Full Circle at Fretboard Summit

The night before the Summit officially opened, Jens Kruger pulled me aside at the reception to share some exciting news. His brother, Uwe Kruger of the Kruger Brothers, had purchased one of our Gallagher Doc Watson models. Not just to admire it. Not just to try it out. He chose it as his guitar.

Uwe is now playing his Gallagher on stage, and they love the tone and playability of the instrument. I received a call from Uwe when he purchased the guitar, and knowing that a musician of his caliber has made a Gallagher part of his own musical life means a great deal. The story is finding its next chapter, written by someone else’s hands.

That’s not heritage. That’s heritage still working.

The icing on the cake, was Jens’ excitment about Uwe’s Gallagher.  

Four years ago, that conversation wouldn’t have happened.

Four years ago, when I first brought Gallagher to Fretboard Summit, I had a small table tucked into the corner of one of the big rooms. I remember feeling genuinely lost in that sea of guitars. Builder after builder, with a lot of folks not really familiar with Gallagher.

This year was different.

We were in the conversation.

Builders I deeply respect… Chris Martin IV, Janet and Greg Deering, Chris Alvarado of Driftwood, Paul Beard, Brian Dickle and others… weren’t strangers walking past our booth. They were people stopping to swap stories, compare notes on wood and finish, and talk about the thousand small decisions that go into building a great guitar.

It felt like Gallagher belonged in that room.

Bob Taylor’s talk on sustainability alone gave me a lot to think about for our own shop. I’m still processing much of what I heard and saw.

And it’s not just conversation. It’s showing up in real, tangible ways.

A young man walked into our room, sat down with a Mahogany RT, and before the end of the second day, it was his. The next day, he came back with his little boy to introduce him to the person who built his guitar. He told me he intended to spread the word.

Those moments, watching someone connect with a guitar in real time never get old.

We also welcomed a new dealer to the Gallagher family: Spruce Tree Music in Madison, Wisconsin. Their owner, Nick, spent time with us at the Summit and left with a Birdseye Parlor and an East Indian Bluegrass Bell for the shop.

If you’re in the Madison area, go say hello.

Spruce Tree Music
851 East Johnson Street
Madison, WI 53703
(608) 255-2254
sprucetreemusic.com

And perhaps most importantly, we launched the Provenir Series in partnership with Eddie’s Guitars, a new line that brings to life a vision I’ve had for where Gallagher could go next.

I’ll save the full story for its own post, but the Provenir Series may be the clearest sign yet of what this next chapter looks like.

Four years ago I sat at a small table wondering if anyone would notice us. This year, I left wondering how we got so lucky.