Podcast 158: Zeke Schein

For guitar collectors, Zeke Schein is best-known as the long-time
salesman you see at Matt Umanov Guitars. What you may not know is
that Zeke is also the guy who discovered what may very well be
the third photo of Robert Johnson ever unearthed (an eBay find
erroneously listed as a BB King photo).


Since purchasing that small photo over a decade ago, Schein has
had quite a roller coaster ride. He went through hurdles to get
the photo authenticated, he gave the rights to the Robert Johnson
Estate and he’s witnessed his unlikely eBay find get reprinted in
national magazines. He’s also faced the wrath of blues
historians, some of whom rabidly dispute that this is in fact a
shot of Johnson at all.


Zeke has written a new book entitled Portrait of a Phantom: The
Story of Robert Johnson’s Lost Photograph. Though ostensibly
about the discovery of this image, Zeke’s book is about a lot
more, too. He writes about his love for the blues, his time at
Umanov’s, the New York music scene and why some of us are so
compelled to learn more about our music heroes. On this week’s
podcast, we talk to Zeke about the photo, his career selling
guitars at one of the world’s most famous stores and much more.



This episode of our podcast is brought to you by Retrofret
Vintage Guitars.


Need a subscription to the Fretboard Journal? Order today and use
the discount code PODCAST to get $5 off your order.