Takamine

Imagine that you are the stunningly-gifted guitarist you always wanted to be, and that by the grace of the guitar gods, your significant other is just as good or better. On a typical morning, you might wake up, open the curtains, share a cup or two of your favorite coffee, and have a conversation like this.

While just viewing this exchange makes for an event to remember — for Sarah Zimmerman and Justin Davis, it’s just Tuesday. Here at Takamine, we’ve been jonesing for some Striking Matches and thought you might be too. So, we assembled a few clips, old and new, to help make your day.

Recently Sarah and Justin decided to try out their new single "Insincerely" at Nashville’s famed Bluebird Café. This abridged performance, their first time to play it live, effectively demonstrates their songwriting prowess as easily equal to their instrumental skills. Hauntingly beautiful and strikingly memorable, this acoustic taste of their latest only whetted our appetite for the full track of "Insincerely," which was released in February.

After the pandemic scuttled their tour, their home-made Isolation Series is where Striking Matches could be found. And then, from their Live at Tournament Studios series, the dynamic duo’s brilliant take on Average White Band’s "Pick Up the Pieces" will rock your world.

You may notice that Justin alternates between his P3MC cedar top satin finish OM with fast neck and compact body, his spruce top, rosewood bodied P5NC, and his EF740FS-TT, also a OM, but with the body depth and bark of a dreadnought and wider 47.5mm nut width. The EF740FS-TT is a model crafted for fingerstyle, a term Justin’s magic pickless style completely redefines.

Meanwhile, from the moment Sarah met her TAN45C 14 years ago, the two have been inseparable. And while a lesser guitarist might feel the need for a separate, designated guitar for slide, Sarah and her TAN45C seem to have a particularly endearing monogamous relationship. It’s quite remarkable to witness, particularly when, for instance, the song calls for Sarah to capo on the fourth fret – and she incorporates slide anyway.

As satisfying as these captures are, there is nothing that compares to seeing Striking Matches live. Check out these upcoming tour dates with Ashley Monroe.