaway dreadnaught, D-15S 12-fret dreadnaught, J-15 Jumbo, 000-15 Auditorium, 000-15S slotted-head Auditorium, 00-15 Grand Concert, and the BC-15E acoustic bass. Each guitar has a black and gold herringbone rosette decal, and a tortoiseshell-colored pickguard. The seams of the body are a neat fit without bindings and the fingerboard and bridge are genuine East Indian rosewood. The tuning machines are an enclosed chrome type with chrome buttons. The satin finish gains an attractive patina from use, and the 'A-frame' cross-bracing brings out the rich sound inherent in mahogany. 
While I was adding the pages with tuition DVDs I listened to the new Tommy Emmanuel live CD, 
. I really like seeing Tommy play live, or on DVDs and You Tube, but I wondered whether I would enjoy listening to a recording as so much of his performance is about connecting with his audience. However, I needn't have worried, his live recording is just as entertaining, with the audience reaction there to be heard. This recording was made at the last October at the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, California and an HD DVD is promised for release later this year.
Paul Brady owns the traditional song, 'Arthur McBride and the Sergeant'. His Lowden accompaniment sounds effortless, but shows great dexterity and passion. Although first recorded in the mid 1970's, his versions of 'Arthur McBride' and 'The Lakes Of Pontchartrain' are still being asked for by audiences today. In many folk clubs Arthur McBride is on the list of songs never to be played, like 'Wild Rover', but that is just because no one can perform the song as well as Paul Brady. 
I've been a fan of British guitarist Gordon Giltrap for many years. Heart's Song was the first thing I heard him play as it was used as theme music for the BBC's Holiday program in the 1970's. It went on to be nominated for an Ivor Novello award. 
Ben Edwards has created some great guitar courses and Jamorama Acoustic is his latest. Jamorama Acoustic is Ben's acoustic version of the very popular Jamorama! Guitar course that has lead the online learning guitar market for several years now.
