For guitarist Mike Lawson, success comes in many forms. “First and foremost, I’m a musician. I’ll always identify first as a musician. Everything in my professional life is centered around that lifelong identity. Millions like me will always play live music and make recordings. I will always be one of them.”
To some, he is a noted publisher, journalist, editor, and author. As a publisher of music education publications, he produced over 200 books and videos on audio/music production, signing Quincy Jones and Ken Scott to publish their musical memoirs. He authored Teach Yourself GarageBand and compiled The Roger Nichols Recording Method. His publishing ventures launched the career of bestselling author Bobby Owsinski. Mike owns the periodicals Musical Merchandise Review (MMR) Magazine and (SBO+) School Band and Orchestra Plus magazine. He is a voting member of The Recording Academy for over two decades and a former Trustee for the Grammy Awards. To others, Mike is the executive director of the nonprofit TI:ME (Technology in Music Education), producing professional development training for thousands of US music educators each year.
But to many, Mike Lawson is simply known as a professional guitarist, owning what some call an “excessive number of guitars.” Mike has played thousands of shows, recording and performing with many amazing friends over the last 40 years, such as Merl Saunders, Phil Keaggy, Vassar Clements, Vince Welnick, Michael Cleveland, John McEuen, Bob Welch, Jorma Kaukonen, and Jack Casady. He has released nine albums as Mike Lawson & Friends and collaborated with many other artists on recordings.
“I’ve been paid to play guitar every year for over 40 years, in front of seven people to 70,000 people. Clubs, frat houses, theaters, massive stages, all points in between,” Lawson said. “I never cared about fame. I only care about musicians considering me a good musician. Every venture outside of performing was intended to help working musicians like myself, to teach myself and readers what we needed to be lifelong music makers.”
Because of his reputation as a six-string expert, Pearl River sent Mike two prototype guitars in 2023 for a personal evaluation before the company entered the US market. After over half a century of designing and producing the world’s best-selling pianos, Pearl River challenged its luthiers to create a series of acoustic guitars comparable to the best.
“When they arrived, though the guitars had a long ride to the United States, they were ready to go right out of the cases,” Mike recalled. “I was deeply impressed by the sound; the overall appearance. The detailed binding, inlay, and craftsmanship are amazing. The bone nut was extremely well made, the frets were perfect, hand-cut bone saddle’s intonation was exact. I was immediately blown away by the similarity in sound to the very expensive acoustic guitars I own. I chose to record with them on my latest album exclusively. The recorded sound is remarkable. These are lovingly hand-crafted instruments made by experienced, expert luthiers who cherish what they do.”
Lawson told Pearl River that while the sound, build quality, and playability were nearly on par with some of his Martin and Gibson guitars, he still offered suggestions for improving the instruments to compete in the US market.
Pearl River embraced his advice and proposed an alliance. As a result, Mike found himself flying over 8,000 miles from his home in Nashville, Tennessee, to Guangzhou, China, to collaborate with Pearl River on the new top-of-the-line, handcrafted Mike Lawson Signature Model guitars. His vision for these namesake guitars is to make extremely high-end instruments affordable for lifetime working musicians like him. “I’m not a world-famous guitarist, I’m a lifelong working musician. I’m doing this for working musicians like me.”
To Mike, his name gracing the headstock ranks low in importance compared to succeeding in helping create pro-level performance-ready, great-sounding guitars from the first time they’re taken out of the case. “Starting as a performer, I had to use mid-level guitars, because of the price. They got me through but were never representative of how I wanted to sound. There were always struggles. Today, I want working musicians at all levels to have access to amazing professional guitars at an awesome price that inspires them to play, sounding on par with the highest-end guitars available,” Lawson said.
“Pearl River is uniquely situated right now to do this because of their vast manufacturing experience and incredible craftsmen I met on my visit to Guangzhou. Pearl River insisted on giving me every feature I asked for. These models feature all solid rosewood backs/sides, nitrocellulose lacquer finishes, solid spruce tops, one-piece mahogany necks, bone saddles/nuts, Grover locking tuners, Fishman electronics, and hardshell cases,” Lawson offered. “The ML-8000GCD grand auditorium model has an ebony fretboard and bridge. The ML-800D dreadnaught has a rosewood fretboard and bridge. Pearl River even owns their massive wood mill; the woods are exquisite!”
According to Leng Tshua, Pearl River’s Global Director of Sales & Marketing, the Mike Lawson Signature Model guitars launching at the 2025 NAMM Show in January marks a new chapter for the company. “Much like when we introduced our line of string instruments that follow the centuries-old Cremona School construction tradition, this complimentary partnership between Mike and our master luthiers symbolizes our ongoing pursuit of musical instrument excellence.”
For Mike Lawson, bringing his namesake guitar line to life aligns with his approach to musicianship. “When we set out to be musicians, this is a lifelong calling. Guitars are very personal instruments,” he mused. “A guitar is part of a musician’s identity. Choosing a good guitar early on is very important because it’s through that you cultivate inspiration. When you sound good, you play better, and you play for life.”
