2020: A YEAR IN GUITAR
2020 will be remembered for many reasons – admittedly many of them bad! Perhaps it was the loss of Eddie Van Halen back in October that felt like the most devastating blow of them all, players from all genres paying tribute to a multifaceted creative visionary who genuinely smiled through his instrument. Then, of course, there’s the loss of guitar shops and other guitar-related businesses around the world, many struggling to survive during lockdowns and general uncertainty around safety or income. It’s not even just the smaller independents – Dawsons Music, one of the UK’s oldest music retailers, rescued from administration back in May and America’s largest chain Guitar Center filing for bankruptcy not long ago in November. The live music sector has arguably been hit the hardest, with no certainty as to when performances can return to the regularity we once knew, affecting not only the artists who’ve relied more and more on touring in the digital age, but also the crew and personnel around them.
That said, there have also been many success stories – from the continued growth of Fender Play and the promotion responsible for a surge in creativity during lockdown, the unexpected return of AC/DC, new music from John
