Hearing The Music With Your Eyes

Plans seem to be progressing nicely for the June 1st Waukesha GuitarTown debut during Freeman Friday Night Live in downtown Waukesha. A fund-raising gala the night before will fete the artist's accomplishments, showing off the finished guitars and auctioning five of the playable ones. Several guest musicians will be in town for the May 31st preview and the public unveiling on Friday including Sammy Llanas of the BoDeans; Rusty Paul, Les' brother; and the Les Paul Trio who Les jammed with at the Iridium every Monday night.

Now that all 20 of the playable guitars are on their way back to Gibson for fitting with hardware it's time I share some of my favorite guitar art. All photos are from Waukesha GuitarTown's flickr photostream. Not all guitars are available to show as some of the 10 foot fiberglass models are still under construction.

One thing I've noticed since the photos first started appearing is how incredibly beautiful these playable works of art and 10 foot sculptures are. A concern I had before this began is what if the art isn't something we'd want to walk past and look at the four years they're on display? But the creativity and variety is phenomenal! The styles and medium are as diverse as the artists themselves. There truly will be something for everyone to enjoy. I know some artists probably spent over a hundred hours on their creation, and Tom Noll comes to mind. Is there an award for best guitar?