The Story of Folkway

Mark is biking through downtown Guelph when he spots a commercial space for rent — $600 a month. No business plan, just savings and a loan from his parents. He co-signs the lease with his father, installs a repair bench, gives music lessons, and from day one designs the space with a coffee machine and live music every week. Doors officially open in March of 1999.

For Mark's 25th birthday, his sister buys him the domain folkwaymusic.com. He soon becomes an authorized repairperson for C.F. Martin & Co. and demand for his brand of high-quality, customer-focused repair work grows rapidly. His honesty, integrity and forthright appraisals become pillars of his business.

A neighbour wants to sell $90,000 worth of Golden Era Gibsons — a 1934 Jumbo, a J-35, an L-Century, and a pile of others. Mark borrows the money and buys the lot. It takes nearly eight years to sell through them all, but those guitars helped put Folkway on the map and earn Mark a reputation he still carries: "The Gibson Guy".

Folkway has a staff of three repairpeople and is deep into vintage sales. Mark regularly stays up until 2AM scouring eBay for L-00s, J-35s, Martin 00-17s and anything else that looks cool and affordable at that time. Every penny went to buying guitars. The vintage obsession was now tied in deeply with the business model.

Within five years, the original 1,000 sq ft store is bursting. A major renovation triples the floor space and adds a dedicated lessons space. More staff are added, and guitars are shipping all over the world. Mark works late into the night restoring vintage guitars for clients and for sale, handles all the website’s photography and copy, replies to every email that comes in, and still answers most of the phone calls. Things are very, very busy.

Live music was a part of Folkway since day 1, but by the 2010s the Store’s reputation as a live music venue was reaching new heights. John Renbourne, Martin Simpson, Pierre Bensusan, Greg Brown, Ruth Moody, Bahamas, Martin Carthy, and so many others enjoy playing to an attentive audience of 80 at the store. Concerts happen monthly and are always at capacity.

Folkway Music purchases their Waterloo home in July of 2012, 6 months after signing a 5-year lease in Guelph. The summer and fall are spent remodeling and readying the space for retail, while the repair shop and offices remain at the Guelph Location, along with the well-established lessons program.

Folkway posts its first photo on Instagram on September 18th, 2012 - completely unaware of how fundamentally social media would change the way people shop for guitars, and by extension, how #guitarstorelife was about to change forever.

The last day of Folkway’s last lease at the original location on Suffolk Street West was celebrated with a toast and a gathering of Folkway’s then-staff and a few of our long-standing friends. Left to right: Mark Stutman, Jesse Merrill, Tom Gibson, Art Macinnis, Ryan Mackinnon, Sean Whalen, Claire Bégin, Rich Burnett, Nick Russell, Grant McBride

Folkway’s reputation as one of the most highly regarded vintage guitar repair and restoration shops continues to spread worldwide. Examples of many of the most sought-after guitars in the world are regularly found on our benches.

Instruments arrive at Folkway from across North America and Europe. Mark has presented at five Fretboard Summits and been featured in Acoustic Guitar magazine and The Fretboard Journal. Today, Folkway counts icons like Elvis Costello, Eric Clapton, Julian Lage, John Leventhal, and Joe Henry among its clientele - alongside thousands of other incredible players you might not have heard of yet. Backed by an exceptional staff and world-class guitars, Folkway continues to welcome new faces while all the long-time regulars keep coming back.