Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop: Santa Monica's Legendary Music Venue

A decade after Gerald McCabe opened up a guitar repair shop in Santa Monica, California, legendary folk musicians Elizabeth Cotten and Mike Seeger came looking for a way to earn money to get back home. Their inaugural performance kickstarted a concert series that has featured some of the world’s finest musicians—including Doc Watson, Jackson Browne, Bill Monroe and Linda Ronstadt—in one of the most intimate performance spaces on the West Coast.

Against a backdrop of guitars in a room often packed to the rafters, music rang out to fill every corner. But audiences weren’t the only ones who left with cherished memories. Enjoy behind the scenes stories from artists like Rosanne Cash, Taj Mahal, Lucinda Williams, Arlo Guthrie and many more as they look back on their experiences at McCabe’s. From picking up a new hobby to serendipitous meetings of future bandmates, there was never a dull moment in the shop.

This is your backstage pass to the untold stories of one of California’s most celebrated music venues and those who performed live at McCabe’s Guitar Shop.