Dana Bourgeois (born 1953) [1] [2] is a luthier, writer, lecturer and is considered one of the United States' top acoustic guitar makers. [3] [4] Bourgeois's innovations in design and voicing techniques have earned him worldwide acclaim for his acoustic guitars from professional players, hobbyists and collectors alike. [5] [6] Some notable musicians playing Bourgeois guitars include Luke Bryan, Ricky Skaggs, Bryan Smith, Ry Cooder, Scott Fore, Bryan Sutton, Vince Gill, Lee Roy Parnell, James Taylor and Guy Clark, [5] [7]
Dana Bourgeois | |
---|---|
Born | 1953 Westbrook, Maine |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Bowdoin College |
Occupation | Luthier |
Website | bourgeoisguitars |
Dana Bourgeois was born and raised in Westbrook, Maine. As a child, his interest in guitars developed after seeing The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. [5] [8]
Bourgeois attended Bowdoin College, where he studied art history, [1] [8] and graduated in 1975. [5]
While at college, Bourgeois read a book called Classic Guitar Construction by Irving Stone, [1] [5] [8] [9] whose method in the book was, purportedly, "totally impossible." After that, Bourgeois, working from his room on campus and using a machine shop owned by his grandfather, made a guitar of his own. [1] His father helped with the wood working. [1] [5] [8]
Bourgeois opened a shop repairing guitars in Brunswick, Maine in 1976 and continued honing his craft as a luthier. [5] He also worked at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. [5]
By the late 1970s to 1980s Bourgeois worked in collaboration [10] with Eric Schoenberg and Martin Guitars to design and build an OM style Guitar. [1] [8] [9]
In 1986, Bourgeois teamed up with guitarist Eric Schoenberg and established Schoenberg Guitars. The company manufactured flattop acoustic guitars. [5] Bourgeois stayed with the company several years. [5]
Bourgeois started his own company, Bourgeois Guitars, which opened in 1993 and was located at Roy Continental Mill in Lewiston, Maine. [1] [7] [8] His use of premium materials, such as Brazilian rosewood, [11] Adirondack Spruce and Indian Rosewood, as well as his ability to "voice" his instruments earned Bourgeois a reputation within the music world as an expert luthier. [2] Using a tapping method, he fine tunes individual pieces at key times throughout the manufacturing process. [1] [8] This high-quality sound distinguished Bourgeois from other luthiers and began attracting the attention of top musicians. [1] [7]
In 1996, Bryan Sutton, then guitarist in Ricky Skaggs' band, purchased a Bourgeois guitar in a Nashville music store. A year later, at the Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival in Brunswick, ME, Sutton contacted Bourgeois to set up a meeting. "This guy calls me and says he's playing in Maine," Bourgeois told Ray Routhier of the Portland Press Herald, "so I figure it could be anybody. But then he says he plays with Ricky Skaggs." The meeting resulted in an endorsement deal, a collaboration with Skaggs', to make and sell the Ricky Skaggs Signature Model and Ricky Skaggs Country Boy Model guitars. [1]
"At a casual glance, making guitars seems glamorous, but really we're just making sawdust," Bourgeois said, "But when we build one for a famous person, it's something everyone gets excited about." [1]
In 1999, Bourgeois signed a distribution deal with Akai, a Japanese music and electronics company. With 16 employees and the prospect of growing his business internationally, Bourgeois expected to grow his business further. For a time, Akai marketed the Bourgeois Artisan Series guitars: the DR-A dreadnought and JR-A jumbo orchestra model. [3] Along with the two guitars for international distribution, Bourgeois also made Martin Simpson and Ricky Skaggs signature guitars, though in limited editions. [3] However, the distributor stopped ordering new guitars, leaving Bourgeois without the backing necessary to meet operating expenses. Despite attempts to find new investors and to sell directly to his customers online, Bourgeois was forced to liquidate the business, filing bankruptcy and auctioning off the guitar-making equipment. [5] [8]
After Bourgeois Guitars closed its doors, guitar hobbyist, collector and investment banker Patrick Theimer approached Bourgeois with another business venture. With Theimer, three other investors, and Bourgeois, who would oversee guitar production, [12] Pantheon Guitars was formed in 2000. [5] The business model employed at Pantheon allowed Bourgeois to focus on making the guitars he was known for while sharing marketing and manufacturing resources with other independent luthiers. [8] Bourgeois continues to offer custom-designed guitars, including the BK/Slope D, which earned an Editor's Pick Award from Guitar Player Magazine. [13] Among Bourgeois' current offerings are also guitars (his Aged Tone Series) made with a wood-aging process called torrefaction. While not "vintage", these guitars tend to replicate the look and sound of quality of instruments that are older, more "broken in". [2] [6] [14] He commemorated the building of his 5,000th guitar with the Bourgeois Victoria that was described in an Acoustic Guitar Magazine article as a "one-of-a-kind, sub-parlor-size custom 12-fret instrument inspired by American guitars made during the Victorian era (1837-1901), matched with a period-style wooden 'coffin' case." [15]
He also spends time training luthiers to carry on the trade. [2]
In October 2019, Dana announced via the Bourgeois website that Bourgeois Guitars "has entered into a strategic partnership with Eastman Music." [16]
"In a nutshell, I have simply traded my former partners for Eastman. Moving forward, I will retain an ownership interest in Bourgeois Guitars and will remain as CEO. Our entire team will continue to produce acoustic guitars of the highest quality in our Lewiston, Maine, workshop. US distribution will continue to be handled through our Lewiston office. Eventually, overseas distribution will be managed by Eastman." [17] [16]
The steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar that descends from the gut-strung Romantic guitar, but is strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound. Like the modern classical guitar, it is often referred to simply as an acoustic guitar, or sometimes as a folk guitar.
Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. He won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His fingerpicking and flatpicking skills, as well as his knowledge of traditional American music, were highly regarded. Blind from a young age, he performed publicly both in a dance band and solo, as well as for over 15 years with his son, guitarist Merle Watson, until Merle's death in 1985 in an accident on the family farm.
C.F. Martin & Company is an American guitar manufacturer established in 1833 by Christian Frederick Martin. It is highly respected for its acoustic guitars and is a leading manufacturer of flat top guitars and ukuleles. The company has also made mandolins and tiples, as well as several models of electric guitars and electric basses, although none of these other instruments are still in production.
A luthier is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments.
David Anthony Rice was an American bluegrass guitarist. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
Roses in the Snow is the seventh studio album by country music artist Emmylou Harris, released in 1980. While Harris' previous release, 1979's Blue Kentucky Girl, featured traditional, straight-ahead country, Roses in the Snow found Harris performing bluegrass-inspired music, with material by Flatt and Scruggs, Paul Simon, The Carter Family, and Johnny Cash. Cash, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, The Whites, Ricky Skaggs, Willie Nelson and Tony Rice made guest appearances. "Wayfaring Stranger" was released as the first single in 1980 and went to #7 on the Billboard Country charts. The second single, a remake of a Simon & Garfunkel song, "The Boxer", reached #13. Backing musicians included Albert Lee and Jerry Douglas.
Todd Phillips is an American double bassist. He has appeared on a number of acoustic instrumental and bluegrass recordings made since the mid-1970s. A two-time Grammy Award winner and founding member of the original David Grisman Quintet, Phillips has made a career of performing and recording with acoustic music artists.
David Grier is an American acoustic guitarist. A three-time IBMA guitarist of the year, Grier has been lauded as highly influential and a master flatpicker by music publications and several of his colleagues.
James Bryan Sutton is an American musician. Primarily known as a flatpicking acoustic guitar player, Sutton also plays mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and electric guitar. He also sings and writes songs.
Wayne C. Henderson is an American guitar maker who specializes in the crafting of handmade, custom acoustic guitars. He also occasionally makes other stringed instruments, such as mandolins, banjos, and fiddles.
The Brock McGuire Band is an Irish Folk group fronted by Paul Brock and Manus McGuire. Residing in County Clare, button accordionist and melodeonist Paul Brock and fiddler Manus McGuire are two of Ireland’s most celebrated traditional musicians and have been at the forefront of Irish music for many years: They are joined by acclaimed composer Denis Carey on piano and dancer Dave Curley on banjo, mandolin and vocals.
Down the Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions is a 2002 album by The Chieftains. It is a collaboration between the Irish band and many top country music musicians including Ricky Skaggs, Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, Martina McBride and Alison Krauss.
Further Down the Old Plank Road is a 2003 album by The Chieftains. It is a collaboration between the Irish band and many top country music musicians including Rosanne Cash, Chet Atkins, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Ricky Skaggs, and Patty Loveless.
This article presents the discography of influential guitar player and vocalist Tony Rice.
David Harvey is an American bluegrass mandolin player and luthier, responsible for the mandolins, banjos, and dobros produced by Gibson.
Dailey & Vincent is an American bluegrass music group composed of Jamie Dailey, Darrin Vincent, Aaron McCune, Wesley Smith (vocals), Patrick McAvinue (fiddle), Shaun Richardson, Rocky Marvel (drums), Gaven Largent (banjo), and Blaine Johnson (piano).
James Robert Mills was an American musician known primarily as a bluegrass banjo player who played in the three-finger style popularized by Earl Scruggs. Mills was also well known as an expert on pre-war Gibson banjos. He resided in Durham, North Carolina.
Deep Roots is a studio album by Steven Curtis Chapman. Chapman alongside Cracker Barrel released the album on March 11, 2013.
Bryan Sutton is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter. In addition to his six solo albums and recordings with Ricky Skaggs and Hot Rize, he has been featured as a performer on many albums by other artists.
Cody Kilby is an American bluegrass musician who plays guitar. He is best known for his work with the Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder and the Travelin' McCourys.