A FREE Christmas Gift!

   
     Okay, this will be my last post till after Christmas. ;)

     My dear friend, Steph Hartman, and I have played and toured together for years and have come together to record a beautiful Christmas lullaby for you!

     Enjoy this FREE Download, "Away in the Manger"! 

     (Recorded on a Tascam portastudio in Houston, Texas and a Blue Yeti studio mic in Cody, Wyoming.) 




Merry Christmas!
-E

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

     This wont be a long post, just one to wish all my family, friends, and followers a wonderful Christmas and holiday season. :)

     This will also be my last post for 2014! But don't worry, I'll be back come January 2015 with some exciting news and events about my family! Aahhh!! :D
Good cliff-hanger, huh? ;)

     But now it's farewell to good old 2014. I've had a lot of things to be grateful for this past year. 
     Two of which are:

     My new niece!

     We welcomed my new niece into the Patterson family this year, and what a sweetie she is! Meet baby Ray! <3

Me and sweet baby Ray!

Too CUTE!! :)

    
     I also went through the Los Angeles Temple! Such a beautiful day!

Me at the L.A. Temple!

With my folks

     
     You might have seen one of these temples around and have probably wondered what they are all about. Well, look no further! Here's a really great and simple video about temples. :)

     That's all for now! Hope your holidays are full of family, friends, and awesome food! 
     
     Merry Christmas and God bless!
     -Erin :)

In the Guitar Shop: Hitting the ground running!

    

     Erin here! Welcoming you to the second episode of my "Guitar Shop" series!

     First off, I hope you've had a wonderful week and haven't eaten too many cookies, like me. (But if you need a couple good recipes I'll link them at the bottom.) 
     Second, if you're not familiar with Amy Grant's Christmas albums, get them! :)

     Now to business!

     Tip number three comes to you from my friend and previous supervisor, Andrew:

     Tip #3: "Be a super fast learner and don't mess up." And there you have it! ;)


     But really, when you're working on $3,000+ guitars right off the bat, you don't have much room for error. Yes, it would be wonderful if you could be given practice guitars to cut your teeth on, but I have found that if you think it's okay to mess up on a guitar it becomes easy to do a less than top notch job. And where's the good in practicing with that mind set? Sometimes it doesn't hurt to have a little 'fear of God' to help you do your best, right? ;)

Scoring finish

     
     I now give you "Erin's top 4" skills/traits you need in instrument building: 
     
     (In no specific order)  

•      Great hand-eye coordination  

•      Creative thinking/visualization

•      Enjoy working with your hands

•      Taking pride in your work

    

Oh, and not being afraid of
the occasional splinter

     See you at the next episode of "In the Guitar Shop"! 
     Happy Holidays! :) 
     -E 



P.S. My favorite holiday treats, from my house to yours! :)
     
Chewy Molasses cookies!

Cowboy Cookies!
My Mom's famous chocolate chips cookies! (minus the pecans and coconut) ;)
     
     
     

               
                

     

In the Guitar Shop: Jumping In!

 

    Hello all! Erin here! :D     

     I thought it would be fun to write a few posts about what I have learned in my last year working in a guitar shop!

     If you're like me and have always had an interest in stringed instrument construction at one level or another, either to build your own instrument or to do minor repairs on one of your own, then you know how hard it can be to find good information about luthiery online. So I thought I would do my part to remedy this through writing a series of posts and giving you some great links on the subject. 

@ the 2014 Anaheim NAMM show

     Not unlike my musical education, I am more of a hands on learner than a book learner. Sure, books are great, but to me they are more for subsidiary education, especially when the subject is fairly new to you. So, when I decided I wanted to get into guitar and mandolin building, I knew that I wanted to work or apprentice under an experienced builder. 

     Having a background in woodworking, along with playing guitar, I was able to more easily get a manufacturing position. 

     Tip #1: Get accustomed with hand and power tools!

     I was lucky enough to find a job with Cordoba guitars, the type of small, custom shop I was looking for. Though it may seem cool to work for big companies like Fender or Taylor you will most likely find yourself one of a hundred in an assembly line, doing the same thing every day. That may seem okay to you at first cause, heck!, you're building guitars! Right?! ;) But you will most likely burn out and be left with a very limited resume. 

Cordoba Master series
(Torres, Hauser, Rodriguez, Reyes)

     You also may know how hard it is to find online job listings for "acoustic guitar builder" and the like so I have a tip for that too:

     Tip #2: Find some companies or builders/luthiers that you like and check out there website or contact them about jobs and apprenticeships. Like with musicians in similar genres it's a small world, so once you get your foot in the door and meet some people, you'll realize how everybody knows everybody.

     So, if you are looking to work or apprentice in a guitar shop, do some research! A great resource for finding these builders is The Fretboard Journal. They have great interviews with guitar, mandolin, and other instrument builders in their magazine, but I especially like their podcasts you can listen to here or on iTunes here and here. 


     And as always, enjoy the video!! -E :)
    P.S. It's pretty awesome! ;)