The Tampere Guitar Festival is coming up again in June and I like to remember my experience there in 2006. I was invited to do a weeklong workshop on guitar-making in Granada. 
The experience and the people were great. In this photo you can see all of the teachers: Aliéksey Vianna, myself, Àlex Garrobé, Lorenzo Micheli and Enrico Bronzi. I guess it is obvious what they were teaching. 
Midnight canoe rides were fun too with some great sunsets. My students were guitar-making students at the nearby Ikaalinen institute. For a few years the organizers hosted a luthier’s exhibition but I never participated. Actually I think they started that the year after I was there. The teachers and players invited to this event have always been top-notch and it has really become a reference festival.
Author Archives: johnray
New series of short videos
Oh my that was a long time ago, before digital cameras. Photo by Manuel Ruiz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLJiuwJL3rE
Greatest Hits
I have just gone through all of my past publications (383 of them) checking for broken links and similar problems. Most of them have been cleaned up and I have selected a few to highlight as particularily interesting or relevant to me. In the interest of seamless viewing to stave off boredom and cabin fever here they are.
#iorestoacasa
I am lucky enough to have my workshop next to the house and to work alone. That means I can still go there even though no one will be buying guitars in the near future. What I will be doing is making some videos and hopefully publishing more articles so that you all have something to watch or read on your quarantined days. My son will be videographer. I hope that you players out there will do the same and record some music for us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuL1SgFDwwc
Antonio de Torres Airport
I don’t know how I missed this but it is certainly a reason for celebration. Something is finally happening is Spain even if it is limited to Almeria. Duh! The guitar is actually important to Spain! Her history, her people, her economy and of course her culture. See the story in spanish here.