I bought this beautiful modern dreadnought from Dana Bourgeois at the 2004 Nashville NAMM show. I had been looking for something to take on the road in place of my 1956 Martin D-28, which I had decided not to entrust to the airlines any longer, and this Country Boy Deluxe more than fit the bill. The cocobolo back and sides and Adirondack top created a rich, fat sound that seemed to have a little less bass than a rosewood dreadnought but with a richer midrange than mahogany, and the sound suited my style perfectly.

I had known Dana for a long time before I acquired one of his guitars. When I was on the road in Maine in the early ‘80s, I needed some work done on my guitar, and everyone told me I should take it to Dana, even though he was a few hours drive from where I was staying. A few years afterward, I got to try one of the first OMs Dana worked on in collaboration with Martin Guitars and Eric Schoenberg, and later, when Dana started his own company, I kept an eye on what he was doing, and tried out his guitars whenever I got the chance. After playing this guitar at the 2004 NAMM show, I decided that I needed a Bourgeois dreadnought, and told Dana so. As we talked about what guitar he would potentially build me, he finally said “So what you want is that guitar!” The instrument had been promised to a dealer, but the dealer graciously agreed to relinquish it, and the deal was done.

I immediately began using it on the road, but took my D-28 into the studio whenever I had a session. When the Bourgeois was about four years old, however, I took it to the sessions for my album Scott Nygaard and Crow Molly, recorded both it and the D-28, and realized that the Bourgeois had become just as rich and resonant as the D-28, so I used the Bourgeois for the rest of the sessions, and it has remained a trusty companion ever since.

SPECS: Dreadnought body. Cocobolo back and sides. Adirondack spruce top. Mahogany neck. Ebony fingerboard and bridge. Bone nut and saddle. 25.5-inch scale. 1¾-inch nut width. 2⁵/₁₆-inch string spacing at saddle. Gold-plated Waverly tuners. Bourgeoisguitars.com

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