Winning the NARGC meant a lot to Ned and — thanks to the aforementioned documentary that came with it — meant significant national exposure .
But of course , Ned wasn ’ t exactly a stranger to national exposure at that point . Prior to the competition , he had been opening for Joe Satriani . Maybe you ’ ve heard of him .
“ In the summer of 2002 , I landed an interview with BBC prior to doing some gigs in France ,” he says . “ Feeling lucky , I emailed Joe and asked him if they had an opener for four gigs he was doing in England at the same time .”
They didn ’ t — so Ned got the job . And his innovative approach to fretless guitar with vocals was such a great fit that the tour management asked him back to do the US tour that fall .
“ My first gig opening for Joe was in London , at Shepherd ’ s Bush Empire , with 3,000 Satch fans screaming ‘ Joe ! Joe ! Joe ! Joe !’ before I went on . To my credit ,” says Evett , “ I went out and held their attention for my 20-minute set and was asked back as an opening act for two more tours .”
Ned has also opened for Eric Johnson , Joe Bonamassa and George Thorogood , who once gave him a thumbs-up during soundcheck .
And though the rest may be history at this point — at least it ’ s been well documented .
Ned released his eleventh studio album , Glass Guitar , late last September — a svelte , glimmering compilation of fretless guitar artistry that features an array of soulful and adventurous playing .
“ I write everything on my own and use my smart phone to make basic demos ,” Ned said when I asked about his process . “ Songs start arriving . I do my best to keep it simple until I have maybe 25 or 30 ideas — and then I start production . For me , starting production too early stops the rest of the some from emerging .”
This most recent album was recorded in just four days at Audio Lab in Boise , but like the others before , it ’ s unlikely to get much personal play .
“ Each album reminds me just how fast time is passing us by , but I rarely dig into the old stuff for fear of contaminating the new stuff .”
Even still , all the notoriety and success always comes back to Ned and his fretless guitars . Each with a name — and each with a story .
The story goes that sometime in 1991 , Ned moved to San Francisco and wore out the fingerboard on a guitar he ’ d named “ The Homeycaster ”— a John Bolin strat body with a Squier neck — while playing in a band with Tim Westergren , co-founder of Pandora Radio .
“ The ebony kept wearing down due to my preference for round-wound strings , resulting in nasty buzzes ,” he says , “ The cost of getting it re-planed was out of my reach so , unable to afford a metal fingerboard , I asked my friends Rob Renick and Cherian Jubliee to cut me a glass fingerboard and attach it to my 1963 Kay Acoustic .”
Winning the NARGC meant a lot to Ned and — thanks to the aforementioned documentary that came with it — meant significant national exposure .
But of course , Ned wasn ’ t exactly a stranger to national exposure at that point . Prior to the competition , he had been opening for Joe Satriani . Maybe you ’ ve heard of him .
“ In the summer of 2002 , I landed an interview with BBC prior to doing some gigs in France ,” he says . “ Feeling lucky , I emailed Joe and asked him if they had an opener for four gigs he was doing in England at the same time .”
They didn ’ t — so Ned got the job . And his innovative approach to fretless guitar with vocals was such a great fit that the tour management asked him back to do the US tour that fall .
“ My first gig opening for Joe was in London , at Shepherd ’ s Bush Empire , with 3,000 Satch fans screaming ‘ Joe ! Joe ! Joe ! Joe !’ before I went on . To my credit ,” says Evett , “ I went out and held their attention for my 20-minute set and was asked back as an opening act for two more tours .”
Ned has also opened for Eric Johnson , Joe Bonamassa and George Thorogood , who once gave him a thumbs-up during soundcheck .
And though the rest may be history at this point — at least it ’ s been well documented .
Ned released his eleventh studio album , Glass Guitar , late last September — a svelte , glimmering compilation of fretless guitar artistry that features an array of soulful and adventurous playing .
“ I write everything on my own and use my smart phone to make basic demos ,” Ned said when I asked about his process . “ Songs start arriving . I do my best to keep it simple until I have maybe 25 or 30 ideas — and then I start production . For me , starting production too early stops the rest of the some from emerging .”
This most recent album was recorded in just four days at Audio Lab in Boise , but like the others before , it ’ s unlikely to get much personal play .
“ Each album reminds me just how fast time is passing us by , but I rarely dig into the old stuff for fear of contaminating the new stuff .”
Even still , all the notoriety and success always comes back to Ned and his fretless guitars . Each with a name — and each with a story .
The story goes that sometime in 1991 , Ned moved to San Francisco and wore out the fingerboard on a guitar he ’ d named “ The Homeycaster ”— a John Bolin strat body with a Squier neck — while playing in a band with Tim Westergren , co-founder of Pandora Radio .
“ The ebony kept wearing down due to my preference for round-wound strings , resulting in nasty buzzes ,” he says , “ The cost of getting it re-planed was out of my reach so , unable to afford a metal fingerboard , I asked my friends Rob Renick and Cherian Jubliee to cut me a glass fingerboard and attach it to my 1963 Kay Acoustic .”