Greetings, and Welcome!

Greetings, and welcome!

            Tree Rings & Guitar Strings is ready to roll. I am still adding to it, but the Facebook badge is on page left, a blog button and search function on page right. I’ve also added are tabs for the About/FAQ, and Links pages.

            There are a lot of exciting things on the horizon, but first what is this blog all about?

            I am a music fan, nuts about guitars, and love forests. So imagine my surprise when I learned that Ebony, a tonewood used for musical instruments since the ancient Egyptians, has been harvested to near extinction. There is now only one place in the world that it can be legally harvested. Sitka Spruce, another key element in guitars, is in danger of disappearing in 10 years due to clear-cutting of old-growth forests. This was just the beginning; the more I researched these issues, the more I found…

            Through this blog, I seek to raise awareness of issues threatening the future of trees, guitars, and music; to change traditionally held perceptions of guitar manufacturing, and foster acceptance of non-traditional methods, while making the world a better place through the healing powers of music.

           The articles, photographs, and videos here will focus on three, interrelated themes:          

                   1) Threatened forest habitats.

                   2) Guitar production

                   3) Music.

            This will also serve as a resource to post what I’ve learned while researching these issues, and I encourage others to research, and share what they’ve learned as well.

            One of the most exciting features of this blog will be entries sharing what I’ve learned from visits to West Coast guitar builders. Some of the builders I plan to visit in the next few weeks are: Taylor, Carvin, Fender, G&L, and Tom Anderson. I hope to visit Breedlove in Oregon, and Rainsong Guitars in Washington. 

            Additional research plans include books, journals, websites, news articles, governmental regulations, activist organizations, and movies concerning guitar & forest stewardship, and music.

            Again, I want to encourage visitors to conduct their own research, and share their findings here, and on their own blogs as we build this social movement together.  

Hang on- its going to be an exciting year!