Chris Martin, Chairman of the Board of C.F. Martin & Co. and sixth-generation owner of the family-run guitar maker, joined the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for “An Evening with Chris Martin of Martin Guitars” in the museum’s Foster Theater. The event celebrated what would have been Gram Parsons’ 80th birthday and his 2026 Rock Hall induction.
Chris Martin unveiled the Martin 00-21 Gram Parsons signature model. at the event. Andy Leach, the Rock Hall’s Senior Director of Museum and Archival Collections, and Brent Kirby of The New Soft Shoe opened the evening with a set of Parsons songs. Martin was then joined onstage by artist and Martin Guitar clinician Craig Thatcher to share artist stories and explore instruments from the Martin Museum, including models associated with Rock Hall inductees. The limited-edition 00-21 Gram Parsons, made in a run of 80, is inspired by Parsons’ original 1963 Martin 00-21 and features an old-growth Sitka spruce top with visual wear matched to his guitar, a V-shaped neck profile, and a label bearing his pre-printed signature. More information is available at https://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/new-models-2/00-21-Gram-Parsons.html