SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT
Riversong Guitars
By Andrew King
Early in my interview with Riversong Guitars founder Mike Miltimore , he puts me on speakerphone momentarily to take a panoramic photo of his surroundings and asks where to send it . The subject is “ My World ,” and the picture could have easily been lifted from a tourism website .
Miltimore is standing behind Riversong ’ s manufacturing facility in Kamloops , BC , situated between two parks in the middle of the city . It ’ s not the first time he ’ ll mention Kamloops over the course of our conversation – far from it , in fact .
Even the company ’ s name alludes to its location , as Kamloops is the anglicized version of the Shuswap word for “ meeting of the waters ,” referring to the confluence of the two branches of the Thompson River . What ’ s more , the name was crowdsourced from the local community , as Lee ’ s Music hosted a contest to name the company with the winner getting a free guitar . A local tattoo artist submitted Riversong , and even designed the logo that graces the company ’ s headstocks .
Miltimore is clearly proud of where he ’ s from , and more importantly , knows that where he ’ s from has played a big part in the success that he and his colleagues have been enjoying of late .
“ We make high-quality , high-end acoustic guitars , and I want to make them out of woods from around Kamloops and build them here in Kamloops and send them around the world ,” he states proudly , and they ’ ve been doing more and more of that with each passing year since Riversong was officially founded in 2012 .
Miltimore has been in the MI industry for most of his life . He began working at his family ’ s MI store , Lee ’ s Music – based , of course , in Kamloops – in 1986 . That spawned a lifelong admiration for – and curiosity about – guitars . In the ensuing years , he and his father would continue to service guitars while also building some custom instruments themselves , though it wasn ’ t until a fateful trip to the multiplex years later that Miltimore would set his sights on luthiery as his calling .
In 2006 , Lee ’ s Music was busy enough that they hired a new guitar repairperson , Mike Trelenberg , to handle the service department while the Miltimores focused on the retail operation . Shortly thereafter , the two Mikes went to see Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny . “ We came out , and I looked at Mike and said , ‘ We have to start building guitars .’”
He purchased a modest amount of equipment and started building custom traditional guitars , continually innovating and improving from prototype to prototype . “ My idea was to build a braceless guitar ,” Miltimore explains . “ I could do anything I wanted in
terms of structure , and could make it resonate more or less , have a different resonant pitch – the world was my oyster once we developed a strong enough version .”
That was a quest that lasted six years and led to developments like the proprietary adjustable neck system .
In 2012 , Miltimore was ready to call himself a “ serious guitar builder ,” having finally struck his sought-after balance of resonance , volume , and sustain . “ Those were always the keys for me ,” he says .
That year , the Business Development Bank of Canada ( BDC ) was helping him develop his patent , which led to him being nominated for the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award . Riversong ended up finishing second , “ and that led to hundreds of orders for our guitars ,” its founder proudly recalls .
“ It was clear we had a good idea and a good plan , and the BDC even helped us design a factory so we could build in Kamloops and build instruments from local and domestic woods .”
Miltimore and Riversong are far more interested in innovating than capitalizing on any “ me too ” trends . “ Some of the stuff we ’ re working on isn ’ t just acoustic guitars ,” Miltimore shares . “ Our new Tradition 2P GA Stage Triple Play guitar represents something of a gateway from our acoustic instruments to where we want to go with electrics ,” he says , referencing Riversong ’ s latest development – an acoustic guitar with an electric-size body and built-in Fishman Triple Play wireless guitar performance / MIDI system .
He strongly believes innovation and community should define his products . “ My
IS RIVERSONG CEO MIKE MILTIMORE ( CENTRE )’ S GUITAR TOO LOUD FOR THE NAMM SHOW ?
crystal ball doesn ’ t work that well , so I tend to want to just build things that interest me ,” Miltimore admits . “ The company has never been about trends ; it ’ s about doing something really cool that we dig , and doing the best we can with it .”
It ’ s more than evident they ’ re succeeding , as in the last few years , Riversong has amassed all kinds of awards and accolades throughout the industry . They ’ ve presented guitars to prime ministers and royalty and caught the eye of some very important people and major guitar players while backstage at events like The Grammy Awards and ACM Awards . At the latter , Miltimore had a chat with Keith Urban , who told him “ a good guitar should feel like an old leather jacket .” That ’ s something they could both agree on .
As of July 1 st , 2017 , Riversong is now selling directly to Canadian dealers under the guidance of industry veteran David Magagna , now Riversong ’ s director of international sales . Needless to say , Miltimore , Magagna , and their team are looking forward to sharing these instruments and their innovative designs with retailers across the country while pushing into new product categories like electric guitars and amplification .
It ’ s early on in the story of Riversong Guitars , but the company is nonetheless on an impressive trajectory that the international music products community is noticing . Not too bad for some humble but proud Kamloopsians .
Andrew King is the Editor-in-Chief of Canadian Music Trade .
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CANADIAN MUSIC TRADE