NAMM Museum Performance: Ed Gerhard

From Tokyo to Rome and venues across the US, Ed Gerhard’s music has touched audiences all over the world. Performing on 6-string, 12-string, slide guitar or Acoustic Hawaiian Lap Slide, Gerhard captivates his audiences with virtuosity, generosity and sly humor. Known for his gorgeous tone and compositional depth, Gerhard can move a listener with a single note. Scott Alalrik of the Boston Globe said it best when he wrote ‘Gerhard does not write instrumentals. He writes songs only a guitar can sing.

Based truly on the quality of his work, Ed built his considerable reputation, beginning with his debut album “Night Birds” in 1987. It garnered a spot in the Boston Globe Critics Poll Top 10 Albums of the Year.” Shortly after the album’s release, Windham Hill Records included Ed on its Guitar Sampler (Vol.1). One of the highlights of the three hundred thousand unit selling Sampler, “The Handing Down” introduced the world to the beauty of Ed Gerhard’s music. “That one piece made me a lot of friends around the world,” Ed says.

Ed has released his ninth CD “There and Gone.” He was awarded a GRAMMY® for his inclusion on the CD “Henry Mancini; Pink Guitar.” Warner Brothers, MelBay and Hal Leonard have all released Ed Gerhard’s music in books. His guitar work can be heard on recordings by Arlo Guthrie, Jorma Kaukonen, Bill Morrissey and in the Ken Burns films “Mark Twain” and “ The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.”

Along with players like Ben Harper and David Lindley, Gerhard’s unique approach to the Weissenborn (an acoustic Hawaiian lap slide guitar) is playing a significant role in reinvigorating interest in this somewhat esoteric but beautiful instrument. Ed’s style of Weissenborn playing is unique in that he composes and arranges music for solo Weissenborn with beautiful melodies, complex chords and moving basslines, unusual for an instrument that normally serves an accompaniment role. Ed is featured in the book “Lap Steel Guitar” alongside legendary players like Greg Leisz, David Lindley, Jerry Byrd and more.

In a true collaboration of guitarist and guitar maker, Breedlove Guitars released the “Ed Gerhard Signature Model” guitar. The guitar became one of Breedlove’s best selling guitars and won the “Player’s Choice Award” by Acoustic Guitar Magazine. Breedlove has released a Gerhard Weissenborn copy in collaboration with Gerhard. Here they have combined traditional design with innovative features and contemporary wood combinations.