About Us

The Story of Folkway

Established in 1999, Folkway Music began life as the guitar repair and building shop of Luthier Mark Stutman. It wasn’t very long before the demand for high-quality repair work was greater than Mark could handle on his own, and he made the decision to hire Jesse Merrill, a guitar-builder of the highest caliber and all-around renaissance man. Together, with a passion for vintage guitars, as well as a sincere appreciation of modern instruments of old-world quality, the pair made the decision to expand the scope of Folkway Music to include instrument sales.

There were always old guitars to fix and sell, and the store’s customers always seemed to appreciate the pair’s upfront and honest approach. Locally, and through the first incarnation of the store’s website, instrument sales became a much larger focus of the store. Searching out the best vintage guitars, learning how to accurately photograph instruments, describing tone in words, and mastering the art of guitar packaging took up much time, and more staff were soon required. We became authorized dealers for the Santa Cruz Guitar Company early on, and soon established dealerships with Larrivee, Taylor Guitars, National ResoPhonic guitars, Asturias, C.F. Martin & Co. Guitars and many others, as the demand for quality new instruments grew with the store’s reputation.

Within 5 years of opening, Folkway Music had grown too large for its 1000 square foot home, and we embarked on a renovation that would ultimately triple the size of the store. There would never again be banjos hanging from the ceiling!

Today, our repair department occupies about a third of our floor space, and every instrument we offer for sale spends time on one of the five repair benches before being made available. New instruments are carefully set-up, while used and vintage instruments are repaired as required. Our inventory of new and old instruments is constantly changing, and managing our website and online presence has become a full time position.

Live music has always been one of the pillars of our business, and we continue to present concerts and workshops on a regular basis. We offer instruction in all of the instruments we sell (and even in some we don’t), and employ a teaching staff of the highest caliber. Our instructors are great musicians, but more so are great teachers.

We hope to have something to offer to everyone who walks through our doors or clicks through our website. We love music and, particularly, the instruments that help make it! Please let us have the opportunity to share with you our passion for the instruments we sell, the restorations we undertake, and the performers we present. Whether it be in person, on the phone, or through email, we’re thankful you’ve chosen to visit us.

Happy strumming!