By Tim Collins
The guitar, or some version of it, can be reliably traced back to about 3,500 BCE and some say that it can be traced back even further to a man named Lamech, the sixth grandson of Adam and Eve.
Hmmm… we wonder if it was acoustic. No matter.
What we know for certain is that the modern guitar has been around since the 15th century (according to the College of Contemporary Music) and, although it has changed in many ways, its popularity has never waned.
That popularity will be on display at the Victoria Guitar Show, which kicks off on Saturday, April 27 at the Victoria Conference Center.
The event will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is free.
“There are very few guitar shows and exhibitions in Western Canada. We started the show because there was a need to allow guitar builders to showcase their unique instruments and for musicians to explore options. You can’t find these instruments in the ‘big box stores’,” said event organizer Trevor Woodland.
“The VGS couldn’t be what it is without the community of luthiers [guitar makers] and artists who keep a centuries-old trade alive and evolving. They’re an unsung but integral part of the music industry.”
The guitar show will be a great opportunity to buy accessories, try new technologies, ask questions, and purchase tonewoods and guitars.
Other guitar goodies will be available, including t-shirts, stickers, straps, stands and more. Woodland’s company, Vigilant Guitars, will host a draw for a hand-made super strat-style guitar.
Other giveaways and raffles will also be available.
But for true guitar lovers, it’s not about the merchandise or the raffles, it’s about the beauty of the guitars and the unsounded promise of the instruments.
The passion of those who love the guitar was perhaps best expressed by Andres Segovia who advised that one should always lean the body forward a little when playing the guitar as “the poetry of the music should resound in your heart.”
READ MORE: Lime Cordiale, siblings and surf rockers from Australia, set to play Victoria