February 23, 2025

Latest Acoustic Guitar Reviews and News

events

C. F. Martin IV Announces Retirement

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Chris Martin Announces Retirement as C.E.O of Martin Guitars

Will remain as Chairman, following in the footsteps of his grandfather C.F. Martin III

Jackie Renner to retire as President

On July 16, C. F. Martin & Co. announced that an executive succession plan is being put in place for the
company. Christian Martin IV has decided that at the conclusion of his NAMM Chairmanship in July
2021, he will step into the role of Executive Chairman of C.F. Martin & Co. He will remain Chairman of
the Board and family ownership of the company will continue.

“I’ve spent over 40 years in my family business and what a ride it’s been,” said Chris Martin, Chairman
and CEO of C.F. Martin & Co., Inc. “Now I’ve reached the point where it’s time for me to move into the
role of Executive Chairman. I am confident in the current leadership team because I know they love the
company as much as I do and I will be working closely with them through this transition.”

Jacqueline Renner, President of C.F. Martin & Co. also announced her plans to retire on October 1, 2021.
She feels with Chris’ change, it is the right time for her to transition as well. She is committed to
working with Chris on a smooth executive transition process. “I have truly enjoyed working with Chris
and all our co-workers over the last five years to strengthen Martin Guitar. I look forward to continuing
to do so through the executive transition process. I appreciate Chris’ planned approach for a smooth
transition for the company which benefits our customers, co-workers and ultimately the musicians that
Martin Guitar seeks to inspire.”

“I am very grateful for the support and leadership that Jackie has shown as President over these past
five years.” said Chris.

Martin will be doing a search for a CEO-President who will embrace and augment our unique culture and
continue to enhance the Martin brand around the world. Hudson Gain Corporation has been retained to
conduct this search.

Chris Martin Retires Jackie Renner

Indie Artists

Music for a Socially Distant Audience

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Live from Brooklyn – June 14, 2020

June 7, 2020

And May 31, 2020

And…

Live from Brooklyn – May 27, 2020

Acoustic Guitars / Indie Artists

T Spoon Phillips – Music for a Socially Distant Audience – May 6

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Live from Brooklyn, It’s T Spoon Phillips with his Martin Guitar

Edited for Length, and With a Bonus Song from the Afternoon Set

May 6, 2020

Every Wednesday, 8 PM Eastern Daylight Time on YouTube Live onemanzguitar channel.

With a run through at 3:30 PM for those across the sea (8:30 British Summer Time, 9:30 Central Europe Summer Time)

Acoustic Guitars

Dick Boak Interview – Aaron Short Music Hangout

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Wonderfully entertaining and informative talk between Aaron Short and Dick Boak

Stories about great artists, guitar making, and of course Martin Guitars.

A great way to spend a Social Distancing day or night. All of 111 minutes in length, former Martin Guitar employee Dick Boak opens up about so many interesting topics.

I have had many sit down talks with Dick and always wished others could have been there. Well now you can be.

events / Indie Artists

Distant Arts for Socially Distancing Audiences

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Musicians, Comics, Writers, and Readers to Perform Social Distancing Show

I am organizing a collective of performing artists to stream live to a Facebook Group

Check back here for more information soon.

If you are interested in taking part, drop me a line. oneman@onemanz.com

I am expecting the new Group (not yet public) will work like a public access TV station, with a calendar that participating artists share and the collective “friends” of all the artists can visit the group to see Facebook Live streaming performances, typically up to 20 minutes in length.

But I also want to organize shows on specific evenings where a succession of artists take their turn doing a 20 minute set. This would be similar to some of the long-running avant garde variety shows I have taken part in here in NYC since the 1980s, like Dog & Pony NYC, and Blow Hole Theater.

Audience members will not need to have a Facebook account to visit the page and watch the performances. But they will need an account to leave comments or live emote reactions.

Spoon

 

Artists

American Tune for COVID-19 Social Distancing

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Paul Simon sings American Tune for us all

The 78 year old American musical institution posted a solo performance of American Tune on his Facebook page.

Paul Simon American Tune COVID-19 onemanz

https://www.facebook.com/paulsimon/videos/2898856330168238/?__tn__=%2CdkCH-R&eid=ARBApPN6e9yzouJLizcgHTT8hpSKOJuRo0-ZKzq7y5IEm47NwPCmgiZw7j6KUpMpGFSElLvZNhBFtCod&hc_ref=ARTj-T66GQRQE2IvxzVjH1d5ptaiv0e6-PvZoYVi1bHrp73yZK34HkvHbLVPJtf6NN4&fref=nf

He recorded it on 3/19/2020 for the web “show” Til Further Notice, which takes place in Willie Neslson’s back yard. But this year is including Socially Distant performances.

For those who cannot access the performance,  a different performance of the same song appears below. He ended the Facebook performance with “Stay save everyone. Be well!”

I used to perform this every 4th of July, until I forgot how to play it. Since I may have some time on my hands, it is nice the composer provided this handy How-To video. 🙂

I had forgotten his Martin Paul Simon Limited Edition signature models have faux tortoise shell binding, ala Style 21. They also has a special fretboard width that has a 1-11/16″ width nut, at a time when Martin OMs all had 1-3/4″ width-at-nut. But the Simon models taper wider to almost the same width as a traditional OM once the fretboard reaches the 12th fret.

This particular guitar is the PS2 model released in 2000, signified by the inlaid image of Earth on the headstock. Unlike the original 1997 version, the OM-42 PS, the PS2 guitar does not have a traditional hand-fitted dovetail neck joint, but rather the Mortise & Tenon joint, and probably lower grade tonewoods, which allowed the price to be a lot lower.

Here is the maestro performing American Tune on his OM-42 PS, from 2015.