Recorded in 1971, The New Ragtime Guitar represented a new instrumental take on ragtime piano music. While many guitar players had incorporated ragtime pieces into their style, the limitations of a single guitar prevented a faithful recreation of the music originally written for, and performed by, a full piano keyboard. When fellow guitar player Dave Von Ronk suggested that the rags be split into parts for two guitars, Laibman and Schoenberg were able to capture the spirit and preserve the essence of the original piano rags. The liner notes provide further insight into the obstacles the artists faced translating the original piano music into vehicles for a pair of six string guitars.