The ''Fretboard Journal'' is a keepsake magazine for

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, mandolin, and

stringed instrument String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the st ...

players. In the same vein of other "coffee table magazines" such as '' The Surfer's Journal'', the Golfer's Journal and the ''Rodder's Journal'', it boasts high-end production values, lengthy interviews and exclusive photography in each issue. Each issue is filled with photos of rare instruments, well-known musicians, and even the workshops of instrument builders. The magazine is also available on the iPad. The ''Fretboard Journal'' was founded by Michael Simmons, a veteran of musical instrument retail sales, and Jason Verlinde, a longtime music journalist. It is published out of

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

. Years before, they collaborated on the ''Ukulele Occasional'' magazine, a small zine devoted to the four string instrument. The first issue of the ''Fretboard Journal'' was unveiled in November 2005. Stories included an interview with mandolinist David Grisman, an interview with

Charlie Louvin Charles Elzer Loudermilk (July 7, 1927 – January 26, 2011), known professionally as Charlie Louvin, was an American country music singer and songwriter. He is best known as one of the Louvin Brothers, and was a member of the Grand Ole Op ...

Neko Case Neko Richelle Case (; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and cr ...

, and a profile of

Santa Cruz Guitar Company The Santa Cruz Guitar Company is an American manufacturer of acoustic guitars, located in Santa Cruz, California. The company was started in 1976 by luthier Richard B. Hoover, who is reputed to have "trained some of the most accomplished contempor ...

. The second issue featured Case on the cover discussing

tenor guitar The tenor guitar or four-string guitar is a slightly smaller, four-string relative of the steel-string acoustic guitar or electric guitar. The instrument was initially developed in its acoustic form by Gibson and C.F. Martin so that players of ...

s, an article about

Martin Guitars C.F. Martin & Company (often referred to as Martin) is an American guitar manufacturer established in 1833, by Christian Frederick Martin. It is highly respected for its acoustic guitars and is a leading manufacturer of flat top guitars. The ...

', history and an interview with mandolinist

Andy Statman Andy Statman (born 1950) is a noted American klezmer clarinetist and bluegrass/ newgrass mandolinist. Life and career Statman was born in New York City and grew up in the borough of Queens. Beginning at age 12, he learned to play banjo and g ...

. Issues now come out every three months. In 2006, the magazine was the only publication listed in the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

s annual Best of 2006: Music section. It was also profiled in the July 2009 issue of ''

Seattle magazine Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of N ...

''. In 2022, they published their 50th edition. The magazine is known for its long-form journalism and in-depth interviews, often several thousand words long, covering a wide array of musician subjects and styles. It also often frequently asks well known musicians to interview their musical heroes. In addition to Case interviewing Louvin, the magazine has had

Ben Harper Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...

interview David Lindley for the Fall 2008 issue;

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts ...

interview Jim Hall for the Winter 2008 issue and

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Mo ...

of Sonic Youth interview Michael Chapman for the Winter 2009 issue. More recently, the magazine has expanded to producing high-definition videos of many of its subjects, including Jackson Browne,

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby joined the Byrds in 1964. They got ...

and many other artists and builders. They also have a weekly podcast featuring many of the magazine's subjects and artists. In 2012, the magazine celebrated its seventh anniversary with a party for its subscribers and contributors in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood. Performers at the party included

, Reignwolf, Eric Skye and many others. The magazine posted photos from the event on its website.Seventh anniversary party
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References

{{Reflist

External links

Fretboard Journal home page

2005 establishments in Washington (state) Guitar magazines Magazines established in 2005 Magazines published in Washington (state) Music magazines published in the United States Quarterly magazines published in the United States