I recently added my very first travel guitar to my ever-growing guitar family. Yes, my timing was a little off (I mean, I bought a travel guitar precisely when traveling became obsolete…), but it’s been exciting nevertheless. As any musician can attest, bringing home a new instrument is pretty much as good as it gets. Travel guitars are especially cool, because they cater directly to a musician’s need for easy transport, and they make virtually any gig anywhere a possibility. Usually sporting a small body size, lightweight materials and casing, and sometimes even collapsible components, a good travel guitar is first and foremost a feat of engineering if you ask me. Maximizing portability without compromising sound is the name of the game, and you can count on many of your favorite guitar companies to cook up creative solutions. There are two important, and rather contradictory, facts to remember when it comes to appreciating travel guitars, however. 1) Never pit your beloved veteran instrument against your new travel guitar to compare. Physics alone can demand a sacrifice in tone, volume, scale length, luxury appointments, or various other specs when comparing to a full-sized counterpart. 2) Never underestimate your travel guitar. It may seem unassuming at first, but it is scrappy and reliable. It will be a serious contender for your new favorite, because it makes you better than ever before at just making music for music’s sake.
So where are my travel guitar musicians at? Believe it or not, during this pandemic is actually when we’ve shined. To be clear, I’m not just talking about anyone who has purchased a travel guitar during this unprecedented time. More broadly, I’m referring to all of those steadfast local music-makers who regularly transport themselves to any gig, open mic, or jam sesh, no matter how small and no matter what happens. The musicians who work hard every day to independently build themselves and their brand (the greatest feat of engineering, and one not for the faint of heart). We might feel unassuming and overlooked, especially now. There are stronger and louder voices than ours, more provoking and more clever songwriting than ours, and shinier equipment and stages than ours, but at the end of the day, we’re the best at staying out there when compared to our beloved veteran counterparts. We’re scrappy and reliable, and we’ll bring you those DIY facebook live shows, smartphone-recorded albums, and whatever else it takes whether or not anyone’s listening. We’ve proven ourselves resilient to underestimation and have helped keep the music playing when we all need it the most. So, in case you haven’t heard it, thank you to all of my fellow travel guitar musicians out there -- you know who you are, and you might be my new personal favorites. Live music will be back in its full glory soon, but until then, here’s to just making music for music’s sake.
Stay in touch!
Seraphina Provenzano
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Follow Seraphina’s musical adventures here as one of our featured Pops Blogs. Feel free to contact her at sprovenzano15@gmail.com, and now check out her YouTube channel for her latest music: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcgAUGkqdY0h3j1x2pAPjvA
Also, we are pleased to announce that Seraphina has been nominated for Best New Artist in the Madison area! Help us support her candidacy for this award by casting your vote below:
August 1, 2020