Events Archive

Nashville-based mandolin star Matt Flinner returns to The Emporium for an informative and inspiring workshop. Geared for developing players across a range of levels, Matt will offer some great mandolin insights, ideas, exercises and more to help your playing. If you are a beginner looking for a good foundation, or a more intermediate player looking to move past your current plateau, Matt will teach to your level and will help to elevate your playing and build confidence. 

RSVP Here

Workshop Time 7:00pm-10:00pm
$50.00

We have reached maximum capacity due to overwhelming response for this event

Fishman presents an intimate and rare solo appearance with dobro virtuoso, Jerry Douglas. 12-time Grammy Award winner and National Heritage Fellowship awardee, Jerry has recorded 11 solo projects and has played on close to 1600 albums with such artists as Alison Krauss, J.D. Crowe, Eric Clapton and Robert Plant. Jerry will be in the store to present and demonstrate Fishman's Aura Technology, display his dazzling vocabulary of dobro licks on his signature model Beard resonator guitar, and take questions from the audience Seating for this one-time event is limited to 50 attendees, and is currently at capacity

December 9th
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Event is free but at capacity

Back by popular demand, the Taylor Road Show returns to The Music Emporium. Come and meet some of the Taylor Factory Staff, test-drive new models, listen to cool and informative Taylor demos, and register to win Taylor Gear giveaways. There will be special deals on in-stock models as well as some unique one-off models. These events are hugely popular, seating is limited, so reserve your space today.

Please contact us to reserve your seat.

November 18
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Event is free

Hailing from "The Home of the Blues", Santa Barbara, CA. Kenny Sultan has been teaching, and playing, guitar for over 25 years. Whether from his private studio, or workshops, clinics, university residency or international guitar camps, he shows true passion in his teaching. Along with his partner, Tom Ball, he has released 8 CDs, and more recently, 2 solo CDs of his own work. It was after the last CD "Guitar Blues" for the Grammy winning Solid Air Record label, that the Martin Guitar Company honored him with his own signature model. based on his trusty 1936 sunburst Martin 000-18. In addition to film and TV work, the Levi's Blues commercials, a busy touring schedule, books, DVD's, and CDs, he has been dedicated to his vocation of teaching guitar.

Kenny will be performing classic blues and ragtime pieces on a variety of Martin guitars. The concert is free but reservations are strongly encouraged as these clinics do tend to fill up. Please contact us to reserve your seat.

Concert Time 7PM-9PM
Free

Cost per entry: $25.00 CLOSED, Waiting List Only

The Music Emporium welcomes Pete for a fingerstyle guitar workshop and intimate concert. Everyone LOVES this guy's playing (including our staff) and with good reason. A National Fingerstyle Guitar Champion, Pete has done it all: won the prestigious Winfield Guitar championship, toured with John Denver, authored several immensely popular instructional DVDs, played Carnegie Hall (who hasn't?!) and even recorded and played with LeAnn Rimes on Dancing with the Stars (I am not kidding about this. Check out his website...) We are thrilled to host him, and look forward to a great night of music and learning.

More about Pete at: www.petehuttlinger.com

An Evening with Tony Klassen and New Era Guitars

In the last few years there has been a renewed interest in guitars made by the Larson brothers in Chicago. It has been estimated that they made about 2500 instruments branded under names such as Euphonon, Prairie State, Maurer, Dyer, Stetson, Stahl and other obscure names. These instruments, the majority of which are guitars were sold either directly from their shop or other retail music venues in the mid-west. They were favored by many players with live music radio shows out of Chicago on WLS (Worlds Largest Store) owned by Sears, Roebuck and WJJD. Gene Autry, Patsy Montana, Arky, and Lloyd Perryman of The Sons of the Pioneers were happy owners of the Larsons musical creations.

These rare instruments in later years were mostly found in the midwest by collectors. Compared to the output of Gibson and Martin very few players and collectors had an awareness of them. The Larsons incorporated some unique features in they construction The laminated braces, pre-stressed bodys and multi-laminated necks and excellent craftsmanship contribute to their unique sound characteristics.

At present there are a very small number of luthiers upholding the Larson tradtion. In the USA we have Tony Klassen, Frank Monturo both from the Chicago area and Rudi Blazer and Willi Henkes from Germany. We are expecting delivery of guitars from all three shops in 2009.

As part of our " Meet Your Maker" series Tony Klassen will make a presentation of his building process and present three guitars that he has made for The Music Emporium.

The event will be Tuesday Feb. 17 at 7PM. Reservations would be appreciated.

As part of our ongoing Meet Your Maker series, The Music Emporium is proud to host Bill Collings for an intimate evening of food, drink, music and spirited conversation. This will be Bill’s third visit to our store in the last six years and if past events are any indication, the evening will be quite entertaining, very informative, and indeed inspirational. There have been plenty of new developments at Collings since his last visit. The electric line has taken off and is garnering high praise in the solid-body guitar world. There have been advancements in their mandolin design, in particular their new oval-hole A Models, which has been hugely successful. Just another example of Bill’s ongoing efforts to re-envision and reinvogorate Old World designs. There have also been big changes in the guitar market as a whole. We’ll explore the future of guitar building and some the challenges facing the industry--scarce resources, cheap imports, a struggling US economy, and the aging baby boomer generation.

This visit also comes on the heels of The Music Emporium’s 40th year in business. It’s been a long exciting road since Stu Cohen first opened up his shop in Pittsburgh, PA. The rise, fall, and rise again of the vintage market; the stratospheric growth in the single luthier market; and of course, Collings’ sharp ascension to the forefront of American luthiery and the many dealers who have shared and celebrated in the unbridled growth and expansion of the high-end guitar market.

Lots of things to talk about and lots of very cool guitars to sample, including some of our very rare 40th Anniversary Models. Please join us on Friday night at 8PM. RSVP’s strongly encouraged. If you can’t make it on Friday, Bill will be in the shop all day Saturday for questions and guitar consults. We look forward to seeing you there.

Sponsored by Boston Bluegrass Union & Collings Guitars

Concert 8PM Saturday, November 22, $15
Workshop 10am-4PM Sunday, November 23, $90

Then, in November, another first for Boston as master flatpicker, Steve Kaufman, comes to the Emporium for a concert and intensive, all-day, hands-on flatpicking guitar workshop.  Steve, in addition to being the only three-time winner of the National Flatpicking Championships, is a world-class instructor and author of over 100 instructional books and DVDs. His music covers an incredibly broad range of styles, including bluegrass, swing, Irish and Appalachian fiddles tunes and folk and country classics. Since 1976, he’s been captivating audiences from California to Austria and is a feature performer at many major bluegrass festivals.

The weekend event begins with an intimate solo concert on Saturday night followed on Sunday by the workshop. The one-day workshop will last approximately 6 hours and will cover core picking skills and techniques, repertoire and building blocks for growth. Small groups and some individual attention make this an invaluable opportunity for flatpicking guitarists of all levels. Steve will answer questions, teach new songs, give pointers and evaluate each student’s strengths and weaknesses.  Those who have studied with Steve talk about their playing being completely transformed.  Come and see first-hand what 100’s of Steve’s former students are raving about.

The Music Emporium is proud to present an evening with GRAMMY® Award-Winning Guitarist, Ed Gerhard.

Join us as Ed Gerhard shares an evening of exquisite guitar music- performing songs from his CD "Sunnyland," and new material from his upcoming CD as well as concert favorites. Performing on 6-string, slide guitar and Hawaiian lap steel, Gerhard combines rare compositional depth with inspired virtuosity. Fans of guitar music won't want to miss this opportunity to see and hear one of the country's finest players.

In addition, TME will be hosting a pre-concert workshop where Ed will offer insights into his playing style, performance techniques, and unique approach to composition. Seating for the workshop is limited so register early.

Saturday October 11th, 2008
Workshop 6-7:30: $40
Concert 8:15: $20
Sign up for both: $50

About Ed

From sold out tours of Japan, to festivals in Italy and venues across the US, Ed Gerhard’s music has touched concert audiences all over the world. Gerhard stands out among instrumental performers for his ability to captivate audiences with a combination of virtuosity, generosity and humor distinctly his own. Known for his gorgeous tone and compositional depth, Gerhard can move a listener with a single note.

Performing on 6-string, 12-string, slide guitar or Hawaiian Lap Steel, Gerhard’s musical intensity comes with a sly sense of humor. His distinctive touch is unmistakable. Whether performing a lush, sensual ballad or a haunting, bitter lap steel melody Gerhard will mesmerize an audience, crack them up with an improvised joke then carry them into the depths of the next piece before they know it.

Each of Gerhard’s eight releases have received high praise from critics and guitar fans worldwide. His recordings are renowned both for the beauty of the music and for superb, audiophile quality. The Sounding Board says of his latest release “Sunnyland,” “ This highly anticipated new release delivers with flying colors. Each track resonates beautifully with crystal clear perfection.”

Gerhard was awarded a GRAMMY® for his inclusion on the compilation CD “Henry Mancini; Pink Guitar.” It won Best Pop Instrumental Album of the Year. He arranged and performed Moon River. His music is featured in the Ken Burn’s film Mark Twain.

He tours extensively in the USA, Europe, Japan and Korea.