Sam builds guitars out of his workshop in Stockton on Tees. I met him at the Ullapool Guitar Festival in October 2022 and he very kindly agreed to sit down and have a chat with me on tape. Full show notes here: https://acousticguitar.io/?p=2589 Watch this interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/LNjsUu-v0oA ▶LINKS AND THAT◀McClaren GuitarsKatherine P…

Recorded at the Ullapool Guitar Festival in October 2019. Watch this interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Tk55A3IrEEg Full Show Notes: https://acousticguitar.io/john-goldie/Links and that. https://www.johngoldie.co.uk/https://www.facebook.com/johngoldieguitar/https://twitter.com/johnsgoldiehttps://www.youtube.com/c/JohnGoldieGuitarhttps://www.ins…

Chris Stern is a man who loves guitars. In fact I don’t know anyone with a bigger collection than Chris. He’s a big fan of Ralph Bown, Jim Olson and Jamie Kinscherff but his collection extends way beyond those three wonderful luthiers. We sat down at the 10th annual gathering of the Acoustic Soundboard UK guitar forum in Halifax in September 2019 a…

Richard Knott is a singer-songwriter who loves acoustic guitars. That’s how we hooked up, probably in 2005 at the RMMGA gathering in Buxton, Derbyshire. We sat down at the 10th annual gathering of the Acoustic Soundboard UK guitar forum in Halifax in September 2019 and talked about sunburst guitars, songwriting, music as therapy, performance anxiet…

Richard Lindsay has been working behind the scenes at the Ullapool Guitar Festival for over 20 years. I sat down and had a chat with him at the 20th anniversary of the festival in October 2019. Watch this interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fy-uRpLpadgLinks Ullapool Guitar Festival Will McNicol Tristan Seume Jule Malischke Christian and Julia Zi…

I met Jule Malischke at the Ullapool Guitar Festival in October 2019. She played on the Friday night and was amazing to listen to. The particular highlight for me was her encore, when she played an unamplified cover of Joni Mitchell’s A Case of You. You could’ve heard a pin drop in the auditorium. We sat down for a chat on the Sunday afternoon. Hop…

Julia and Christian Zielinski of ARTIS Guitar Duo were booked to play at the 20th Ullapool Guitar Festival in October 2019. They played a fantastic concert on the Friday night. And what a venue! The festival is held in the Macphail Centre in Ullapool and the theatre is quite intimate. Not to mention the fact that the audience is made up of guitar n…

Rosie Heydenrych of Turnstone Guitars had been on my radar for a while, so naturally I was jumping for joy when I heard that she was coming to the tenth annual gathering of the Acoustic Soundboard UK forum! I had played one of Rosie’s guitars before, so I knew that their quality was superb. But now I was going to have a chance to try a few more AND…

The Plangineers engage experts Sven Beiker and Gary Hsueh to explore the world of autonomous vehicles. Dr. Sven Beiker is Managing Director of Silicon Valley Mobility Gary Hsueh is Director of Mobility Programs at Prospect Silicon Valley In part 2 of this 2-part interview, Michelle and Rob continue their conversation with Sven and Gary to discuss s…

The Plangineers engage experts Sven Beiker and Gary Hsueh to explore the world of autonomous vehicles. Dr. Sven Beiker is Managing Director of Silicon Valley Mobility Gary Hsueh is Director of Mobility Programs at Prospect Silicon Valley In part 1 of this 2-part interview, Michelle and Rob engage with Sven and Gary who break down the basics of "Aut…

Tristan Seume is one of the UK’s finest fingerstyle players and it was a real treat to hear his playing at the 2019 Ullapool Guitar Festival. I first met Tristan and heard his playing at the RMMGA gathering in Buxton in Derbyshire, UK back in 2007. He played one of the slots on the Friday or Saturday night and did a workshop too. Watch this video i…

Rob's a regular over on Arran. I first met him in 2017 when I supported him in the PHT in Lamlash and we've been corresponding ever since. He came over to play last weekend (16 Nov 2019) and we hung out on the Sunday morning and captured a recording as we walked my dogs. We spoke about his career and got into fear and anxiety and following your hea…

Indy Johar, Visionary, is co-founder of Project 00, Dark Matter Labs, as well as multiple social ventures in England. While doing all of this, he also works with large global multinationals and institutions to support their transition to a positive Systems Economy. In this discussion, Indy explains the necessity of the "boring" revolution to equip …

I got a chance to talk to one of the world's finest fingerstyle guitar players, Clive Carroll at the annual RMMGA UK gathering in July 2019. It was lovely talking and even better hearing his playing that night! --- Support me on Patreon and help me to invest in my content business and bring more valuable content on my Acoustic Guitar IO and Diary o…

Interview with Mike Dawes, recorded June 2019. Mike covers composition, travelling with a guitar on airlines, Cuntz and Benjamin guitars, melody and a bunch of other topics. Recorded after rather a late night of playing music! ▶ Links◀ Mike Dawes http://mikedawes.co.uk/shop/ https://www.instagram.com/mike_dawes/ https://www.jamplay.com/guitar-lesso…

Jenn Butterworth was on Arran for the 25th Arran Folk Festival in June 2019. She and I sat down for a cup of tea and a chat. We talked about music, teaching and, of course, guitars and gear! This episode is available as a video on my YouTube channel. I've just reached 100 subs and am pretty pleased about that. I'd love it if you would help me out b…

Olivia Labonte, Executive Director of Young Diplomats of Canada, talks about grassroots youth engagement. Olivia, an economist with a passion for global youth advocacy and sustainable cities, distills ideas from the Canada at 100,000,000 panel. She shares insights from her work as Executive Director of Young Diplomats of Canada, a national non-prof…

Derek brings his extensive experience in the development and management of housing to answer our questions on the topic. We talk about the merits of piloting policy in real-life versus the pitfalls of policy from the boardroom, and discuss takeaways from the Future Cities Canada Summit 'Housing for All' panel.…

Fang shares insights from her experiences leading workshops and meetings that aim to tackle diverse social issues. The aim of her work is to deal with cross-government issues and enhance a better organisational culture from inside to outside of the government.By Muneef Ahmad, Michelle Berquist and Rob Muir

Claire Hicks, Program Manager for Future Ready at WSP Canada, shares successes in sustainability. Future Ready is WSPs global innovation program, encouraging staff and clients to see the future more clearly and design for it today. Claire strives to support teams to deliver resilient, sustainable and people-centred project solutions that are prepar…

Leah Lawrence is a lifelong advocate for engineering, entrepreneurship and the environment. The President and CEO of Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) shares behind-the-scenes insights on technology and how 'change management' can be about 'change expectation.' Check her out in 'The Future of Business' panel discussion at the Future …

Geoff Cape, is the founder and CEO of Evergreen. Since being founded in 1991, Evergreen has evolved into a national organization focused on integrating people, natural and built worlds, turning spaces into great places. On-site at the inaugural Future Cities Canada Summit, Geoff talks about how lessons learned at the Evergreen Brick Works site can …

Desmond Cole, award-winning journalist, activist and author, speaks to the Plangineers on the heels of his opening keynote at the Future Cities Canada Summit, held November 7-9, 2018 at Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto. Click here to see his intriguing presentation. He points to segregation within the City of Toronto and encourages city builders to…

I've known Andy for years but it was the first time we met in person. It was lovely to get to talk to him and to hear him play.By Acoustic Guitar IO

Nick is one of my favourite artists of all time, so it was a real pleasure to have the opportunity not only to hear him play in the intimate setting of someone's living room in Glasgow, but also to have a chat with him about guitars and music before and after his gig. I recorded his performance on video and will be posting them up on my YouTube cha…

Dave White runs De Faoite Stringed Instruments where he builds guitars, ukuleles, bouzoukis and all manner of strings instruments. I caught up with him in Halifax at the 9th annual gathering of the Acoustic Soundboard UK guitar forum. To see a video of this interview, check this link to my YouTube Channel: An Féa Caol.And lastly, a video of Dave hi…

Jo Flatt, Senior Lead of Policy & Partnerships at Evergreen speaks to us about the Future Cities Canada Summit. Future Cities Canada is a new national collaborative that aims to accelerate urban innovation to transform cities for the benefit of us all. The Summit takes place from November 7-9, 2018 at Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto.…

Rodney Worley is the guitar player and tenor singer with the Tennessee bluegrass band Midnight Run. The band toured Scotland in October 2018 and came to visit us on Arran to play at Crofters' Music Bar in Brodick. Rodney has played with Audie Blaylock & Redline, Little Roy Lewis, Paul Williams & the Victory Trio and the James King Band. He has won …

Martin is the founder of the Acoustic Soundboard UK guitar forum and the organiser of the annual UK gathering, now in its 9th year. We spoke about the history of the forum and the gathering and how it has grown over the years into one of the country's leading independent guitar gatherings, where musicians and luthiers come together to share a weeke…

Alex Lenarduzzi, Water Resources Engineer at Conservation Halton shares her thoughts on the role of the natural environment and how it co-exists with the urban environment. We talk about: Differences and similarities between practice in the public and private sector The lingering impacts of extreme weather and the human stories around such events A…

I sat down for a conversation with Gordon Giltrap in May 2018 during the 21st annual UK gathering of the RMMGA newsgroup, at which Gordon was the weekend guest. Speaking to Gordon was a real treat for me as he was part of the 60s acoustic folk boom in London in the late 1960s and played in the company of Bert Jansch and John Renbourn. I bought my f…

Adrian builds acoustic nylon- and steel-string guitars and electric guitars out of his shop in Lincoln, England. His design has a very strong aesthetic and he is an advocate of building with sustainable local and reclaimed woods. He also teaches Luther at a local college. We had a great discussion about his building philosophy and wood choices duri…

Malcolm is a luthier based in Sheffield, UK. I sat down with him for half an hour at an annual gathering in May 2018 and had a nice chat about guitar making.Find Sheaf Guitars on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sheafguitars/By Acoustic Guitar IO

I sat down with Will McNicol at the annual UK RMMGA gathering in May 2018 at the beautiful Springhill Manor in the Cotswolds.We spoke about many things, including the Ullapool Guitar Festival and the International Guitar Foundation.Many thanks to Will for sitting with me. His latest album, Butterflies, Dragonflies and Bumblebees is available to str…

In our second episode ever, “Good, or good enough?” Michelle and Rob discuss how paradigms were broken for the revolutionary Deep Lake Water Cooling system. Our ancestors first form of “district energy,” sharing fire in a cave Vancouver’s Olympic village district energy system Sustainable development at the Regent Park Revitalization Discussing Enw…

The Plangineers talk about the illusions and realities of public consultation. Rob explains the methods by which we gather and consider various points of consideration when undertaking city-building initiatives. Dialogue revolves around engaging early and often. Michelle shares the pizza analogy of consultation. We talk about change management and …

Sheila Boudreau, Senior Landscape Architect at Toronto & Region Conservation Authority, shares stories of teaching, engaging and opening up opportunities for indigenous youth. Sheila speaks to us about: How her experiences have been interwoven to shape what and how she teaches Taking care of the forest in a free-range upbringing Why she has embarke…

The Plangineers, Michelle & Rob, share how their professional fuel often comes from outside their professional lives. We talked about: Voracious reading Understanding people How Ray Dalio's "Idea meritocracy" resonated with Rob Thinking Fast & Slow, in Rob’s case about Floods and Flow Finding the strength to put down a book Michelle’s reflection ab…

Helen Noehammer, Director of Transportation & Infrastructure Planning at the City of Mississauga shares her take on pink-handled tools and how soft skills help alongside the hard skills in the engineer’s toolbox. Helen talks to us about... How "a little bit of everything" adds up to a lot What happens when "life happens" Changes in the representati…

Lesley Pavan, Director of Design and Development at the City of Mississauga shares her insights into the lifestyle choices on offer in the rapidly urbanizing city where she both works and lives. Lesley speaks to us about... Her path from humble roots on the farm, to geographer and through a municipal journey to her role as Director. Mississauga's e…

The Plangineers talk about ingrained falsehoods and the challenge of living up to our professional duty Factual review of engineering data is found here relating to the fact that storm intensities have not increased Rob shared data and engaged specific outlets to expose falsehoods. In this article from Canadian Underwriter, editors consulted Enviro…

A “Millenial” is defined as someone born between 1981 - 1997. Our Millenial Planner, Michelle, and Gen X-er Engineer Rob, share their perspectives on the topic of the “Millenial experience,” and challenge the current narrative. Age-ism is a recurring and troubling theme as is the reality of how it may be ever-present, but simply being dealt with di…

The Plangineers talk about how the input of technical experts can help round out storytelling to add the "why" to the "who cares?" (Sorry for the confusion in the intro...this is actually episode #5, you're right.) Reporting on the GO Train flooding of 2013 may have exaggerated the frequency of this occurrence Check out Rob's CityFloodMap blog post…

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Episode #4: Dancing About Infrastructure Michelle and Rob reflect on the artistry that reveals our invisible services and why these reminders are an important part of our urban existence Talking about music, is like dancing about architecture. But we’ll try dancing about infrastructure anyway Older underground sewers are brick works of art like the…

At the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Ontario, we ask is there a "woman's place" in the Plangineering space? Ontario became the fifth province in Canada to grant women the right to vote on April 12, 1917. This came following more than half a century of activism. Discussing how the controversial dialogue between Jane Jacobs and Robert Mose…

Episode #2: Good, or good enough? Michelle and Rob, our Plangineers, discuss how paradigms were broken for the revolutionary Deep Lake Water Cooling system. Our ancestors first form of “district energy,” sharing fire in a cave Vancouver’s Olympic village district energy system Sustainable development at the Regent Park Revitalization Discussing Enw…

In the debut podcast, Michelle and Rob talk about what inspired them to urban planning and engineering and why the bridge between their practices is shorter than we think. This month, we talked about: Urban dictionary reference to Plangineer The three pillars of planning: Public Health, Legislation & Architecture Rob's toothpick bridge Discussing h…