Below is a list of links to my favourite Internet retailers, web forums and players. If you spot any dead links or own any of the links and wish to have it changed or removed, feel free to let me know. If you'd like to reciprocate with a link to my site, I'd be most grateful.
I've just set myself up as a retailer of these little beauties! They are made by Red Bear Trading and offer all the tonal qualities and life expectancy of genuine tortoise-shell picks for a fraction of the cost and none of the guilt. Give one a try; I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
My very own forum! A welcoming place to discuss so-called Celtic music, particularly as played on the acoustic guitar. You'll find many recordings and tabs of posters' own arrangments as well as a wide knowledge of traditional 'Celtic' music in all its forms.
Acoustic Player Magazine is an online magazine put together by Doug Jones and Mike Crixell, two stand-up guys whose passion for acoustic guitar knows no bounds. The content is first class and you'll find lessons, reviews and some good company in the forum over there.
'The Fret' was founded and is run by Dave Skowron, a flat-picking, tattooed, all-round nice geezer. A lot of luthiers hang out over there and the knowledge over there is first rate.
Another of Dave Skowron's sites where there are many knowledgable flatpickers to be founds
This is the forum that runs alongside the US Acoustic Guitar magazine and was the first forum I discovered back when I was researching my first proper guitar (which turned out to be a Lakewood M-14CP). There are a lot of knowledgable people over there, but watch out for the chaff!
Tom Doughty plays lapsteel and has a whole bunch of heart and soul in his music. Hearing Tom play is a moving experience and I urge you all to check him out, even if you think slide blues isn't your thing. It wasn't mine either!
A UK duo that I first saw at the 8th RMMGA UK gathering in Buxton, Derbyshire. These guys are fantastic players with great synergy and have wonderful presence on stage. Their banter between songs is an absolute hoot as well. They are now the official representatives of Taylor guitars in the UK and deservedly so. If you get a chance to see these guys play, grab it! Pete Smith also has his own website as well: Pete's Site
Doug Jones is a gifted guitarist whose influences are the old country blues pickers such as Mississippi John Hurt. He has a wonderful picking style and a velvety voice that adds his own personal stamp onto the music he plays. He's also a great songwriter and his passion for music is unrivalled. He makes full use of the technology available to musicians, sharing his wonderful, easy-to-follow video lessons over the Internet. All his lessons are also available on a DVD, details of which are on his site. His site is also jam-packed with mp3s and reviews of products he's tried and likes. Along with buddy Mike Crixell, he set up Clarksdale Guitars to provide vintage blues guitars from a bygone age. I bought the mahogany Crossroads model for my daughter and it is one very fine instrument.
El is a wonderful player who favours the tuning CGDGAD. It suits the Celtic music he plays so well and gives it an enchanting quality. His style is arpegiatted and deceptively complex. He applies the 'less is more' philosophy to his playing with more success than any other player I've heard. His music isn't limited to Celtic, and he has created some wonderful arrangements of more contemporary songs in all styles, including songs by Bruce Springsteen and the Eagles. His 9 commercial CDs are available through his Web site, as well as a DVD of him playing live with Larry Pattis. He also has some Tabledit files freely available through his Yahoo CGDGAD newsgroup and some tablature available for purchase through Mel Bay. There are also some videos available through Stefan Grossman's Workshop.
Tony McManus plays traditional 'Celtic' music and is equally at home with a flatpick as he is without. I was introduced to his music by a friend. For that, I shall be forever grateful! His technical ability is unsurpassed and is a joy to behold. He has arranged many highland bagpipe tunes for guitar which is quite an acheivement. He is also a walking encyclopaedia on the traditions that surround the music that he loves so well. He has four commercial CDs currently available as well as two instructional video tapes through Stefan Grossman's Workshop. The day I master those triplets I'll be a happy man! Tony also works as a producer.
I discovered Doug Young's music through the Acoustic Guitar forum. He has a great Web site with some mp3s available for download as well as some tablature. And he has one of the nicest collection of guitars I've seen!! His CD, Laurel Mill, is available through his Web site and I highly recommend it.
Orsino is a guitar player with as much passion as any I've come across. His charm and wit make the Internet forums a better place and his enthusiasm for the guitar is infectious. Like Little Brother, Tom's also an advocate of the video review and likes to share his playing over the Internet. He practises hard and it shows in his playing which has a lot of heart and soul.
Stuart is a good friend from back home in Scotland and is one of those guys that just plays. You'll never see him with any books or videos and string changes occur on an annual basis, whether they need changing or not! It was Stuart who led me into the world of acoustic guitar playing way back in 1990 and picked out my first guitar for me, an Aria AW200 for £100 in Glasgow. He got a lovely Guild DV6 a few years back and loves it to bits. He's a stand-up guy and a true friend. Oh, Stuart doesn't have a web site; heck, he only just got a computer!
I met Tony at Little Brother's Acoustic Guitar Jam in Conyers, Georgia. Tony's style is rhythmic and percussive and his vocals are smooth. His style is somewhat reminiscent of Richard Thompson.
I first saw Stuart play at the RMMGA UK8 gathering at Hargate Hall in April 2005. He plays a mixture of contemporary fingerstyle, ragtime and jazz. His mentor is Martin Taylor and Martin's influence is plain to hear in Stuart's playing. At the time of writing he plays a Brook Torridge and has even been known to sport a medium-gauge style-C Tortis pick! In fact, what was it he said? "This is the best pick I've tried, and I've tried them all!" Thanks, Stuart!
I know Jim from the Celtic Guitar Talk forum where he posts from time to time. I was sent his first CD, Castlerea by a friend who guessed I would like it and it blew me away. Jim's style is quite percussive and his arrangements are very soulful. He plays a mixture of Celtic and contemporary fingerstyle guitar and, at the time of writing, has two new CDs available on Solid Air Records with a book of tab soon to follow. After sevaral years of listening to solo fingerstyle CDs, I'm beginning to crave more instruments and vocals for my listening pleasure, but Jim's new CDs have proved to me once again why I love playing solo acoustic guitar. Good work, Jim!
I've met Adrian a few times at the UK RMMGA gatherings at Hargate Hall and thoroughly enjoyed playing his guitars. He's based in the UK and builds them one at a time. This year (2007) he had a baritone there that blew everyone's socks right off. It was, by far, the nicest baritone I've played and it was a hard thing to leave without it. If you're looking for a fine hand-built guitar, you could do a lot worse than give Adrian's guitars a try. This YouTube link shows Joe Carpenter playing that very same baritone. See what I mean?
Also check out Adrian's myspace page for more videos and info.