Froggy Bottom Team

Michael Millard

Michael began hanging around boatyards and wooden boats in New England as a young boy, actually getting work there when he was 12. Lessons in woodworking and craftsmanship came lovingly and patiently from a group of men who were a dying breed, most of them very old. For about ten years he was immersed in that environment and soaked up all he could from those people.

A co-worker brought a turntable into a boatyard shop in May, 1961. Michael was about to turn 14. Instead of the usual rock’n’roll that day, he was treated to Reverend Gary Davis, Robert Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson, Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell, and Blind Blake. It was the blues, and the Big Light Bulb went on!

A few years later Michael started visiting Reverend Davis for guitar lessons and the music and the woodworking began to merge. The uniqueness of the men he worked with, their methodology, & the blues they were surrounded by, all encompassed in the decade of “the sixties”, created the context of guitarmaking for Michael.

Michael attended college for psychology and English. He made his first guitar working in the shop of Michael Gurian in NYC (see History page).

Michael cites the quiet, beauty, and supportive community for why he chooses to build guitars in Vermont. He appreciates the high level of communication possible between the builders in the shop. "I really can't imagine working with a better group of people," he said.

"Aside from the simple joy of making beautiful instruments, I find it fun and challenging to work with the individual player who has clear ideas about the guitar of his or her dreams," Michael said. "Taking a description of the sound, feel, look and inspiration of a guitar and making it happen right here, right now is very satisfying."

Eric Goodenough

Eric was hired by Michael Millard at the Gurian Guitars shop in 1981. Soon after, he built his first complete instrument in the Froggy Bottom shop in Richmond, New Hampshire. Eric was influenced by the many musical characters passing through the Richmond shop, namely David Surette. Chris Kleeman, George Gritzbach and Paul Geremia. Their music and that of the wide country blues-based folk fraternity still resonates with Eric today. Those days also marked the beginning of a dear and lifelong friendship with Michael.

Eric went on to complete his BS in Wildlife Management at the University of New Hampshire. He spent the next fifteen years in wildlife conservation with the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department and the non-profit Ducks Unlimited. Just prior to joining the Froggy Bottom crew, Eric operated an organic apple orchard in Maine where he gained an appreciation for the plight and the value of the local farmer.

Today Eric resides somewhere in Vermont with his kind-hearted wife Wendy, their three scrappin’ boys Hunter, Leland and Galen and their golden retriever Cider.