Rockbridge
Rockbridge Guitar Company was founded in the year 2000 by Brian Calhoun and Randall Ray. As experienced luthiers and guitar players, their goal was to build hand crafted instruments from the highest quality tonewoods. Each Rockbridge guitar is a custom instrument of consistently high quality workmanship and tone. The company invites you to explore the website to see what makes a Rockbridge Guitar so unique.
Randall Ray
Randall Ray got his first guitar at the age of eight. His father knew three songs on the guitar (Wildwood Flower, Walk the Line, and Streets of Laredo) and got him started on the musical path. His father also built over thirty flintlock rifles and muskets during his lifetime, so Randall developed an appreciation and facility for woodworking. This love of woodworking gradually branched off into luthiery as he started developing as a guitarist. During college, Randall switched from playing Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Grateful Dead songs to flatpicking bluegrass. He wanted a better guitar but he couldn't afford it, so he built his first instrument. He became a self-taught luthier and has been building and repairing for over fifteen years. His exposure to outstanding vintage instruments has influenced the development of the Rockbridge Guitar features. Randall's building gained momentum when James Leva bought the tenth guitar he built and used it extensively on the Copper Creek recording "Vertie's Dream." He'd built around twenty guitars when he and Brian officially teamed up in 2002. His musical experience also makes Randall aware of the needs of performing guitarists. He's played in several regional/local bands over the years, and has played on a few nationally distributed recordings emanating from the Charlottesville, VA area. Like Brian, he has performed up and down the Appalachian region, from the North Carolina mountains to the D.C. suburbs. He also enjoys looking at tool catalogs as much or more than musical equipment ones these days. Another unique trait is his ability to talk backwards. His nickname is "Corn Dog." His guitar heroes are Clarence White, Doc Watson, and Django Rhinehardt, and he personally test drives each new Rockbridge Guitar with a medley of Reno's Ride, Stones Rag, and Nuages based on the versions played by these legends.
Brian Calhoun
Brian grew up in Lexington, Va. As a teenager he started playing electric rock guitar and took lessons from a local legendary player, repairman, and luthier, Steve Hoke. Steve introduced Brian to bluegrass and new acoustic music, and also introduced him to nearby pickers, including Randall. Brian became so proficient that he attended the Berklee School of Music in Boston for a semester, and returned to the Charlottesville, Va. area, where he co-founded the band, "Walkers Run." After playing extensively throughout the region, Brian decided to switch his priorities to luthiery (Randall took his place as lead guitarist in Walkers Run, so you can see a symbiosis developing here). Brian immersed himself in his new passion, and studied with violin maker Sam Compton (Vice President of The Violin Society of America), mandolin builder John Schofield, as well as Steve Hoke. He also attended a workshop on the art of inlay work, and realized his talent for inlay design and technique. Brian began making custom mandolins and his stunning inlay prompted Randall to ask him to help finish and inlay a guitar he was building. They eventually decided to join forces, forming Rockbridge Guitar Company. In addition to his work with Rockbridge Guitars, Brian continues to build his own line of Calhoun mandolins and does custom inlay work for other builders, most notably Stelling Banjo Company in nearby Afton Va. Stelling has featured Brian's inlay on their Deluxe Butterfly, Old Woody, Lost Forest, the 30th anniversary Viking special edition model, and several others.
Brian currently resides in Gordonsville, Va. with his violinist/fiddler wife Ann Marie Simpson Calhoun. His main guitar is a prototype Brazilian Rosewood/Red Spruce Rockbridge guitar. His other interests include playing guitar and playing basketball. He is in the minority of luthiers who can do a 360 degree dunk!
