Bob's Comments

Although I've played guitar for most of my life, I must sheepishly admit to an astonishing lack of knowledge about the more technical aspects of the guitar. But I do know how wonderful a Ryan guitar feels, how easily it responds to various styles of playing and the range of sounds it reveals to me as I play. Whether it's the guitar alone or hearing it underneath my voice, I marvel at how it makes my songs sound. My Ryan guitar is nothing less than fine art that beckons me to touch, hold, play,and explore.
 

The first time I met Bob Bennett was in a little guitar store (now gone) many, many years ago. The owner of the shop, my good friend Kurt Wheaton, tipped me off that Bob was coming over for a guitar repair and it would be a good time to meet him. I was a young, struggling guitar builder and the thought of getting a guitar in the hands of this legend was very exciting to me. So Bob finally shows up and we meet and seem immediately to have good rapport.

Then the most unexpected thing happened. And this really reveals so much about Bob not only as an artist but as a person as well. The talk got around to the music he was writing at the time and he asked if I wanted to hear something. Of course I did and so then Bob gets two chairs, places them 3 feet apart facing each other, sets us in them and then proceeds to sing directly to an audience of one! I think with any other artist or singer this certainly could have felt awkward—to have a singer sing to you so directly (glancing up from the fretboard to look directly at you during the song!). But not with Bob. There is such an atmosphere of honesty and transparency to not only Bob himself but also his music that it felt perfectly natural. It was completely disarming. I can say that Bob is my favorite singer-songwriter ever. Of course his velvety smooth voice and incredible guitar technique are over the top. But at the end of the day it is his lyrics that set him apart as one of the true poets/troubadours of our age. Here in California (and elsewhere) Bob is a legend among the circles that appreciate this kind of artistry and poetry. But he is also one of the wittiest and funniest guys I have ever met. He will rip your heart out with a lovely turn of phrase one moment and then the next he’s got you laughing out loud. Bob and his lovely wife Elena are now among our very closest circle of friends. Because we have become such good buddies with Bob, it is easy now to think of him as just ordinary Bob (the big “uncle” my little boys is just crazy about) -- big Bob who comes over for cigars on the patio (oops, I let out the secret). But then he will pick up a guitar and start singing and then you remember—oh yeah, this guy is one of the best songwriters in the world.