This is my CV of sorts…
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I’ve recently completed a short biography on violin maker Neil L. Nelson of the Salt Lake Valley, Utah. One of his 1894 violins, along with my research, has been donated by Lynn Wheelwright to the National Music Museum at the University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD.
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The Oakwood Neighborhood Association, Kalamazoo, Michigan, has asked me to re-write and add to an old history book of their neighborhood. I’m going to change the narrative to a time-line as opposed to presenting their history by topic. I’ll being digging into the people and projects that shaped their neighborhood.
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The Classical Mandolin Society of America asked me to write an article for the May 2022 issue of The Mandolin Journal. Their convention was being held in Kalamazoo and Viv Abramowitz steered them in my direction when they were looking for a hometown article about Orville. They wanted several pages that they could edit down to two. I sent them four pages and they ended up using all of them.
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Lynn Wheelwright gave me a shout out in the 2021 Pinecaster book collection by authors Nacho Banos, Lynn, and Billy Gibbons. I haven’t seen it yet, but it evidently has something to do with the pile of Vivi-tone advertising and newspaper articles I sent to him. Lynn is in the process of writing an interesting Fretboard Journal article (2025?), so keep an eye out for that.
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Gregg Miner has given me a shout out in his article “A Lost Scroll of the Ages” which appears in the 2018 Spring issue #41 of the Fretboard Journal. More importantly is his reference to the Gibson booth at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. Gregg and I both believe that in the beginning, Orville was “the company.” No cabinet maker can walk in the door and produce the exquisite workmanship of an experienced luthier such as Orville. The learning curve is simply too great. This affects dating and attributing the true maker of the earliest company instruments.
Read Gregg’s blog post about the Gibson display at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis here…
http://harpguitars.net/history/month_hg/month-hg-6-16-gibson.htm
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Walter Carter has given me a shout out in the ‘Author’s Thanks’ section of his 2017 book “The Mandolin in America.” I owe a great deal to Walter for his willingness to share his knowledge and expertise and for his writing advice.
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In 2017, I presented “The History of Orville H. Gibson” at the 15th Annual Cooper’s Glen Festival in Kalamazoo downstairs in The Oaks room at the Radisson.
A Biography of Orville H. Gibson 