gregoire guitars

Vern is one of Canada's finest single reed players.   He is also a gentle, kind and loving man.

 

His saxophone, flute or clarinet sound has found its way into the live music and/or recordings of Blood Sweat & Tears, Anne Murray, David Clayton Thomas, Danny Weis, Diana Krall, Bruce Cockburn, Randy Bachman, Michael Brecker just to name a few. 

 

Vern has been the 'go-to' guy for reed in the pit-bands of numerous Mirvish Theatre Productions over the last 20 years, including 'The Lion King', 'Miss Saigon', 'Beautiful', and many more.  He is sought after for sax repairs in Toronto which you can access through his website bigsaxes.com.  

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Vern brings to gregoire his experience and understanding of musician preferred details, applied to his new love of fingerstyle guitar.  Vern also lends his ear and talents to ideas around sound in the build of gregoire guitars.  

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Vern is shown with his 'player' model gregoire which he describes " ... with every note my jaw is dropping.  Holy Crap!"  and "I am at a loss for words at your creation."

Simply stated, Liz is an overachiever.  She has done a lot and cares about the stuff she focuses on.   She can be pretty serious and yet she also knows how to have fun.

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Liz is a pretty good musician, with a wide range of musical and listening interests.  She played cello in a 'fiddle folk' trio, has done quite a few open mics with her guitar, and has great recent experience assisting the Calgary folk music scene move along.  During the day she is a successful biology focused environmental sustainability expert in Alberta, now that she is back from her year of sailing the Mediterranean and crossing the Atlantic.

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Liz helps gregoire guitars hold up the 'sustainability' flag properly -  in the materials we choose and the processes we use in the shop.

 

Liz plays a 'rego' model gregoire guitar (circa 2012) which other musicians have played and about which they have asked "Why does this guitar sound so bold?".

Scott How is one of those magical and musical people that I have known for quite a while and whose talents I appreciate.  

 

Scott has been up to his 'big grin' in guitar stuff since he was a teenager.  He worked hard to achieve his Bachelor of Music (Classical Guitar Performance) from the U of C and from this has developed a tremendous appreciation of just about everything guitar.  Scott understands the guitar as a voice for the artist and transmits this through his well rounded experience in classical playing, his long time playing and touring in funk, rock, jazz and Celtic bands and now with a prog-rock fusion group with which he records.   

 

Over the last 20 plus years, Scott has honed his special talents for helping budding musicians (of all ages) develop their chops through his unique foundational approach to guitar lessons.  He is also a great husband, family man and father of two. 

 

Scott brings to gregoire guitars his understanding of the demands placed on great guitars that assist the player in musical creations, and what a guitar needs in its build - to be a true performance instrument.   When he first played one of my guitars he commented that if it were his he "would play the shit out of it!"  Scott now plays an early 'player' model gregoire.

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I was in love with music in the late '60s / early '70s before I became an 'above average' high school trumpet player (Jerry Pokarney's words to me when we last shared a meal in 2015).  Nothing came of that trumpeting musicianship; in fact it went the other way for 45 years while I honed my skills as a successful, technically focused, business leader and income tax professional in a large national accounting and tax firm. 

 

Then I discovered lutherie in 2007  (go to what I describe in the "About" tab). 

 

I now apply much of what I learned and developed, as a business adviser, to my guitar building:  I can be really technical and go deep; I love big projects that are complex; I can get really passionate about what I do especially when helping others; and, it is important to understand what others see and feel before I try to help. 

 

I now love what technology continues to bring into my part of the world and I have a penchant for quality and making the end result of what I do just a 'tiny bit better' than what is accepted as 'good'.  I also understand the numbers part really well and I make all the final decisions..  

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For me at gregoire guitars, this translates into the details of what I put into each of my great sounding and playable instruments.  I have put my focus on what I understand musicians and serious listeners want in the sound from their guitars.   

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Call or write to ask me more about what I think, or about what I do, if you want or dare.