Friends

Stephen and Kai met in 1988 and have been friends since. Stephen is a fantastic guitar maker who makes particularly fine flamenco guitars. If you’re in the market for a new flamenco we recommend his guitars unequivocally.

In addition to making guitars, Stephen leads courses in guitar making. Tara made a guitar with him in September of 2021. She had never made a guitar before and built an instrument that stands up to most handmade guitars around. If you’ve ever dreamed of making a guitar you should seriously consider one of Stephen’s courses.

Kai’s been playing La Bella strings pretty much his entire career. The best strings around, as far as we’re concerned, and they also happen to be reasonably priced. We particularly like the La Bella 2001 sets.

Flamenco Explained has been a sponsor of the Granada Guitar Festival since day 1. It’s an amazing festival, and a great addition to the Granada cultural scene and of course to the guitar world at large.

Kai has been a judge in this competition for the last few years. It’s a great forum for promoting young and up-and-coming guitar makers from all over the world, and it honors the great Antonio Marin, Don of the Granada guitar making school.

A very legit recording studio with fantastic views just outside of Granada, La Casa Estudio is also a house that the whole band can stay in while recording. And the house engineer, Ivan Moreno, is extremely talented.

The oldest flamenco Peña in Spain, La Plateria also has great food and a spectacular view. As a kid Kai was rarely allowed to enter this private Peña, but now he and Tara are members, and the Peña is no longer quite so private as it once was. Shows are open to the public on Thursdays and Sundays.

Online Dance Studio is Rina Orellana’s outstanding online flamenco dance program – like Flamenco Explained but for dancers. Kai and Rina used to work together back in Los Angeles and have been friends for decades.

Alba Guerrero’s courses for aspiring flamenco singers are the best we know of.

A new friend to us, the Colorado Institute of Flamenco has the mission of preserving and promoting the art of flamenco. We look forward to collaborating with them in the future!