We sing the praise of French Polishing often in our little music shop. It makes touching up over almost any type of finish viable, efficient and safe. We also sing the praise of hide glue………….but that’s another post! What is French Polishing?
“How often should I change my strings?”
While on the one hand this is a matter of personal taste, on the other hand there are some very concrete reasons to change strings often.
Familiar Face
This Gibson J-50 Deluxe was through the shop a few years ago for a major overhaul. A total of about $1200 of work went into it, including a new bridge, bone nut, bone saddle and a custom-fit set of bone bridge pins, New set of Kluson tuners, refinishing the top, a total refret and some fingerboard work, and splints and patches to fill some larger cracks. Oh yes, and this stylish
International Guests
We have been very blessed over the years to have many talented performers play for us on the old church pew at Mountain Fruit Folklore. This original tune by Steve Lane and his son Kai Lane-U’Ren is certainly no exception.
Enjoy!
Handmade Fretless Banjo $995
Nylon-strung Fretless Banjo. Has a very sweet and clear tone, excellent for Clawhammer style, or a player looking to explore beyond the boundaries of ‘conventional’ banjo playing.
Handmade on Saltspring Island, British Columbia by Grant Wickland
Fine tuning and set-up done in house by Jeremy and Kevin here at Mountain Fruit Folklore Centre
Handmade 5-String Banjo – $1,995.95
Handmade on Saltspring Island, British Columbia by Grant Wickland
Fine-tuning and set-up work done in house by Jeremy and Kevin
Around Here, No Speck of Dust Goes to Waste!
Some might say we are obsessive…
Miscellaneous scraps of wood, containers of dust, and old hardware clutter our shelves…
But when you need a pinch of ebony dust for build up, it sure is nice to have it on hand.
Cleaning and Oiling your Fingerboard
The fingerboard of your instrument takes a lot of abuse, no doubt about it. Like anything that gets that kind of mileage a little TLC every once in a while is a good thing… a very good thing!
Vintage Silvertone Archtop c.1950’s
We see a good number of these Harmony-made arch tops, but rarely do they come to us in such good shape!
This old beauty just came into the shop for a clean up and assessment. Buffing out the
Custom pickup installs!
Here are a few examples of pick up installs that required some problem solving.
Soundport with magnetic door
Here’s a soundport I added to a clients Yamaha classical. With the door off the player receives a boost in volume and hears or experiences more of the guitars voice that is directed out the main sound hole towards an audience. The door can also be left on to keep the sound projection as it was which can be helpful when playing in a group and listening for everyones levels. Soundports are not a gimmick, they can definitely enhance the players experience, almost like a natural monitor. As with many advancements they were developed by hand builders and are now showing up in a few commercial instruments, along with arm bevels!
Leila Neverland
We had a lovely surprise visit from a travelling performer, Leila Neverland. Her uniquely powerful and emotive voice and songwriting struck us instantly. It is with great pleasure that we share her performance with you.
For more information please visit leilaneverland.com
In Memory of our Dear Friend
Our dear friend Marty Hamilton has passed away. It is with heavy hearts that we say farewell to this fantastic man, community member, and musician.
Rest In Peace, Marty.
Freya Performs a Track From their New Album
The local talent in this area never ceases to amaze us! Noel Fudge and Martine Denbok are beautiful songwriters, composers, and private music teachers based out of New Denver. Take a moment. Set everything else aside. Take a listen to this beautiful track from their new album, which can be purchased here in store at Mountain Fruit Folklore. All proceeds go to the artist.
Learn more about Freya and their music at http://www.fortheloveoffreya.ca
Go to our Youtube channel Mountain Fruit Folklore Centre to hear another song from the new album performed on Octave Violin! Along with a wealth of other incredible performances, Live! From the Pew!
Cara Luft – Black Mountain Side
As always it is a pleasure to have Cara Luft in the store. She is probably our most featured Live from the Pew artist. We asked her if she would play us a little something for on our own hand built 19th century guitar, and here it is!
Black Water Side is a traditional Irish Tune, of unknown author. Perhaps in this day the most well known version is the instrumental track from Led Zeppelin’s self-titled first album.
For more Live from the Pew videos check out our Youtube Channel “Mountain Fruit Folklore Centre.”
Announcements for the New Year
Mountain Fruit Folklore Centre is now open regular shop hours. Tuesday-Saturday 10-5.
And second, We would like to publicly acknowledge and celebrate apprentice Kevin John, his progress and contributions to the Mountain Fruit vision. Kevin has been with us for 2 years now, working in the shop on customer’s instruments, restorations, and working and maintaining the storefront. He recently finished a period under a grant from the Kyuquot-Checleset First Nations Band (many, many thanks to them!). Kyuquot-Checleset assisted Kevin for six months in funding his training in the art of lutherie under mentor and shop owner Jeremy Behn. We look forward to many more months working together. This New Year will see us taking new steps forward as we are in the midst of building an electric guitar each right from scratch.
See you next year! Holiday Hours
Mountain Fruit Folklore Centre will be closed from now, Christmas Eve till Tuesday Jan 10th, 2017 to allow for inventory. The Mtn Fruit staff wish you ease and peace spent with loved ones every day! And Christmas too!
We’ll see you in the New Year, it’s been a pleasure helping with musical journeys and we really do appreciate the support!
I Like to Wrap!
The Small Glories – Wondrous Traveler
The Small Glories is a prime example of incredible synergy! JD Edwards and Cara Luft contrast and compliment each other beautifully. Their first full length album, Wondrous Traveler, brimming with top-notch musicianship, tight vocal harmonies and tasteful arrangements, is not to be missed. The songwriting stirs something ancient in the soul and echoes of the North American folk tradition. Every song on the album strikes home; bold, gutsy, honest, and unabashedly human. This duo command the ability to whirl you into the throws of wild dervish one moment, and then knock you (gently) to the ground with a tender, heart-rending ballad the next.
Guided by the over-riding spirit of fun and lust for life, here are true masters of the craft!
Visit them at http://www.thesmallglories.com/
You can buy Wondrous Traveler, as well as their self-titled EP, in store at Mountain Fruit Folklore.
Signs of Snow and Christmas Special!
It’s just not christmas for most Canadians until it snows and we weren’t sure it was going to happen in Kaslo before St Nick arrived this year. But it did, and the beautiful, peaceful quiet is upon us again. The skates and skis are out and slowly we are adapting to the cold. Which reminds me, high pressure, low temp weather, such as we are experiencing now, is a time to think about protecting your stringed instruments from low humidity damage. Pop into the shop if you need some pointers.
Kaslo Guitar Fest Student TJ
Here’s an excerpt from a beautiful performance done by TJ, a student of Kaslo’s 4th Annual GuitarFest. TJ is playing a 19th Century piece on this 19th Century replica by Instruments of Change, Jeremy Behn. The guitar was also used as part of the GuitarFest’s presentation at the Langham Theatre on the history of the classical guitar. Jeremy presented his hand built 19th Century guitar replica alongside other 19th Century guitars that esteemed players and historians Daniel Bolshoy and Murray Visscher displayed and performed on.
Violin Touch Up
Freya – California Poppy
There is gold in these hills! Cultural gold, artistic gold, creative gold. Noel Fudge and Martine Denbok are just two examples of our many local treasures. Both are musical performers, composers and instructors living in New Denver. They perform together as Freya and we were fortunate enough to have them here at Mountain Fruit Folklore Centre. Here’s their performance and interview, exclusively, Live from the Pew!
for more info on the band please visit www.fortheloveoffreya.ca
baroque bow button repair
This bow accompanied a tenor viola da gamba that that came thru the shop. The button had long since cracked and disappeared.
Sebastien Dufour and Small World Project
Sebastien Dufour played the Langham recently with his comrades, Small World Project, and was kind enough to demonstrate the new Cordoba Mini for us. These instruments are fantastic travel guitars, their main assets being; a fingerboard wide enough to use effectively (unlike Guileles), excellent tone and projection for a body this size and 2 sets of strings available; one to allow for optimum tone tuned a 4th above std tuning and one to allow playing at std pitch.
The first piece played is an original flamenco called ‘Tarantos’ followed by an arrangement of a piece called ‘Manha de Carnaval’.
Don’t miss this fabulously creative trio next time they pass thru your town!
Thx Sebastien