This episode is sweat, wood, and wire. Tommy Emmanuel explains why he plays for the humans in the seats, not the guitar forum in the balcony. How youthful shred became musical conversation.
How he built an audience by hand with posters and tiny ads until the rooms couldn’t hold it. He tells the story of the exec who laughed at “no market for instrumental music,” then the John Denver arena run that shut everyone up. Then it gets legendary.
A kid from Australia writes Chet Atkins in 1966, lands in Nashville years later, and day one turns into a marathon jam with Chet and Lenny Breau.
Yes. That happened.
Along the way you’ll hear hard earned lessons on building a career, touring, tone, and trusting your gut. If you’re into acoustic fingerstyle guitar, Nashville stories, Chet Atkins lineage, or just a killer Tommy Emmanuel interview, you’re in the right place. Hit play, share it with a friend.
Check out Tommy’s new record Living in the Light.
Support The Show And Connect!
The Text Chat is back! Hit me up at (503) 751-8577
You can also help out with your gear buying habits by purchasing stuff from Tonemob.com/reverb Tonemob.com/sweetwater or grabbing your guitar/bass strings from Tonemob.com/stringjoy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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1:00:18
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1:00:18
A Mall For Musicians?
This week on the podcast I'm talking to Ryan Lynn of Eastide Guitar Repair, Hank Failing of Hank's Music Exchange, and Brad Boynton of Rhythm Traders.
All of these exceptional musical entrepreneurs have com together under one collective roof here in Portland, OR to form a one of a kind independent Music Mall.
I sat down in their basement to get the story of how they came together and how they see this new endeavor serving the local music scene and beyond.
It is a really cool episode with some really cool dudes! I think you'll dig it, so dive in and listen!
Check Out Hank's HERE https://www.hanksmusicexchange.com/
Check out Eastside Guitar Repair HERE https://www.eastsideguitarrepair.com/
Check out Rhythm Traders HERE https://www.rhythmtraders.com/
Support The Show And Connect!
The Text Chat is back! Hit me up at (503) 751-8577
You can also help out with your gear buying habits by purchasing stuff from Tonemob.com/reverb Tonemob.com/sweetwater or grabbing your guitar/bass strings from Tonemob.com/stringjoy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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1:10:31
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1:10:31
Bark at the Moon: Inside Moon Guitars with Kyle Wolfe
Blake sits down with Kyle Wolfe of Moon Guitars to chart the journey from teenage Van Halen brain-melt to full-tilt luthier madness.
Kyle gets “voluntold” into his cousin’s repair shop, learns the craft one fret polish at a time, and discovers that carving his first Tele body flips the big red switch that shuts up the brain gremlins.
We get into launching Moon in 2018, ditching repair work, and the unsexy truth about small-shop economics: time costs, dust flies, and quality wins—or it doesn’t ship.
Kyle talks outsourcing finishes like a grownup, chasing a truly affordable line (factory samples inbound), and his design sweet spot.
We are talking familiar bones with pointy ’80s attitude. Sparked by the Fender Performer and blessed with actual John Page template tracings. We hit the Blood Moon, Troublemaker, Crescent Moon, and Zenith; the Mjölnir collab with Ravenkelt; how the Internet sometimes actually delivers; impending dad mode; and eternal laws of the universe: the BOSS OD-2 rips, pepperoni pizza is the people’s champion, and cold slices at 1 a.m. are a moral right.
If you like guitars that look loud, play forever, and don’t apologize for either... this episode is for you!
Check out Kyle's work on his website HERE: https://moonguitars.com/
Support The Show And Connect!
The Text Chat is back! Hit me up at (503) 751-8577
You can also help out with your gear buying habits by purchasing stuff from Tonemob.com/reverb Tonemob.com/sweetwater or grabbing your guitar/bass strings from Tonemob.com/stringjoy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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1:11:21
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1:11:21
How Beetronics Got Everyone’s Attention
Beetronics didn’t just buzz onto the scene—they showed up in beekeeper suits and rewired how pedal brands think about vibe. In this episode, Filipe Pampuri tells the whole wild arc: teenage studio raids in São Paulo, building a home studio so serious they moved mom out of her bedroom, hopping to L.A. to mix at NRG with Jay Baumgardner, mastering at Sterling Sound, touring alongside Papa Roach and P.O.D., and accidentally launching a pedal company that turned into an art project with knobs.
We dig into Beetronics’ visual identity, the leap from hand-painted customs to the signature faceplates, the breakout Royal Jelly moment, and the brand-new BeeBeeDee—an analog delay that nails the classic sound and then goes sideways with lo-fi textures and pitch-shifted octaves. Also: why São Paulo pizza will ruin you for life, what “B” actually stands for, and a reminder that you make the music, not the gear.
The nickname that became Beetronics and the Comic-Con-meets-NAMM launch
DIY beginnings: ADAT mishaps, studio obsession, and learning electronics to keep sessions alive
L.A. chapter: NRG, Sterling Sound, and opening for big rock tours
How a custom “Whoctahell” turned into orders… and then a company
Designing pedals as instruments: art direction, faceplates, and community shout-outs
Deep dive on the BeeBeeDee analog delay: classic tone, lo-fi mode, clever HP/LP tone shaping, and square-wave pitch tricks for “one-guitar, fake-band” madness
Philosophy check: chase inspiration first, gear second
Check out the stuff on their website HERE https://www.beetronicsfx.com/
Support The Show And Connect!
The Text Chat is back! Hit me up at (503) 751-8577
You can also help out with your gear buying habits by purchasing stuff from Tonemob.com/reverb Tonemob.com/sweetwater or grabbing your guitar/bass strings from Tonemob.com/stringjoy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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1:14:33
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1:14:33
Coils, Swords, and High Gain w/ Ricky Sutton of Arcana Pickups
Ricky Sutton of Arcana Pickups rolls in to talk metal, hand-wound voodoo, and why the word “influencer” sounds like something you catch at a gas-station bathroom.
He grew up in rural Tennessee, moved to Portland, and in 2016 decided metal deserved its own pickup company. Now he winds coils that make your amp behave like a caffeinated raccoon and dresses his guitars like they’re headed to war.
We get into the black-metal aesthetic—yes, actual armor, hoods, spikes, swords—and his band Cavisum. Every Cavisum track has Arcana pickups on it, so if you want to hear what scatterwound fury does inside a mix, that’s your field test. We also wade into the eternal “art vs content” swamp and see what we can drudge up.
This is a fun, surprisingly deep, and metal filled episode. Dive on in!
Find Arcana
arcanapickups.com • IG/YouTube/FB: @arcanapickups
RAPIER20OFF for 20% off through September 30, 2025.
Support The Show And Connect!
The Text Chat is back! Hit me up at (503) 751-8577
You can also help out with your gear buying habits by purchasing stuff from Tonemob.com/reverb Tonemob.com/sweetwater or grabbing your guitar/bass strings from Tonemob.com/stringjoy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The year was 2015. Show host Blake Wyland intended to start a podcast where he took a deep dive with his guests from the guitar world to explain their rigs. What happened was that, but also a whole lot more. The show quickly evolved into discussions about people's lives. Guitars, pedals, amps, etc. are the central hub of the show, but it really is more about the PEOPLE behind all of it. Both the musicians who use the gear, and the folks that create these magical tools of expression. You can expect chats about songwriting, favorite bands, family, loss, addiction, conspiracy theories, philosophy, and most of all....... food. This podcast goes all over the place. Come take a ride.
Australia