From Acoustic Guitar Magazine, July 1999, No. 79

News - New Releases - Events - In Memory - Contests - Send News

News RETURN TO TOP	Folk legend Odetta celebrates her 50th anniversary in show business this year with a full schedule of concerts, festivals, recordings, and media appearances. Enjoy the exuberant Odetta home page at www.ares1.com/pinemt/odeta1.htm.
New Releases RETURN TO TOP	Fantasy Records will reissue a trio of seminal Kicking Mule fingerstyle recordings. Look for new CD pressings of Dave Evans' Sad Pig Dance, Davey Graham's The Complete Guitarist, and Duck Baker's Kid on the Mountain. Email Fantasy at info@fantasyjazz.com. The first instructional DVD, Jim Kelly's Guitar Workshop, has been released by Berklee Press, the publishing division of the Berklee College of Music. To purchase a copy, call (800) 637-2852 or go to www.berklee.edu/html/ab_kelly.html. Irish tune junkies should check out Aloys Fleischmann's Sources of Irish Traditional Music, a two-volume, hardcover compendium published by Garland Publishing. Volume I (1600–1855) includes nearly 4,000 tunes. Call (800) 821-8312 or email bkorders@taylorandfrancis.com. Dress up that naked coffee table with the lavishly illustrated The Acoustic Guitar, by Nick Freeth and Charles Alexander (Courage Books). The book includes 220 full-color photographs that trace the history of the guitar from its origins through the latest experiments in acoustic lutherie. Call (800) 345-5359 or shop online at www.runningpress.com.
Events RETURN TO TOP	The Second Annual Woody Guthrie Free Folk Festival, July 14–18, in Guthrie's hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma, will feature a host of folk luminaries, including Arlo Guthrie, the Kingston Trio, John Wesley Harding, Country Joe McDonald, and Chuck Pyle. Call (918) 825-5156 or see the festival Web site at www.woodyguthrie.com/fff. This year's Swannanoa Gathering guitar week near Asheville, North Carolina, focuses on flatpicking, fingerstyle, ragtime, and blues guitar. The classes run July 25–31, and guitar instructors include Al Petteway, Pete and Maura Kennedy, Roy Book Binder, Robin Bullock, and Preston Reed. For information, call (828) 298-3434 or visit the Web site at www.swangathering.org. Bluegrass enthusiasts who attend the 1999 RockyGrass Bluegrass Academy (July 26–29) in Lyons, Colorado, will have an opportunity to study with guitar instructors John Moore, Sandy Munro, and Scott Nygaard, and special guest instructors Del McCoury and Peter Rowan. The Academy preceeds the RockyGrass bluegrass festival, July 30–August 1. Call (800) 624-2422 or visit www.bluegrass.com.
In Memory RETURN TO TOP	The self-proclaimed "World's Favorite Hobo," Boxcar Willie lost a three-year battle with leukemia on April 12. Born Lecil Martin in Sterrett, Texas, in 1931, Boxcar Willie carved out a career in country music through his persona of a guitar-strumming hobo, an act he parlayed into international success and membership in the Grand Ole Opry. His stateside success was based largely on his pioneering late-night telemarketing schemes, but he achieved headline status in Europe. Helmut Schaller passed away on March 31, but his memory will live on as guitarists around the globe finally get their B strings in tune with his line of quality tuning machines and adjustable bridges. Alexander "Skip" Spence, the original drummer for the Jefferson Airplane and founding guitarist of Moby Grape, succumbed to lung cancer on April 16 in Santa Cruz, California. Spence's 1968 solo album Oar achieved cult status as a masterpiece of psychedelic-inspired folk-rock. In July a tribute CD entitled More Oar will remember Spence with performances by Tom Waits, Beck, Robert Plant, and Michael Stipe, among others.
Contests RETURN TO TOP	The Guitar Foundation of America sponsors its 17th annual Solo Guitar Competition, October 25–30, 1999, in Charleston, South Carolina. Send applications and inquiries to Jeff Cogan, 120A S. Cross Creek Rd., Orange, CA 92869; www.guitarfoundation.org.

 

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