Hi there. It’s great to be a part of this blog, I’m a longtime fan and “drooler over” of Dream Guitars. I’m also honoured to be building a guitar for Paul.

I have been spending the last ten years quietly building guitars in Winnipeg, Manitoba; a smallish prairie town in central Canada. I’ve also spent the last eight years or so (not so quietly) travelling the world with my band The Duhks.

Right now I’m sitting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, listening to Los Lobos’s (www.loslobos.org) guitar tech Vincent play some pretty convincing Hendrix on David Hidalgo’s tele. I also just got to check out Louie Perez’s gorgeous jarana; a really cool little eight-stringed instrument from the Mexican state of Veracruz. If you haven’t seen him play this thing you really should!

This is one of the many moments I really feel lucky to be a guitar player as well as a maker. I’ve had the chance to see and play some really cool guitars in my travels, not to mention getting to know some of the most amazing players of our time. Last week I was hanging out and jamming with Jim Lauderdale and Jeb Puryear and Peter Rowan in a Florida swamp, and today my band is about to do a soundcheck for the second of four shows with Los Lobos. Los Lobos! These guys are incredible musicians, and check out their arsenal…

Los Lobos tour guitars

(I have my two road-weary partners in crime in there as well. The only acoustics on stage tonight! Uh-oh.)

Milwaukee and Chicago with Los Lobos before we break out on our own and head to California for a week and a half. Our last show is in L.A. and I’m hoping to visit Steve McSwain’s shop in L.A. before I blast up the coast to drop in at the Somogyi headquarters in Oakland. I’ll keep you posted.

Gotta run, time to plug in and get rocking.

Cheers,

Jordan McConnell