By Noe Gutierrez
Jimmy Palmer has been a Coachella Valley constant for three decades. The studious luthier has been breathing new life into guitars as the general practitioner of ‘The Guitar E.R.” for years and now is widely known for manufacturing custom guitars out of his home studio, shop and small business, ‘111 Guitars’. Palmer has famously built guitars for Joe Perry and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, and also repaired guitars for long-time friend Jesse Hughes of Eagles of Death Metal, Kal David and others. Palmer shared what he’s working on now, “The current plan for ‘111 Guitars’ is finishing up the ‘jimi FITZ Custom’ guitar then I’ll build three Thinline Telecasters headed for Canada. I also get to work on the ‘Marc Gentry Custom’. Marc’s a good friend of mine who’s in the rock band Mighty Jack. I just finished up a custom 111 guitar for one of my best friends and favorite musicians, Mike Pygmie of John Garcia band and The Whizards.”
With Palmer’s craftsmanship and fellowship with influential musicians that he’s toured with, such as legend guitar hero Uli John Roth, and devotion to local instrumentalists, Palmer is no longer under the radar. “I’m focused on building boutique, one-off custom guitars and I’m also picking up quicker turn over jobs like guitar setups, fretwork and replacing and adjusting acoustic nuts and saddles.” Palmer’s guitar enterprise in the Coachella Valley has become universally recognized. With the ultimate guitar proprietorship in his grasp, Palmer is ready to take his straight ahead rock and roll band FAULTS OF ANDREAS to the next level and shake some foundations.
FOA performs a blend of original music and cover tunes from the golden era of classic rock radio. Palmer shared their musical heroes. “Our influences range from The Ramones to The Man in Black, to The Stones to Lou Reed to The King, Elvis.” With jimi FITZ on vocals and guitar, Mike Pygmie and Charlie Ellis on bass and Jeff Bowman on drums, FOA are ready to rock the equivalent of a 7.0 magnitude temblor on the Richter scale. I spoke to Palmer about FOA’s recent seismic activity. “We’re planning a tour down the San Andreas Fault. We’re starting at the top near Eureka down through to the Coachella Valley. We will have a limited-edition FOA tour t-shirt for purchase with an image of the State of California showing the San Andreas Fault and the cities we will have performed in. We’re also going to put out an EP for those who need that FOA sweet tooth fix.” These plans are unparalleled, ingenious and nothing new to Palmer.
Palmer has a new and integrated way of viewing life. He is holistic in all of his affairs. FOA is no different. “We’re crafting this band like I craft one-off guitars and we’re putting the same amount of love and care as you would in an amazing gourmet meal. It’s authentic rock and roll. We’re taking this band of brothers as far as we wanna take it; no limits. We’re having so much fun and there are no egos. It’s real and organic. We all care about each other, it’s super special and super spiritual.” This fraternity of desert musicians energizes Palmer.
Palmer is most excited about the friends he gets to perform with. “jimi FITZ is a true rock ’n’ roll frontman. I’m so grateful to be in a band with him. And to have Charlie playing on bass with me again 30 years after being in a high school garage band together is a dream. It really is an amazing feeling. We were in the band ‘Overdrive’ together during the old desert generator party days when we were side by side with our Palm Desert High School pals ‘Katzenjammer’ aka KYUSS. We played with UNSOUND, YAWNING MAN, NEON CREED, UPHORIA too. Finally, having my oldest friend Jeff Bowman pounding the drums for FOA solidifies the band by having such a hard-hitting time keeper.” Palmer conveys how amazed and blessed he is and the opportunities that his community has provided him and others. “It’s really cool how Palm Desert and the Coachella Valley have contributed to the music world and how it’s going to continue to enrich the music world. I feel that without Tracy Longstreth, our scene would not be what it is today. He was instrumental to all of us young PDHS musicians back in the day. I know our desert music scene is going to continue to grow as our area’s population grows; then you add Coachella, Stagecoach, Desert Trip, and the possibility of a Led Zeppelin reunion…I sure hope Led Zeppelin reunites, that would be my dream concert at Empire Polo Grounds.” The Zep reunion may never happen but Palmer and FOA give Goldenvoice more local prestige to work with.
Palmer and FOA will be returning to the stage they jolted last year for the holiday show JIMI FITZ AND FRIENDS on November 17, 2017 at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California. Palmer is honored to be a part of this event once again. “JIMI FITZ AND FRIENDS is going to be an amazing fun event for our whole community in the Coachella Valley to come together to celebrate in the universal language that is called MUSIC.” Joining FOA are Lauri Bono, Kal David, Will Donato, Kevin Henry, John Stanley King, Ronnie King, Steve Madaio, Barry Minniefield, Penny Unniversity, Sergio Villegas and more!
Palmer is a loving human being with a passion for music, friends and family. He is the essence of strength and represents our stomping grounds like no one else. If you are looking for a custom guitar, or want a tone counselor, no matter where you are, contact ‘111 Guitars’. If you want to see the guru of the guitar perform, buy a ticket to JIMI FITZ AND FRIENDS.
Listen to rockin’ snippets of the FOA songs, “Patched In Gold,” “Money” and “No Easy Way Out” on their just launched website:
For more information about Palmer’s custom guitars, go to:
To purchase tickets to JIMI FITZ AND FRIENDS, go to:
