Mass Resonator

Clapton Quest ticket winner Doug Lockwood with his wife Linda at the show

(Our Clapton Quest Contest ticket winner Doug Lockwood sent this great review of the Clapton Kansas City show to us!)

Thanks go out to Mass Street Music for the amazing opportunity to see Eric Clapton in concert last night at the Sprint Center. I have seen Clapton in concert before, but last night was one of his best performances by far.

As I’m sure you know, Roger Daltry was the opening act and took the audience on a one-hour nostalgic tour of the glory days of British invasion rock. He may have lost a bit of vocal range but has not lost any showmanship. His band did a very fine job of creating the other components of the familiar Who sound.

After a short break for stage reset, Professor Clapton strolled calmly to center stage and commenced his clinic on how to play guitar. His non-stop 1 1/2 hour performance left no one doubting his superior musical talents. His first segment had him weaving his rock magic by way of his very familar Fender Stratocaster. He then shifted gears behind an Eric Clapton Signature Martin acoustic, with which he enthralled all of us with a fine selection of blues and ballads (including a wonderfully mellow version of “Layla”). For his final segment, he returned to his Fender magic wand and brought the crowd to its feet for a series of his career classics. He ended his set with “Cocaine”, which had the entire crowd joining in the musical euphoria. He returned for a one song encore and left a very grateful audience with the same grace he entered … making us all feel honored to have shared the evening with a true legend.

This fantastic gift package with great seats came just 2 1/2 weeks after my birthday, so thanks for making this year one of my best.  - Doug Lockwood

We’re very happy to the great Steve Kaufman return April 15-17 for two workshops and a concert! Steve is the only 3-time winner of Winfield’s famed National Flatpicking Championship and in addition to being a phenomenal player, he’s an exceptional teacher! He’s authored many books and DVDs, but the best way to appreciate Kaufman is in person. We’re excited to have him back for a Mandolin Workshop, his famous “2 Day, 8-Hour, All-Level Guitar Workshop” AND an intimate concert here at Mass Street Music. Check out the following schedule of Kaufman events - click on event for details and ticket info. Tix are available online and in the store. We hope you can join us for this entertaining and educational weekend!!

Kaufman’s Mandolin Workshop - Thursday, April 15, 6:30-9 pm

Kaufman’s Guitar Workshop - ‘2 Day, 8-Hour, All-Level’ - Fri., April 16, 7-9 pm & Sat., April 17, 9:30 am - 3:30 pm

Kaufman in Concert - Saturday, April 17, 7:30 pm

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…

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!

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Our good buddy Rick Frydman has at long last been able to finagle one of his favorite bands to appear in Lawrence - Steppin’ In It - to quote Rick, “A high spirited roots/country-blues/folk/western swing (and a little bit of Cajun) band from Lansing, Michigan” that utilize slide guitar, harmonica, accordions, and stand up bass with an occasional trumpet, trombone and pennywhistle too.  Get a taste with this great youtube clip of  them performing ‘Give My Regards to Miss Moline’.  Frydman was so taken › Continue reading

(This interview was originally done in August 2009, before his Sept ‘09 show). We’re excited to have the great Roy Book Binder play Mass St. Music again on Friday, June 11, 2010.  He’s not only a killer blues and folk guitarist, but a real entertainer who has lived a life that provides plenty of fodder for his true tales. He was kind enough to take some time to answer a few questions because, you know, inquiring minds want to know. Tickets for this show are $15 and are available at the store, by phone (785-843-3535) and at our store website at www.massstreetmusic.com

More tunes and tales than you shake a stick at

TAKE 5 with Roy:

1. How did your friendship with Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna’s Jorma Kaukonen (Roy teaches sometimes at Jorma’s Fur Peace Ranch) come about?

ROY: Back in the ‘old days’, back in the ’60s, often when I played ‘Hesitation Blues’, someone would yell out, “JORMA!!”… › Continue reading