Guitar Marketing
I have been fortunate to spend recent years working in the boutique guitar world at three fabulous shops: The Music Emporium, The North American Guitar/Carter Vintage Guitars, and Cedar Rock Studio & Guitar Gallery. Each shop offered challenges that gave me a musical outlet and hugely expanded my writing, speaking, creative marketing and customer service skills.
I’ve been positively spoiled with opportunities to play and demo some of the best guitars in the world, from sought after vintage gems to handcrafted modern masterpieces. Getting to deeply know the work of today’s finest acoustic luthiers was a huge part of my job, not only through playing their guitars but through interviewing and working closely with them on commissions.
At TME and CVG/TNAG, my day-to-day involved writing descriptions and spec lists for e-commerce sites, creating content and curating social media feeds, and working with customers. I also regularly appeared in demos and videos, edited podcasts and video content, wrote articles and blogs, and photographed in-shop and at events.
Here I showcase a selection of my favorite content pieces from these shops.
Videos
During my time at TNAG I had the incredible honor of working with videographer Thien Phan, whose artistic eye and production skills allowed me to focus on writing and delivering long-form educational videos and interviews like the ones below. Our Parlor Guitar video has over 300k views - how wild is that?!
From mid-2022 to 2023, the talented photographer and cinematographer Zane Dumont and I worked closely to produce content for the TNAG channels (now known as Carter Vintage Backstage), focusing on demos and interviews in the shop and at the Artisan Guitar Show in April 2023.
While the bulk of my work in Nashville was done for TNAG prior to the merger, I also did the occasional Carter Vintage demo, and in 2024 also worked for Cedar Rock Studio & Guitar Gallery in Indiana.
And of course, my original guitar home is The Music Emporium in Lexington, MA, where I first immersed in this world and have done demos since 2016.
(Shot and edited by Andy Cambria & Jacob Kleinberg)
(Shot and edited by Jon Roncalto and Keith Cypert)
(Shot and edited by Alan Drake & Matt Thomas)
More recently as a freelancer, I’ve produced some content to promote Jewitt Guitars at the 2025 Artisan Guitar Show and at 2024 Fretboard Summit. The Summit video also features our friend Virgile Pilon of Blind Guitars. See the full photo spread for FB 2024 here.
Photography
The pictures below were taken by me, most shot with my Sony A6400 and some with a borrowed Canon. I’m not a trained photographer by any stretch, but I’ve gotten to work alongside several talented folks, observing what they do and picking up what I can!
Talking Guitar Podcast
In 2022-2023 I took over hosting and largely editing the Talking Guitar podcast for Seasons 3 and 4. Chatting with luthiers and getting their stories and perspectives was one of my favorite parts of the job - I learned a ton about guitarmaking! Not to mention, having a radio show or podcast had always been a low key goal of mine, so box checked.
Most were conducted via Zoom but some were done in person, chiefly the ones with Grit Laskin and Jeff Jewitt (click the blog links to see workshop photos).
Articles
Martin 000s From the War Years to the Folk Revival (Connoisseur V1E6)
Gallagher Guitars: Shepherding a Legacy into a New Decade (Connoisseur V1E6)
Review: Wilborn Guitars (Connoisseur V1E2)
FAQs
Q: What guitars do you play?
A: I’m an artist for both Jewitt and Blind Guitars. Currently in my collection, I have:
Jewitt 00-13c, Redwood & Walnut
Blind B-26, Adirondack Spruce & Indian Rosewood
Blind B-26, Alpine Spruce & Mahogany
Brondel A-2, Carpathian Spruce & Cocobolo
Cordoba C9, Cedar & Mahogany
I know…I am spoiled!
Q: Isn’t that a Collings in (insert video here)?
A: Yes! For many years I played a Collings OM2H SS that I bought new in 2010. That’s the guitar I played on all albums recorded in the 2010s. In late 2019 I swapped it for a Collings OM1A-T, then I sold that to buy the Brondel. I miss both those guitars a lot! You’ll also sometimes see me play a borrowed Collings D1 or Waterloo WL-14.
Actually, almost all the guitar related questions are answered below…