Acoustic Guitar Sessions Presents Gretchen Menn

As the guitarist of Zepparella, a popular Led Zeppelin tribute band, as well as the leader of her own instrumental trio, the San Francisco Bay Area–based musician Gretchen Menn is known for her prowess on the electric guitar. But the classically trained Menn is also no slouch on the acoustic guitar. That much was clearly evident when Menn stopped by our studios to film her recent series of Basics lessons, on music theory for guitarists, and stayed behind the camera to perform a pair of solo pieces.

Here Menn plays a sophisticated arrangement of the old song “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling,” as well as “Bures-sur-Yvette,” an original composition that was inspired by time she spent in France as a teenager, and which reflects her classical background.

For the session Menn played a custom Eros model made by the Santa Cruz, CA–based luthier Stephen Strahm. The guitar is outfitted with DiMarzio’s The Black Angel magnetic soundhole pickup. Menn uses various types and gauges of Ernie Ball Strings.