Our complimentary issue of the Spen Valley Guardian came yesterday (thank you!) with a little coverage of our evening with Diane Ponzio.

Click image to enlarge.

Of course, I’m talking about festival time and the the fun and mayhem that comes with it. What follows is a list of where you’ll be able to meet, catch up with, seek advice from, buy drinks for (that last one always goes down well!) all your favourite The Music Room staff members and of course, peruse our wares and buy lots of instruments.

We’ve got some great new lines for you this year, the biggest one is Standford Guitars. Now I know I’ve mentioned them before but really I can’t stress enough how good they are. They’re a sweet fusion of traditional design philosophies and modern manufacturing techniques but really to understand where I’m coming from you need to come along and get your hands on one. You won’t regret it.

One last thing, before the list of dates, while we take lots of stuff with us when we’re on the road, if there’s something you especially want and you’re not sure we’ll be bringing it just give us a ring and a couple of days notice and we’ll make sure it gets put in the van just for you.

Rochester Sweeps
Saturday 3rd May to Monday 5th May

Shepley
Saturday 17th May to Sunday 18th May

Chippenham
Saturday 24th May to Monday 26th May

Conway Bluegrass
Saturday 5th July to Sunday 6th July

Yorkshire Show
Tuesday 8th July to Thursday 10th July

Priddy
Saturday 12th July to Sunday 13th July

Trowbridge
Thursday 24th July to Sunday 27th July

Warwick
Saturday 26th July to Sunday 27th July
We might kick off a little early and open shop on the Friday night.

Cambridge
Thursday 31st July to Sunday 3rd August

Sidmouth
Friday 1st August to Friday 8th August

Croprody
Thursday 7th August to Saturday 9th August

Broadstairs
Saturday 9th August to Friday 15th August

Whitby
Saturday 16th August to Friday 22nd August

Shrewsbury
Friday 22nd August to Monday 25th August

Towersey
Friday 22nd August to Monday 25th August

Fylde
Saturday 30th August to Sunday 31st August

Bromyard
Saturday 13th September to Sunday 14th Semptember

Music Port
Saturday 18th October to Sunday 19th October

Sleepy old Cleckheaton was once again treated to a day of musical extravaganza. The Music Room threw wide it’s doors and invited people from far and wide to learn something of the whistle.

Guests of honour were Tony Dixon, reknowned whistle maker and the lovely Becky Taylor, whistler extraordinaire.

Click here to see what went on

Here at The Music Room in sleepy Cleckheaton, UK, we were honoured and delighted to play host to the legendary singer/songwrite, Diane Ponzio and her stunning Martin JDP II Diane Ponzio Signature Limited Edition Guitar.

She addressed a small, but perfectly formed audience, sharing with us the history of Martin guitars and just what makes them so special, before playing several of her songs for us.

What do you get if you cross the Czech Master Luthier, Frantisek Furch with the German guitarist and designer, Toni Goetz? How about a guitar that fuses the wonderful tone and feel of today’s modern design with the wonderful old values and practices of traditional craftsmanship.

Put simply, you get Stanford Guitars. Even more simply, you get a great guitar.

You get a guitar so great in fact, that guitarist, songwrite and winner of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Best Album category, Martin Simpson had this to say about them;

“We do indeed live in the Golden Age of guitar making - and it’s not just the super expensive instruments which tell us that. Stanford make a range of guitars which would suit all levels from earnest beginner to pro -player. The workmanship and attention to detail is excellent on all these instruments. I wish I’d had one 40 years ago - I’d be a better player now”

Could there be any finer endorsement?

Click here to download the review from Guitarist magazine (PDF)