MH: 2005 marks the 28th anniversary of the Dallas Guitar Show. Did you ever imagine the show could get to the level that it is today, as the worlds largest Guitar Show?

MP: The most notable thing is the music gets bigger and bigger. We started out with a Saturday night Jam at a nightclub, now we have several stages. We have the Ernie Ball stage. It is still in the works for Gibson to bring in the Chevy stage, with the Hummers and all the guitars that go with it. Really we lose a couple of dealers every year, either they go off and retire, or disappear into a .com somewhere. However, there are a lot of fears among the guys from the Golden era of guitars from the 50's and 60's, that we are all aging and no one is replacing us. I think that is wrong. A kid born in 1975 thinks a '75 Strat is a vintage guitar and he is right. Anything that gets to 20 years old is vintage. Antique used to mean 100 years old, but in the Vintage Guitar business, it used to be 30 years, now it is 20. I think eventually a vintage guitar will be a ten-year-old instrument. I'm kind of seeing that in some of the stuff, especially the Custom Shop stuff. I think there is young blood coming into this thing from a dealer viewpoint. John Mayer was at the last guitar show, buying a bunch of stuff. It's all relative to what you consider vintage. John Mayer probably bought something from the late 60's, whereas 20 years ago we would have turned our noses up at anything from the late 60's.

MH: Last years move to the Dallas Market Hall expanded the show to an entirely new level. How do you think this move enhanced the performance of the show?

MP: Actually the major thing this year is the move to Market Hall. What I would like the readers to know is: that when Charley Wirz died in February of 1985, the first place I went to was Dallas Market Hall. It is the absolute premier venue for this type of event. It's where the biggest event in Dallas (The Boat Show) is held every year. Of course I was told then the months of Feb - May were booked for virtually twenty years, and that was in 1985. Anyway I gave up and moved the show to the Dallas Convention Center, and we were there for 10 years. Then I moved to Fair Park. It had kind of a vintage Art /Deco look to the place. Parking was kind of a city concession, we never got one penny of the parking revenues. But I still had to go to three or four meetings before the show to meet with the Parking committee to make sure of exits and what not. When the parking hit $8, I said we are out of here.

So we called The Dallas Market Hall, and got that dealt with. The Dallas Market Hall is free parking. We got one hotel that is like within rock throwing distance. It is a 5-star hotel called The Renaissance Hotel. We got it for $99. It is almost within walking distance from the new American Airlines Center, the Eagles have played there. You can be in Deep Ellum in about 3 minutes by cab. We are really close to what they call the West End. Then there are about 7 other hotels right around the area too. Dallas Market Hall is in what we call The Dallas Market Center. The Apparel mart is there, the World Trade Center is there, and of course Market Hall. So that is the biggest news.

MH: This years show will also break new ground with the addition of the "Drum World" hall. Tell us how this idea came about, and what does this mean to the show?

JW: Well, as you know this is the 28th year of the guitar show, and the original concept for it was though up by four guys sitting around a living room. Well, Drum World came about in pretty much the same way, Mark and I were sitting around talking one day. A lot of guys bring there drums to the show anyway, and there are only maybe two or three Drum shows in the States. So we thought: "We have the space, let's do it."

So I came up with the name, and Mark came up with the slogan for it. Are you ready for this: "No drummer left behind", playin' off of Bush's "No child left behind" campaign. We are pretty excited about it, and expect a good turn out.

MH: Jimmy Wallace has been a long time partner, how has his involvement assisted in developing the Dallas Guitar Show?

MP: Jimmy and I have known each other forever. Jimmy and Charley were really good friends too. Jimmy was one of the original guys that not only had a booth at the very first show, but also was actually involved in meetings before the first show ever happened. He was a road musician, and he was also a vintage guitar wheeler-dealer. He brought a different perspective into it.

He is incredibly famous not only in players circles but collectors circles too. He goes to Japan and Korea once or twice a year so he is famous there also. We've both played in bands and we've been all over the place. He came on as a partner in 1989-1990 and his perspective has added a lot to the show.

MH: The Dallas Guitar Show has always been a celebration of music, as well as a celebration of the guitar. Tell us how you have seen the celebration grow and evolve over the years.

MP: The Musicfest is starting to rival the guitars. People want to hear the music as much as they want to see the guitars. Some people could care less about the guitars. They want to come to see Doyle Bramhall perform. They want to see other artists jam.

MH: At the end of the day, guitars are a passionately personal items that reach far beyond simply enjoying making music. You and Jimmy have shared this love for so many years. Do you feel that the guitar show is an extension of this passion for the two of you?

MP: Absolutely, Jimmy and I have both been playing since the 50's, since we were ten years old. It is the only thing I know. I don't play anymore, but Jimmy does. I started getting more into the taking apart and rebuilding of guitars, while Jimmy started to see the advantage of high end dealers, and what not. A lot of shows are put on for strictly business, and that may be a smarter way to go. run X amount of dollars into 3X amount of dollars. We simply love every aspect of guitars, and amplifiers. There are so many amplifiers, we could almost do an Amp World. Until you experience a show you can't understand it.

MH: The music and guitar industry suffered an overwhelming loss this past year with the horrific death of Dimebag Darrell Abbott. Dimebag was a fellow Texan, as well as a frequent supporter of the Dallas Guitar Show. One of his noted influences was Jimmy Wallace. Are there any plans to pay tribute to Darrell at this years show?

MP: I first heard of Pantera in the late 1980's when Bob Archigan of La Bella Strings called to secure a booth at the Dallas Guitar Show. He was introducing "Hard rockin" Steel strings and wanted to put Pantera in the booth and give away sets of The new strings to the first 100 people to his booth each day. They signed autographs and sat there both days at least six hours per day.

Through out the 80's and 90's, the band and/or Dime would show up at the show. I have (somewhere?) a picture of Dime and myself showing off our new tattoos. I will share it with everyone when I find it.

MH: In closing Mark, what do you think has contributed to the incredible success of the Dallas Guitar Show, and how do you envision the show continuing to evolve?

MP: Well, the Musicfest will continue to grow and we envision that it will probably end up on the Internet. The live music portion will continue to grow, no doubt about it. Who knows, it could even springboard out of that, we could have concert halls around Dallas tied in with the guitar show. Our original mission was to celebrate the guitar from every aspect and that is what it still is today. I think we will see more and more manufacturers, whether it is amps, speakers, picks, strings, straps or cases. Not only do we have amps but also we have amp components. We may get a company that makes capacitors. Their entire booth will be devoted to where you can go in and they can revamp your Fender, your Gibson or your Marshall amp with these different capacitors. I think that is one way it will really start to branch out to get more component stuff. They are people that are not truly in the music industry but they are a part of the chain.

If I had to sum it up in one phrase it would be; The Dallas Guitar Show is a celebration of the guitar! But even that doesn't encompass that we have mandolins, banjos, violins and handmade creations that have no manufacturer. There is no limit to where this could go. The guitar is certainly this century's most popular instrument.
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