I see a sorensen with Nate Burie and Speacial C

[AMandolin]

Looks like Nate with his Sorensen on the Special C announcement.

[Steve Sorensen]

So pleased to see Nate get this gig with Special Consensus!

Nate (Nathaniel at the time) was literally the very first little kid to drag his parents to my little booth at IBMA back in 2012. I think the first time I saw him he was playing tag with another super young prodigious player. They would race around the convention area, then plunk down at a booth and play in a way that would make the adults stare in awe and envy.

That year, I watched as he very methodically worked his way through every instrument booth, playing every mandolin and a few guitars.

The next year, after repeating his tour of all the instruments at IBMA 2013, he dragged his parents over to the booth and announced, "These are the best ones!"

His parents had that loving but stressed look that you see as a four-kid, multi-instrumentalist family keeps growing to need better instruments . . . and we did the first "Parent to Parent" walk and talk as we worked a deal for a custom Sorensen Pacifica for young Nathaniel.

Over the next several months we discussed ideas for the build. Nate knew he wanted a Narnia theme for the inlays, and we talked about several ideas before finally settling on the Aslan peghead design. He also selected a great quilted maple back which really helped give his mandolin warmth and woody depth.

We agreed to meet at the beginning of IBMA 2014 so that Nate could get his new mandolin. And since then he just keeps growing as a singer and multi-instrumentalist. What a hard-working, talented young man!

It has been one of the great joys of my mando-career to get to know Nate, his ultra-talented sisters and brother, and his remarkable, warm supportive parents.

Steve



And Nate's "Lucy" --