Some stories ask for more space and certain projects evolve into something longer-form: books, collaborative narratives, and deeper explorations of a creative life and the work within it.
My books and collaborative writing projects are rooted in craft, meaning, and lived experience.
My books and collaborative writing projects are rooted in craft, meaning, and lived experience.
Featured Books and Writing
A collaborative work with Grammy award winning engineer and producer, Robert Margouleff.
Available Here
Other Books by Jim Reilly
Way back in 2002, I was a journalism student. I was taking a biography course and managed to talk my professor into letting me try my hand at writing one. Emmett was the perfect choice.
I got my first Stick in 1994. I had become pretty active in the small but growing Stick community. I hadn’t met Emmett in person, but we’d talked on the phone, and my Stick was actually one that he had used for a while as his main instrument.
I crafted the perfect query email, hit send, and waited. I checked my inbox and waited some more. I waited as long as I could and had resigned myself to starting a different project when the reply came. He was game. My deal with him was that if it was terrible, I’d throw it in the trash and never speak of it again. But if it worked, just maybe we could talk about turning it into a full-length book.
This was the beginning of a dear friendship and the start of several projects with Emmett.
It took a little more than ten years, with all kinds of twists and turns both professionally and personally, before StickMan found its way into the world. In many ways, this book was my firstborn. It taught me how to write, how to interview, how to weave a narrative through a real-life story, and how to honor and respect a life lived in service to a craft.
And it started me on this path.
I got my first Stick in 1994. I had become pretty active in the small but growing Stick community. I hadn’t met Emmett in person, but we’d talked on the phone, and my Stick was actually one that he had used for a while as his main instrument.
I crafted the perfect query email, hit send, and waited. I checked my inbox and waited some more. I waited as long as I could and had resigned myself to starting a different project when the reply came. He was game. My deal with him was that if it was terrible, I’d throw it in the trash and never speak of it again. But if it worked, just maybe we could talk about turning it into a full-length book.
This was the beginning of a dear friendship and the start of several projects with Emmett.
It took a little more than ten years, with all kinds of twists and turns both professionally and personally, before StickMan found its way into the world. In many ways, this book was my firstborn. It taught me how to write, how to interview, how to weave a narrative through a real-life story, and how to honor and respect a life lived in service to a craft.
And it started me on this path.
Available Here
Right after StickMan was published, I sent a copy to Ned Steinberger. Emmett and Ned had worked together on a project, The NS/Stick, that merged The Stick with Ned’s headless instrument designs, aimed at drawing more guitarists and bassists into the world of two-handed tapping.
I had an ulterior motive for sending Ned the book.
As I had hoped, he sent me an email saying how much he liked it. To which I replied, “Great, how would you like to be next?”
Steinberger came together much quicker. Life didn’t get in the way this time, and I developed a good writing rhythm. In between hours of conversations with Ned, I was able to connect with some great players like Tony Levin, Andy West, and Steve Miller. We dove deep into a creative mind that pushed guitar and bass design into the 21st Century.
I had an ulterior motive for sending Ned the book.
As I had hoped, he sent me an email saying how much he liked it. To which I replied, “Great, how would you like to be next?”
Steinberger came together much quicker. Life didn’t get in the way this time, and I developed a good writing rhythm. In between hours of conversations with Ned, I was able to connect with some great players like Tony Levin, Andy West, and Steve Miller. We dove deep into a creative mind that pushed guitar and bass design into the 21st Century.
Available Here
Emmett led to Ned, Ned led to Rob Turner.
In 2020, I went to the NAMM Show in Anaheim to promote Steinberger. We had set up some interviews and a meet-and-greet at the NS Design booth. On the Saturday evening of the show, I went out for a celebratory dinner with Ned, Jim D’Addario, Rob Turner, and Rob’s daughter Alison. Jim and Rob and their companies, D’Addario and EMG, were both featured in the book. I ended up sitting beside Rob, and by the end of the dinner, I had my next project: Chasing Tone. The journey continued
For Chasing Tone, I wove Rob’s story of growing up in Southern California and falling in love with Rock and Roll with stories from artists who used his pickups to find their sound - tone chasers all.
Each of the artists in the book, from Rob to James Hetfield to Jim Root to Lee Sklar to Victor Wooten, shares the same inquisitive spirit and sense of adventure. I was consistently amazed at how, even though they come from as diverse musical backgrounds as possible, their desire to push the envelope and the joy they found when they found their sound were one and the same.
In 2020, I went to the NAMM Show in Anaheim to promote Steinberger. We had set up some interviews and a meet-and-greet at the NS Design booth. On the Saturday evening of the show, I went out for a celebratory dinner with Ned, Jim D’Addario, Rob Turner, and Rob’s daughter Alison. Jim and Rob and their companies, D’Addario and EMG, were both featured in the book. I ended up sitting beside Rob, and by the end of the dinner, I had my next project: Chasing Tone. The journey continued
For Chasing Tone, I wove Rob’s story of growing up in Southern California and falling in love with Rock and Roll with stories from artists who used his pickups to find their sound - tone chasers all.
Each of the artists in the book, from Rob to James Hetfield to Jim Root to Lee Sklar to Victor Wooten, shares the same inquisitive spirit and sense of adventure. I was consistently amazed at how, even though they come from as diverse musical backgrounds as possible, their desire to push the envelope and the joy they found when they found their sound were one and the same.
Available Here
Current and Upcoming Work
In Progress - Handmade in Brooklyn - The Fodera Guitar Story (working title)
The journey continues, diving into the stories behind some of the most important and influential musical instrument artisans and the players who inspire and drive their work. In 1983, Vinny Fodera and Joey Lauricella opened Fodera Guitars on Avenue O in Brooklyn, New York. Vinny had already made a bit of a name for himself in the handmade bass guitar world, but no one could have prepared them for the joy, failures, successes, hardships, and ultimately triumphs to come.
It’s a story of innovation, family, blood, sweat, tears, and sawdust.
Watch here and Substack for updates.
It’s a story of innovation, family, blood, sweat, tears, and sawdust.
Watch here and Substack for updates.
How the work takes shape
Most projects begin in conversation.
Over time, patterns emerge—stories, themes, moments of tension or clarity that slowly reveal the shape of a larger narrative.
The process is collaborative, reflective, and intentionally unhurried.
Over time, patterns emerge—stories, themes, moments of tension or clarity that slowly reveal the shape of a larger narrative.
The process is collaborative, reflective, and intentionally unhurried.
Considering a Collaborative Project?
I take on a limited number of long-form collaborative writing projects each year. Please feel free to reach out.