A note from Lanie:
I found this gorgeous 1967 Gibson ES-330 at Chelsea Guitars in New York City in 2011. Chelsea Guitars is a beautiful shop below the famous Chelsea Hotel – a place where many iconic artists of our time have lived, worked and played, (too many to mention!). I love that this guitar came from a place where such inspiration and great works of art have emerged. This was actually the first shop I went into on the day I went guitar shopping, and as I walked straight up to this very attractive guitar, that was it, love at first sight!
I was in NYC at that time, after being invited by Jack White to record a 7” single with him at his Third Man Records studio in Nashville. Of course this was an amazing adventure and opportunity. The memory of buying the Gibson right afterwards is a really big part of the memory of this recording and touring which also happened afterwards.
Having an electric guitar really opened up a whole new world musically. Up until then, I’d only ever played acoustics my whole life. It was wonderful to write and record my second album, Night Shade with it, and expand my guitar playing away from just acoustic-style finger picking and strumming, which I’d been so accustomed to.
From the day I bought it, it went everywhere with me, playing many tours and festivals and supporting some truly incredible artists. This Gibson always seemed to be the apple of every guitarist’s eye whom we had the privilege of playing shows or festivals with. It made me realise how lucky I was to have found it and be touring and recording with it.
Some memorable shows and venues it was played in were Horden Pavillion – supporting Cold Chisel, Festival Hall – with Jack white, The Forum – with Tom Jones, touring with Brian Setzer, headlining (and opening the main stage at) Woodford Folk Festival, Splendour in The Grass, Meredith, tours in the States and UK. There’s also wonderful memories of awesome folk such as Paul Kelly, Tim Rogers and Davey Lane having a strum.
It has been a few years now since I’ve been playing or writing on this guitar and it feels like the right time to start a new chapter and let someone else enjoy it - hopefully as much as I did!
Just Guitars
