Artists who have used Bourgeois guitars on stage or record include:
Keith Adair, Jay Boy Adams, David Bankston, Nate Barrett, Ron Block (Union Station), Ronnie Bowman, Sam Broussard (Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys), Stephen Bruton, Skip Cherryholmes (Cherryholmes), Ry Cooder, Marshall Crenshaw, Donal Clancy, Jeff Dayton, Danick Dupelle (Emerson Drive), Steve Earle, Scott Fore (National Flatpicking Champion), Carter Gravatt (Carbon Leaf), Henry Kaiser, Brad Keller (Creaking Tree String Quartet), Cody Kilby (Kentucky Thunder), Bill Kirchen, James Leva, Scott Nygaard, Lee Roy Parnell, James Pennebaker, Keith Sewell (Dixie Chicks), Martin Simpson, Ricky Skaggs, Jake Stargel, Bryan Sutton, Dan Tyminski ( Union Station), Andy York (John Mellencamp), Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek), Doc Watson, Chris Thile (Nickel Creek), Harvey Reid.
Dana Bourgeois says about Bryan Sutton:
"Over the course of my career I've been blessed to see my guitars used by a wide variety of fine players. I never thought I would be so lucky, however, to see them so closely identified with a player as brilliant as Bryan Sutton. "
Check out Bryan's 1st solo CD, Ready to Go.
Bryan's 2nd CD from Sugar Hill records was "Bluegrass Guitar". It will be hard to find a finer collection of traditional and contemporary tunes. Bryan uses his figured mahogany Country Boy on 11 of the 12 cuts. Take a listen to it HERE.
We get a lot of calls from people wondering about Bryan's guitars. Here are some of his guitars.
Bryan's newest Bourgeois guitar. A Quilted Mahogany Country Boy with an Adirondack top. Click here for more pics.
1. On the left is the famous " Banjo Killer" - It is a Natural Slope D with a bearclaw Sitka top and Mahogany back & sides. 2. Mahogany & Sitka OM that he uses mostly for fingerpicking. You can hear it on "Ready to Go". It is used for the solo on "The Water is Wide" and also on "Walk Among the Woods" and "The Good Deed" 3. His D-150 is his main bluegrass flat-top with Brazilian back & sides and a Red Spruce (Adirondack) top. Whenever you hear flatpicking on "Ready to Go", the D-150 is what you are hearing! 4. Bryan's Custom Sunburst Slope D is his guitar of choice for performance. With Indian Rosewood back & sides and an Adirondack top. Floral fingerboard. Listen for it on "When Love Comes to Town" on his solo CD.
In early 2006 we started production on The Banjo Killer Limited Edition after Bryan's original Bourgeois that he found in the window at George Gruhn's in Nashville. The first 30 were signed and numbered by both Dana Bourgeois and Bryan Sutton. We completed these 30 in November of 2006.
Bryan at IBMA in Nashville.
Although the cover shows him holding his original Country Boy Deluxe, what he plays on the entire DVD is his Brazilian D-150.
Check out Bryan's entire Sugar Hill Records catalog here.
For more on Bryan Sutton check out his website, www.bryansutton.com.
Although they play a variety of vintage and new instruments when they appear with Alison Kraus and Union Station, Ron Block & Dan Tyminski rely on their Bourgeois guitars for much of their studio work. Listen for the great Bourgeois sound on the hit recordings "Forget About It", and "New Favorite". TO HEAR THE BOURGEOIS GUITARS PLAYED BY DAN & RON:
Check out the solo on the title song "Forget About It" to hear a Mahogany Bourgeois in action. "Lucky One" and "Stars" feature the Slope D and the fingerpicked part on "Daylight" is an OM model.
Ron Block tells us he loves his Bourgeois guitars because they give him an exceptionally clean, clear, beautiful sound . His favorite is a Figured Mahogany Bourgeois with a Cedar top. On Ron's solo CD, "Faraway Land", you'll hear Bourgeois Guitars played by Ron , Dan Tyminski and Nickel Creek's Sean Watkins. Dan plays a Bourgeois on "Your Heart has found a Home" , "Searching" and "Higher Man" and Sean can be heard on " Another Life I'm Living On" .
Listen for Bourgeois Guitars on Dan Tyminski's great solo release "Carry Me across the Mountain".
Here's an excerpt from an interview with Dan in "Flatpicking Guitar" magazine:
"I recently got a Bourgeois and it is an amazing guitar from the workmanship to the tonal qualities. Dana Bourgeois is a talented, talented man. Ron (Block) has one of his guitars too and although mine is a Brazilian and his is mahogany, it is equally a killer guitar. They are two different animals entirely, but his works well for the slow, pretty sustain type things that he does. They are built for two different purposes.
With every guitar that I've seen Dana build I have been very impressed with the workmanship. If you really get down into the nooks and crannies, you cannot see a bead of glue or a space or crack anywhere. He spends a lot of time making them right."
Check out the entire article here.
In 2005 we built Dan Tyminski a Vintage D in Madagascar Rosewood and Red "Adirondack" Spruce.
click on the photo for a close-up of this happy trio!We sent Steve Earle a Bourgeois Slope D with a Sitka top and Rosewood back and sides when he started working on his new CD, "Jerusalem" . We kept our fingers crossed as the busiest man in the world worked in the studio. He used the guitar a lot on the album and that makes us very proud.
For more info, check out www.steveearle.com
We are really happy to include Nickel Creek's guitarist Sean Watkins on this page. Sean mostly plays a Custom Bourgeois OMC.
Check out Sean's first solo recording "let it fall" and his entire Sugar Hill catalog here.
WHEN SEAN WAS ABOUT 24 WE NAMED A SIGNATURE SERIES GUITAR FOR HIM. THE 25 PIECE SEAN WATKINS LIMITED EDITION BOURGEOIS IS A GREAT GUITAR AND ALTHOUGH WE HAVE SOLD THEM ALL, YOU CAN ORDER OUR OMC WITH AN ADIRONDACK TOP TO GET THE SAME GUITAR.
PHOTO SHOWS THE SEAN WATKINS LIMITED EDITION GUITAR
For more information check out nickelcreek.com
It is always big fun to see Marshall Crenshaw whether he is playing solo or with a full band. He is a great guitar player and we are really happy that he chooses to play his Bourgeois guitar much of the time he is playing acoustic.
NOTE: check out the pictures of Marshall and his Bourgeois on the Photo page at www.marshallcrenshaw.com . There must be 20 pictures of him playing his Bourgeois at the Merwin Meadows concert. Plenty other great shots too!
In addition to writing eight studio albums of original songs, Marshall has written books and liner notes, compiled tributes to everyone from the Louvin Brothers and Yogi Berra to Scott Walker. He has even been a stage & movie star, portraying John Lennon in "Beatlemania" and Buddy Holly (in the 1987 feature film "La Bamba"). What a guy.
NATIONAL
FLATPICKING
CHAMPIONJust thought you should know about Bourgeois player, Scott Fore. He received a Brazilian Vintage Dreadnought from us last year, and he also owns one of the first a Country Boy Deluxe guitars. Check out Scott's MySpace page with "The Hillbilly Hot Club" here. And check out a YouTube performance of his contest winning arrangement of "Alabama Jubilee" with his frequent partner and Bourgeois player, Cheryl Lunsford here.
about Scott Fore
SCOTT IS A CHAMPION CONTEST WINNER.
HERE ARE SOME RECENT TITLES:
- 2003 South Carolina State Champion
- National Flatpicking Champion 2002 - Scott came in 2nd in 2000 and placed in the top 5 in 2001.
- Doc Watson Guitar Champion 2002
- Old Galax Fiddler's Convention Guitar winner and Best all Around Performer 2002
-Wayne C. Henderson Guitar Champion 1999
- Many other wins at other lesser known guitar competitions.
Scott published a "Contest Winners" book in 2002. It is a 92 page book with 12 transcriptions of his winning contest arrangements.
He is recording a solo CD that should be available by the end of May 2003.He teaches master classes throughout the United States. The master classes focus on improving the student's right/left hand technique and improvisational skills. We are so pleased and proud to have him play a Bourgeois guitar.
You can contact Scott to buy his book, his new CD, or to find out about upcoming master classes by emailing him directly:
scottfore@verizon.netExcerpt from Bluegrass Unlimited magazine (March 2003)
Scott Fore on his Bourgeois Brazilian Vintage D: "Just got the best guitar I've ever played or owned, and maybe the best guitar I think I will ever get to play. I haven't purchased a guitar since the mid 1970s, and this was worth every dollar I paid for it. I got a Bourgeois Vintage D with Brazilian Rosewood, Adirondack top, waverly tuners and no fretboard inlay. This guitar has the tone of an old Martin but with more tonal range, more dynamic range...plays perfectly in tune everywhere. Not one wolf tone on the whole instrument. From top to bottom the tone is warm, clear and rich. This thing responds to the lightest touch or the heaviest hand with equal eloquence. It's really hard to explain, but this guitar allows me to play things that I could previously only imagine. My playing is already feeling like it is at the beginning stages of a quantum leap and it is all because of this guitar. I love this feeling. "
I think Bourgeois, if this guitar is any indication, is building the most incredible guitars being commercially built and sold. I played several and they were all really great instruments...".
Andy York, guitarist with John Mellencamp
Catch Bourgeois endorser Andy York on tour with John Mellencamp. For more info check out: http://www.mellencamp.com
Andy is an incredibly talented guy. He plays just about every instrument and he sings great too! When he is not recording, rehearsing, or touring with John Mellencamp he is a ferociously busy New York City player, band leader and band mate to some other great players. Most recently with the great Ian Hunter - catch him on Ian's latest release. Also, Willy Niles, Marshall Crenshaw, Eric "Roscoe" Ambel, and Mary Lee Kortes and many others.
Page last updated: Nov 3, 2007
