For most of our history, Gallagher has been a Tennessee story. Although we have shipped guitars to all 50 states and 13 countries, this year, the story is expanding further with international dealers.

Last February, Ruben Minuto and Massimo Gatti — two respected Italian musicians steeped in American roots music — came to Nashville to record a new collaborative album at Compass Records Studio. The sessions brought together a remarkable group of players: Alison Brown, Tim O’Brien, Todd Phillips, Victor Furtado.

Sitting in that room was Alison’s Gallagher Bluegrass Bell. While known for her extraordinary banjo prowess, Alison is also a gifted guitar player, and the Bluegrass Bell has become a regular part of her sound at Compass — picked up, played, and heard by everyone who passes through the studio.

Ruben picked it up. By his own account, what happened next was instinctive, and decisive. He drove down to Murfreesboro to visit the shop — and left for Italy with a Bluegrass Bell of his own.

That’s the kind of moment that is a genuine, unmanufactured response. A guitar built by hand in a small Tennessee shop found its way into a Nashville studio, into the hands of a musician who’d spent his whole career chasing the sound of American roots music — and it spoke to him immediately.

Now that connection is bringing Gallagher to Italy. From October 2nd–4th, we’ll be at Cremona Musica, in the Acoustic Guitar Village, partnering with our new Italian dealer, 440 Hz and Luciano Strumenti Musicali. David and Andrea Luciano selected five models together, and they’ll be available for purchase on-site. Ruben will be there with us.

Cremona is our second stop internationally — Graeme at The Fret Collective in the UK became our first international dealer last year, and he’s brought the same care in matching a player to the right guitar that we try to bring here in Murfreesboro. Two dealers, two countries, and a pattern we didn’t set out to create: people are finding Gallagher, and it’s traveling further than we ever pushed it.

If you’re already a Gallagher owner, this is a good moment to notice: every one of these connections — Alison’s studio, Rubin’s drive to Murfreesboro, Graeme’s shop in the UK — started the way yours probably did. Someone heard or played a Gallagher and couldn’t walk away from it. You’re part of a small circle that’s quietly getting bigger, and it started right here.

We’re still looking to grow this the right way — one relationship at a time, not by chasing volume. If there’s a dealer in your country who’d represent Gallagher well, we’d love to hear who they are. Reach us at DavidMathis@GallagherGuitar.com.

If you’re in Italy — or know someone going to Cremona Musica — you can reserve a guitar now through 440 Hz online.