My name is Joe and I play dobro.

A dobro is a type of guitar that uses a metal cone instead of a wooden top to give a loud, metallic tone.

This type of guitar was inverted by John Dopyera in the 1920s to give more volume than a wooden-bodied guitar ever could in a band situation. The generic name is a 'resophonic' or 'resonator' guitar.

Along with his brothers, John founded the "Dobro Manufacturing Company" in 1929.

Today, the 'Dobro' brand is owned by Gibson and like 'hoover' and 'biro', the word dobro (small 'd') is used for this type of guitar from any manufacturer. With a capital 'D' it is that particular brand made by Epiphone (Gibson).

dobros fall into two main types with different necks. The 'round neck' dobro is like a normal guitar and it is played in the same position, often with a 'bottleneck' or metal slide in blues music. The 'square-neck' dobro is played flat on the lap with a metal bar and is popular in the 'bluegrass' genre.

I play both types of dobro. My main round-neck dobro is a real 'Dobro' and is tuned in Open D. My square-neck (and a second round-neck) are 'Regal' branded and tuned in Open G and regular guitar tuning respectively.

The music on this site is not just dobro, I also play regular guitars, lap-steel, bass and keyboards. My comfort zones include blues, folk, bluegrass and some older varieties of country. I play both solo and as part of the Mary Parry Trio.

I've been playing guitar now for over sixty years. I hope to get the hang of it one of these days!