Mass Resonator

Art House Studio

There’s a new joint venture between Mass Street Music’s own John Flynn, Isaac Flynn, Matt C and studio engineer Jim Barnes  -  The Art House. It’s  an innovative recording studio located near the heart of downtown Lawrence.  The Art House is much more than just a recording studio however, it’s an arts collective housing visual artists, filmmakers and music teachers, including veteran Mass St Musician Eric Mardis.  So far the reviews have been outstanding.

Between now and April 1st Art House has an introductory recording rate of $250/day, including engineer fees. After April 1st the rates will be $350/day, engineer fee included.  If you’re into home recording Art House will be offering classes.  Having trouble recording  your own drums, or doing your final mix down?  You can even partner with them - they’ll record your drums, you record the rest and then Art House will  mix it down.  More info on Art House can be found  in this great  Lawrence Journal-World article.

You can also check out samples of their work at www.myspace.com/thearthouselawrence.  Interested in booking or more info? Contact Matt C at arthouselawrence@gmail.com, or call 785-220-7195.  Congrats guys!!

Mass St Music and Fender are giving away 2 tickets to see Eric Clapton on March 3rd at Kansas City’s Sprint Center! To enter, just provide us with the correct answers to 5 Clapton trivia questions. The questions can be found online, hidden amongst our Fender products at www.massstreetmusic.com. They can also be found at our store, 1347 Mass. St, Lawrence, Kansas, attached to the tags on specific Fender items. The winner will be announced March 1. For full details and the entry form, check out our CLAPTON QUEST CONTEST details. Good Luck!!!

We’re giving away a pair of tickets to see Eric Clapton in Kansas City on Wednesday, March 3 at the Sprint Center! But we’re not just giving them away….we’re having a Clapton Quest contest. Starting this Monday, Feb. 22, we’ll post details on how to enter to win the tickets. The contest will run through Sunday, Feb. 28 with the winner announced on Monday, March 1. Whether you visit the website or walk into the store, you’ll have a chance to win with no purchase required. Check our store site, Facebook, Twitter, or this blog on Monday, Feb. 22 at noon for all the details! This is gonna be fun…

We’re continuing the free workshop series we started last year, The Elbow Room Workshop Series. Come to the store last Saturday of each month at 9 am for a free lesson on a variety of music genres. All are welcome, as space allows, no sign up, no fees, just have a good time. Here’s what we’ve got coming up:

FEBRUARY 27:

FINGERSTYLE ROOTS GUITAR!
with Dan Bliss! - 9:00 am
Join Kansas City’s Dan Bliss (www.danbliss.com) in exploring Fingerstyle Roots Guitar including his unique take on Doc Watson’s “Deep River Blues”. This is a hands on workshop so bring your guitar ready to go. Bliss will provide some tab for you take home as well. FREE!

MARCH 27:

PLAY WELL WITH OTHERS - BEGINNER JAM WORKSHOP
with Martha Haehl and Mike Walker - 9:00 am
Ready to start picking and playing with others? Want to know the ‘etiquette’ of dropping into a bluegrass jam, taking a turn soloing and more? Join Martha Haehl and Mike Walker, authors of the great book Play Well With Others: A Musicians’s Guide to Jamming Like a Pro, as they take you through the basics of joining others in a jam session. Great for beginners, intermediates and those advanced folks who’d like to get out of the house and join in the fun. FREE!

APRIL 24:

BEGINNING JAZZ & BLUES MANDOLIN: Don’t Let It Scare You, It’s Not That Hard!
With Scott Tichenor - 9:00 am
Mandolin Cafe’s Scott Tichenor will take you through learning some easy jazz and blues chords for a simple progression that you’ll be able to play right on the spot. These chords are valuable for all types of music. Don’t let the J word scare you! FREE!

More to be announced!

Lots of great gear in the store right now - here’s what we’ve got our eyes on:

Jim Baggett - Collings OM1A Cutaway

This is one of those guitars that has a ‘wow’ factor right out of the box.  I’ve always liked the combination of Adirondack Spruce for the top and Mahogany for the back and sides.  It gives guitars a bright and clear sound.  This has all that, plus a terrific dynamic range.

Another impeccable Collings!

John Flynn - L.R.Baggs Venue D.I.

Got to use this for an all acoustic set. It’s really exceptional. I had been using the Paracoustic DI, which till now was the best unit I’ve found. The Venue really smooths out the harsh qualities that come with acoustic pickups in general. I basically plugged it in, set it flat, ran the DI to the house and another line to a Fishman Loudbox 100.

Two really nice surprises on this… First, the tuner is deadly accurate.  Secondly, the › Continue reading

Please join us Saturday, Feb. 20 for a very special (and free!) in-store event and meet ‘n greet with incredible fingerstyle guitarist Andy McKee!

To celebrate the digital release of his new album, “Joyland” on Feb. 23rd, Andy McKee has chosen to pay it forward and bring attention to music education, in particular how guitar playing can literally change lives.  He’s making a few rare in-store appearances and will be here for a clinic, performance and meet and greet on Feb. 20 at 12:30 pm - and it’s all totally free. We’ll be putting the spotlight that day on our good friends at Americana Music Academy, a great non-profit musical school that also provides scholarships for lessons, so they’ll be here too with lots of info. We’ll have cool stuff from D’Addarrio and Yamaha to give away throughout the day, including an acoustic guitar. While this event is totally free, we will heartily encourage donations to Americana’s Scholarship Program. We hope you can join us for this very special afternoon with Andy!

Fender American Special Strat in classic Candy Apple Red

The Facts Jack

There was a lot of hype when we first heard about the new Fender American Special Strats and Teles - the series sounded good: American made, classic design, Texas Special pickups and less expensive - so what’s the catch? We set our own Jason Jones, Matt Christenot, and Matthew Khomsi to the task of checking these out from stem to stern.  Here’s what they had to say:

Jason: Aesthetically pleasing, the American Special series was a sensible move for Fender. These give you  many pro features with cost effective attributes that, all in all, create a great instrument for a reasonable price.  Borrowing the gloss Urethane finish from the American Standard series, and incorporating Fender’s most popular pickups, the Texas › Continue reading