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Though Matt & Sherry McPherson have just released their third CD Slow Down and have been involved with music ministries over the years, the couple's last name is best associated with guitars. McPherson Guitars makes custom acoustic guitars for a slew of popular musicians, including Brad Paisley, Peter Cetera, Richard Marx, Wayne Newton, Amy Grant and MercyMe. We recently chatted with the husband/wife duo about some of their celebrity tales, their new album, their family—and how they got from making bows and arrows to making guitars. It's true!

How did you get into the guitar business?

Matt: I grew up in a big family with seven kids, and it was always kind of a struggle to make ends meet, so if I wanted something I had to make it. I got good at making things and got involved in archery, and I eventually started an archery company in 1992. We went from the smallest to largest company of its kind in a very short period, which allowed me to get back into guitars, which I'd always loved. If I had to make a choice on how to make a living, there's no question it would be guitars.

How did you come to crafting your own custom-made brand?

Matt: I used the money [from the archery company] and hired a staff. We worked out 200 prototypes, because we needed to know what causes a guitar to sound like a guitar. There are so many different woods and I tried so many things. Being a player had given me an advantage, and I wanted something different than the other guitars I played. That's why with McPherson Guitars the sound hole is to the side and allows us to have our soundboard all the way up to the front.

What was the process of attracting such high profile clients?

Matt: Actually, the way it works—which I figured out real early—is if you're so good you can afford a guitar, then you get them for free. The value of artists who use them is huge, but the flipside is they can play any guitar because they can get any guitar. So the key is if they're playing a particular guitar it's because they really, truly want to play it. Amy Grant's been a big champion of our guitars and so has Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, Kenny Loggins, Richard Marx and Peter Cetera.

Cetera is one of my favorites. On his comeback tour, he had three McPhersons, a grand piano and a full orchestra. I had goose bumps! There's so much energy happening with all these artists, and it's exciting God has put us in a position to impact their lives with more than guitars.

Tell me about your witnessing opportunities with secular artists.

Matt: We certainly let them know where we stand, but I don't want to drip on people. A dog dripping saliva is irritating—I know you have saliva but please don't drip on me. I think it's the same thing with Christianity and Christ. We want to make it known we have faith in Christ and we are here to encourage you. We have a servant's attitude and we're here for you.

Has the success of McPherson Guitars inspired you to become artists yourselves, or had that bug been in you long before?

Sherry: We met in a Christian band in Minneapolis in the late '70s. We auditioned for a band that was starting a faith broadcasting network; we were going to be studio musicians and needed to raise more money. We did some concerts with them, which is how we met, but we left the group.

How do you keep everything straight at home with all these other ventures?

Sherry: It's very, very busy! We have two kids at home still, so cell phones are important and add tremendous value in the situation.

Matt: If one of our boys needs something, I'll pick it up. They can always get ahold of us and it allows more flexibility.

So how do you apply your album title to your own lives?

Matt: I have a very interesting tidbit about that. If you listen to the very ending of that title track, I say off the cuff "I hope I'm listening!" I've talked to so many people who know they shouldn't be smoking and say, "Yeah, I know I shouldn't be smoking." Well then, what are you going to do about it? That's the problem. We know what to do but, "How do I do that?" Or, "God, how can I [balance] the responsibilities I have?"

I'm certainly not the only human who can do this and that, so I plug employees into those tasks so I can be freed up. I'm the only one who really does the inventing in my company, so I have to stay in that vein. I have to design and engineer, but I can do that anywhere! On a plane I can lay out something and build a guitar or a bow in my head. But when it comes to accounting, that's not my strength, so why am I doing that?

I can micromanage but I don't like micromanaging. I don't have a problem with losing control because I try to look at the bigger picture. What am I trying to accomplish? Ministry to us is the whole goal—it's not the bows or the guitars. It's "How did I impact the world for Christ?" I'm able to throw away control-freak things; I don't need to control anymore.

What are your hopes for the new CD?

Sherry: Our focus is evangelistic. Some songs are for inspiring believers, others are to win the lost. [In concert] we'd love to have some kind of altar call, or a presentation to receive Christ. It's part praise-and-worship, and part reaching into hurting souls. We want to point you to where hope is, bring you in and net the fish.

Matt: The last song on our album is called "The Salvation Poem." It's the main song we really feel we have to be focused on, and it's the most exciting to me. Instead of ways to build a guitar better or bow, how can we be more effective leading people to Christ?

I prayed for a direction that could possibly impact the world for Christ in a way that's unique and new and fresh. The concept came to me from what I know of kids' poems and songs: I'll give you a million dollars to forget "Mary Had a Little Lamb," and you can't do it! What if we could teach the world a poem that was the salvation prayer? When that concept hit me I thought, This really has tremendous potential! We ended up writing this song/poem combination so it can end up being used as a poem or sung as a song called "The Salvation Poem."

How do you hope to get this song out to more people?

Matt: We're asking every Christian singer in the world if they'd consider putting their own version on future recordings as a bonus track. I know that's asking a lot, but Sherry and I are giving up any particular rights in sense of royalties. We're turning any profits straight over to ministry. I know it's a lofty goal and that everyone sings to their own crowd really, but we'd love to have as many artists on board who could see the vision.

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