BY LANCE GAITHER

lance.gaither@bluegrassnewsmedia.com

On April 21, Frazzel Guitars held a celebration banquet for the official presentation of a custom-made guitar for rising county music artist Jeff Stauffer. His music has been gaining popularity on social media sites with more than 150,000 TikTok followers.

Along with the custom-built Telecaster style guitar from Fender, Stauffer has signed a two-year contract to use it exclusively during performances.

“I built it from scratch by hand. Everything about the guitar started with a block of wood,” said Frazzel Guitars owner Brandon Edwards. “All my blood, sweat, and tears went into that guitar. Every little detail was done by hand. Stauffer gave me a vision and I made it come true.”

Stauffer and Edwards first started discussing the partnership more than a year ago.

“He found me by seeing my videos and wanted build me a guitar,” Stauffer said. “When he first reached out I thought it was scam. After I checked into him and found out he was legit, it was very exciting moment.”

Stauffer is born and raised in Ohio and began writing songs five years ago.

“My grandpa played guitar and country music, going over there when I was a kid it stuck,” Stauffer said. “When I got married I finally had inspiration. I wrote a lot of songs with my wife as inspiration I’ve been playing ever since I was little but I got serious a few years ago. I want to make country music that people can relate to and see themselves in their stories.”

At the banquet, Edwards unveiled a new Frazzel Guitars exclusive guitar body style called the Wildberry.

“Its all original design done by me,” Edwards said. “There aren’t too many places any more that do hand crafting. My goal is to put American craftsmanship back in people’s hands. When people think of Danville, I want them to think of my guitar company. Its an incredible thing to work with Stauffer and the other artists I’m working with now.”