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News
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Froggy Bottom Guitars
recently donated a one-of-a-kind guitar to the wetlands conservation
group Ducks Unlimited (www.ducks.org).
Eric Goodenough of the Maine chapter will be selling the guitar,
valued at $21,000, to raise funds to preserve the American black
duck's habitat in New England. For more information, go to users.loa.com/~sfo/guitar.htm.
The Sir Charles Blues
Lab, a nonprofit organization providing instruments, facilities,
and blues music instruction to at-risk children, is expanding
its program beyond the Los Angeles area by franchising its program
model to schools, community groups, DARE programs, and rotary clubs.
To find out about programs near you, go to www.blueslab.org.
The winners of this
year's Chris Austin Songwriting Contest, held at MerleFest
in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, are Cindy Kalmenson (general category),
Michael Reno Harrell (gospel), Cheley Tackett (country), and Martha
Scanlan (bluegrass). Scott Fore took first place in the Doc Watson
guitar contest, with Steve Lewis and Robert Schafer finishing second
and third.
Tony Hall of Hove, East
Sussex, England, holds the Guinness World Record for the largest
collection of playable musical instruments made entirely from
wooden matchsticks. Hall's father, Jack, built the ten instruments,
including an acoustic guitar (featured in Great Acoustics, October
1996), mostly between 1936 and 1945.
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Events
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Suzy Bogguss, Brent
Mason, the Second Nashville Guitar Quartet, Phil Keaggy, and
Alex DeGrassi will be among the performers at Muriel Anderson's
All-Star Guitar Night, July 20 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville,
Tennessee. Proceeds from the event, which will include a tribute
to Chet Atkins, will support the Music for Life Alliance.
Ukulele virtuoso Herb
Ohta Jr. joins slack-key master Keola Beamer and other instructors
at the Aloha Hawaiian Music and Dance Camp, August 12–18,
in Lahaina, Hawaii. To register, go to www.kbeamer.com/camp.
The Mountain Dance and
Folk Festival, the longest-running mountain music festival
in the U.S., celebrates its 75th anniversary August 2–4 in
Asheville, North Carolina. Music historian Bascom Lamar Lunsford
started the festival to preserve the old folk tunes and traditional
dances of the early settlers in the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains.
For more information, go to www.exploreasheville.com/music.htm.
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New
Releases
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The new documentary
Render (Spanning Time with Ani DiFranco) chronicles
five years in the life of the folksinger in concert and behind the
scenes. The film, edited by DiFranco herself, is available on VHS
and DVD from Righteous Babe Records (www.righteousbabe.com).
Alt-country rockers
the Pine Valley Cosmonauts teamed up with such guest vocalists
as Neko Case, Steve Earle, and Rosie Flores to record
The Executioner's Last Song (Bloodshot, www.bloodshotrecords.com),
a benefit CD supporting the Illinois Death Penalty Moratorium Project.
The CD includes songs penned by Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Cole
Porter, and Bill Monroe about murder, mob rule, and punishment.
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Contests
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Unsigned guitar players
and bands can submit three-song cassettes or CDs to the Open Strings
Festival guitar contest before July 15 for a chance to win a
recording contract from festival sponsor Acoustic Music. Finalists
will perform on opening day of the festival, September 29, in Osnabrück,
Germany. For entry rules, go to www.open-strings.de.
Goodnight Kiss Music
is sponsoring two songwriting contests: Original Story Songs
and the Big Hit Remake. Songwriters must submit their original composition
or reworked hit by another artist by December 5. Winners' songs
may be used by Goodnight Kiss in film and TV projects. For contest
rules, visit www.goodnightkiss.com/contest.html.
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In
Memory
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Songwriter Otis Blackwell,
who wrote such hits as "Don't Be Cruel," "All Shook Up," and "Great
Balls of Fire," died May 6 of a heart attack at the age of 70. A
prolific tunesmith, especially during the early days of rock 'n'
roll, Blackwell's stable of hits for other artists sold more than
185 million copies.
Noted archtop guitar
maker John Zeidler passed away on May 7, following a battle
with leukemia. Zeidler built his first dulcimers and banjos at age
15 and went on to build more than 100 guitars, approximately 30
mandolins, and many other stringed instruments. Known for his attention
to detail and fine craftsmanship, Zeidler contributed a guitar to
collector Scott Chinery's Blue Guitar project, exhibited at the
Smithsonian Institution. A group of luthiers are currently collaborating
on a one-of-a-kind instrument in Zeidler's memory. The guitar will
be sold at auction and all profits will be donated to the Zeidler
estate.
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Cyber
Notes
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The Museum of Musical
Instruments (www.themomi.org)
is an Internet-based museum depicting historical and legendary instruments
of the 19th and 20th centuries. Visitors can listen to the MOMI's
custom jukebox as they tour exhibits on everything from music in
film to a virtual version of Dangerous Curves, originally
exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
The Yiddish Radio
Project preserves and broadcasts programs from the golden age
of Yiddish radio (the 1930s, '40s, and '50s), allowing them to be
heard for the first time since their initial broadcast. View exhibits
about the original shows, listen to NPR's All Things Considered
serial documentary on the project, and try the Yid-O-Matic translator
at www.yiddishradioproject.org.
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Meet
A.G.
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Click
here to meet the Acoustic Guitar team at a wide variety upcoming
music events and trade shows. Listed below are some things happening
in the next few weeks.
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Excerpted from Acoustic
Guitar magazine, August
2002, No. 116.
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Got some news? Send it to Happenings, Acoustic
Guitar, PO Box 767, San Anselmo, CA 94979-0767; email happenings.ag@stringletter.com;
or fax (415) 485-0831.
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