This week, we talk to visual artist James A. Willis. Why are we talking to an artist on the FJ podcast? Because Willis has plenty of guitar and music-related projects under his belt. He’s at least partially based in Nashville, where he’s served as the “Artist in Residence” at Gibson, he’s used guitar cases as canvases for his Saints series of paintings and he even worked at Zac Brown’s estate. Most recently – and for reasons that still baffle us – Willis started a new podcast called James A. Willis reads the Fretboard Journal (iTunes), where he talks to musician pals about the FJ and their guitar (and songwriting) habits.

Check out Willis’ Instagram here to see some of his guitar projects.

This episode is sponsored by our friends at Mass Street Music, based in Lawrence, Kansas. If you’re into boutique guitars, old Martins or just need a reliable repair team to tune up your guitars, check them out.