~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<The Acoustic Guitar Wire<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Welcome to the Acoustic Guitar Wire No. 13
2. News and Notes
3. New at Acoustic Guitar Central
4. Setting Up an Open Mic
5. Win Acoustic Guitar CD-Songbooks!
6. Music History on the Web
7. Highlights from Upcoming Issues of Acoustic Guitar
8. Gibson Giveaway
9. Great Books from String Letter Publishing
10. Win a Free CD
11. Trial by Fire
12. A.G. Wire Archives
13. Contact and Unsubscribe Info

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to the Acoustic Guitar Wire No. 13.

Enjoy the latest acoustic music news, information
about happenings online, advance notice of special offers
and giveaways, and previews of new publications from String
Letter Publishing. You'll also get tips and advice about
guitars, gear, and playing, plus a few jokes and the chance
to win a free guitar or a bundle of CD-Songbooks.

This newsletter is best viewed in 10-point Courier.
Our hyperlinks are formatted to be "hot" in most mail
readers. If your reader doesn't support click-through
linking from email, just cut and paste the URLs into your
Web browser.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News and Notes

Les Paul was named honorary chairman of the first World
Guitar Congress to be held June 2-9, 2004, at Towson
University in Baltimore, Maryland. Other participants
include honorary president Mrs. Andrés Segovia, official
composer Jim Hall, and guest artist Sharon Isbin. For more
information, go to http://www.towson.edu/worldmusiccongresses.

Froggy Bottom Guitars recently donated a one-of-a-kind
guitar to the wetlands conservation group Ducks Unlimited
(http://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 duckÕs habitat in New
England. For more information, go to
http://users.loa.com/~sfo/guitar.htm.

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 http://www.kbeamer.com/camp.

The WhoÕs bassist, John Entwistle, died June 27, on the eve
of the WhoÕs U.S. tour. Entwistle developed his powerful and
influential bass style in the one-guitar band, playing loud
and complex parts to fill the rhythm guitar void. A musical
prodigy, Entwistle first teamed with Pete Townshend in a
Dixieland combo, playing trumpet to TownshendÕs banjo. In
recent years, Entwistle became known for his painting and
also led the John Entwistle Band.

Legendary jazz bassist Ray Brown died July 2 at age 75.
BrownÕs first instrument was piano, but he later switched to
bass, teaching himself the instrument by ear. His fluid
sound helped define bebop, and he performed with other bop
luminaries Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, and Dizzy Gillespie
in GillespieÕs Big Band. In 1948 Brown married and became
musical director for Ella Fitzgerald. He was also a founding
member of the Oscar Peterson Trio.

Guitar Talk is the online discussion forum at the Acoustic
Guitar Central website. For the past year or so, folks who
have been meeting in cyberspace to chat about guitars,
making music, and all sorts of stuff have been gathering to
play music together in real time. Join Guitar Talkers in New
York on August 17, Seattle on August 23, and Henry,
Illinois, on September 28. Read more about the events and
post your questions in the Gigs, Workshops, and Gatherings
forum in Guitar Talk at
http://www.acousticguitar.com/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New at Acoustic Guitar Central

Excerpts from the September issue of Acoustic Guitar
magazine are now available online. Read our story on how the
phenomenal success of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" has
caused a resurgence in popularity of old-time country,
bluegrass, and roots music; check out the latest CD reviews;
and get tips, advice, and insights from the pros in the Q &
A and What They Play sections. See the latest at
http://www.acousticguitar.com.

Enter into the world of alternate tunings with our new
lesson, "Exploring D A D G A D" by Mark Hanson. You can find
this and more lessons online at
http://www.acousticguitar.com/lessons/lessons.shtml

Take a guitar vacation this summer, and let A.G. help you
pick the right workshop or music camp for your interests.
The expanded Summer Study listings for 2002 are now online
at http://www.acousticguitar.com/summer/welcome.html.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Setting Up an Open Mic

Acoustic Guitar's "Performing Acoustic Music" guide can help
you get your music out of your living room and onstage with
great advice on gear, venues, getting paid, and dealing with
stage fright. Here's a tip from Teja Gerken on how to set up
your own open mic.

Setting up an open mic shouldnÕt be too difficult; finding a
venue is often the hardest part. Depending on the size of
the place and the crowd, you might find that you can get
away without any PA equipment, making it more an open stage
than an open mic. ThereÕs a café close to where I live in
San Francisco that does it that way, and it works out really
well.

If you feel that you need a PA, you have a lot of choices.
Probably the simplest thing to do would be to get a package
deal that includes two speakers and a combined
amplifier/mixer. Companies like Carvin, Crate, Fender, and
JBL all offer basic systems like this, with prices starting
at around $500. ItÕs always a good idea to get the speakers
off the floor on stands. YouÕll also need a couple of mics
(sturdy ones like Shure SM-57s or SM-58s are a good choice),
mic stands, and cables to hook everything up. Having a DI
box would also be nice, as it improves the sound of pickups
plugged directly into the mixer. You should familiarize
yourself with the equipment before using it live for the
first time to avoid problems.

Once you have a place and whatever equipment you think you
need, itÕs time to do some advertising. At the very least,
put up some flyers in the venue itself a few weeks ahead of
time. If youÕre in a small town, you can probably get the
local papers to write an announcement about the event. Talk
it up among all the musicians you know; the more people that
show up the first time, the better. Think about how you want
to structure the evening. How will you decide the order of
the performers? How much time will each performer get? What
does it take to be a good emcee?

I find that the best open mics are the ones that take place
regularly at a set time (such as every other Friday night).
That way people donÕt have to call ahead to find out whether
itÕs on, and itÕs easier to build a regular crowd.

For more tips and advice on performing, check out
"Performing Acoustic Music"
http://www.acousticguitar.com/books/Guidebooks.html#pam

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Win a Collection of Acoustic Guitar CD-Songbooks!

There's always a good discussion about guitars, players, and
acoustic music going in the Guitar Talk forums. Register to
participate and automatically get a chance to win a free
package of six of our CD-Songbooks, including the Alternate
Tunings Guitar Collection, Shades of Blue, Habits of the
Heart, and Flatpicking Guitar Masterpieces.

Get the details when you sign up today at
http://www.acousticguitar.com/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Music History on the Web

The Museum of Musical Instruments (http://www.themomi.org)
is an Internet-based museum depicting historical and
legendary instruments of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Visitors can listen to the MOMIÕs 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, Õ40s, and
Õ50s), allowing them to be heard for the first time since
their initial broadcast. View exhibits about the original
shows, listen to NPRÕs All Things Considered serial
documentary on the project, and try the Yid-O-Matic
translator at http://www.yiddishradioproject.org.

Get more when you subscribe to Acoustic Guitar every month.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Highlights from Upcoming Issues of Acoustic Guitar Magazine:

Our October issue will be hitting the newsstands in
early September. Highlights include:

--Features on Blind Willie McTell and other Atlanta 12-
string guitarists and the results of the Players' Choice
Awards
--Former Crowded House frontman Neil Finn on his adventurous
solo career
--Rick Turner discusses structure and tone in modern
lutherie
--Gear, Gear, Gear!

In November we've got a review of steel-body resonators and
a look at the latest guitars and gear.

Look for our second issue of Play Guitar!, our special issue
for beginners, hitting newsstands in mid-September. That
issue will include great beginner guitars (acoustic AND
electric), tips on finding people to play with, a
transcription of the Beatles' classic "You've Got to Hide
Your Love Away," and lots more.

Don't miss out on any of these great features! Subscribe to
Acoustic Guitar today. Sign up online at
http://www.acousticguitar.com/service/service.html#subscribe
or call toll free (800) 827-6837.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Enter to Win a Great Giveaway Package from Gibson!

The grand prize winner will receive a Gibson Acoustics L-200
Emmylou Harris model guitar and 12 sets of Gibson
Masterbuilt Premium strings. The second prize winner will
take home a Gibson Songbird guitar and 12 sets of Gibson
Masterbuilt Premium strings.

To enter the contest and see the grand prize package, go to
http://www.acousticguitar.com/giveaway2/gibson/index.html

To meet some of our previous giveaway winners, go to
http://acousticguitar.com/giveaway2/winners/index.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now Available from String Letter Publishing

THE COMPLETE ACOUSTIC GUITAR METHOD SERIES
by David Hamburger

Learn how to play guitar using the techniques and songs of
American roots music with the revolutionary new Acoustic
Guitar Method series, including the Grammy Award-winning
song "Man of Constant Sorrow."

Beginning with a few basic chords and strums, you'll start
right in learning real music drawn from blues, folk,
country, and bluegrass traditions. Working in both tablature
and standard notation, you'll learn how to find notes on the
fingerboard. You'll expand your collection of chords by
learning songs in various keys, and picking out the melodies
in the tunes you're working on.

When you're done with this method series, you'll know dozens
of the tunes that form the backbone of American roots music,
using a variety of flatpicking and fingerpicking techniques.

Acoustic Guitar Method, Book One (48 pp.) #00695648, $9.95
Acoustic Guitar Method, Book Two (48 pp.) #00695649, $9.95
Acoustic Guitar Method, Book Three (48 pp.) #00695666, $9.95

Learn more:
http://www.acousticguitar.com/method/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Win a Free CD!

We're giving away a free CD of acoustic guitar music to the
contributor of the best music joke or gig story each month.
To enter, simply send your favorite music joke or anecdote
about a gig from hell to mailto:jokes@stringletter.com. Be
sure to include a mailing address in case you win. We'll
award a new prize with each edition. Our prizewinner this
month is Glen Grant, who sent us
this gig from hell.

By the way, if you're out there, Glen, please email your
current mailing address to mailto:jokes@stringletter.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gig from Hell

I had just received my brand new Guild X500 archtop guitar,
a sunburst beauty. I was doing a six-night-a-week gig in a
local club and was anxious to take my new ax and hear what
it could do. It was awesome--full and rich and perfect for
my jazz trio. On this Tuesday night, there was hardly a soul
in the club. We finished playing a ten-minute version of "On
Green Dolphin Street," and the bartender gave us a rousing
round of applause. Just off my mic, I joked, "Don't clap,
throw money!" She reached into the register, pulled out a
nickle and zinged it at us. I heard it hit. I never saw it
coming, but it put a nice deep ding on the front of my
hours-old X500. I voiced my displeasure with a few choice
words, bit my tongue, and with shaking fingers, settled into
the rest of the night. I learned my lesson about what never
to say to people listening to my music!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back issues of the A.G. Wire are available online at:
http://www.acousticguitar.com/wire_archive/index.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Send news, comments, and requests:
mailto:agwire@stringletter.com
Copyright (c) 2002 String Letter Publishing. All Rights
Reserved. You are welcome to forward this email to your
friends. Other reproduction in whole or in part in any form
or medium without express written permission of String
Letter Publishing is prohibited. Acoustic Guitar Wire and
the respective logos are trademarks of String Letter
Publishing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~