Yvonne de Villiers

Last night I was witness to an amazing bunch of folks at a fundraiser by Lyrics for Life for the Tampa “Children’s Cancer Center”.
http://www.childrenscancercenter.org/

Ken Block, lead singer of Sister Hazel, lost a brother to T-Cell Lymphoma and was inspired to start Lyrics for Life which benefits various Children’s Cancer groups.

Sister Hazel

One of last night’s hosts, Jeff Wilson, was also inspired to join in the effort when he visited his son’s school and saw a bulletin board of “I wish” letters. One of the letters was from a young cancer patient who wrote “I wish I didn’t have to go through any more chemotherapy!”. One year later, his own son was diagnosed with the exact same cancer. Thankfully, his son is in remission and he and three other pediatric survivors were on hand to enjoy the festivities.

Miggs and Michael Tolcher also gave wonderful performances.

Miggs

Michael Tolcher

It was amazing to me how things intertwine. In my former incarnation as a glass artist, my most inspiring commissions were for some of the sponsors of the Children’s Cancer Center…..Tampa General Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House. These were the types of commissions that fed my soul. So when I wonder what I am doing as a designer for Luna Guitars, which was not a planned career move but rather something I was compelled to follow, the dots seem to be connecting themselves and urging me to stay my course.

I am happy to report that the two Lunas donated…the Dragonfly signed by Sister Hazel and Dragon signed by Michael Tolcher….fetched over $7000 by the end of the evening!

Signed Guitars

So……I urge you all to follow the spiritual instinct that binds us and to remember…….
“Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.”
Albert Camus

And, finally, here is some musical inspiration from Sister Hazel that has stood me in good stead during dark times.
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“One of our most important renewable resources is HOPE. We must put it on with our shoes every morning.”……….Barbara Kingsolver

Krista Tippett explores what it means to face the question of sustainability in a hopeful way in her two minute musing below.

sof-extra-audio-_-kristas-commentary-on-consumption-and-sustainability

Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett is public radio’s weekly program about “religion, meaning, ethics, and ideas.”

It is important to me that each Luna instrument, whenever possible, have something that personalizes it for a player. The images I choose to use are archetypal symbols and metaphors that stand for intangible concepts….for example, Lotus as “purity”, Dragonflies as “transformation” Celtic knot work as “interconnection”. (I will be dealing with the symbols of each individual instrument in future posts.)
When Luna was invited to produce a guitar for David Cook, this year’s American Idol winner, we were pleased to be able to produce a totally personal image for him.
David had used his white Gibson Les Paul with the initials AC on it throughout the season.

As Cook told TV Guide, “I have two brothers, Adam and Andrew. So, because of superstition, I put their initials on everything growing up.” His brother Andrew had been the one to originally audition for Idol. David was there in support and when Andrew didn’t make the cut, producers persuaded Cook to tryout and his rendition of Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” won him a place in the lineup. His brother Adam, an attorney, was undergoing chemotherapy for his second diagnosis of brain cancer during the finals and was flown in on a medical jet for the Final 7 performance. So the initials AC took on even more special meaning during this time of David’s life.

Using David’s “AC” talisman, Luna added a few more personal layers. The first was artwork inspired by David’s first CD, “Analog Heart”, that David hand drew. The second was the addition of wings to wish David and his family Godspeed.

Original Artwork

Art on Guitar

We had no guarantee that David would play it on the show. I remember being in my kitchen during the finale when I heard ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man”. I initially ran into the living room because my brother Ray used to sing that song in his band Sage and it has always been a favorite of mine. Then I saw David Cook playing with ZZ Top and thought “Wow…how cool is that?” It did not register immediately that he was playing his Luna! It was amazing to see it on my television set when it was literally a concept and a block of wood at Luna’s USA shop three weeks prior to that.

You can see the making of David’s guitar here.

A lot of folks put a lot of love and attention into that guitar. If energy follows intent, and I believe that it does, David’s guitar is brimming with good wishes from Luna.

PS……..DON’T FORGET TO

One who knows distances
out to the outermost star
is astonished when he discovers
the magnificent space in your hearts.

(Ranier Maria Rilke)

For more amazing pictures, visit Hubble’s top 100 images here.

…One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires … causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these — to be fierce and to show mercy toward others, both — are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do….

Clarissa Pinkola Estes ~ from “Letter To A Young Activist During Troubled Times”

In my post of Sept 15 on Vicki Genfan’s “Guitar Superstar” win I observed that, as far as “being good for a girl”, Vicki has not only slipped through the proverbial glass ceiling like a ray of light but laser beamed her way through the male dominated bunker of the music industry with ultimate finesse.”

Since Vicki’s historic win, because of the sheer “Heart” she brought to this competition, I have often thought of the lyrics from a song by the Roches

“Her love is true music

And it radiates around”

Vicki’s personal win and obvious love for her music has been radiating around cyberspace and she has been sending me responses from female guitarists who on some level realize that a trail has been blazed for them. The one that stands out for me was a spontaneous response from an 11 year old young woman named “Kate”. Kate showed enormous heart and initiative in sending an original song to share her own recent win in a guitar contest and congratulate Vicki on hers via youtube

When Vicki asked her what her favorite guitar was, her response was “I really don’t know. I have a red Fender Electric that I picked out when I was little and started lessons. But I just picked it because red was my
favorite color then. I like it but it is very, very heavy. And I have a very inexpensive kid acoustic guitar that is pink :). Those are the only ones I have ever played. Kate”

At this writing, Kate does not even know yet, but Luna is SO going to send her the guitar of her choice to help her on her musical journey. At Luna, it is ultimately about HEART and Kate, like Vicki, has massive amounts of it.

Congratulations, Kate, on having what it takes to become a future Guitar Superstar! Keep it up and you cannot fail!

Love & Light from Luna

KATE’S “GUITAR SUPERSTAR” LYRICS

There’s a guitar contest today

First, a big star sings and plays,
Shares his life story, and then asks:
Who will play the guitar?

When it’s your turn to play,
At first you are nervous,
But then you get your groove on,
Your move on.

You think you did well,
But there’s no way to tell.
Then the guy starts to yell.

‘Cause you’re a guitar superstar,
And that’s just what you are.
A guitar superstar,
And that’s just what you are.

Although you are young,
Look how you’ve just sung.
Guess what? You’ve won!

‘Cause you’re a guitar superstar,
and that’s just what you are,
A guitar superstar,
And that’s just what you are,
And that’s just what you are,
And that’s just what you are!

(Copyright © K8 DS 2007. All rights reserved. No unauthorized use of this song or lyrics is permitted by any means without the authors permission. Lyrics by K8 DS.)

I would like to introduce the concept of sacred space because it is important to all of us.

“You must have a room or a certain hour of the day or so where you do not know what is in the morning paper. A place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. At first you may think nothing is happening. But if you have a sacred space and take advantage of it and use it everyday, something will happen”. ~ Joseph Campbell

You may be asking yourself, “What does sacred space have to do with guitars?” and the answer to that is that it was in a dedicated sacred space that Luna was birthed. I will be sharing glimpses of that space as well as the story in future posts. The images of every day sacred space that I am including in this post were designed by my best friend, Sean Rush.

The inspiration for the Henna Guitars came as a result of studying laser technology.
Looking at things from outside the industry has been a real advantage to me as I have looked at what has been done with curiosity rather than preconception.

I had seen laser used around the sound hole in very traditional ways, and at first focused solely on the quality of laser burn. I asked myself what it reminded me of, and after incubating the question for a while it came to me in an all-at-once moment. It had the quality of Henna body art.
My next question was….can I color outside the lines? Can I move the use of laser from around the sound hole and consider the entire guitar as a “torso” that I could use Henna ornamentation on?

I spent many hours on The Henna Page which is an invaluable resource on everything you would ever want to know about the subject. After asking questions of our acoustic factory about the feasibility of extending the laser design to the entire front, and possibly back and headstock of the guitar, I contacted Catherine Cartwright -Jones, a world renown Henna scholar, about doing a Henna design for Luna. I had tried my hand at it, but decided that authenticity and integrity was vital in pulling off the concept and therefore wanted a Henna artist that understood the flow and process involved in Henna design. Catherine was very gracious but informed me that she was in the middle of her thesis for her PhD in Henna and gave me Alex Morgan’s contact information as someone who could possibly help me. The rest is history. In the past three years Alex, a Henna and graphic artist in the UK, has done an immaculate job of translating Henna design onto the Henna Paradise guitar, Henna Oasis guitar, Henna Paradise bass, Paz signature bass, and the Sol Henna electric guitar.

I will feature each guitar separately in future posts, but wanted to share the initial
impulse for the Henna series.

To see a Henna artist at work, click here.

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open”……Martha Graham

“Guitar Superstar” is a yearly competition hosted by the Guitar Player magazine in which 10 finalists compete for the title of Guitar Superstar for the year. The competition started in 2005 and 2008 is the first year that a woman has ever made it to the final competition which was held on Sept 13th at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, California. That extraordinary female player is Vicki Genfan, and I am honored to say that she is both a Luna artist and, more importantly, a friend. Vicki not only attended the competition, but gave a “take it to the hoop, slam dunk” performance that won her the title of the 2008 Guitar Superstar.

Vicki with her Luna Trinity

The judges were guitar heavy-hitters Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Brendon Small, Elliott Easton and George Lynch with Andy Summers as host.
Here are some of the comments that stood out for me:

Steve Vai: One of the things that we respond to the most when we hear somebody play, or do anything, is the confidence. When you have confidence, that’s what attracts people, but you have to have the goods too….and you’ve got both! Take note, because this is important….you came on, you knew what you were going to do, you attacked the situation and you weren’t going to take any prisoners….Maybe you should run for vice president.”

Elliott Easton: “You’ve done the work….maybe you were too good. That’s my only complaint….maybe you were too good. Sorry.” (?????????)

George Lynch: “At the risk of sounding sexist….I didn’t know girls could play guitar” to which he added,….”like that…like that….I added like that.”

Knowing Vicki for the past three years and watching her play…. what is really beautiful, beyond her proficiency and her technical “attack”, is the heart that she brings to her music. When Vicki plays, she literally disappears. I’ve seen her do it on stage and on my back porch and it is pure vicarious bliss to witness.

Vicki Genfan, "disappeared" on my back porch

As far as “being good for a girl”, Vicki has not only slipped through the proverbial glass ceiling like a ray of light, but laser beamed her way through the male dominated bunker of the music industry with ultimate finesse.

You can watch her performance and the judges responses here.

Congratulations Vicki! I am so happy that you are on the planet and that I have the good fortune to know you!!!!!!!!!

Shine On Superstar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!