William "Grit" Laskin (born August 23, 1953) is a Canadian

luthier A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers o ...

and musician, particularly notable for his high-quality instruments, acoustic guitar innovations (such as the "Laskin Armrest" and "Ribrest") and for his skill in the art of

inlay Inlay covers a range of techniques in sculpture and the decorative arts for inserting pieces of contrasting, often colored materials into depressions in a base object to form Ornament (art), ornament or pictures that normally are flush with th ...

. Larry Robinson, author of ''The Art Of Inlay'', describes Laskin as "one of the most astonishing inlay artists in North America." His guitars have been exhibited as works of art by several museums.

Career

As a musician, he has several solo albums, and is known as a member of

Friends of Fiddler's Green Friends of Fiddler's Green is a Canadian folk music group based in Toronto founded in 1971 and still active as of 2018. The members of the group at the time of its first recording, 1981's ''This Side of the Ocean'', were Alistair Brown, Tam Kearne ...

. He accompanied

Stan Rogers Stanley Allison Rogers (November 29, 1949 – June 2, 1983) was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter. Rogers was noted for his rich, baritone voice and his traditional-sounding songs which were frequently inspired by Canadian history and th ...

(sometimes under the epithet "The Masked Luthier of Dupont Street") both on recordings and on tour. Laskin learned the trade through an apprenticeship with Jean Larrivée, beginning in 1971. He makes approximately 20 to 24

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 stri ...

s per year and he has made guitars for many well-known artists such as:

k.d. lang Kathryn Dawn Lang (born November 2, 1961), known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Lang has won Juno Awards and Grammy Awards for her musical performances. Hits include the s ...

, Owen McBride, Margaret Christl, Paul Mills,

Ben Mink Benjamin Mink (born January 22, 1951) is a Canadian songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer best known as a longtime collaborator of Canadian singer k.d. lang. He plays several string instruments, notably the guitar, violin, and the m ...

Garnet Rogers Garnet Rogers (born May 1955) is a Canadian folk musician, singer, songwriter and composer. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario with roots in Nova Scotia. He began his professional career working with his older brother, folk musician Stan Rogers, an ...

, and

, Claudia Schmidt, Lillebjorn Nilsen, and José Valle ('Chuscales'). He has written numerous books and articles, including ''The World of Musical Instrument Makers: A Guided Tour'', which became the basis for the exhibit "Handmade for Music" at the

Ontario Science Centre The Ontario Science Centre, formally the Centennial Museum of Science and Technology, is a science museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the Don Valley Parkway about northeast of downtown on Don Mills Road just south of Eg ...

and various locations throughout Ontario in 1988 and 1989. Laskin is also one of the founders of the Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans and the

Canadian Folk Music Awards The Canadian Folk Music Awards are an annual music awards ceremony presenting awards in a variety of categories for achievements in both traditional and contemporary folk music, and other roots music genres, by Canadian musicians. The awards progr ...

Awards and honours

Saidye Bronfman Award The Saidye Bronfman Award is a Canadian award for fine craft. It is one of the largest individual visual-arts prizes in Canada. The $25,000 annual prize is administered by the Canada Council for the Arts as one of the Governor General’s Awards i ...

(1997) *Estelle Klein Award (2010) *Member of the Order of Canada (2012)

Works

Solo albums

* ''Unmasked'' (1979) * ''Lila's Jig'' (1987) * ''A Few Simple Words'' (1995) * ''Earthly Concerns'' (1998)

Other albums

* ''Between the Breaks...Live!'' (1979)

* ''The Barley Grain for Me'' (1998) Margaret Christl and Ian Robb with Grit Laskin

Books

* * *. *

Literary Reference

A character in the

Charles de Lint Charles de Lint (born December 22, 1951) is a Canadian writer of Dutch, Spanish, and Japanese ancestry. He is married to, and plays music with, MaryAnn Harris. Primarily a writer of fantasy fiction, he has composed works of urban fantasy, cont ...

novel ''

Moonheart ''Moonheart'' is an urban fantasy novel by Canadian writer Charles de Lint. In the story, the female co-owners of a modern antique store enters the Otherworld, and has to team up with a wizard to rescue two different worlds. Meanwhile, she bonds ...

'' owns a Grit Laskin guitar.

References

External links

Official website

NAMM Oral History Interview
June 23, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Laskin, William Laskin, William "Grit" Canadian folk musicians 1953 births Living people Members of the Order of Canada Musicians from Hamilton, Ontario