Gerard Egan: Co-owner & Head Guitar Mechanic
Gerard worked at Rudy’s Music on 48th Street in New York City from 2007 to 2009 before attending The Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix, AZ. Immediately upon graduation, he was hired by Santa Cruz Guitar Company where he worked in the set up department for 8+ years, performing fret work/refrets, crack repairs, neck sets and resets, bridge repairs, pickup installations, hand making bone nuts/saddles and more. For the majority of his years at SCGC, he performed the final QC, inspecting every single instrument before it shipped to the dealer. He managed the company’s Plek machine from when it was first acquired in 2012 until his departure from the company in 2018. Prior to 2012, he logged just shy of 1,000 fret jobs by hand at SCGC, and was fortunate to build/repair guitars for players like Eric Clapton, Brad Paisely, Jamie Stillway, Eric Skye, Scott Law, Catfish Keith, Janis Ian, Don Edwards, Happy Traum, Ranger Doug and others.
From 2018 to 2020, he joined the team at Sylvan Music in Santa Cruz, CA, performing repair work on all types of fretted instruments, from acoustic and electric guitars to ukuleles, mandolins, basses and more. His specialty there was set up work, troubleshooting playability/intonation issues, electrical issues, pickup installations, etc.
In addition to his building/repair background, Gerard has 20+ years of live performance experience as an acoustic and electric guitarist to draw from. Having this real world experience allows him to understand the demands and individual preferences all players have. His goal is to work with each customer to deliver a playing experience that meets their specific needs, and allows their instrument to play its very best.
Carolyn Sills: Co-owner & Woman Behind the Curtain
Carolyn started her career in the guitar industry back in 2010, when she was hired by Richard Hoover at Santa Cruz Guitar Company to handle marketing and administrative duties. By the time she departed SCGC in 2022, she was Head of Operations, handling all domestic and international sales, marketing, service & repair administration, customer service and artist relations, and assisted Richard with the company’s strategic and financial planning. She implemented their ‘Design Your Own’ custom ordering process, working one-on-one with customers and dealers to design hundreds of custom acoustics, helping them select the best model, scale length, tonewoods, finish, set up and aesthetics for their playing style and sonic needs. She handles all the scheduling at The House of Twang, as well as finance, inventory and marketing.
Cowboy (The Dog): Shop Dog, Welcome Wagon, Cheesemonger
In his almost 84 human years on the planet, Cowboy has been pet and fed by countless guitar luminaries. He became Santa Cruz Guitar Company’s office dog at a mere eight weeks old, working for peanut butter and belly rubs. He is the brains behind The House of Twang and looks forward to greeting you when you visit.
Gerard and Carolyn’s Musical Projects
Occasionally throughout the year, The House of Twang will temporarily close its doors so its proprietors can go on tour with one of their musical projects. They perform as the duo Poi Rogers, with Gerard doubling on guitar and steel guitar as Carolyn plays upright bass, as well as front the award winning five piece country and western swing outfit, The Carolyn Sills Combo. You can check both projects out at carolynsills.com.