Life With Strings Attached
by Jamie Gale
Latest episode
Adrian Bagale | How Northfield Went From Mandolins to Guitars
Adrian Bagale | How Northfield Went From Mandolins to Guitars
About this podcast
Everything in life is better understood if you can learn to see the strings attached.
Life With Strings Attached is a long-form conversation series hosted by Jamie Gale that explores the people, ideas, and disciplines shaping the evolving world of the guitar.
Drawing on decades of experience across touring, retail, distribution, manufacturing, education, consulting, and global cultural exchange, Jamie brings together builders, designers, artists, scientists, historians, entrepreneurs, collectors, and innovators to uncover the patterns that connect seemingly unrelated worlds.
From guitar design and architecture to philosophy, physics, craftsmanship, psychology, and culture, each conversation explores the universal principles that influence how we create, think, and connect.
Hosted by the curator of the Boutique Guitar Showcase, Life With Strings Attached contributes to the ongoing conversation of the guitar by inviting thoughtful dialogue, celebrating diverse perspectives, and discovering new possibilities for the future of the instrument.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 129 episodes
- Adrian Bagale | How Northfield Went From Mandolins to Guitars · 2 h 27 min · Episode 129Today on Life With Strings Attached, I’m joined by Adrian Bagale of Northfield Mandolins and Guitars. Adrian’s path begins in Rochester, New York, surrounded by jazz and guitars…
- Hozen | Why He Walked Away From 4000 Guitars a Month · 1 h 6 min · Episode 128Today on Life With Strings Attached, I'm joined by Hozen Yong, the founder of Hozen Guitars and a builder whose mission it has been to bring boutique-level responsiveness and…
- What Ants, How to Train Your Dragon and a Teuffel Guitar Have in Common | Tim C. Johnson · 2 h 0 min · Episode 127Today on Life With Strings Attached, I sit down with filmmaker and storyteller Tim C. Johnson for a conversation about what guitars, animation and great stories have in common…
- Marcel Fehse | The All-Aluminum Guitar Nobody Asked For · 1 h 13 min · Episode 126Today on Life With Strings Attached, I'm joined by Marcel Fehse, a German guitar maker whose instruments challenge almost every assumption about how a guitar should be built…
- Ola Strandberg | Titanium Necks, AI and the Guitar That Never Stops Evolving · 1 h 31 min · Episode 125Today on Life With Strings Attached, I'm joined by Ola Strandberg, the guitar designer, innovator, and creative force behind Strandberg Guitars. We talked about the small design…
- The Two Towers Guitar in the Valley That Inspired Tolkien | Giulio Negrini · 58 min · Episode 124You can see the Two Towers in person right now on the BGS enTour 2026. Find dates and locations here: https://www.boutiqueguitarshowcase.com/about-entour In the summer of 1911, a…
- Why Should a Musician Adapt to an Instrument? | Jerome Little (Torzal Guitars) · 1 h 44 min · Episode 123My guest today is Jerome Little, founder of Torzal Guitars and the mind behind the Natural Twist. Jerome’s story begins in the Sierra Nevada mountains, where making things…
- When Life Tests the Maker | Simon Padalka · 55 min · Episode 122Today's guest is luthier and architect Simon Padalka, a guitar maker with few peers. In this conversation, we talk about the dramatic events that unfolded at the end of the 2025…
- André Gonçalves (ADDAC System) | When Modular Synthesis Meets the Guitar String · 1 h 26 min · Episode 121In this episode, I speak with Lisbon-based artist, musician, and instrument designer André Gonçalves of ADDAC System. For sixteen years, André has explored modular synthesis…
- From a Guitar Shop at 19 to the World's Biggest String Company | Chris Griffiths (D'Addario) · 1 h 22 min · Episode 120In this episode, I sit down with Chris Griffiths, someone I’ve known for nearly twenty-five years and whose remarkable career I’ve had the opportunity to see unfold firsthand…
- 30 Years, Kirk Hammett and the Guitar That Never Compromises | Nik Huber · 1 h 37 min · Episode 119Welcome to Life with Strings Attached. I'm your host, Jamie Gale. Today's guest is Nik Huber, one of the most well-respected guitar makers in the world. 30 years is a remarkable…
- D'Angelico, Loar and Why New York Changed the Guitar Forever | Cristian Mirabella · 1 h 8 min · Episode 118Welcome to Life With Strings Attached. I'm your host, Jamie Gale. My guest today is famed archtop guitar maker Cristian Mirabella. This episode is the result of an impromptu…
- The Man Who Made Rust Beautiful | James Trussart · 1 h 40 min · Episode 117Every guitar James Trussart builds carries far more than steel, wood, and craftsmanship. It carries the influences of a life lived across France, Louisiana, and Los Angeles, a…
- Biography | The Story of Markus Spohn · 1 h 4 min · Episode 116Welcome to Life With Strings Attached. I'm your host, Jamie Gale. This episode was filmed live on location at Tom Anderson Guitar Works in Southern California. My guest today is…
- Biography | The Story of Cristian Mirabella · 1 h 29 min · Episode 115My guest today is famed archtop guitar maker Cristian Mirabella. Cristian's story begins in New York, on Long Island, in a family shaped by music, resilience and a deep sense of…
- Biography | The Story of Steve Klein · 1 h 46 min · Episode 114Today's special biography episode with legendary guitar maker, Steve Klein, was filmed live on location in Northern California. Steve's story begins in San Francisco in 1949…
- Biography | The Story of Ervin Somogyi · 1 h 20 min · Episode 113Today's special biography episode with legendary guitar maker, Ervin Somogyi, was filmed live at a location in Northern California. Ervin's tour begins in Budapest during the…
- Tom Anderson & Markus Spohn | Passing the Torch at Anderson Guitarworks · 1 h 18 min · Episode 112This episode is filmed live on location at Anderson Guitarworks in Southern California, where I sat down with the company's co-owners Tom Anderson and Markus Spohn. Now, in their…
- David Sutkin | What 350 Basses Taught Me About Craft, Collecting & the World's Best Luthiers · 1 h 32 min · Episode 111This episode was filmed live on location in Tuscany, where we sat down with David Sutkin, founder of Bass UpFront. A global community of more than 36.000 bass players, builders…
- Biography | The Story of Sheldon Dingwall · 1 h 7 min · Episode 110This episode was filmed live on location in Tuscany, where I sat down with revolutionary guitar maker Sheldon Dingwall to document his biography. He'll be the first to tell you…
