A Happy & Grateful Note from the Head Buckeroo…
Guardians of Guitar is a whole year old now, and I want to thank all of the fab Guardians out there who helped this content site—which remains totally dedicated to evangelizing everything about your obsession with the guitar, guitar music, and guitar gear—grow up into a fine, strong toddler of fairness, transparency, accuracy, support for all, knowledge, and (hopefully) inspiration.
So far, your counsel, criticism, and encouragement has made it possible to do what I promised to do when I launched this wacky initiative. We don’t post click bait. We don’t curate (or purloin) news from other sites. (The only non-original content we offer are guitar-lesson videos from trusted friends and audio/video content from artists we’d like you to know about.) We suck at search-engine optimization. If you got here, we thank you many times over for your detective abilities. We still walk away from take-over ads, big-ass banners, pop-ups, or any advertising elements that would make it difficult or annoying for you to read the content you want to see. And we still embrace guitar nuts of all sexes, ages, musical styles, skill levels, and technological comfort zones. We want Guardians of Guitar to be a comfy joint for all guitarists to hang out and be entertained, educated, and engaged.
In 2020, we plan to launch a branded podcast, add original video content (interviews, product reviews, etc.), and produce live concerts and awards shows in the San Francisco Bay Area. We were honored to co-produce the thrilling Batten-Menn-Brosh concert in late 2019 — read about it here — and Leighsa Montrose and I recently committed to bringing home the Ronnie Montrose Rock the Nation Awards for Young Guitarists we started while I was at Guitar Player. It’s going to be a fabulous year. Yeah, everyone says that. I hope y’all still trust me to make good on my promises! If there’s anything we can do to improve this site, amend our mission, help you enjoy playing more, or explain that the whole tubes versus digital debate is poppycock (hahaha), please email me directly at gpeditor@gmail.com. Wishing all Guardians a marvelous, healthy, successful, and noisy 2020. Rock on!
DON’T KNOW WHO THIS IS TALKING TO YOU? Guardians of Guitar was founded by me, Michael Molenda, the longest-serving Editor-in-Chief of Guitar Player magazine (1997-2018). I was also Editorial Director of Frets, Bass Player, Keyboard, Electronic Musician, and most of the company’s special publishing projects. During my tenure, I relaunched the Guitar Player Hall of Fame, devised the international Guitar Superstar Competition, and helped innovate tons of fun and educational side projects and publishing elements. When Future U.K. purchased GP in 2018, I was made redundant, but I didn’t feel I was “done” yet (whatever Future’s British bosses may have thought!). I started Guardians of Guitar to, in some small way, maintain the quality and voice of guitar journalism I inherited at GP, as well as to continue serving the community of players and guitar fans who supported me through all my years in this business. I’ve owned professional recording studios, love producing and playing music, and am currently acting like a dorky teenager in five bands (The Trouble With Monkeys, The Diversions, Surf Monster, Bad Jacket, and Summer Love Caravan). As my friend and lawyer Michael Aczon likes to describe me, when it comes to creating and reporting on music, I’m a “career criminal.”