Earnie Bailey is a good friend of mine. He lives in Seattle, WA and makes amazing guitars with is business – Wire Instruments. He is also know for being the guitar tech for Nirvana as well as for the Foo Fighters. This guys has probably seen and done it all in the world of guitars. A waking library of guitar knowledge, but most importantly, he is one of the nicest human beings I have ever met.
I got to initially know Earnie with our common interest of Travis Bean guitars, and we both share a mutual friend Kevin Burkett of Electrical Guitar Company. We like aluminum, but also enjoy many other guitars.
This morning I was super stoked to see that he did an interview with Seattle Wave Radio talking about his beginning days working on guitars at an early age to eventually the days on being on the road with some of the biggest bands on the planet, to where he is today, making insanely awesome guitars. I thought this interview was great, and thought I’d share!
I was hoping he’d go into some of the early stories of actually how he got hooked up with Nirvana – it’s a great story, and some of the fun times with Foo Fighters. I’m one of the lucky ones that have heard these stories – and they’re pretty great.
In my own musician hindsight, I think I would have really enjoyed getting into the world of guitar tech while in my 20s. That would be a fantastic experience, and talk about the potential connections when you decide to focus on your own musical ventures – bands or building, etc. But just like all things, you need to work hard to be ready for those opportunities. I loved his quote – “luck goes hand in hand with a 90 hour work week”. Well said Earnie.. well said.
Make sure you check out Wire Instruments!!!
