Martin Guitar’s press preview at the 2025 NAMM Show on January 22 got added excitement when Peter Frampton made a surprise appearance.
Looking healthy and leaning on a cane for assistance, Frampton appeared to cheers from the audience, who had gathered to learn about the famed American acoustic guitar makers’ 2025 guitar offerings, which include a model marking their three millions serialized instrument.
Led in conversation by Martin CEO Thomas Ripsam, the guitarist regaled the audience with tales about his first Martin acoustic, his recording and touring plans, and performing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” with Eric Clapton at the 2019 Crossroads Guitar Festival. He also gave the crowd an update on his fight with Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM), a degenerative order, that he's been battling for the past 10 years.
Taking a seat, Frampton shared how he was first turned on to Martin guitars when he heard Neil Young and Stephen Stills in Buffalo Springfield. Soon after, in 1970, he bought his first Martin acoustic, a D-45, at Manny’s on 48th Street in New York. “I used that D-45 for the whole of the Frampton’s Camel record — ‘Lines on My Face,’ all those songs,” he said, referring to his 1973 album that included his hit “Do You Feel Like We Do.”
Soon after, the guitar was stolen. “We went on tour and it got taken away from me by someone who preferred to have it himself,” he deadpanned
Frampton went without a Martin for several years. That changed when former Martin historian Dick Boak made him a surprise offer..
“It wasn’t until later, in the ’90s, when I came to the NAMM Show and Dick Boak welcomed me into the booth, and I told him the story,” Frampton explained. “And that’s when he said, ‘We don’t have a Peter Frampton model. How about we do one and call it the Frampton’s Camel?’
The result was Frampton’s own signature D-42. “And so I’ve got three of them,” he said. “It’s a beautiful, beautiful guitar,” Frampton said. “I played it on many, many sessions.”
After Frampton shared his story, Ripsam surprised him with the gift of another Frampton's Camel D-28.
While IBM has affected his ability to play guitar, Frampton has continued to record and tour as his health allows. Speaking with Guitar Player last October upon his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, he revealed that he’s working on an album of new original songs.
At NAMM, he told the Martin crowd the record is still on track and said he’s been in the studio as of late. The news was applauded by fans. After all, Frampton hasn’t released an album of all-original material since Thank You Mr. Churchill in 2010. His last release was 2021's Frampton Forgets the Words.
“I keep saying, ‘Oh, that's the last one, that's the last one,’” he said. “And then, of course, I go, ‘Can we do it again?’ So we’ll call this one Let’s Do It Again."
The guitarist also announced two 10-date tours for 2025: one beginning the March 31, and another in June.
“I'm gonna keep going as long as my fingers… well — you know,” he said, as the audience cheered.
“And it's getting more difficult, I have to admit,” he said. “But I the worst thing about playing for me is, when I'm soloing I have to actually think about what I'm playing. I don't want to think. I want it just to be coming from my heart, That's how I always played. And now I do have to think a little bit, because I’ll be in the middle of the passage and I'll say, ‘That finger is not going to get there in time!’ So I do a a regroup and I use one finger for many notes that I used to use three fingers for.”
He recalled the experience of Django Reinhardt, who lost the use of his left-hand ring and pinkie fingers in a caravan fire and was forced to rework his technique using his index and middle fingers.
“That’s what I’m doing,” Frampton said, “because I enjoy music so much. It sounds weird: You're losing the power to play. Yeah, but I'm working out — and enjoying working out — a different way of playing, so that I can keep playing.
“People say, ‘Aren’t you depressed?’ You know, you have to accept the things you cannot change. I learned that in AA, and in many other places.
“I will keep doing music for the rest of my life,” he said as the audience cheered. “What I have is not life-threatening, thank God, but it's life-changing, and I'm going with the flow.”
At the request of Martin CEO, Frampton spoke of performing George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” at the 2019 Crossroads Guitar Festival with Eric Clapton, who played the uncredited lead guitar on the Beatles’ 1968 recording. Frampton — who has previously spoken to Guitar Player about Harrison’s influence on his playing — told the backstory to that performance, noting that he’d broken two toes after falling on the morning of the show. Unable to meet with Clapton face to face before the show, the two guitarists Facetimed ahead of their performance.
“I said, ‘Do you want to play your solo?’ and he said, ‘No, no, you play it.’ And he said, ‘Do you want to do anything in the verses?’ I said, no, so he said, “I’ll do that then.
“But we were just laughing about the whole situation, that we couldn't get to each other.
“And when we did meet onstage, it was one of the most exciting moments of my career. I've met Eric many times. I've spoken with him, but we've never ever played together. And, of course, I'm a huge fan.
“And so to actually look at him and listen to him — I'm like, Oh my God, that's Eric Clapton! It was wild.”
"Doing that is far more beneficial to my end goal.” Marty Friedman explains why he doesn't practice guitar at home — and why you shouldn't either
“He blazed a trail and has left a lasting legacy, he deserves to be honored in his home city.” An Irish councilor is pushing for a Gary Moore statue in his hometown of Belfast
