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James Peters enjoys what he does. Waking up every morning and working in his woodshop in the back of his house is the "bees knees" as James says.   Once there, he makes custom acoustic guitars. He is, as it's called, a luthier based in Springfield, TN.

After moving to Nashville in 1989 and having some success in the country music songwriting industry, a friend asked James to repair his guitar. It was after that experience that he realized it would be easier — and more enjoyable — to build acoustic guitars from scratch rather than repair old ones. That's when James started Armor Guitars. He's never looked back.

It turns out that James and Laura Peters (and their sons Cody and Carson) are one of the first families making a living selling their handmade wares on Etsy. Laura's Etsy shop is EarthArt (recently profiled as an Etsy Success Story) and Cody, one of their sons, is BarbedWire. They reside in the country, make music and art together, and live in what Laura calls "a little Shangri Las." Laura's advice to everyone is to turn off your television and she cites this as one of the many reasons that the Peters family is so close and creative. 

James Peters doesn't just make guitars: he has been a musician most of his life.  Below are two songs performed by James.

This song is called "South" and was written by James Peters, Gerald Guinn and Yvonne Guinn

The song is called "Let Her Go" and was written by James Peters and Susan Gilbert.

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