We’ve been Gordon Lightfoot fans for a long time. Even back before it was hip.

But asking us to name our favorite from his 250+ song catalog is like, well, asking us to choose a favorite child. We can, however, easily place “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” in our top five without having to second guess, simply because THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR ARRANGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE OF THIS TUNE IS AWESOME, whether it’s a studio recording or live version. The song demonstrates how Gord basically put the word “song” in “songwriting.”

So what do we care that the Trilogy, which Lightfoot was commissioned to write by the CBC for a 1966 television documentary commemorating the railway’s centennial, will be made into an illustrated book for release later this year?

Because the lyrics are damned awesome as well. You see, Lightfoot was also responsible for putting the word “writer” in “songwriter.”

We’ve long since grown numb to hearing about new iPhone apps, but this one we saw via Mashable we thought was pretty awesome.

Have a look at the iRig for iPhone (also iPad or iPod), which lets you plug your instrument into a mobile device and listen through headphones or connect to an external system. Take it a step further with AmpliTube software and voilà, you’ve got yourself virtual pedals, amps and cabinets!

That “big guitar tone” heard on Already Gone, pick-ups on the Les Pauls, the source of that distinctive sustain in Visions and acoustic vs. electric guitars on stage and in the studio.

This and more as Don answers the latest fan questions in our Guitar Q & A.

Don is among the “daring young men and their doubleneck guitars” featured in the January 2010 issue of Premier Guitar magazine. The issue recaps the history and spotlights a handful of renowned players of multi-necked guitars. Not only that, the accompanying Felder/Walsh classic color photo looks a lot like what we had hanging in our college dorm room back in the day.

Full digital article

Last Friday, ABC News 20/20 aired an interesting report about questionable methods used by memorabilia dealers pitching autographed guitars.

The story centered around the practice of stealing photos, doctoring them and using the “enhanced” pictures to authenticate the otherwise phony signatures. Don’s, Robert Plant’s, Don Henley’s, Bono’s and Miley Cyrus’ are among some of the dubiously obtained autographs mentioned.

Article and video on the 20/20 site.

 Loading ...